Home in 'internal testing,' out 'this year'

by Majed Athab { Oct 27th 2008 at 8:35AM }

While the original date for moving into Home was "autumn 2008," it looks like the digital living space isn't ready to occupy just yet. Home community manager "TedtheDog" tagged the service with a "this year" release frame, responding to posters in the official European PlayStation forums.

Ted said Home v1.0 is currently in "internal testing and will hit the closed beta in the coming weeks." This means, freshly-invited Qore readers will probably get a taste of v1.0. "1.0 is a major milestone on our journey but it is not the destination," continued Ted. The closed beta will continue into early November and sometime later an open beta will occur. Hopefully Sony can roll out Home before Christmas; otherwise, a lot of PlayStation fans will have to deal without shelter during the cold winter -- a very cold winter.

[Via CVG]

Tags: home, playstation-home, ps3, scea, scee

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Phil @ Oct 27th 2008 8:40AM

I doubt it will be out this year; nor do I care anymore.!!11

supersickie @ Oct 27th 2008 8:42AM

You may not care, but I'm pretty sure plenty of people do. Bottom line is it's a free service that will most likely see a lot of downloads. I don't think it was ever meant to be a "killer-app"; I just hope Sony really did delay it so many times because they wanted it to be done right.

strike @ Oct 27th 2008 8:47AM

I'd rather have a brick house, which the wolf can't blow down, then the straw house, that the wolf can blow down.

Can wolves even blow???

deaftly @ Oct 27th 2008 10:19AM

I'm also in the beta for home, and I'll agree with just about everyone saying that's its pretty much a waste of time and just shitty.

video_game_master91 @ Oct 28th 2008 6:14PM

I agree with Phil. I "played" the beta and I was really disappointed. I do not care anymore for this.

koehler83 @ Oct 27th 2008 8:49AM

I spent about 20 minutes in home a few weeks ago (over Canadian Thanksgiving weekend). The time I spent there was fairly underwhelming, but I wont right it off as such.

The only feature I wanted to see in action was Game Launching, which I guess has not been implemented yet, as it wouldnt let me actually use the feature (Though it did appear in the PSPs XMB).

Hopefully by the time HOME reaches open beta, that feature will be fully operational, as it is, in my opinion, the absolute core feature of the application. (A feature which should be fully operational directly from the XMB if you ask me.)

Beyond that, I really have no interest in socializing online, though Im sure the Facebook crowd will eat it up. I'd still rather it be available, than not.

Averna @ Oct 27th 2008 9:31AM

yeah I agree the only real draw for Home is the game launching with friends. I was excited about the whole customise your space thing, but Im over it. Sony should have kept quiet about the whole thing until it was nearer to launch.

I think it would have been a wise move to add the major features of home to the XMB, like you say. The features should have taken months, not years.

Does anyone know if the game launching has been in the SDK and if so for how long? I know there are a few titles compatible, but they are all 1st party from memory. Otherwise it will be trophies 2.0 with trickles of games getting patched and others going without.

playcrackthesky @ Oct 27th 2008 8:55AM

Testing 1.0?

How is that even possible. Do they not know the concept of configuration management. x.0 releases are meant to be the product/service completed.

DeathroW @ Oct 27th 2008 9:20AM

So they are not allowed to test a product before release, do you not think they test the ps3s before they send them off because it is supposed to be a final product?

Beano @ Oct 27th 2008 9:30AM

@playcrackthesky:

Not true.... v1.0 usually only means it's feature-complete but does not indicate if it's "final" or not. You can easily have v1.0 beta 2 etc.

Besides Home will never be "final" as such. But a launch build which is a starting point for the service. Home will be expanded with news areas, features, etc. in the months/years to come.

playcrackthesky @ Oct 27th 2008 9:47AM

Deathrow, they can test until their heart is content. But read my post, your not suppose to test a 1.0 before release.

Your meant to test 0.01 to .99 fully, with .99 being the final test (open beta maybe). Then when it is fully ready and available for public download, then it is 1.0.

Coming from a background that deals with CM a lot, it makes no sense testing 1.0.

Beano, of course it's a living breathing service with constant updates. But that does not change the fact that the first release should be 1.0.

Either way, spewin I cant get my hands on a beta code. Cant wait to go home.

WhiteSpy @ Oct 27th 2008 10:11AM

Thats not true at all. Most software is versioned xx.yy.zz with .zz being the build number. So yes, you can be testing 1.0.zz and as they fine tune some things just keep incrementing the build .zz until they ready for release. Any company can do it however they want, but this is pretty much standard. Sometimes you even see it go to a fourth spot xx.yy.zz.qq. You can also go way past .99 if you want, there is nothing to stop you from having build 1.0.3259 if they needed to.

playcrackthesky @ Oct 27th 2008 6:29PM

Whitespy, yes indeed you can have version number 1.0.xx but that's not what has been stated my friend.

I have read, 'testing 1.0' that's all that bug's me. I've been working with CM for years, making sure to comply with ISO standards. So I like to think I know a little about the concept.

Once again, you are right about the x.x.xx but I have never seen Sony do that. Their releases have always been x.xx

dave @ Oct 27th 2008 9:50AM

It'll be a hot, steamy summer, thank you very much, you northern hemispherists! Does Playstation Home have air conditioning?

BlingOnMyWrist @ Oct 27th 2008 9:51AM

You know what, I didn't ever expect something like this to happen!

I'm flabbergasted.

Vincent @ Oct 27th 2008 10:06AM

They will realize the servers aren't stable enough once the bigger crowd get in through Qore. Home will get hacked further as well. It will be a big mess and they will delay it again.

My favorite part of Home news is predicting delays and joking around with it, otherwise I'll just get frustrated lol.

PGAGolf3r @ Oct 27th 2008 10:06AM

Sony drops the ball if they do not release this before holidays. The New Xbox Experience will be a strong selling point if Sony can't counter punch it.

Popfrogs @ Oct 27th 2008 10:40AM

Is it really? I've seen screenshots and it's pretty meh.

deaftly @ Oct 27th 2008 11:50AM

wow, you were able to make that judgement on screenshots alone?

Devin @ Oct 27th 2008 2:35PM

The new Xbox Experience looks great (when compared to the current dashboard) & so does Home (when compared to nothing), but no way in hell will they matter to the average consumer purchasing a console this Xmas....don't get me wrong, both are great selling points, but they won't justify a purchase, games will IMO....it's the experience they have after-the-fact that may get them more "enticed" to purchase more games/movies/DLC/etc.....

JaseH @ Oct 27th 2008 6:20PM

I love how deaftly defends the "Xbox Experience" & yet critisizes "Home" above.

What a class act.

___________________________
JaseH.

Rafael @ Oct 27th 2008 10:08AM

i dont even care about this anymore...
the only thing i read everytime: OUT THIS YEAR..
soon... very soon... i've been hearing this for almost a YEAR !

Falryu @ Oct 27th 2008 10:16AM

lol. This is not surprising. Even after all this time they are still not able to pull it out. I really recommend they get help from Lindey studios. They could really help them speed up the process and add more innovative stuff.

rgoff31 @ Oct 27th 2008 10:29AM

I'm looking forward to it, but I do wonder if people are going to use it much after the newness wears off.

Vcize @ Oct 27th 2008 10:32AM

Wasn't this supposed to be released in the fall? So is this "don't worry, it'll be out this way" just a tricky way of saying it's delayed to winter?

Soon, we'll be hearing "no no no, we meant this FISCAL year".

Fane @ Oct 28th 2008 7:54PM

Fall runs until Dec 20-22 (I don't know where the equinox falls this year).

Vagrant Dead @ Oct 27th 2008 10:34AM

I know this great company Sony should take with about online gaming, has something to do with charging a really low fee to support a proper online network/community. I heard some kids on the Inter-webs calling it a Xbox 360. God only know what that is!

deaftly @ Oct 27th 2008 11:51AM

I think its some kind of hovercraft.

ixbleedxfire @ Oct 27th 2008 10:54AM

Everytime they do delay it I get less and less interested in Home all together, but don't get me wrong, when it does come out I'll be ecstatic.

SnazzyD @ Oct 27th 2008 11:06AM

STFU already you bunch of pantless whiners! Home is what it is - a cool alternative to the faceless XMB for meeting up with friends, or making new acquaintances.

I'd rather chill out on my marina balcony waiting for friends to arrive before launching a game (especially when it's a snowy -30 outside) than do it the traditional way.

And it will be fun to hook up 'virtually' with friends and family all over the globe (private spaces only, yeah yeah).

To all the wet blankets, please do not install Home when it comes out. You're the worst kind of house guests, and not at all welcome. Just play your games, and leave this original, FREE service to those who appreciate it...

Which is a moot point, since 99% of you pissy-pants moaners are xBot trolls just trying to stir things up. I'd have thought you'd be over the moon with your Wii-too avatars. What? Not so cool after all? lol...

devilmaker @ Oct 27th 2008 11:28AM

I believe they should have released Home long ago and simply updated it over time. They've now had it delayed for so long that if it dosn't meet all the hype that everyone has talked about on day 1, it'll be a fail to near everyone in the public. They have delayed it so much everyone is expecting it to be straight out fantastic.

They are constantly digging a hole for themselves: Delay original 2007 release to make better, people get angry, expect it to be better, delay again to make even better, people expect it to get yet better on release due to repeated delay...
They continue to try to match what people now expect from it and the more it gets delayed, the higher the expectations get for them, and then they need to match those. It should have long been out and update IMO.

Jerses @ Oct 27th 2008 11:38AM

I hope this doesnt end up like "life with playstation", they announced it, delayed it and we hyped it... We were all expecting to have all cities with real time weather and news but there are only 20 cities ( if not less)with news and weather...how is this going to work for all of us that dont live in capital cities? or in latin america ( only peru have news). Maybe HOME will end up like that... i really hope not but now that my hype about Home is gone..i cant see nothing in it for me and i know i will download it and play with it but for how long? what will sony do to make me come again and again? :S

Ryan @ Oct 27th 2008 11:45AM

We've heard so many different release dates, and they always get pushed back. I'm beginning to think Guns N Roses are the ones making this thing.

John @ Oct 27th 2008 2:32PM

Soooo....

November 8th, huh?

//Still holding out for Duke Nukem Forever.

Jonathan @ Oct 27th 2008 12:03PM

Sony should really stop bothering with announcing release dates from Home. This isn't a service you pay for so it's not like Sony needs to build hype for it so that people will purchase it when it comes out. It's a free download and they should treat it like they did the launch of the video store; announce it a couple of hours or even a day before it is ready to be released. All these delays whenever they announce a possible release date only hurts them.

-jr- @ Oct 27th 2008 12:43PM

Yeah stop whining about home.
Its going to be free!

Paul from CT @ Oct 27th 2008 1:00PM

Dont care about home or xbox experience. never did. Sony should just make an announcement that it will be out next year sometime tba. Just sick of hearing all these lil complainers about how they will sell their ps3 if home doesnt get released this year. Just keep the quality games coming. come the Holidays, PS3 will officially have plenty of great games to play. Listen to the Home beta testers. It really is nothing to gripe about.

brettjr25 @ Oct 27th 2008 2:05PM

god, just scrap it please. I'm sick of hearing about something like this that apparently takes 4 years to create. FAIL!

Db @ Oct 27th 2008 2:19PM

Funny how all these people that are not interested in Home or are pissed off about a "Free" feature added to the operating system - still come here and write how they are not interested LOL.

ryan @ Oct 27th 2008 3:13PM

I will wait to try it out myself to see if I find it crucial to my gaming experience. But for now, it seems more unnecessary than an enhancement.

KinjiroSSD @ Oct 27th 2008 5:44PM

This may not be a popular opinion but Home isn't worth the resources devoted to it. The effort wasted on Home could have been used to improve the XMB, PSN Store, cross game invites, etc. Because you know, I would much rather walk around some virtual space to talk to my friends than message them and jump into a game.

kentuckyfried @ Oct 28th 2008 12:59AM

What's the inside word on the home theater feature?

One thing I'd absolutely love is the ability to play a movie, or just about an xvid/avi I can find, and be able to watch it at the same time with someone else with a ps3.
Is that going to be possible?

Xavier @ Oct 28th 2008 4:17AM

I heard video sharing was removed. Maybe it'll be put back but in a form that avoids as much piracy as possible.

jaschin @ Oct 28th 2008 5:53AM

Damnit

I just want to watch Entourage episodes more easily with the gf, who is studying far away. =(

Xavier @ Oct 28th 2008 4:20AM

You know the hilarious thing about home is? I read in an article that David Reeves, the head of SCEE, said that for quite some time the people working on home were trying to gather advertising partners instead of actually working on the software. So if you want to know why home is taking so long, its not because of difficulty in creating it, it was difficulty in finding advertising partners.