Home slated for November release as open beta

by Nick Doerr { May 12th 2008 at 8:00PM }

Before, SCEE's David Reeves talked about the new focus on Home and how they're aiming more toward the gamers and less toward the advertisers (or something along those lines). He promised an open beta this "autumn". Well, now we have to revise that statement by making it slightly more accurate. November.

The creative director for Home, Ron Festejo, said that the closed beta is expanding in July and an open beta is set for November. Open beta is simply a release date for an unfinished, possibly still buggy product. So, Home is due out this November with some kinks for us to find and them to work out -- they've had plenty of time, so we feel it'll be pretty much done by that time, though.

[via Play; thank you, Leigh!]

Tags: home

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

deusmecha @ May 12th 2008 8:06PM

At this point, I couldn't care less about Home.

Mike @ May 12th 2008 11:35PM

thats why youll be Downloading it when it finally comes out right?

deusmecha @ May 13th 2008 1:21AM

Right after Duke Nukem Forever? Sure.

adolson @ May 13th 2008 10:17AM

Duke Nukem Forever is gonna be downloadable? Sweet!

ichigo @ May 12th 2008 8:14PM

yeah i dont care about home no more sony is just failing me so bad.

never$$hort @ May 12th 2008 8:44PM

Will everyone PLEASE stop getting their f***ing panties in a bunch or sand in their vaginas or whatever over Home already!! They will f***ing release it when it's completed!! Why the f*** would you want something half-a$$ed so bad anyways!??! sheesh...

;) that'll tell 'em

playcrackthesky @ May 12th 2008 9:47PM

lol @ sand in the vagina. Havent heard that term in a while.

Im completely with you though. Why on earth would anyone want home now?

Home is mainly going to be used for future titles like LBP, Killzone, Resistance 2.

Anything in the mean time will be boring and buggy. Let it come out with a huge offering, that way we can all get suck straight into it.

willxcore @ May 12th 2008 8:56PM

NOBODY CARES ANYMORE!

I would be much happier if they threw away the whole concept of Home and just gave us the gaming features that it's going to bring like matchmaking and in XMB game launching with friends and trophies and whatnot. I don't like The Sims anyway. It makes me upset as a PS devotee that Sony screwed this up so bad.

Brad @ May 13th 2008 3:02AM

I totally agree. So, the commitment now is to have a BETA version out over 1.5 years after announcement? HOME has become a joke.

I agree - drop the 3D features and just give us XMB improvements and better multiplayer support - i.e. something to truly compete with XBox Live.

Seriously, HOME has become a joke of this generation. Really the best way to look at it is how MS used XBox Live during the XBox1 generation to perfect it (while Sony bowed out of the online market with the PS2). At least Sony will use this generation to learn how to do it right for PS4....

deaftly @ May 12th 2008 8:20PM

Yaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnn

Ninjakamster (PSN: Chin-Poh) @ May 12th 2008 8:48PM

Go back to Joystiq deaftly. Geez, you silly 360 fanboys always come here but we never bother you on your site. : )

deaftly @ May 12th 2008 8:59PM

At least i have a Ps3, 360 and wii, unlike you :P

MastrCake @ May 12th 2008 9:35PM

Wow, deaftly, talk about arrogance...

Let's tone it down a bit, shall we?

BowserUSC @ May 12th 2008 9:59PM

@Ninjakamster

As an owner of both a ps3 and a 360, as well as a reader of both blogs, I can say that statement is not true. There are plenty of fanboys from both sides that troll.

Mike @ May 12th 2008 11:35PM

I got a 360, Wii and Ps3 too and i dont even play my 360 anymore LOL im selling it tomoro for ps3 games/reserves Xbox is nothing now deaftly. Wii is down the drain also but im keepin it kuz i only play it when i got ppl over for partys. PS3 FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MastrCake @ May 12th 2008 8:22PM

Geez... Now I feel like the only one who wants to play home...

Dehshizknight @ May 12th 2008 8:32PM

I'm still very greatly looking forward to it.

Home will not disappoint. They are perfecting it still. It says open beta but it'll just be a full-blown release with some testing still going on (the original open beta was said to only hold 50,000 members).

I actually like this plan of heading straight for the full release, kinda like what Little Big Planet is doing.

Jimmy @ May 12th 2008 8:26PM

i wish that nothing else was said about home until one month before it really comes out. this time last year they were saying that it was being released in the fall of 07. they are just shooting themselves in the foot. same with killzone 2. feb 2009, what a joke.

Wrathbringer @ May 12th 2008 11:06PM

Totally agree, I wish Sony would just shut up about everything and just release it when it's ready, like Blizzard does with their games. No tentative release dates that are CONSTANTLY missed, just silence essentially. It would be much more bearable if they don't say a word about the release date until they know FOR SURE that it's coming out then. Sighs.

Excelryu @ May 12th 2008 8:27PM

I wonder if I shall believe.....So many false promises. Oh well. I won't wait for it. But I will play it. If it doesn't has trophies and party launching complete for november then I'm going to smack them.

Shadowen @ May 12th 2008 8:36PM

November is more Winter than Fall.. ug -.-

Bishop99999999 @ May 12th 2008 8:38PM

I'd rather hang out in Liberty City than Sony's new advertising playground.

JoJo @ May 13th 2008 9:41AM

yes indeed
add me on

JoJo_Yaj

SSG @ May 12th 2008 8:50PM

Metal Gear Solid 4 will keep me occupied until then... I hope.

evilfoxhound @ May 12th 2008 8:55PM

Why are so many people turning their nose up at something that's free??? Get over yourselves.

wisconsinista @ May 12th 2008 9:16PM

Because it was promised for release over a year ago. In the professional world you don't do that to your clients or consumers.

robb @ May 13th 2008 3:31PM

yeah i agree with everybody, its just not that exciting anymore, more of a let down then anything..

Kurt @ May 12th 2008 9:21PM

Yay, now we're closer to being able to play with Home.

JoJo @ May 13th 2008 9:43AM

Yes your correct.
On the PS4!!!!!

Riley Freeman @ May 12th 2008 9:34PM

ignore all these people that yawn. they say they dont care let it come out and be good theyll be the biggest addicts

deusmecha @ May 12th 2008 9:37PM

I love how everyone thinks that if I don't gobble Sony's wang, I'm a freaking 360 fanboy ALTHOUGH I DON'T OWN A 360 OR A WII.

Get this through your thick skulls: Sony keeps failing at Home. That's undeniable. Even when a open beta comes out (sometime after the release of Duke Nukem Forever), it STILL won't be a completed product because it's still in beta. Sony can't seem to grasp the concept of "beta", it seems. They want to make everything perfect before public release, and that is completely impossible because you won't know how a product will react until the general public had their hands on it. What Sony was supposed to do was release the beta to the public way, way earlier and then work out the kinks and problems over time.

So get the goddamn console wars out of your eyes and look at this situation for what it really is: just another slated release date that will most likely be pushed back again because Sony's development team for Home is comprised of chimpanzees.

Popfrogs @ May 12th 2008 11:50PM

Yeah, but those chimpanzees have a fancy British accent, so that makes it ok.

Daniel @ May 12th 2008 9:40PM

When I first bought my PS3 in March of 07, Home was the one thing that pushed me to buy it. I got it home (no pun intended) and it was greatness to the furthest extent and once some great games started coming along it got even better, I've enjoyed getting to experience it grow and have had so much fun with it. I own a PSP, 360 and Wii and haven't had nearly as much fun with those as my PS3 powerhouse. Am I irritated that one of the main reasons I bought the system has taken so long to release? Yes. But I'm not going to whine and complain. I am glad Sony want this to be amazing and considering it's the thing that is going to put the PS3 in front of the other 2 consoles on the market right now mainly in front of the 360 (and I say this because I'm sick of halo and gears and 360 fanboys, the 360 really doesn't have much to offer) it needs to be a perfect debut. I'm glad Sony is putting so much time and effort into this thing and the longer they push it back the better it'll be and the more sweet it'll be to finally play it.

BowserUSC @ May 12th 2008 10:05PM

Let's just hope it's as good as you expect. I'm not saying it won't be, but if they release home and it isn't "perfect", a lot of people are going to be pissed off.

Zombie Huggles @ May 12th 2008 9:40PM

This is what I feared, that with Phil and Ken gone, some of the big-dreamers of sony, PS would go astray. What the F*$# were they thinking focusing on advertising? I understand they want to make cash, and once home is up and running, I don't mind if they start posting billboards or fill the arcade with SmashTV rip-offs based on Coke products. But why did they think bringing a new way to annoy consumers with commercials would excite gamers? This was supposed to be a unique to PS social program that would have made the PS3 to gamers what the Mall is to high schoolers!

leiwei @ May 12th 2008 10:23PM

What purpose does Home serve? Does it become our new GUI? Is it an extension? Or is it some app we have to run on our XMB like Folding?

Cuz seriously, I don't see myself running Home if I have to load it up just to check out trophies, etc. I'm not in the beta so I don't really know how it's like, but I think it'd be cool if it's just an extension. Turn on PS3, see XMB like usual, press down arrow, see your avatar holding the PSP w/ PS3's XMB on PSP screen. Press down arrow again, move avatar around house, etc.

Popfrogs @ May 12th 2008 11:54PM

I guess you haven't been keeping up. To answer your questions...

1. Home is optional, you don't have to run it even one time.
2. You will be able to view your trophies and other "accomplishments" via the XMB. There will be special icons etc.
3. Home serves many purposes. You can share media with others through a private movie theater. You can get others together and launch a game as a squad/party. You can voice chat and text chat with others virtually face to face, even with strangers. You can check out trailers for new movies and games, etc. etc. You can also build out your apartment and fit it with furniture, decorations, etc.

I'm still looking forward to it. Anyone who says "yawn" or "I don't care since it's so late"...well, I'm betting we'll see you in Home the day it launches.

leiwei @ May 13th 2008 12:31AM

^ Thanks for the info. I didn't know Home did those variety of things. I was more under the impression that it'd be like The Sims or Second Life from the screenies I've seen. You said we can check out vids/games from the theater, but isn't that possible on the PSN? It seems redundant. I think the biggest thing that attracts me to Home at the moment is the arcade games and people playing chess I've seen from the screens.

Dwag @ May 12th 2008 10:47PM

this second life rip off is getting on my nevres where the F@#$ is my In-Game-XMB?

whistlepig @ May 12th 2008 11:04PM

maybe then ill see some people in the beta when i log onto it .everytime im in there i never see anyone

kevin @ May 12th 2008 11:14PM

yeah i know it sucks add me keviseg15 i need a friend in home! i tried today and NOONE WAS THERE you know how most of the people chill by the arcade noone was there ugh

Popfrogs @ May 12th 2008 11:55PM

Sounds like the beta is way too limited.

whistlepig @ May 12th 2008 11:57PM

well there are plenty of people when they send out an email asking everyone to be on at a certain time ,but after that its a ghost town

Ptrack_Git @ May 12th 2008 11:34PM

Sony is gonna' release a product unfinished and we will have to wait for them to update and fix everything and they expect us to be grateful because it was delayed about 20 times? shocking...

leiwei @ May 13th 2008 12:33AM

If home is any indication like the EQ2 beta and release, I'd expect lots of big updates but also lots of nice touches. Obviously I don't think it's the same division that's handling EQ2 and Home, but like I said, if it's any indication, knowing Sony they'd cover as much as they could the demands of their loyal fans.