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Kaz can't get no satisfaction: Not from Home, at any rate photo

Kaz Hirai, the Tekken character-resembling PlayStation boss, isn't satisfied. It's not because nobody else is as impressed as he is with Ridge Racer, it's because he himself isn't impressed with one of the PS3's biggest future hopes, Home.

The displeased Sony Computer Entertainment head confessed that he wasn't happy with the in-beta version of Home and is doubtless aiming for significant improvements to what he declares a big project for his company. This came out as he spoke of the feature's Spring 2008 delay:

"We believe the delay would have a positive effect. I personally am not satisfied with the current version of Home. This is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our hearts content. We hope everyone will look forward to its spring release next year."

Are the PS3 fans in the gamer community actually looking forward to Home at all? I think it's an interesting project, but I wonder how many people among Sony's main demographic will care enough to consider it a huge selling point. What do you think, noble readers? Will all the effort Sony's putting into Home pay dividends or not? 

[With thanks to John McGovern, Easybake Oven]








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Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize. Likes PS2, iPod Touch, Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid, Dynasty Warriors 3 Meet the rest of the team



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30 comments | showing # 1 to 30
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Clockwork's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:05
Clockwork
Isn't that the sort of thing he would want to keep private?
Lord_Satorious's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:10
Lord_Satorious
What the hell is Home anyway? It's Second Life with Sony sponsored products you can decorate your virtual living pad with. Woo, great. Maybe you could have some fun with it in a Sims sort of way, but I don't think it's going to be revolutionary or a system seller by any means. And if it costs any money, forget it, who would buy it?

Honestly, just put it out already and patch in some later features. It's a connected world baby, and if you can download home now, you can download a bug fix later.
Outer Heaven's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:11
Outer Heaven
If he kept it private, there'd be people bitching about how Sony is so "deluded" and "arrogant" that they can't acknowledge their own problems.

Home is a mess right now and I doubt many are looking forward to it. BUT, once it has become "satisfactory" to Kaz and Co., there will be an inevitably huge marketing push that will probably get people's hopes up again.

So no one cares about Home right now, but Sony doesn't really need them to, at least not yet.
madninja's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:12
madninja
Seeing Home on the new PS3 adds show that Home isn't for gamers like us but for new people to the fold. I am looking forward to it because really Sony doesn't have a community like the 360 has (mostly kids). I have a couple of friends who are really excited for Home which is weird because they are not real hardcore gamers.

Clockwork: Sony is trying to be honest now.
Doomtrain's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:14
Doomtrain
I'm about to drop my hater status and get a PStriple, and I can honestly say that Home has zero bearing on that decision. Not even in a "oh, and that's another cool thing I can play with" kind of way. Sure, if it's free I'll download it and maybe walk around a bit, but all it looks like from what I can see is a giant mall-type place where you walk around and look at ads.

If they're going to make it more epic, like say, you can go to a games shop in Home and browse and download games and demos, or a music shop and check out tunes, or a movie theater and watch trailers and shows, if your "house" shows all the things you've downloaded, maybe it has your gamesaves with screenshots in a photo album. Now something like that could be cool. I wouldn't pay money for it, but it would be cool.
WDot's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:15
WDot
If they can integrate Home with the games I play, like make it an in-game lobby or something, that would be pretty awesome. But otherwise not very interesting.
Jim Sterling's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:19
Jim Sterling
I think Clockwork was making an innuendo, guys.
Darren Nakamura's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:26
Darren Nakamura
I think it'll be one of those things that is a cool feature to have, but not a system seller. Those with PS3s will be glad it's there, but those without won't be jealous that they don't have it.
Crunshii's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 22:32
Crunshii
I agree with WDot, Im not surprised by Kaz's reaction.

the success for home its very simple:

Make

it

Fun

Those realistic characters are BORING!!! Kaz hope you can read this... LittleBigPlanet is basically the supreme example for Home's success.

- Make fun characters instead of dull realistic ones. (disfigured like LBP, fantasy style, crazy monsters, medieval armored knights, Black Peter Parker Emo with his stuuupid dance as a emote)

- Have a giant arcade gaming room full of classics! (shit all old skool games, I wouldnt mind meeting people over the net to play old school arcades like: MK, Killer Instinct, Shooters, bomberman, digdug! ect)

- Have highly integrated PS3 games (Have a stage for people to play Guitar Hero 3 on! so people can interact as people play! Action Games showed on the big 3D screen, have a betting arena were people can bet whos gonna win the next race & win points.

Those are a couple of suggestions, but in all end, just make it fun. Funny how Sony invests so much in next gen technology and cant friggin think of simple stuff like f.u.n.

Sony should kidnap Shigeru Miyamoto for one week and see how he can turn Home into something worthwhile...
dubbya's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 23:12
dubbya
As a PS3 owner, I can't comment on Home as a system seller, but I'm definitely interested in it. I doubt I'll be on Home nearly as often as I'm playing games, but the concept has potential.

I'll agree with Crunshii on this one, you need to give it an appeal, games, assorted other fun things to keep people coming back after they've made their avatar.
spacecadetjoe's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 23:19
spacecadetjoe
i hate second life
beamkiller's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 23:25
beamkiller
Personally I just want a clean UI to navigate my achievements, downloadable content, and to communicate with online buddies. XboxLive does that pretty well. I dont see how integrating these functions into a 3D adds anything to the experience. Its like using Microsoft BOB to launch applications, I would rather eat glass.
jeep's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 23:31
jeep
They need to make Home the best it can be...if its not...not only will ps3 owners be pissed...but they'll have to listen to their wii60 friends laughing in their face...

this isnt a system seller...its a feature that keeps the light on the PS3 on...
Milofo's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 23:38
Milofo
When it comes out I'd probably try out all the things I can do to customize my character and then be done with it. Sony need to show us that its not a Second Life clone and hopefully the added time will help.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 23:48
Samit Sarkar
I agree with dubbya: I’m intrigued by Home, but since I wasn’t in the beta, I can’t say much more than that.

But if Dwight Shelford was seen on Home, then I might become more interested.
Boolean's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/07/2007 23:51
Boolean
Home seems like one of those ultra fancy flash enabled websites which seem cool at first, but on your third visit your just using the sitemap exclusivly.
DGX Goggles's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 00:29
DGX Goggles
What's home again?
carmatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 04:25
carmatic
go on wikipedia and type in 'playstaion home' ....

as a virtual reality chat program, i dont think there is ever a state where its 'satisfactory' ,you'll have to be like, i dunnoe, an alien species more advanced than humans to be able to figure out every quirk and problem with programs like these... i'd expect them to just roll it out, then wait for reports of things they need to fix, and gradually it gets better and better... making a program like this is a commitment, its an endless cycle of hacks,bugs, new features, and whatnot
liam2015's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 05:22
liam2015
I agree with what Dexter said. It's definitey gonna be cool when it comes out, but yeah, it won't be the thing to sell PS3's. I'm personnally excited about it.

Now where's that damn open beta?
TorpedoTed's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 06:21
TorpedoTed
isnt home for people who dont have REAL friends?
matmanx1's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 08:16
matmanx1
I'm 32 years old, as hardcore a gamer as I have time to be and I'm actually looking forward to Home. Of course I spent hours designing and upgrading my houses in Animal Crossing so needless to say the idea of customizable, graphically pleasing virtual real estate sounds good to me. Especially if I can show off my trophies and "achievements" in that space. As highly touted as the achievement system in XBL is if Home can provide something similar I say it's a big win for Sony.
mandlebaum123's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 08:19
mandlebaum123
Home just doesn't seem like any fun. I busted a gut watching the gdc conference or whatever it was, and virtual sony heads were eating virtual hotdogs. King of Lame right there, boys.

I could walk around the mall and talk to strangers, but I dont want to do that. That is home for me.
DOOM's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 08:42
DOOM
Bah, just get XBOXLIVE!
Corncobtacular's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 09:12
Corncobtacular
i like Crunshii's ideas
Variable Gear's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 09:20
Variable Gear
As long as using the Home 'shell' is not required for online multiplayer and the trophy room actually happens then Home can still succeed. I'm still waiting for the character models not to look like wankers though.
Aaron Mxy Yost's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 10:31
Aaron Mxy Yost
Home obviously need more furries if it's going to compete with Second Life.
snapperdragon's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 11:21
snapperdragon
Home WOULD have been cool if it were at the core of the gaming experience for the ps3. It's not. At best, it's an afterthought, and as such, it's potential is limited. What would compel someone to use it? I guess we'll find out.

Here is what I would have done:

1. Home is the starting point for your PS3. When you boot, you see home.

2. Home has both on-line and off-line modes. On-line mode you see other people in your neighborhood. Off-line, nobody bugs you. You can interact (speak) to your neighbors.

3. Your downloaded games would be in your house's video game area. If you go on-line, you could let someone into your home and they could play your games without owning the same game. Maybe they could beat your high score and put their initials in over yours.

4. It would be a launch pad for all your games. However, this has limited value since DVD's are needed. This would require all digital content to really be effective.

5. Games could integrate into home. For example, after you got enough "points" from various games, you could buy a "home" and populate it with stuff. I think Test Drive Unlimited had this basic ability.

Basically, there would be no real boundary between home and other PS3 functions. Home would be not only the interface to the PS3, but it would also be an environment that games could access. I guess the "world" would have to be large enough for enough people to all be in, but not necessarily a single world for all PS3's. Again, for those that have played TDU, you know what I mean.
Variable Gear's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 11:46
Variable Gear
@ snapperdragon:

The downfall of your idea is that a great number of people do not want to interact with Home to play their games - they just want to play them as usual.

But, Idea #5 is really, really intuitive. If you had to play games in Home - why not give people an incentive to keep playing? Excellent idea!

Too bad it'll never happen...
ArrozConCarne's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 13:31
ArrozConCarne
HOME IS WRONG!

Inviting random dudes to your house so they can "check out" your virtual shit? GAY! This is only for pedophiles so they can have kids one step closer to their REAL houses.

Sorry Kaz, this idea sucks ass. You better keep things IPOD simple ok?

---

Yeah... motherfucker looks like some Tekken character... creepy...
dubbya's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/08/2007 20:14
dubbya
@snapperdragon

I dunno about home as system hub ala the XMB, if it was an option, that'd be cool, but it seems like that idea would be like the sixaxis controls in Lair, forced upon you with no other option, and that would make PS3 owners like myself quite bitter

Some people won't want it and that's cool, besides, loading home every time would be much longer than simply booting up the XMB.

It's a cool idea, but I don't think they should force a radical change in operation on us. Not unlike... Lair, man that game's crappy controls are so versatile.
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