It’s been a while since posting about Playstation’s Home Network. I only had a few short visits to Sony’s Virtual World over the years, and it’s less than impressive. Sony appears to feel the same way, and is now releasing a totally revamped Home later this year.
From Sony, the new hub will “integrates games, quests, community events and user-generated content, while providing players with additional navigation, shopping, socialization and entertainment options.” Sounds like it will be a much better experience, but is this change going to push Home itself more towards a game?
The line between a virtual world and a game is thin. Some would argue it’s more of a continuum, with ‘virtual world’ on one end and ‘game’ on the other. I would not hesitate putting Home, in its current form, on the ‘virtual world’ side of the continuum, probably out near the end. But with this new update, particularly with the addition of quests, Home is starting to inch closer towards a game. During my few visits to Home, I felt like I was trapped in some sort of renaissance world of advertising. Ads were everywhere, I could watch video ads for upcoming games, play “Drake’s Fortune” mini-games, buy branded clothing, etc. All while surrounded by beautiful avatars, rendered in stunning HD (assuming you have a TV capable of pushing the PS3’s maximum def).
It felt really…weird.
Will the new overhaul bring (and more importantly, keep) PlayStation 3 owners to the Home network?