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I’VE JOINED THE PLAYSTATION HOME BETA TEST

I’m in a bit of a rush this morning to get these posts up as I wound up working late yesterday, caught up on some much needed sleep and, most importantly, received my invite to the PlayStation Home beta. Unfortunately, due to the non-disclosure agreement included with the beta, I can’t discuss anything about the service at this time. Rest assured I am keeping notes, so once the NDA is lifted, I’ll be sure to tell you all about it.

July 20, 2007 Posted by | Beta test, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Home, Sony | Leave a comment

SONY ANNOUNCES IT’S PLAN FOR THE ONLINE FUTURE OF THE PLAYSTATION 3

Yesterday at the Game Developer’s Conference, Sony unveiled their plans for the future of the PlayStation 3’s online service. The new feature, named PlayStation Home, looks to be an integration of the matchmaking capabilities of Xbox Live with the personalization of the Mii avatars on the Wii.

"Home is a real-time online 3D, networked community available on the PLAYSTATION®Network.  It allows PS3 users to interact, communicate, join online games, shop, share private content and even build and show off their own personal spaces to others in real time.  Home will be available as a free download from the PLAYSTATION®Store and will launch directly from XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) on PS3." – Sony press release

In short, PlayStation 3 owners would create virtual avatars that could move around in a 3d online world where they could use all aspects of Sony’s network service – without paying a monthly fee, I might add. At first glance it all seems very cool, just the same way the 3DNA desktop seemed like a fabulous idea for the PC. However, when you stop and think about it, when you’re trying to get to a specific piece of data, be it a demo, a video or entering a waiting room for an online game, do you really want to spend time walking there or do you just want to get in, get what you want and get out? Further, the idea of being constantly surrounded by many of the very people I go out of my way to avoid when I’m online certainly isn’t a selling point to me. Basically, I look at the core concept of the PlayStation Home as being something that old school PC users would say is "very pretty"- in other words, nice to look at, but totally impractical – and probably one that won’t be used by many as the main interface for Sony’s network services.

That’s not to say that there aren’t a few ideas in there that I don’t find very appealing. First and foremost is the idea of a public/private trophy room. I look at this as a virtual version of the achievement points system, which I think we all know is one of Xbox Live’s big hooks. This feature could conceivably eliminate part of the advantage I feel the Xbox 360 versions of multiplatform titles currently hold.

Secondly, I like the idea of being able to create a personal space where you could show videos, leave general messages, etc. It seems to me to be a potentially great way to share information without having to log off to check the internet. Even more intriguing is the ability for developers to essentially set up an online marketplace for their products. What I see in this is the potential for these spaces to become a virtual E3 of sorts where developers could allow the public an even closer feel than we currently get on any competing service. Think about it, not only could a developer present demos and videos of their game from this marketplace, but you could make announcements, run live contests and even have employees interact with your customers. Is that view an extremely ambitious idea for how the service could be used? Sure, but until we know just what the network’s limitations are, the sky really could be the limit.

There are other things that I worry about, things like latency, pricing and longevity. How much will all of these visual elements affect the performance of the PlayStation network service as far as actually playing games goes? Will Sony turn to a model of charging for every little thing you may want to do in order to keep the service profitable? Will Sony provide support for their games for more than just a few token years, or will we see games being removed from the service long before the console it’s played on heads off into the sunset.

Rather than ramble on and on, I’ll cut this one short until I know more about what we can really expect from the PlayStation Home. In the meantime, I found some of the video from Sony’s presentation on YouTube, so check it out below to learn more about what to expect when the PlayStation Home launches later this year.

March 8, 2007 Posted by | Announcements, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Home, PlayStation Network, Sony | Leave a comment

SONY THREATENS TO BLACKLIST KOTAKU, BACKS OFF

Before you think I’m having a Sony love-in today, it’s time to prove that Sony can never have a good day without stepping in it at the same time. Here’s the short version of today’s Public Relations nightmare;

It apparently began when Kotaku’s Brian Crecente contacted Sony regarding a story they were looking to break. The story was in reference to a service Sony will apparently be introducing at next week’s Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) which will be a mix of Microsoft’s Achievement point system and Nintendo’s Mii avatars. Rather than just giving the usual "We don’t comment on rumors" line, Dave Karraker, Sony’s senior director of corporate communications, contacted Crecente and basically advised them not to run the story under threat of harming Kotaku’s relationship with Sony.

Thankfully, Crecente decided his loyalty was to his readers and games journalism, not Sony. As such, he politely responded to Sony that they would be running the story anyway… and then it got ugly. Karraker responded to Crecente’s e-mail by advising them that he "can’t defend outlets that can’t work cooperatively with us." and notifying Crecente that effective immediately, Sony would be cutting off Kotaku from any official communications with Sony. They cancelled all interviews scheduled with Kotaku staffers during the GDC and revoked the site’s invitation to their media event next week. Pretty grim, eh?

What Sony didn’t realize at the time, and probably still don’t fully understand, is something that I’ve touched on here a few times before. This isn’t 1995. Simply put, the days when print magazines had to kiss ass because the only place to get news about a console was directly from the manufacturer are long gone. Truth be told, Sony probably needs Kotaku more than Kotaku needs Sony.

Regardless of whether you agree with that last point, what happened next was pretty amazing. The story was picked up by multiple game sites and within a few short hours, the sheer amount of negative press made Sony rethink their position. Karraker contacted Crecente one last time, and both decided that while they would agree to disagree on the issue at hand, it was in the best interests of both Sony and Kotaku to renew their relationship.

First off, let me give a huge salute to Brian Crecente and the folks over at Kotaku who kept their heads during the few hours all hell must have been breaking loose around them. There’s a reason why Kotaku is my number one stop for gaming news, and that’s because since I started reading their site, I’ve grown to trust them to be honest about what they think and feel. As a reader, knowing that someone can’t buy or bully Kotaku into saying something other than what they really believe is a huge selling point.

Secondly, let me say that it really is time someone at Sony wakes the hell up and smells the internet. If you want positive press, earn it – no one worth reading is going to just give it to you just because you say so. No one is going to just accept the company line without questioning the stupid things you may say. Accept it, Deal with it and adapt to the new world. Thank you.

March 2, 2007 Posted by | Kotaku, Oops, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Home, PlayStation Network, PR Nightmare, Sony | Leave a comment