Hi Home Community,
As many of you know, 2009 was a big year for PlayStation Home. The millions of you that use PlayStation Home saw us transform from a 3D virtual world into a true social gaming platform with more than 50 spaces and over 100 games. One of the biggest highlights of the year was the launch of the popular Sodium One space, which has redefined what a social game can be by combining massive action, stunning graphics and social experiences in a way never done before. PlayStation Home has become a leader in the evolution of social games from simple 2D web games to immersive high-definition 3D experiences made possible by the tremendous horsepower of the PlayStation 3.
As we start the new year, we are not slowing down. We are adding new spaces, community events and virtual items each and every week, with many of these updates based directly on your feedback. Last week marked an important milestone in our evolution with a new iteration of the Mall, which was heavily influenced by our community’s request to have a more streamlined shopping experience. The Mall now features stores from some of our closest partners, including Loot from Sony Pictures who brought us all of the awesome Ghostbusters gear, our friends at Lockwood – creators of Sodium, and of course EA Sports, who have been among the strongest supporters of PlayStation Home since the earliest days after launch. One new face to PlayStation Home is LucasArts, who brought both Star Wars and Indiana Jones to their new store in the PlayStation Home Mall. I for one will be rocking the Imperial Stormtrooper outfit for the foreseeable future.
PlayStation Home is based on a “freemium” model, which allows you, our community to play games, meet friends, explore and discover rewards – all for free. In addition, there are opportunities to personalize your experience with virtual items that allow you to stand out from the crowd, or even play your favorite games in PlayStation Home better (thank you Stomper Boots!) Whether you buy virtual items or just play games and hang out, I would like to extend a huge “thank you” for your support from everyone on our team.
With all that said, this is just the beginning of what we have in store for you. Many of our long time community members have been asking for features, fixes and content that we have been secretly hard at work on, and will be rolling out over time. Rest assured that we hear your requests loud and clear (I personally use Home and read the forums daily), and although we can’t deliver everything we’re asked for, we will compliment all of these new features and content with a renewed focus on open dialogue and service. Our Home Community Managers, along with myself, continue to work on addressing your questions regarding our direction for the next year, so stay tuned to the PlayStation Home forums for what is sure to be a lively conversation!
We have an incredible number of new surprises ahead, so if you’re not already a member of the PlayStation Home community, there has never been a better time to jump in and experience all of the fun.
Thank you Home Community. Keep being awesome.
Best,
The home is being cool because of the community.But it isn’t bad,LBP is like this.
Its been quite a while since the open beta started. Is Home ever going to stop being a beta?
Is PS3 ever going to get out of beta?
Great news as I am always interested in what home as to offer for the furture. alot of people really have been kinda bummed out about the lack of clubhouse designs so hopefully that is in the plans for the future, hopefully near future. customizing clothing for our avatars would be nice, like personalized jerseys with our online id on the back, I’d love to have a Rockets jersey in home with houdrummer on it.
Hm, how do I respond to something like this.. Well, more power to you and home.. Personally, I know everyone looks at me as a complainer, but sorry, I’m just trying to watch out for other people and I posted in the TRASHED ASS lithium forums my concerns on false advertising and paying for items you never get, but Lithium doesn’t appreciate comments like that. I’ll be glad when the day comes when Sony does their own forums, and ditches 3rd party forum idiots who don’t know what they are doing, other then destroying Sony’s Rep. But other then that, I enjoy home and I use it a lot, and I will continue to support home as much as I can, even though there are several issues in home that need to be addressed, like unstable connections, lag, and not to mention one of the biggest problems which is the favoritism among home mangers and certain users of the forums.
PS. People asking for TV’s and music, you might as well forget it, I personally don’t ever see that happening.. I mean look at the constant F13’s, the lag, network errors. No, this will never happen. I mean heck go to Mui Mui boat, see how long you can stay there before you crash.. or better yet how long it takes you to leave!
Here’s to homes future!
i was really excited for HOME and what it meant for the PS3 when it first came out…
but through all the opening hoopla and future promises and the disappointing reality of what HOME really turned out to be, still a Beta, i just can’t help but feel that now it is finally getting good and closer to the original vision of what it was supposed to be – it is going to be twisted into some sort of “premium” tiered pay to play kind of thing sooner or later..
The HOME we were all promised will finally come, and then they will charge us for it..
Please Sony, prove me wrong, and keep HOME and the PSN free forever!
PS yes i said “hoopla”
;)
As a hardcore gamer, my expectations of Home started out ‘hopeful,’ but its become clear to me at least, that Home is for casuals who dont necessarily even game that much, which is likely why I rarely run into users with more than 16 trophies. If this is what Home is, so be it, but the demonstration Phil Harrison showed at E3 years ago is, in retrospect, a wild transition from what we have today. We STILL dont have media streaming or the trophy room, and not even a word about either of them. The only way Home is not a disappointment is if I take it for what it is, and not what I expected or perceived it to be.
Sony, i really hope you guys know what you have here. A social networking experience in a 3D environment. I really hope that you guys can improve this gold mine. I really think it needs to be more incorporated with the PS3 itself. I’m really glad that you are taking community feedback and improving something that has so much potential.
Seems that SONY hates things like open public voice chat in HOME, cross-game voice chat,
party voice chat and such…
If you want HOME to be more popular it only takes three words.
Public Voice Chat.
i have a question back when home was still a closed beta everyone walking around home and had a mic could speak to any1 without having to do a anoying 2 people phonecall now why not add a tri-way call feature at least n for the love of god fix the loading times i have a bunch of items also in home and it takes a really long time to load all those clothes that annoys me.. and anyone that uses home but besides that home is great.
freemium. kewl!
PUBLIC VOICE CHAT!!!!
I know I posted public voice chat but I’m so glad to see the number of other people that posted it before me. It is the one and only feature keeping me from continuously using Home (I haven’t used it but one or two times since they removed it)
Hi,
I would like a park added that we could walk through. Make it like a globe so we can walk all over and add bridges and streams, a few trees (no climbing allowed ;) , you get the idea. Ask HGTV Network. You never know, they might want to become involved.
I’m still waiting for a reply as to my application for either the HOME or Central Plaza baseball team. I’m an outfielder but I can play 3rd base.
Thanks!
Billy ‘Kid’ Fleetfoot
Make it load faster please.
Oh Playstation. Couldn’t be left out of the whole $5 lightsaber scam Xbox has going on, could you? Oh well. Some people may find it usefull.
I’ve been on Home since the closed Beta in the beginning. I remember the open public voice chats. Loud, lewd and annoying. There would be someone playing their music over the open mic, someone making an off-color remark about someone’s avatar and you couldn’t get a word in edgewise when you wanted to say anything. Home can’t control what someone might broadcast over their mic and some people might find things offensive. So I can see it being closed to the general public. Keep it so friends can talk and others can see it.
More LucasArts stuff and how about a few Doctor Who things. Tardis space would be great. Smaller on the outside and bigger on the inside. :D
One other thing we need the mods out in the public places a bit more so some of the stuff that goes on can get cut short.
@ mr. jack buser
maybe you’ll answer me about what happened to the wizards den? the rest of your team won’t…
also i fully agree with frankma. the mods need to be putting in more work. my wife can’t stand still in a public area of home without being harassed, it’s sad.
also, any word as to when the club space will get a makeover? 31 people just isn’t big enough, and the clubhouse itself is bland and base. would be nive to have a little more control over the overall look of your club, as each one is different in taste, and size. just a thought!
also getting one answer to any question i’ve posed to home teamwould be amazing!
Just some ideas :D
– Load times reduced
– More PS3 Integration – Avatar linking to PSN account etc
– Public voice chat (or at least private group voice chat ability in public places)
– Give games the ability to be instanced. Or make simpler games available to be placed in a apt, or make a game room apt. Bowling, Pool, Chess are games my friends and I REALLY enjoy but having to wait around for a lane to free up is a bit silly…especially in a virtual world :D
– Disable chat bubbles in Theater, enable full screen in every seat, investigate actually showing movies/shows in theatre
– I understand that TV “sharing” would be hard to get partners on board with due to IP issues etc. However let me suggest you add in TV’s and radios that leverage IP TV. Link tv’s to sites like Revision3, HULU, CBS, Pandora, Slacker, etc?
– save default Avatar customization on the server side for us that have more than one PS3
Hey Jack, since psn is goin to have a premium service(which I hate and is against), home isn’t gonna be apart of the premium only is it? You guys stated above that it will stay free. But, I keep wonderin what yah are gonna make us pay for thats sooo important to us that the free psn won’t have. Also, when is this no longer beta? Kinda long don’t you think? Since its still beta yah can hear these needed fixes again. Faster loadin(much much much faster), Better optional voice chat, better game launching. I hate havin to add strangers to my friends list. Let me play with them so I can decide from there.
@121…a different console seems to have no issues allowing party movie viewing now…
any chance of an core update that would fix the bugs that keep people off home like the long load times
All the fan comments get a thankyou, all the comments voicing legitimate complaints and issues get ignored. This is typical and why Home will continue to be viewed as a waste of time and resources by the vast majority of PS3 users. Home needs a complete overhaul, faster streamlined loading, more interactivity and content in the current spaces instead of churning out personal spaces ad infinitum.
Just imagine instead of PS Home, PS3 had cross game voice chat, auto-sync trophies, PS Home like avatars in XMB, builtin Netflix and music streaming, and a better web browser… Or money spent on getting a game like Mass Effect 2… Man that would be amazing.
Everytime i see an update on the ps home, i am jealous.. as I have a Hong Kong account.. and the asia home NEVER GETS UPDATED… nothing ever happens. there are no promotions, there are no cool items, people walk around.. with nothing to do. the asia PS store is so lacking in content too. :(
I know the people responsible for the asia home/psn store have nothing to do with the US team.. but.. the difference of treatment.
NO no no! DO NOT put in public voice chat or whatever. I, and every other female out there, do NOT need freaky pervs constantly harassing me on a mic to shake my money maker and telling me how my avatar makes them hard or whatever.
Other than that please focus on the loading times and maybe an option to delete items from my wardrobe. Thanks.
Home really has come along quite well and as of late.
Stuff: Why can’t I play my own HDD stored MP3 files for friends in personal spaces?
Also, I would love an option to play my own music in game. It would make a lot of sense to perhaps hand out an MP3 player (Sony branded of course) like was done with the camera.
Also, why no run mode?
Oooh oooh, another thing! I think if I buy a shirt for my male/female character, if there is an identical shirt for the opposite sex then I should get that too. Why do I need to pay double for the same shirt?
Lastly, in the new “Future” outfits that came with the future apartment… they’re so ripped from Appleseed: ExMachina … yet there is no mention of that what so ever. I bought the outfits and then re-watched the movie to confirm and they’re 99.8% identical!!! honestly, even the hair/hat piece for the female is exact on what is worn in teh movie.
To the couple people saying DON’T add public voice chat:
Why can’t there be public voice chat, but everyone starts off at mute? If you don’t want to hear the foul mouthed heathens of Home, then you never have to. Others, like myself, can then choose to un-mute those around us and are able to chat.
I don’t see how people can complain if there is a CHOICE. If you like the quiet community of Home that is fine, you NEVER have to use the feature. But I would like too, you know, actually talk with my community.
As I said, Thank you for posting.
I know there are issues with region crossing.
Please oh Please, JACK – TAKE DOWN THOSE WALLS!!
My self and many others have friends in other regions.
Who knows we all could be the ones, That bring the world together, Via game play.
Come on Jack give it a try, You never know.
I’m all for voice chat in public areas.
For all anti-voice chat people out there there’s always a mute button, a block button
and a submit report button to combat
all the the abuse with.
@128…how is this different than online chat in a game (ie COD)…just mute them and move on…
People who want the public voice chat back weren’t in the closed beta, or are the kind of people that caused the feature to be taken away. You constantly hear people cussing, or griefing other people, or just holding the button open blasting their lame rap music and you couldn’t have a conversation with people who used the voice chat properly. Constant fights too.
And you also have to keep in mind, even people without mics would hear you through their TV, so if they have kids in the room or whatever, they’d be hearing all the filth coming out of your mouths. No one cares about being a bad influence on kids anymore, in fact they seem to WANT to be bad influences on kids.
No, public voice chat can not be allowed again, but there is a perfect solution……party chat for phone calls.
You should be able to have up to 6 or even more people in a phone call, and you should be able to invite anyone in right from the text window the same way you can block or add friends from the text window, it shouldn’t be limited to only people on your friends list. You should be able to invite ANYONE from the text window.
THAT is the perfect solution.
@19 simply not true . it is perfectly achievable to say what you need to say without breaking the rules on the forum . being frank does not mean you have to use bad language or break the rules in some other manner . @home staff do not moderate forum . if you obey the rules the @home staff would be less likely to miss your messages . if you dont . most likely your message will get deleted by a mod before any of the @home staff can see it . dont sabatoge you own messages . its just that simple .
wow its so cool to see the amount of responses from staff. I love my ps3 and i am glad playstation offers so much in a gaming consule. I spent 500$ on my ps3 16gb when it first came out and I know that I every penny was worth it ever since I got it. I will continue to support all of playstation whether its in games, home, portable content, and even the new tester series. Thank you ps.
how do i access and play in sodium one ?
i get into the area but i cant play it.
you should give instruction for everything on home.
keep up the good work as it is a good place to waste time
hey, Jack. Is it possible that you guys can make servers that divide the different time zones of the US? It would be cool if you can make it real-time so it can be night and day. Oh, and what about Playstation Room? How’s that going?
I have been on home for the better part of 2009 ans i must say all my expectations have been met with extreme achievements.
nearly perfect home is.
then i saw the villains lair with the “Death Ray” it is awesome.
But my one issue is the epic aliens vs androids battle on Saturday that the androids seem to have won.
Congratulations on your success. Now you should probably do something positive for the millions of people who use Home along with new people interested in Home and stop making them wait for 20 minutes on dowloading and loading screens just to find people. Why is it necessary to constantly be downloading information? Why is item pricing so steep? There are other questions that need to be taken into consideration, not only what image will be on the next virtual shirt. Still in beta…come on.
Home is great, but I have 3 questions.
Home is still in, beta? It’s been in beta for like 2 years now.
Where are the TV’s and radio’s I saw on trailers and press releases for home?
Trophy room? That was a huge thing when I heard about it 2 years ago, like an update, thanks.
I love Home. I like SodiumOne too! Keep up the good work.
Is the lucasarts store coming to the other homes or is it just the US cus I really want star wars stuff
Sony needs to offer Phil Harrison his Job back and get rid of this Jack guy… Home is at a standstill atm and need someone to drive it forward, not just pushing out content week after week to rake in cash from its loyal followers, who are at this point blinded by false promises and under delivered/buggy content/event updates.. Think the PSN should start a new reality series called “The Director” where they get 17 gamers and test them on there skills and knowledge on home and Playstation gamers and pick a new PS Home director to replace the current one… Jack lacks the passion that is badly needed for this position.
1 of 2
jack, iv never made a comment before over the web but i feel that i want to give you some ideas to incorporate into to the PS HOME brand.. and would appreciate if you can get back to me on this subject..but i will try to keep it brief..
2 of 2
1st// i would start by making the PS HOME logo as its own column on the XMB. you know the world map (tile) section, well i would make them as a list on the PS HOME column on the XMB, sorta like the friends list column.. this would save time to navigate to the desired location
2nd// i find the avatar movements and functionality to be very restricted and would try to incorporate two things from certain games.. the first would be, to have the avatar move and have the feel of the uncharted franchise 3rd person perspective, and the second would be, EMOTIONS on the d-pad taken from LITTLEBIGPLANET.
and lastly….
ya know the motion controller thats on its way… and ya know WII SPORTS? right?..
well, i think you guys should make a space.. a SPORTS arena,, thats houses all kind of sports, but these sports are for use with the MOTION CONTROLLER… this is an answer towards Wii Sports.. and i believe that if this was only available through PS HOME then i believe you will have more frequent visitors…
thank you for letting me take up some of your time..
also .. i would advise you to try and bring a catalogue of CASUAL GAMES using the MOTION CONTROLLER to the PS HOME brand
i.e. a funfair theme for example.. with minature games like squirting water in the clowns face(the simpsons lol) mayby if the player does great all round, you could let the player win prizes etc
create a option that lets you delete inventory items
& maybe a return house option where u get like $2.50 back
I love Home, think it’s great but please! Remove that fake smile you have put on every Home avatar. I don’t walk around in real life with a grin like that so I wouldn’t want to walk around like that in Home.
LMFAO @ Home. The first time I tried it, I got some weird Hard Drive error after home installed. Uninstalled it right away and after that I never touched it.
YAWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
HUGE waste of MILLIONS of development dollars. Not ONE of my PSN friends use home. EVER