Interview: Gamers Should Come Home

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PSXE: So in other words, we can expect a bigger emphasis on Home exclusive games – and the general relation of video games to Home – in the future?

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Jack: “That’s one of the things we’ve really been focusing on recently: get as many games in Home as possible. We already have over 100 games now. We’re focused on bringing those types of experiences to users; to bring true games to users; the kinds of games you cannot play on any other platform. One of the things Home brings to the gameplay experience is the idea of the social game experience; you’re seeing a lot of innovation in this on other platforms like Facebook. But with Home, we can really leverage the power of the PS3 console to really speak to gamers. Our social games aren’t necessarily super casual experiences; they can be like hardcore shooters but still fit inside the framework of casual games.”

PSXE: I played Sodium One for the first time last night; it was really very fun. We’re hoping that game is successful so we’ll see more like it…

Jack: “At GDC, we announced a couple metrics for Sodium One: it had 1.3 million engagements in the first 6 weeks in North America. If you look at Home as a game platform, it really solves some fundamental issues that developers have faced, like ‘how is anyone going to find my game?’ It can be tough to get noticed on traditional consoles; you might not ever get discovered if you don’t have the big marketing budget. But Home is a 3D user interface at its core; it allows gamers to discover games very organically. So you can see that with Sodium, over a million people in a few short weeks found it, and that’s the power of Home. In my mind, it speaks to the future of the industry.

And the other thing about this is that Home supports multiple business models. There’s the Midway, where you can buy 50 tickets (only $0.99) and play the carnival games, and some of the free-to-play games in the Sodium Hub. You can always upgrade your free experience to a premium one through virtual item purchases; with the Salt Shooter in Sodium, for example, you can play a five-level demo for free, but a one-time purchase unlocks the other 45 levels. You gain social capital by playing these games, so Home is very flexible.”

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PSXE: Readers have asked about a Trophy Room in their own personal space; might that be added at some point?

Jack: “The first step towards Trophy integration has been to award virtual items based on Trophies in select games. You see that in SFIV and RE5; you get particular Trophies that you can actually take with you into a 3D Home representation. There are items for your wardrobe and apartment, and you can display them however you see fit. What’s Step 2? …I can’t talk about it yet but I can tell you the idea of Trophies in Home is one we are committed to, and we’ve already begun…”

PSXE: Will Home somehow integrate the new upcoming technologies, like PlayStation Move and 3D?

Jack: “Well, we haven’t publicly talked about those technologies in the context of Home but in general, Home is an evolving platform from a technology and feature standpoint. But if there are features or technologies you want to see in Home, please be sure to let us know. A good place to do that is in our forums, or you can let us know in Home (specifically, tell our community managers). That feedback guides development so while there’s nothing specific for Move and 3D just yet, please let us know what you want.”

Continued on Next Page »

7/15/2010 Ben Dutka

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Comments (56 posts)

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piratedrunk
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 10:09:03 PM
Reply

This is a great interview that leaves me optimistic about the future of Home. That said I usually check it out once every few months and my most recent visit still left me feeling underwhelmed by the experience.

Still can't wait to see what they do with it though as it is a very unique platform with a lot of potential.

0 up, 0 down

Alienange
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 10:09:50 PM
Reply

There's a hundred games in Home? That I didn't know. I knew there were some, but a hundred?? Ok well, maybe I have to check it out again. I did play the Resistance game and got the T-Shirt, but I'd be interested in a a free to play MMORPG... or Farmville.

2 up, 0 down

GuardianMode
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:28:42 PM

That sounds good. A farmville type of game in @Home does make sense. The items/tools could be bought in the Mall. Hmmmm I wonder if Facebook is looking into this?

0 up, 0 down

Pandacastro
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 10:28:36 PM
Reply

Good interview. Im going to home rigth now :)

1 up, 0 down

Highlander
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 10:28:40 PM
Reply

Great Interview Ben, thanks for asking the questions and getting some answers. Obviously he can't answer everything when there are announcements on their way and features that may be in development already. but it was cool to get some insight into Home and it's continued development.

I play in home a lot, as does my wife. We configure the communication so that we cannot be ping'd by everyone we run into, so if you see me or my wife (and you'll never know because I used both male and female avatars) you won't be able to talk to us except by prior arrangement. As I say though, I am in Home a fair amount, and it's grown and developed a lot since launch. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but even just playing with your personal spaces and avatars is a lot of fun and can burn hours.

I'll watch out for the upcoming announcement.

1 up, 2 down

Pandacastro
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 10:37:38 PM

What's your psn name anyway or anyone on this website?

Last edited by Pandacastro on 7/15/2010 10:38:07 PM

3 up, 0 down

sticklife
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 12:45:41 AM

I think we should have a psxe home party, and maybe someone could start a psxe club and we could all meet up once in a while and play. I'd like to play with some of you guys. Maybe we'd need more than one club if it fills too fast.

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 10:47:07 PM
Reply

Another solid interview for PSXE, these are always interesting to read. Although I only go in every now and then there's something I have to ask the people in the know, do I have to buy a new frame every time I want to put a picture on my apartment wall?

1 up, 1 down

Naztycuts
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 12:10:23 AM

No u can use the same one multiple times, just like furniture.

2 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 1:08:19 AM

thanks nasty

1 up, 1 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 1:52:41 AM

Man they want 3 smackers for a frame?

1 up, 1 down

GuardianMode
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:30:56 PM

As a matter of fact World. I read all my articles here on PSXE. On the other sites I take them with a grain of salt. Here they say it like it is without all the fanboy drama.

Last edited by GuardianMode on 7/16/2010 3:33:18 PM

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 7:08:53 PM

Guardian, you kinda lost me. Did I say something to you about other sites articles that I don't recall?

0 up, 1 down

BikerSaint
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 11:03:59 PM
Reply

Great interview!
I haven't been in Home since the beginning when all the squids were bum-rushing the avatars they thought were females, so I guess I really need to go back & see just how much it's really changed since then.

First though, I really need to upgrade my 60 gigger, since after deleting a bunch of stuff, I still only have about 12 gigs of free space right now.

But sadly, I've got to wait it out a while longer till I get some extra bucks for a new 500 or 640 HD, plus an external HD to transfer & store my content on too.

Last edited by BikerSaint on 7/15/2010 11:06:05 PM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 11:21:32 PM

a 500 gigger isn't even that expensive, and well worth it. But some saves won't be copied :(

0 up, 1 down

kraygen
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 12:01:06 AM

I saw a Wester digital 500GB on sale last week on newegg for $50. They are getting cheaper and cheaper all the time.

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Fane1024
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 7:52:44 PM

They still pester female avatars.

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Qubex
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 11:14:22 PM
Reply

Thanks for the interview Ben... it was enlightening, however I used to be a big Home user to begin with, but in recent months I have left Home to some extent. I go in sometimes, to watch a few trailers and just walk around... however, over the years I had mentioned in here, that the Home doesn't feel very fresh or high tech anymore...

I feel the front end needs a huge revamp. It should have nice high tech feel too it, with a matrix type effect when you transition from one space to another. On XMB, after turning on your PS3, without even going into home, it should alert me that there are X updates available, and whether or not I want my system to go off and download them in the back ground. To have to go into home, step by step, select what I want is painful. I want to select all from XMB and let the machine get on with it. When I come back home is fully updated... and ready to use...

There are som basic functions that still need to put in that reduce button mashing on the controller... it would help. And I would like an XMB screen that actually represented an advance Home lobby, or maybe an XMB lobby that in actual fact was your apartment space, whereby you can do a whole host of things... etc...

Home is not bad... it is just that it could be so much better from a usability and personal media perspective...

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

*Currently in Taipei, Taiwan

Last edited by Qubex on 7/15/2010 11:15:43 PM

2 up, 0 down

StangMan80
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 11:54:53 PM
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I haven't spend nuch time in home. I remember the first time I went into it, It surprised me. Every ounce in while I go check it out but the load time is so slow maybe it's just my connection but I may spend half hour in home and 10-15min is it loaading.

1 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, July 15, 2010 @ 11:57:32 PM

Not anymore. Either that, or your connection is downright terrible. It takes seconds for most things to load now, with only the bigger downloads (which you only need to do once) taking a few minutes.

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StangMan80
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 12:56:14 AM

I live in the States, I don't have bad connection because it works well when I'm play online. I was in it last week for a few minutes to check out the Midway, prety sweet.
Maybe I just need to get averything downloaded and then check everything out.
Thanks guys.

1 up, 0 down

kraygen
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 12:03:24 AM
Reply

Nice interview.

I check home every few weeks and it blows my mind how much it has changed in just the last year.

I look forward to the announcement.

1 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 1:12:19 AM
Reply

Just so I know, would people be interested if PSXE had a presence in Home? I won't go into specifics right now because nothing is solidified, but I'm just trying to gauge interest...

10 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 2:05:55 AM

Hard for me to say, it would definitely be sweet and a chance for live chat. Dunno how often I'd use it though, if I'm not blabbering in the comments I'm often gaming.

1 up, 1 down

Scrooged
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:49:15 AM

Hi Sorry Long time Stalker of this site, first time poster.

What sort of presence do you mean ? I think it would be really cool, I cant see it hurting you in anyway. If home does begin to pick up momentum it could only be a good thing for you in the long run.

3 up, 0 down

PAKINIPS
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 6:15:50 AM

Like he said^^^

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BlinkBoy
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:06:02 PM

well I would definitely use Home more if PSXE had a club in home or something.

So yes, PSXE and Home sounds like a good idea.

1 up, 0 down

SirLoin of Beef
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:06:35 PM

I think that would be pretty cool. I've not logged into Home in a while but I probably should, seeing as I bought a new house there and all.

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kraygen
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 5:43:26 PM

Heck yeah, it'd be cool if we could all take our avatars to the psx area and hang out, chatting live.

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Fane1024
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 7:58:57 PM

Like most people here, I don't visit Home very often, but I'd join a PSXExtreme club.

I'd spend more time there if I could listen to my own music (specifically podcasts).

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BikerSaint
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 10:56:49 PM

Ben,
I kind of have mixed feeling on it.
On one hand and in a perfect society, I'd say yes to PSXE in Home!

But on the other hand, I think the real reality is there are trolls everywhere(yes even Playstation trolls), so it could lead a lot of them to this site where it could also open up a huge can of worms here.

I could be wrong, but it IS certainly something to think about first.

Last edited by BikerSaint on 7/16/2010 10:59:59 PM

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 1:19:23 AM
Reply

Bumming around Home right now, the downloads aren't so bad... But with my Cole outfit on it doesn't seem right that I can't climb buildings :)

4 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 2:16:32 AM

Lol... Maybe you should send the suggestion to Sony to allow the avatars in Home to be able to use Parkour, or Free Running then. You wouldn't need to worry about that then.

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Fane1024
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 8:00:56 PM

Ditto, especially in the Uncharted space.

That suggestion is already on Share, IIRC.

Last edited by Fane1024 on 7/16/2010 8:02:08 PM

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___________
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:52:56 AM
Reply

home just really does not offer anything im really interested in.
but thats just me, ive never been one for the online social community crap, i dont use facebook or twitter or my space or any of that crap.
id much rather ring a friend up and talk to them, or meet face to face, than spend 2 hours on the comp typing to them.

id be cool to see sony have some arcade style machines in home, have home like a virtual arcade.
allow people to sign into home, have their avatar walk into a gaming room and hop onto a arcade styled machine and have a list of old school arcade titles for me to play.
now that would get me to sign into home and use it much more often.

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Highlander
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 9:41:18 AM

You need to start looking more into home. the gaming aspects of home are far more emphasized than before, just as the social aspects are less emphasized. Don't get me wrong, it's still a social networking application because it brings gamers from all over your region together, but there are lots of in-Home games. There are two arcade units you can buy, if you buy the Namco Museum classics there are another four, you can buy both a Darts board, and a Pool table (both are working games you can install in any of your Home spaces), and there are other games that come as part of some of the Personal spaces you can buy. All in all, Home is featuring more and more games. Not to mention Sodium Salt Shooter which is a very arcade style game that comes with it's own personal space as well.

3 up, 0 down

___________
Saturday, July 17, 2010 @ 9:07:30 AM

yeah, maybe later once ive caught up on my backlog of games.
i dont have time to do the things i need to do, let alone want to do, let alone play around with home.

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SmokeyPSD
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 6:06:17 AM
Reply

I'm still waiting for more control to be given to us, the end user. the community will not grow the way it should, unless we truely have the power to really do what we want with home.

That goes for media sharing, content creation, the whole works. Europe doesnt even have the tools for us to use our own pictures. We can do it in LBP for christsake.

2 up, 0 down

Highlander
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 10:20:53 AM

There are no picture frames in Home in Europe? Are you sure? We've had them in NA Home for a *LONG* time now.

What user control do you want that you don't have? You can customize your avatar pretty extensively, and can customize your personal spaces extensively. Loot provides a way to make videos within Home, What additional customization do you want? Custom T-Shirts? I don't see what you think is missing from the customization side.

The big thing that I feel is missing from Home is the ability to play back music and/or video in Home. Even if I was the only one hearing and seeing it, it would be a nice feature. The other thing that could help greatly is more advanced filtering of other users. When Home featured open, public chat, there were too many morons abusing the system and we had no way to block their offensive little mouths. If Home featured a function to select and block another Home user so that their avatar was not rendered, and none of their communication was seen or heard, it would be perfect. If that was implemented, the mics could be opened again without problem because if you hear something you don't like, you could block the person. If they were a visual nuisance (think of half a dozens idiots following a female avatar around and doing the running Man or another dance in her face every time she sits down), then it would simply be a matter of targeting the offender and blocking them.

The best thing is that blocked users would not even be rendered, which would actually lighten the load on the Home rendering engine.

3 up, 1 down

Fane1024
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 8:05:47 PM

Speaking of targeting, they need to improve the targeting system. Perhaps they should just go "game-y" and add a reticle.

Last edited by Fane1024 on 7/16/2010 8:08:02 PM

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maxpontiac
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 11:52:16 AM
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Ben - Once again you are the man. All I need is a GT5 space that is linked to GT5 itself.

Give me that, and I'll be a happy man.

3 up, 0 down

0_o
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 11:54:04 AM
Reply

Home needs trophies, like: if you win a game of chess 10 times you get a bronze trophy, dance all the dances and get another bronze trophy and getting 10 strikes at bowling etc...

This will bring more people at home and it will make it more fun!

4 up, 0 down

maxpontiac
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 12:55:04 PM

That's actually a good idea. I would play those games for a trophy again.

4 up, 0 down

CharlesD
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:12:38 PM
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As I mentioned in the last Home article I saw Ben online and noticed he was on Home, and because I really hadn't been on in a while and I thought it'd be cool to swing by and see if there were any upgrades I started noticing the differences immediately. I no longer get annoyed with load times, there's tons to do and you make at least two or three friends every time your on there.

You can play pool or darts w. a friend in you personal space or jam out to your new stereo. Sodium as a bunch of fun games and the fair gives you almost an hour of game time with prizes such as shirts, hats, and items.I was extremely impressed with all the upgrades and will certainly be visiting home a lot more often. Epically if this little announcement has ne thing to do with music or plus members :)

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:26:08 PM
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What the hell is the deal with that telephone in the inFamous space?

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Gimmedat
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 3:36:41 PM
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My PSN id is KingYellow64 my xbox live gamer tag is ItsKingYellow64,for anyone who wants to friend me.Need more friends for PSN though.

1 up, 0 down

HighLife
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 5:40:58 PM
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I cannot tell you the last time I went "Home." I should I go try out some of the little games.

Ben, a home space may be a good idea.

0 up, 0 down

nogoat23
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 6:23:51 PM
Reply

Nice interview. I'm definitely intrigued by the fact that the average visit is 70 minutes. I'll have to go in and check it out.

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Fane1024
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 8:19:18 PM

I bet a lot of that time is spent waiting for items to load in the Home stores. The other load times are much better, but the store interface is still clunky. It takes forever to search for the free items. It doesn't help that the "fitting room" feature tries to load a 3D model for every item you check (the prices need to on the item "tiles" and the fitting room needs to be an option).

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Highlander
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 8:53:20 PM

@Fane,

They need to overhaul the caching engine for the shops. Once I've entered a shop and downloaded it's inventory once, I shouldn't trigger that load again for any item that has not changed. If they could manage that trick, it would cut the load time hugely.

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Robochic
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 7:52:16 PM
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DAmn it's been since early beta for me. Guess I need to visit it again.. Thanks Ben for the amazing interview it was great.
Also if Psx had pressence in Home I wouldn't leave home..

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RebelJD
Friday, July 16, 2010 @ 11:59:16 PM
Reply

Playstation Home is cool, just stop kicking me off the server on "errors" while I'm just getting the feel of exploring. If Home would let me explore without the feeling that I'll be kicked off any minute, I'd be able to suffice my wondering eye and finally settle into getting comfortable with it.

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BattleFox21
Saturday, July 17, 2010 @ 2:48:44 PM
Reply

I would really like to see PSXE in Home that would be awesome then it would be easier to explain where to find you guys. and my friends can read up on it for themselves.

1 up, 0 down

BattleFox21
Saturday, July 17, 2010 @ 2:52:27 PM
Reply

P.S. TheHighlander Whats ur PSN or add me ( CWS_BattleFox721 ) I follow ur comments and share ur POV.

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CharlesD
Saturday, July 17, 2010 @ 6:51:10 PM
Reply

I think PSXE having a presence in home is a rather good idea. It would allow more traffic, and add another dimension to the site. Who knows maybe there are more halfway decent intelligent gamers out there that can be joined w. PSX through Home, which has come quite a long way. I for one would be very happy if this idea were to become a reality

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Roach721
Monday, July 19, 2010 @ 1:13:52 AM
Reply

The last couple of times I tried getting into home. It asks me to download the new version, when i say ok to download it automatically shuts down my system and restarts it. So I haven't been able to make it work.

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