Sony Clarifies Details About PS3 Home

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Sony Clarifies Details About PS3 Home

Posted by Zonk on Friday September 14, 2007 @10:03AM from the out-and-about dept.

Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs blog has a few new details on the future of the Home project, as gleaned from the ThreeSpeech website. Among the tidbits of information: they'll be rolling out the service slowly, ramping up the number of servers as gradually as possible. They're really looking to make money with this, via advertising and microtransactions. And they're not really worried about porn. "For instance, a casino or even somewhere you can go and see 18-rated trailers for games. That isn't anything particularly sinister, but obviously, you'd have to prevent 12-year-olds going in there. Obviously, there are other 18-plus areas that you could imagine, but some of those might not come to fruition."

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Why filter through Ars? by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 10:06 · Score: 0

Wouldn't it be better to get it right from the horses mouth?
1. Re:Why filter through Ars? by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 10:08 · Score: 0
  
  well it helps me, since gaming sites are blocked from work, but ars isn't.
Never happen by Reason58 · 2007-09-14 10:07 · Score: 4, Insightful

Areas requiring the user to be 18 will earn this game an AO rating. It will never happen.
1. Re:Never happen by DrXym · 2007-09-14 10:13 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Areas requiring the user to be 18 will earn this game an AO rating. It will never happen.
  I see plenty of AO content every time I browse the internet. Some sites, including game sites ask my age everytime I view a clip. If they can exist without a rating, why do you assume that some Sony service cannot. Especially when it proactively attempts to enforce age restrictions unlike most websites.
2. Re:Never happen by ucblockhead · 2007-09-14 10:17 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It's not a game and will thus not be rated at all.
  
  --
  The cake is a pie
3. Re:Never happen by king-manic · 2007-09-14 10:24 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Areas requiring the user to be 18 will earn this game an AO rating. It will never happen.
  
  The reason why AO games don't occur is because big box stores like Walmart/Best buy have taken it upon themselves to act as a moral agent of their customers and limit more controversial content. Doing so proactively to avoid hassles with their predominantly older and more conservative customer base. Sony's online store is currently and likely permanently populated by a younger more liberal crowd (all 6 of us). They may be able to get away with adult content with ID tied to credit card or some other verification method (you must be 18 for a credit card so user with a registered one is fine. )
  
  --
  "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
4. Re:Never happen by Hangin10 · 2007-09-14 10:35 · Score: 1
  
  Which is rather broken considering how often I'm able to tell those things that I'm over 100 years old. If I can be ancient, a 12 year old can be 23.
5. Re:Never happen by Reason58 · 2007-09-14 10:37 · Score: 1
  
  you must be 18 for a credit card so user with a registered one is fine You can get a debit card well under 18 years of age.
6. Re:Never happen by king-manic · 2007-09-14 10:38 · Score: 1
  
  As far as I know you can differentiate a debit card from a credit card from a pre-paid credit card. They have different number spaces.
  
  --
  "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
7. Re:Never happen by Conception · 2007-09-14 10:39 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Actually, if you've never seen it before, they'll just do what every other game that touches the net does:
  
  ESRB Notice: Game Experience May Change During Online Play
8. Re:Never happen by DrXym · 2007-09-14 11:04 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It sounds like you've identified a far more broken model than Sony. It's not unreasonable to think that Sony could proactively enforce 18+ by requiring the person to hold a PSN account that has made at least 1 credit card transaction. They could even require a user to enter some nominal transaction such as 1c to enter a site for the first time. While it isn't impossible for some kid to have faked their parent's credit card details, I think Sony would have a reasonable defence if they they were sued because because of it.
  After all, how is it any different from any other adult pay service on the web?
9. Re:Never happen by Zekasu · 2007-09-14 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  You can differentiate the two, but it's not of particular importance to do so, if that's what you mean.
  
  The reason being that you can get a Debit card (In America) from Bank of America at the age of 16, and I'm sure you could get one at an ealier age if it were in your parent's name.
  
  Either way, what's to stop a 12 year-old from stealing his mom's credit card out of his purse? Or recieving permission to visit AO-related areas from his parent(s)?
10. Re:Never happen by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 11:31 · Score: 0
  
  What's to stop the parents from simply going to the store and buying porn for their kids? Oh, right, nothing. Better outlaw parents, or something along those lines.
11. Re:Never happen by king-manic · 2007-09-14 12:17 · Score: 1
  
  You can differentiate the two, but it's not of particular importance to do so, if that's what you mean.
  
  The reason being that you can get a Debit card (In America) from Bank of America at the age of 16, and I'm sure you could get one at an ealier age if it were in your parent's name.
  
  Either way, what's to stop a 12 year-old from stealing his mom's credit card out of his purse? Or recieving permission to visit AO-related areas from his parent(s)?/i>
  
  The difference is if you need a age validation allow only post paid credit cards. If a kid steals his mums, that absolves Sony of any direct responsibility as the parents Failed to teach their kids not to 1-steal 2-mis represent themselves as well as a failure in super vision. Also it would come out in the credit card statement. This would be adequate protection against minors being places they shouldn't (in a legal sense).
  
  --
  "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
12. Re:Never happen by nacturation · 2007-09-14 15:24 · Score: 1
  
  Isn't that like saying that web sites requiring the user to be 18 will earn your web browser an AO rating?
  
  --
  Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
13. Re:Never happen by gravis777 · 2007-09-14 15:37 · Score: 1
  
  Um, PS3 home is an online game, right? All you got to do is slap it with a Teen rating, which will tell people that its not a Disney Toontown game, then slap an ERSB warning on it saying that Game Experience may change online.
  
  Interesting, though, doesn't Sony say that they will not grant licenses to games that rate worse than MA? So yeah, just slap the above ERSB warning lable on it, and then Sony can release all the adult oriented crap they want.
  
  Hey, people are claiming that the porn industry went with HD-DVD, maybe the PS3 can gain a higher nitch if they decide to also pick up PS3 Home.
14. Re:Never happen by KDR_11k · 2007-09-14 17:59 · Score: 1
  
  Considering that Home "game" will have microtransactions there are many legitimate uses for a credit card so it's not inconceivable that a kid could get a parent to use their credit card.
  
  Though it's really hypocritical to forbid the release of AO games on the platform and then offer an online portal with actual porn.
  
  --
  Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
15. Re:Never happen by KDR_11k · 2007-09-14 18:56 · Score: 1
  
  If the parent buys the transaction is between the store and the parent, if the parent only gives his CC number the transaction is between the store and minor. Selling porn to minors is a crime AFAIK.
  
  --
  Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
16. Re:Never happen by DrXym · 2007-09-14 20:54 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  PSN doesn't require a credit card on every account. You can have a master account (the parent's account) that can add funds to sub accounts (the kids). So even if Home had micro transactions, there is no need for a kid to have a credit card to use it. Sub accounts can also be age restricted by the master account so that they can't play inappropriate content, whether it is games, movies or (I assume) Home zones. So it's really about parental responsibility.
17. Re:Never happen by Seumas · 2007-09-14 23:04 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It's sad that at the age of 30, I am still forced by industry and society to have the content and entertainment I consume dumbed down to the acceptability level of a fourth grade child.
Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 10:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

I think people are just grasping how long and how extensive Home is. Sony says they have been working on Home since the start of the PS2 development and if you go back and read interviews over the past 5-7 years you can actually see them talking about what would later be called Home. It's funny to see some of the reactions people had to Sony's 'crazy online world talk'.

The amount of effort must be staggering when you look at Home and the roadmap Sony has talked about for the PS3 over the next five years. Home is built on or will implement:

* The base MMORPG engine - the basis for home for world rendering, avatar management, and all the other things that every game like EQ and WoW implement for allowing people to exist in a virtual world

* The video streaming technology - I believe Sony bought a video streaming company some time back. In home videos are streaming all over the place. Both from Sony's servers and in PS3 owner's personal video collection.

* The whole avatar customization tech Sony has so far is the most extensive I've seen - it is weird to be able to make avatars that look exactly like you or see your friends actually running around in a virtual world

* All of the social games they have and will be adding to Home - bowling, video game cabinets, pool just to start. Tons more sound like they are planned ahead

* The party system for meeting people inside of Home and then all being able to jump into a multiplayer PS3 game together and then all return to the same spot in Home.

* The support for game companies(and actually anyone) to create custom spaces. All you need is a copy of Maya and the Sony Home export tools to create your company's own space inside of Home. EA, Activision, and any other developer or publisher can easily take existing game art and tag surfaces to stream videos of their games or whatever they want up on the wall and create virtual stores for their games. Custom third party spaces in Home are essentially live 3D webpages for companies.

* The support for clans. You should be able to setup space for you gaming clans to all have your own custom space that is decked out in whatever theme your clan wants. A place for everyone to meet up before and after matches. Streaming videos of matches and screenshots an images up on the walls

* Online stores - in addition to game companies Sony is saying they are setting things up for anyone to setup of stores or other types of non-game related places inside of Home

* Movie streaming and downloads - watch movies right inside of Home with friends or see streaming clips of movies and buy them to download to your PS3 right there in Home. Or go watch movie previews just like in theaters

I'm sure there is more. Sony says they will be constantly updating Home just like they do with the PS3's firmware which they put out about once a month updates.

Free online gaming for everyone
Dedicated servers for games
Home

Sony is kicking some serious ass in online console gaming.
1. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by lexarius · 2007-09-14 11:38 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds like Second Life. SL is a great idea with a horrible implementation. If Sony can do it better, then great. With their current track record, though, I would fully expect them to make a marvelous technical wonder and then slap on some draconian Evil Shit(TM) or other random nonsense (Only $70/month!) which would make it a complete turnoff. I'll be impressed if they manage not to screw it up. I intend to purchase a PS3 or two for purely research purposes (though I might just spring for a real Cell Blade), but if things improve I might actually purchase games for it. Maybe.
2. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Kazzahdrane · 2007-09-14 11:48 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I actually modded your post up as Informative but then felt I'd rather reply, so apologies for not helping!
  
  The tone of your post could easily come across as a Sony fanboy spewing out PR talk but frankly it all sound very interesting, and you seem genuinely excited by Home and what it offers. I am too, in theory. I just wonder how much Sony are going to charge for the content and features for Home, and also how many people are really going to use it beyond "see you in Home to form a group for Call of Duty" or whatever.
  
  I think what Sony should do is introduce some sort of "light" MMORPG experience into Home (perhaps this is already planned), letting you level up an Avatar. Perhaps higher level players can access more multiplayer minigames, or go to different areas. You wouldn't want casual players to feel they were getting none of the Home experience of course, but at the right level it might encourage the more hardcore players to spend time in the Home environment.
  
  My feeling is that Home will be really cool and interesting, but that a lot of PS3 owners (who at the moment are mostly hardcore gamers due to the price of the system) will get bored with trying it out after a couple of weeks and unless there is gameplay with Home - or Sony forces them to do straightforward gaming functions through the Home environment - they might not use it beyond that. I think the same thing about LittleBig Planet, lots of people seem excited about it but it's a product that by the looks of things will live or die on the strength of the user created content.
  
  In all honesty I don't see myself owning a PS3 for at least another 18 months, if ever, but I work in games retail and would like the customers who buy PS3s to have a unique and rewarding experience on their consoles. The lack of decent games for the PS3, coupled with the entry price (the main reason for the difference between the Wii and the PS3 success-wise currently), is killing the system at the moment in terms of word-of-mouth advertising, so Sony really need a hook for people to want to sit with their PS3s and tell their friends about it.
3. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by DeepHurtn! · 2007-09-14 12:03 · Score: 0, Flamebait
  
  Sony is kicking some serious ass in online console gaming.
  While everything else you say may be true, this is just wishful thinking at this point. Home isn't out yet. Nobody owns a PS3. It's holiday lineup is anemic. Right now Sony has a *plan* to *try* and kick "some serious ass in online console gaming" but they haven't done squat yet.
4. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 12:15 · Score: 0
  
  What the hell are you babbling about?
  
  Sony RIGHT NOW has:
  
  Free online for everyone who owns a PS3. No having to worry if your friends have kept up their stupid 50 dollar a year charge to play games online.
  
  Their launch title PS3 set the gold standard for online console play
  40 players per game
  Dedicated servers
  http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140657
  
  And now Warhawk is the new online leader
  32 players per game
  Dedicated servers
  User dedicated servers
  
  The most common thing heard in Home discussion is "who do I have to kill to get into the Home beta" When Home officially launches this year its game over for online console dominance.
  
  Sony wins. Sorry if you spent hundreds of dollars over the past few years to Microsoft for crappy P2P games on the Xbox and 360.
  
  Microsoft:
  50 dollars every damn year just to be allowed to play games online
  No dedicated servers
  Crappy player counts - A pathetic 8 max for Gears of War, and a pitiful 16 max for Halo 3
  No answer to Home
  
  Nintendo:
  LOL!
5. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Brigade · 2007-09-14 12:25 · Score: 1
  
  I camped out for my launch PS2. I loved it and was a dedicated Sony Fanboi.
  
  Then I watched as hubris overtook, and turned my back on them (as I felt that they did to me). I continued to listen to the "PR Speak" and "Marketing" and refused to believe them, and I've saved myself $600 in the process.
  
  We've tread over this path before: Sony has been ALL about "selling the technology" and giving consumers the "sound bite," but they've cried "wolf" too many times for this gamer to swallow the bait.
  
  Does Home sound awesome? You betcha .. if they can get it off the ground and working as promised, then I'll definitely tip my hat and say "Yep, Sony crushed Live." However, looking at thier track record, I'm not holding my breath.
  
  Also, it has been proven time and time again that Might =/= Success. Look at every "advanced" platform that delivered the goods: They all lost to less "muscled" machiens. Turbo-Graphics had superior graphics, sound, and a CD-ROM add-on during the cartridge-based days, and they were crushed. Same story with 3D0. Similiar story with Neo-Geo. In the game industry, the baddest machine ends up costing the most, and ends up left in the wake of the others.
  
  One other thing to consider: Microsoft may be the devil, but in regards to the 360 and Live, they have been incredibly smart. They make promises, AND deliver on them, or they don't say anything and just surprise people. They also aren't going to sit still and watch Sony (or Nintendo) just pass them by, especially in regards to online. When it comes to online implementation, they are the platform to beat (and the bar to be measured against) at least for this generation. They threw down the gauntlet when the 360 launched, and no one has been able to touch them in the online functionality.
6. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by CronoCloud · 2007-09-14 12:35 · Score: 1
  
  It not only sounds like SL it even looks like SL, only better. I saw a screenshot a couple of days ago where a female avatar looked like she was wearing an improved version of some SL skins. Kind of like a RaC or RealSKINS skin, only without the shading issues photosourced skins often have in SL. Personally I'm hoping Sony will allow/support user created fashion content. Last I heard, "Home" itself will be free to use.
7. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 12:49 · Score: 0
  
  I can say that I speak for the entire 105 million PS1, 120 million PS2, and 5 million PS3 userbase in saying thank god a complete piece of shit like you has become an Xbot.
  
  Only a complete piece of shit would put up with:
  
  50 dollar a year fees just to be given the privilege to play games online
  
  Adding 250 dollars to the price of the console over 5 years of ownership. 400 + 250 dollars in online fees make the 360 a 650 dollar console. What a bunch of losers!
  
  Putting up with the worst game sizes on any platform. WTF is Microsoft thinking with only 16 players per game in Halo 3? Are gamers supposed to be impressed that they managed to double Gears of War's joke 8 player max?
  
  Putting up with paying for lag. PCs have dedicated servers for games. PS3 has dedicated servers for games. 360 has laggy P2P networking for games where anyone with a crappy net connection lags the entire game. Host advantage bugs and all the other crap you have to deal with for P2P networking.
  
  No answer to Sony's Home.
  
  Yeah golf clap Microsoft. No wonder they never are willing to release the number of dimwits like this clown who posted above who are willing to pay for such crap and instead keep trying to think they are fooling the gaming world with their attempts to pass off Silver accounts as people actually paying for Gold accounts.
  
  So fuck off loser. The gaming world is laughing their asses off at the tiny number of idiots who are dumb enough to pay for Microsoft's crappy service.
  
  "Buh,buh,buh...it has to be good...I waste 50 bucks every year on it!"
8. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by NeutronCowboy · 2007-09-14 13:58 · Score: 0, Troll
  
  What's with the AC who consistently shills for Sony in nearly all game-related threads - certainly all console-hardware related threads? They are actually cut-and-past jobs.
  
  Right now, no one's really seen home in action. Most of the bullet points listed by the AC are nothing but unsubstantiated marketing drivel (this applies to his posts about home, online games and games in general). In short - every last one of these AC posts is pure drivel.
  
  I find Home interesting, but right now, it's nothing but empty promises. Wake me up when it's out and I can actually check it out. In the meantime, I'll mod you troll.
  
  --
  Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
9. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 14:00 · Score: 0
  
  If 50 dollars a year is a lot of money to you, you must be 12.
10. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by ir · 2007-09-14 15:03 · Score: 0
  
  it's more than $0. keep on takin' it up the ass from Microsoft and smiling!
  
  --
  Irina Romanov
11. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 15:47 · Score: 0
  
  I quite enjoy the Live service. It's polished and I think it is very much worth my money. Discounting it completely because it not free or because it is a MS product is asinine.
  
  $50 a year is a pittance to most people with an income, and I am willing to pay for a service I like. If that's "takin' it up the ass", then I guess I'm takin' it up the ass from a lot of people: My landlord, my bank, my ISP, my grocery store, the guy who sold me my car, etc etc.
12. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 15:50 · Score: 0
  
  I'm sorry but Sonys current online showing is pathetic. Period.
  
  Even the DS has more online games than the PS3
13. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by CronoCloud · 2007-09-14 16:19 · Score: 1
  
  Not if you count all those online PS2 games. I remember DS gamers saying, "don't worry the games will come, and until they do, you've got the GBA library to tide you over"
14. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 17:35 · Score: 0
  
  I'm just amused when a Sony shill says anyone else is taking it up the ass. I mean, sure, I'd be glad to buy a 600 dollar blu-ray player that might gets games at some point in the future, if I were a retard.
  
  Thankfully, I'm not.
15. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by PhoenixOne · 2007-09-14 23:02 · Score: 1
  
  So marketing people from Sony can't bother even making fake accounts on Slashdot now?
  
  Maybe this AC is just a fanboy but, honestly, this is so much empty marketing crap. So, in the interest of equal time, lets talk about A World of Your Own!
  
  The amount of effort must be staggering to create a system as good as Sony's Home, but release it sooner:...
  
  --
  Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
16. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by toolie · 2007-09-15 06:21 · Score: 1
  
  So what you are saying is when your console has no games worth a shit and Christmas is coming up, implement a SL clone to try to get people to buy your console. I just got Heavenly Sword last night, so that may be a game worth a shit, we'll find out over the next few days.
  
  --
  -- toolie
17. Re:Home Just Keeps Getting Better And Better by C0rinthian · 2007-09-17 05:02 · Score: 1
  
  I'm trying to figure out how match size correlates to quality. For example, GoW was designed around small squad encounters. Making it 20 vs. 20 would fundamentally change gameplay dynamics.
  
  Of course, the parent is an almost blantant copy/paste Sony schill. I shouldn't be suprised. At least he didn't say it was 'Rock Solid' a half dozen times.
EA Demos by GodsBlood · 2007-09-14 11:45 · Score: 0

Is it just me or does it seem like all the new EA demos have some sort of "HOME" look and feel to them? I haven't seem them on 360 so have nothing to compare to, is there any difference?
Translation : by MMaestro · 2007-09-14 11:48 · Score: 1

Obviously, there are other 18-plus areas that you could imagine, but some of those might not come to fruition.
In other words, we're going to close our eyes, cover our ears and pray for the best.
If the ESRB went after TES: Oblivion for "nude" add-ons for the PC only and GTA3: SA for an accessable only by hacking portion of the game, theres going to be hell to pay if Sony's PS3 Home gets anything less than a M or AO rating.
1. Re:Translation : by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-14 12:17 · Score: 0
  
  Uh, the idiotic ESRB is for retail GAMES.
  
  Home is not a game but an online service/world that has nothing to do with retail sales. Home is something you download as an extension of the PS3's system software.
  
  ESRB is irrelevant to Home.
2. Re:Translation : by trdrstv · 2007-09-15 00:34 · Score: 1
  
  If the ESRB went after TES: Oblivion for "nude" add-ons for the PC only and GTA3: SA for an accessable only by hacking portion of the game, theres going to be hell to pay if Sony's PS3 Home gets anything less than a M or AO rating.
  
  Actually no. If it gets any rating it would likely be "E for Everyone" with the disclaimer 'Game Expeiance may change during online play". I doubt there will be anything "Mature" in Home or the toolset, but what the community does with it, may end up on that side.
Blue Hyperlinks on a blue bar by atari2600 · 2007-09-14 12:29 · Score: 3, Insightful

Sheer genius and easy on the eyes. Which genius came up with that idea? JFC.
I'd drop $600 for high-def porn on the PS3 by Ang31us · 2007-09-14 18:18 · Score: 1

HD porn would make the purchase completely justified in my view :-P
1. Re:I'd drop $600 for high-def porn on the PS3 by Lisandro · 2007-09-14 19:35 · Score: 1
  
  HD porn would make the purchase completely justified in my view
  
  It depends, you know. It's all nice and dandy until you start noticing zits in an ass closeup!
2. Re:I'd drop $600 for high-def porn on the PS3 by Sabathius · 2007-09-14 21:14 · Score: 1
  
  Got you covered, brother. Blu-ray Porn
3. Re:I'd drop $600 for high-def porn on the PS3 by Professor_UNIX · 2007-09-15 05:00 · Score: 1
  
  Why don't you go out and actually get laid for once in your life instead? $600 would surely buy you the services of a decent prostitute.
4. Re:I'd drop $600 for high-def porn on the PS3 by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-15 15:30 · Score: 0
  
  Silly rabbit, sex is once in a life time, masturbation is forever.
5. Re:I'd drop $600 for high-def porn on the PS3 by Ang31us · 2007-09-17 02:53 · Score: 1
  
  LOL; that's hilarious!!! Clearly, God's intelligent design created CraigsList so that I don't have to spend money to get laid.
Is there anyone home? by Fross · 2007-09-14 22:09 · Score: 2, Informative

What is Home, aside from Second Life with a better graphics engine, and less user generated content?

You "only" need Maya to make content. So that's, what, $150? Plus the PC to use it on. And mastery of an insanely complicated development environment. Second Life only has the attraction it does because people can *easily* make content for it. Playing online pool and watching videos? What's wrong with youtube and countless existing facebook plugins or flash sites?

I don't see what the attraction for Home is, beyond going into a pretty environment and getting spammed with advertising - if I wanted that, I'd go walk down a main street.

It's an MMORPG engine wrapper for their XBLA equivalent, obviously. But how much time do you spend in XBLA (or whatever your version is... Steam perhaps?) hanging out, rather than actually playing?
1. Re:Is there anyone home? by tepples · 2007-09-15 01:20 · Score: 1
  
  You "only" need Maya to make content. So that's, what, $150? Which edition of Maya software are you talking about? Maya Complete shows up as $1,999 for me. Or how are you trying to estimate the fraction of players who make content?
2. Re:Is there anyone home? by Floritard · 2007-09-17 06:06 · Score: 1
  
  I don't have a PS3 or a 360 for that matter. And no I'm not a Second Lifer, but I don't understand the knee-jerk reaction of deriding something that's so "like Second Life." Ignoring the odder antisocialites that parade around Linden's little world and looking at what Second Life is aiming for just ask yourself what's so bad about that? When I first heard about Second Life I was pretty shocked that anyone was even trying that sort of thing as I thought, and still do think, that the tech for it is still some years off. Maybe not, we'll see when Home comes out if it's got the chops to be interesting. It probably won't be all that great as I think that Sony just isn't the right company for something like that (Valve has more heart), but if they've really been working on it all these years (which would explain why they didn't try anything remotely interesting with PS2 Online, even while losing some real ground to XBox Live) then I'm interested in waiting to see.
  
  It's being described as a MMOG, but what we're really talking about is the next generation of the user interface. We used to use punch cards, then we talked to command prompts (I know many still do), then it was the prettier and prettier GUIs. The next logical step is a sort of MMOG whereby you talk to avatars and use virtual terminals. Instead of your friends being in different chat windows they'll be in different characters. It's the kind of thing Virtual Reality never did give us. It's really no different functionally than a basic windowed menu interface, but it is indeed more immersive and whoever finally gets that formula right will really have something on their hands, especially with all these kids growing up accustomed to social networks. Once again with Live, as with Windows, Microsoft has the install base, but they really don't have any imagination. Maybe Sony will with Home, maybe not. I want to play in the world of Idoru, whoever finally builds it.
And lose customers by tepples · 2007-09-15 00:43 · Score: 1

As far as I know you can differentiate a debit card from a credit card from a pre-paid credit card. They have different number spaces. And lose customers. I know plenty of grown-ups who have a driver's license (or other state-issued ID) and debit card but have sworn off credit cards after having climbed out of debt. Or are there enough customers who are willing to apply for credit cards just to view mature, not-yet-rated, or individually published content?
1. Re:And lose customers by king-manic · 2007-09-15 05:39 · Score: 1
  
  And lose customers. I know plenty of grown-ups who have a driver's license (or other state-issued ID) and debit card but have sworn off credit cards after having climbed out of debt. Or are there enough customers who are willing to apply for credit cards just to view mature, not-yet-rated, or individually published content?
  
  Age verification and prevention of lawsuits trumps catering to a demographic which have financial troubles or refuse to use major credit cards. Their numbers are smaller then you think as Credit is easy. Bankruptcy is the only modern case that makes credit cards impossible. These days even having extremely poor credit you can still get a low limit credit card. My sister was accepted for one at 18 with no income and no credit history. At a point I made less then 30,000 a year but had a gold card for 15,000. You really have to screw up not to be able to get one and if you refuse to use one, it's a consequence of your choice that products will be less convenient to purchase.
  
  --
  "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
"not a game"? by tepples · 2007-09-15 00:46 · Score: 1

It's not a game and will thus not be rated at all. Isn't that like saying Second Life or Habbo Hotel or The Sims or Animal Crossing is "not a game"? Or do I fundamentally misunderstand Home?
1. Re:"not a game"? by ucblockhead · 2007-09-15 05:36 · Score: 1
  
  It is Sony's answer to "XBox Live", with more interesting avatars.
  
  --
  The cake is a pie
2. Re:"not a game"? by imr · 2007-09-27 16:42 · Score: 1
  
  You fundamentally misunderstand home.
  It's not a game it's an interface to social functions, games being one of them.
  So, some of those functions can be games, but the interface itself is not one.
  It can't be bought, it's included in the console, so it isnt even a stand alone product.
  The only one near it in your list is second life.
  Let's call them social interfaces.
Manhunt 2 for a fourth-grader? by tepples · 2007-09-15 00:49 · Score: 0

It's sad that at the age of 30, I am still forced by industry and society to have the content and entertainment I consume dumbed down to the acceptability level of a fourth grade child. All major video gaming platforms, except perhaps V.Smile and Leapster, allow software products designed exclusively for "mature" audiences. Would you want a fourth-grade child exposed to the Grand Theft Auto III trilogy or Manhunt 2?
1. Re:Manhunt 2 for a fourth-grader? by C0rinthian · 2007-09-17 04:54 · Score: 1
  
  Are you referring to the content filtered version of Manhunt 2, or the original version that will never be published?
2. Re:Manhunt 2 for a fourth-grader? by tepples · 2007-09-17 07:43 · Score: 1
  
  Are you referring to the content filtered version of Manhunt 2 To expand the post fully: Would you want the median fourth-grade child exposed to the content of Grand Theft Auto III (rated M), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (rated M), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (rated M), or Manhunt 2 (rated M)?
Multiplayer is the 1st thing lost in back-compat by tepples · 2007-09-15 00:55 · Score: 1

Not if you count all those online PS2 games. Historically, multiplayer modes have been one of the first things that the maker of a backward compatible console drops. I know Game Boy multiplayer does not work on Super Game Boy (GBA compatibility accessory for Super NES), nor does GBA multiplayer work on the DS. In the case of Sony products, nor does the serial cable for PlayStation (required for Command & Conquer Red Alert Retaliation and a few other multiplayer games) work with a PS3, PS2, or even the redesigned PSOne. Does PS2 online multiplayer work inside the PS3's PS2 backward compatibility mode?
TG16's not-so-superior technology by tepples · 2007-09-15 01:09 · Score: 2, Interesting

Turbo-Graphics had superior graphics, sound, and a CD-ROM add-on during the cartridge-based days, and they were crushed.
The PC Engine sold well in Japan, but in North America, the TurboGrafx-16 fell victim to superior tech released shortly after its launch. (Compare the later Dreamcast.)

For one thing, the Sega Genesis was better in some ways than the TG16. The Genesis's 32-bit MC68000 CPU on a 16-bit bus could process game logic faster than the 8-bit 65C02-based CPU of the TG16. The Genesis's VDP could display two background layers, unlike the TG16 that relied on the same sprite- and raster-based parallax scrolling methods that were used on the NES. And it started with a decent software library due to quick ports of arcade games that used system boards similar to that of the Genesis.

The Super NES's 65C816 CPU was roughly comparable to that of the TG16, but its PPU was far superior, adding a third layer, an alternate background mode with rotation and scaling of individual scanlines, and sum and difference blending (for semitransparency). In addition, the Super NES had a much more powerful audio chip.
Never happen-BSDM by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-15 09:23 · Score: 0

"The reason why AO games don't occur is because big box stores like Walmart/Best buy have taken it upon themselves to act as a moral agent of their customers and limit more controversial content."

Yeah? And I can't go into Wal-mart/Best Buy and buy BSDM equipment either. Does that mean they're acting as a moral agent for me as well?

"Doing so proactively to avoid hassles with their predominantly older and more conservative customer base. "

Film at eleven: company caters to those who pay it's bills. How novel!
Re:your price argument by corky842 · 2007-09-18 15:51 · Score: 1

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/08/25