Sony's much-hyped foray into virtual worlds is turning into an embarrassment for the company and the PlayStation 3 platform. When Home was first announced early last year, the potential Second Life competitor was heralded as a "very friendly, enticing platform" that would "finally bring secure 3D virtual communities to the masses."
But it wasn't long before news of delays began to leak out. At last year's Tokyo Game Show, Sony Computer Entertainment President and Group COO Kazuo Hirai confirmed that the project would be held back until spring 2008. Microsoft's Xbox 360 group, which at the time was glowing from the well-received Halo 3 buildup, was quick to pile on.
Now, Hirai has announced Sony is once again delaying Home, in order to develop a "more focused gaming entertainment experience." The open beta testing period won't happen until the fall, and Hirai's statement did not say when Home will be released to the public. TD Daily notes that the Home environment has been "completely reconstructed" several times since testers first began using the service in 2007.
While there was disappointment last year when Home was first delayed, at least this Christmas is looking a lot brighter for the PlayStation, in part because of the Blu-ray victory and also because of the expanded number of PS3 titles coming out this year.
Related news, commentary, and predictions:
- Prediction: Blu-Ray market share will not exceed 50% this year
- Analysis: Second Life: Interface, infrastructure and growth woes continue
- Opinion: 10 'Net services that will succeed (and 10 that will probably fail)
- News: Apple plots Second Life-like online store
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Comments
ya w.e.
Sony is a very promising rand i do expect at leat the graphics of sims with the game soo smooth that you will fell like single player.
ya w.e.
Sony is a very promising rand i do expect at leat the graphics of sims with the game soo smooth that you will fell like single player.
the graphics will be a million times better then the sims and i hope it comes out soon ive been waiting for it since 2007
I WONDER IF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT CAN BE FILED AGAINST SONY FOR MAKING ALL OF THESE FALSE RELEASE DATES (EXAMPLES: SOCOM & HOME...... ECT) IN ORDER TO INCREASE SAGGING SALES. I'M SURE A LOT OF PEOPLE TRADED PS3'S FOR XBOXES WHEN SONY PROMISED ALL OF THESE GAMES AND PRODUCED NOTHING. OK.....SO THEY GAVE US METAL GEAR JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT BUT TWO YEARS OF PUSH BACKS AND BULLSHIT DELAYS! C'MON SONY GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i just wish they wud release what they have done now and everyone wud keep in mind that its not the actual finished project so no one wud complian and then we can finally test/ use it but i bet they wont release it until 2010 cuz i bet they will just keep delayin n after a while everyone will be so sick of waitin they will end up switch over to either xbox and/or wii so hurry sony
O SHUT UP CRY BABY IM SURE SONY WOULDBE GLADE IF YOU GOT A XBOX ALSO ***NEWSFLASH ***** SONYS THE RICHEST ELECTRONIC COMPANY EVER!!! SAGGING SALES PLEASE IF THEY DONT SALE ONE PLAYSTATION THELL SALE 10 TV'S MAYBE ONE TO YOU AND STILL MURDER XBOX .O YEA MOST XBOXS ARE PLAYED ON SONY TV'S DICK GETTA LIFE AND THE WAIT WONT BE SO BAD YOU CANT RUSH PERFECTION HAHA !!! SINCERLY A TRUE SONY LOVER
i agrre sony is the best company and they know what their doing so stfu! u cant rush perfection! home would make billions for sony, so its not like their holding back!! ppl will buy ps3's if it comes out!
heh shardae ur such a dickheaded loser lol
SCREW SONY AND MICROSOFT!!!!! APPLE OWNS YOU ALL THEY DON'T EVEN NEED A GAME CONSOLE HAHAHAHA SCREW YOU ALL HAHAHAHA NERDZ ONLY NERDZ USE MICROSOFT AND SONY GEAR LONG LIVE APPLE
two words....apple sucks
Sony should take a page out of microsoft's book and just release it. Sure it won't work (much like the fiasco named Vista) but at least people will stop whining about it. Then Sony can update regularly with patches just like MS does and sometime just before the release of the PS4 it may actually work most of the time.
ok calm down. its time 4 u 2 get off apple computers d***. stick 2 the subject ****........SONY RULES!!!! X-D
I have been very ashamed with Sonys lack of keeping the pubic informed with the development of Home and release dates ......... I remember downloading the Home trailer on the PlaystationStore back in 07 .... When I first saw the video I was excited .... Then a couple of months passed being in the dark about Home ... Next Sony came out with a second video again telling us nonthoing about how far in development Home is or a release date .... Now they come out with a stupid theme just to shoot up are spirits ....... The theme said that you might get in for a beta for Home Thus pushing the release date further back ....... I for 1 have gave up even thinking about Home and I am tired of Sony thinking it is ok to keep makeing up excuses ........ If you need to contact me heres my PSN: TheSickness666
no kidin im a sony fan but realy they have pushed it back and back to the point that it may not be out till 09 but a few sites say that there was a garente it would come out in the last few months of 08 i have spent hours trying to get into the beta for this and most of this was on the web i have read !!!!EVERYTHING!!!! ther is to read about the pshome as a matter of fact i was lookin it up when i found this so i have read EVERYTHING!!! ......... now most of the info above is off the net so im not going to tell you that it is all true for shur but ill bet that most of it is read about pshome if you dont want to take my word for it but i promise you that you will spend atleast 3-4 hours and wont find all the info i have by the way i would never trade my ps3 for a crapbox360 or wii all you have to do is look at the game line up ps3 has SOCOM.SAINTS-ROW-2.KILLZONE 2 ect. crapbox360 =NOTHING +NO BLU RAY ! and the wii is for kids SONY FOR LIFE
SONY ARE CRAP
SONY ARE CRAP
lmao ok... its funny to see all of you bitching... yes SONY IS A SHITTY COMPANY and they do remark alot of pushbacks however they do produce a well constructed product... second of all they ruined Star Wars Galaxies HAHAHA! dumbasses get over it... sony IS a shitty company but if you need reminding... people dont buy Xbox's for the games they buy it for functionality hmmm OH YEAH they are owned by microsoft which IS the richest company IN THE WORLD have facts before you make stupid ass comments...
(sincerely an apple employee and a PS3 owner)
dude learn how to spell
all you guys are idiots...have you ever tried playing sports or some s***? all you kids care about is video games, your right bro, you cant rush perfection, so thats why you need to wait. It's gonna come out in a month or two so jus be patient...get some demos or some s*** and play that till home comes out. And plus, a beta version invitation has been released to those who purchased more that $65 in a single transaction so they can try beta and give feedback to sony. And whoever traded a ps3 for a 360 should kill themselves cuz ps3 is obv. better. And apple laptops are the only thing i might consider buying...everything else is crap.
There... now reply ppl
btw...the release date for beta is set for everyone before christmas ;)
you bitches ps3 is and will be the best Xcrap360 is for stupid people and quit your bitchen about home if thay send it out now and it sucks you bitches will still bitch be happy you have a ps3 that kicks ass and stop bitchin or do you have nothing in your life
I own Microsoft, Apple, Sony, and a brown box. I am the big head behind everything running it all. It's all just one big distraction to divert you all from the real agenda at hand; Inserting v-chips into each and every one of you consumers to track your every move. But please, a'hm, keep buying and playing. Don't trust the brown box...
The best gaming console ever made would be called "The Nintendo 360 Station" the GFX of sony, the speed of a 360 and the motion bar of a wii all packed into one cross compatible console. then none of you would be able to bitch about stupid stuff on these sites. =P u guys need to get a life.
Wow.... a little ps3 fanboism???
I dont own a ps3 only a 360 but I can tell you that there are still plenty of titles coming out for the 360. A shitload. I'm not going to debate which console as a "better" library b/c it's your own personal choice.
Why is everyone calling it a crapbox?? what the fk. I bought mine in January, I got RROD after 9 months, I called them, they sent me sticker, I send it in for free, 2 weeks from then I get a brand new one back for FREE and it hasn't broken yet (gave me another month of free xbox live and extended warranty) . So who gives a fuck if PS3 dies a little less. I personally have a ps2 and I really really like it. Stop hating NXE.... Yes the avatars (HD Mii's) are a little childish but they are still cool. They are customizable and really nice. They updated the chat so you can have 8 people in the same "party".... this part is kickass b/c you can talk to everyone while playing different games, or invite them to your game, all from the xbox guide button. If PS3 can do that, then I would be more convinced about buying one. Also I use Netflix and it's really nice, hop on your pc, select a bunch of nice titles/shows and watch anytime on your 360. Also they made everything easier to navigate too in the update and it's all nicer looking. (one of the best things about the update is you can download your game to the HDD, sadly mine is only a 20GB so I can do 1-2.... But the disc-drive doesn't move at all so it's really nice and quiet)
Back on topic *cough* I'm not a hater, PS3 gets HOME? Cool. Do I really care if the PS3's cell is harder to process technically and that xbox has a better graphics card? no not really. If people debated the games more then the resolution then I'd be happier (Starcraft is still being played online by 10s of thousand of people for christs sake) I hope for all the PS3 users that it comes out and it's really nice and fun to play. Stop talking so much shit about 360, You get what you pay for.... $50 for live a year? yeah and it works faster and communication is better imo obviously. (first hand experiance)
Anywayz, Home looks like a digital chatroom that will be cool, but it seems to me that it's more of a graphic myspace..... but none the less I hope it is cool for your sake. Stop hating the 360 so much please!! Yes there are 360 fanboys also but let's just all play our games and be happy =)
MGS4 is kickass (even if it's like a movie) and ps3 is getting better apps like little big planet to make it much more rounded, But gears, fable, halo, mass effect, and others are more interesting to me. I do not see much graphic difference so the games are the difference.
Anyway.... i'm done typing.... I'm only doing this because I'm in math class bored so nobody hate.
(I am not a fanboy, I have a samsung blu-ray player and a PS2, tried PS3 at friends but....)
PS3 fanboys please stop saying how much "potential" it has........... shut the f*** up
Even on paper the ps3 is not much better than the 360 and thats only in processing math algoriths which is better for audo and video anyway. If you havent noticed.... exclusives are being lost to the 360 and most games on both platforms are 360 then ported to the PS3 so it will look slightly better.
You better hope HOME is going to save your asses b/c 360 rocks (mass effect, halo, gears, fable, left 4 dead, too human, orange box (both but 360 better), and much much more.... against MGS4, resistance, little big planet.... warhawk is only decent multiplayer.... you decided which is better)
some kid is yelling his ass off, someone needs to limit the amount of screaming kids. btw ps3 and 360 are now even on online users. so thats cool by me. Plus i bought my ps3 a few monthes ago, and from not buyin 360 ive saved about 30 bucks from not having to buy those retarded online payment cards/credit cards. 360 owners, you got to admit its nice not to have to ever pay for anthing to go online on a game. the store has stuff for money yes, but you dont have to buy it. plus it has movies and what not. i dont personally buy movies or games, but im sure other people do.
Speaking of console comparisons, I was able to get a comment from a Nintendo of America executive on Microsoft's claim that the Wii and Xbox 360 aren't competitors:
Nintendo: "There's no way to know if we'll have enough Wii consoles for the holidays"
Scroll down to the bottom of the article.
Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
Well what could Sony ever expect than sagging console sales. I have 2 such systems one hard wired and one wirelesss and keeping a connection to Playstations Home network is becoming more of a challenge with every MANDATORY firmware update. Since becomming tired of Microsoft controlling my systems and specifying what updates I MUST have I moved over to linux. Its user friendly and it doesnt dictate how, when and what I do. This dictatorship seems to be the path Sony are following and lets face facts, as of the latest firmware update consisting of a gay Photo folder and a 2 year outdated spec of the Divx player its not realy an essential item is it?
Sony should concentrate on optimising the networking of the consoles and the Home network to please the users who shelled out much hard earned cash for their delapidated junk to recoup sales from Microsoft. As I type this messgae Im constantly doing network connections and getting the by now familiar
Obtaining I.P Address .....Succeeded
Internet connection ..........Succeeded
Playtation HOME...............Failed
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