Yves MakhoulHome arrives tomorrow -- too late?
December 11th 2008 01:35
Home is finally out in an Open Beta tomorrow -- but is it too late?
Daniel Hill, Sony Europe's Director of Home said "Home will live or die on the strength of its content." That's the right idea, but the thing has been so long in the making that much of the hardcore audience has either gotten over it, or were actually "lucky" enough to enter the Beta only to be left with a disenchanted taste in their mouths.
I, for one, have been playing with the Beta for a while and although I do see the potential it has in growing into something special, I still don't feel there's an actual point to it at all.
I know 2nd Life has been a major succuess, but Home seems much more commercial and far more restricted than 2nd Life. You can't fly. You can't make businesses out of virtual real estate or virtual clothing. Basically, you buy things from Sony or third parties and show them off to your friends.
You'll give Nike a dollar to buy their virtual trainers. You'll give Armani seven dollars to buy their special limited edition house in the mountains. Heck, you might even give GAP two dollars for their virtual underwear which no one will be able to see, but YOU know your virtual character is wearing.
I can see it giving us a laugh for a few days, but really, what's the point? Wasting money on a virtual world we have very little control over? Chatting to PS3 friends in a virtual room when we can just as easily do the same thing in a game's lobby over mic/keyboard. I mean does Sony really expect us to build long lasting relationships from the people we meet through the PSN?
Sure there's going to be some nifty areas made by some reputable video game publishers, and they'll link them to their respective games (Resident Evil 5 from Capcom comes to mind), but at the end of the day, so what? What do you actually do?
I'd much rather play a game on my PS3 and enjoy the quick quibs and remarks I have with the various PSN socialites, rather than actually socialize in a virtual space where we look at each other's virtual avatars. An avatar that's trying so hard to look life-like that it comes across as creepy -- especially when each "player" is scurrying to find the best physical gesture that would supposedly best fit the conversation at hand, and eventually manages to press the right button. It doesn't feel right. It's trying to emulate life, but it's not life. I think I just hit my own nerve. Home is creepy.
But hey! Who am I to judge? Everyone said the same of MySpace and Facebook and look where they are now. These net-spaces have grown with their audience, so who's to say Sony won't grow it's virtual-space with its audience as well. It may quite possibly be the home-run success it so desperately needs. My 2 cents? It won't be.
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Comment by anf8701
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