Home: A Platform With Great Game Development Potential?

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The potential of PlayStation Home is difficult to measure. There's no knowing what Home will look like in one year's time...

Perhaps it'll feature more games than ever. According to what nDreams CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh said during this week's Develop conference, Home presents a ton of benefits to game developers. nDreams has already produced Xi, the first "alternate reality game" for Home, and O'Luanaigh says Home has a lot more going for it than other possible platforms, like Facebook and iPhone. He said the Home Development Kit for designers is an "incredibly robust game-creation engine" but most companies aren't aware of this just yet; they spend most of their time creating promotional spaces within Sony's virtual community. But in fact, it's actually a "great MMO engine" that could be utilized quite easily. Furthermore, you don't have to compete for the attention of users all the time; thousands of little games are trying to outstrip Zynga and Playfish on Facebook, but almost nobody is trying to target Home's 12-14 million regular users.

Of course, there is a downside: PS3 users are expecting sharp, impressive 3D graphics within Home, which can be complicated from a casual standpoint. But even so, things will grow and more games will come with time; said O'Luanaigh:

"Home can be a game development platform in its own right. People will soon realize it's not just about chatting and apartments and clothing ... it's about creating great experiences online that are different. And Home is brilliant at online stuff because it's built right in."

I was toying around at the Sodium Hub last night and it's pretty darn cool. If those are the types of games he's referring to, we could certainly use more of those. Give it a try, devs!

Tags: home, playstation home, games

7/15/2010 10:32:25 AM Ben Dutka

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