So what is PSHOME?
Introduced March 7th, 2007 PSHOME is a virtual world built to mimic the traditional user interface for consoles and pc's. Instead of having a system simply being governed in text and numbers you will experience the richness of gaming in 3d. What people fail to realize is that home is a menu that access' features currently not present on the PS3. Chating with friends in the lounge is the forum and chat rooms, gathering your friends in your house is like gathering in a game lobby before you play. To the first time viewer of the PSHOME people will see nothing more than a sim mmorpg, however, that would be rather dull in comparison. A sim mmorpg isn't going to appeal to every gamer on the psn so Sony introduced elements into PSH that will enthraul the masses.
Simple things like watching full movies in a virtual theater with friends from all over the world can't be done anywhere else. Experiences like this which are truly one of a kind is what makes the PSH so unique. The true forfront of this idea however is the integration of a myspace, youtube-esqe community. 100's of millions of users log onto these sites every day to communicate and share their ideas with friends. PSH takes these great internet phenomenon smashes them together, and presents it in a new 3d model.
What does something like that mean to the person that only wants to play games? It means little on the outside, but something huge underneath. Commerce is driven by demand, and offering something never before seen will bring the people needed in to drive that demand. With a larger install base developers all over the world will be crawling over each other to take a bite of the profit.
PSHOME will be offered for free download off of the PSstore in fall of 2007.
PSH - General
* Ability to communicate with every member of the PSN in a seemless enviorment.
* Unparalled access to the current world of Sony and Playstation. Showing streaming HD trailers for games and movies.
* Customisation of your personal avatar supported by user, first party, and third party content. All of this avaliable via PSstore, and individual game titles.
PSH - Private Spaces
* Invite friends to your apartment to partake in numerous activies such as: Seemless transition into multiplayer PS3 titles, Strategic discussions for clan/guilds, airing of your latest singstar video, slideshow of your latest trip to the bahamas, etc... In general it is left up to the imagination of the user.
* Customisation of your personal space adding free and premium content. Examples of such: your own arcade games, adding furniture and interior design that defines you, and showing off your latest trophies.
PSH - Public Spaces
* Lounge for social gatherings, and meeting new users.
* Game lobby where you can sample demos of current offerings from the PSstore in arcade style. Or, you can customise the content to suit your arcade taste.
* Mini-games such as bowling, billiards, etc... add a relaxing way to chat without the mayhem of something epic like Warhawk.
* Movie Theater which will allow you to see user and professional created content. Such diversity can be expected as watching the full Spiderman 3 movie one moment to judging greatest motorstorm race the next.
PSH - User Created Public Spaces
* Business oriented spaces representing real world offerings. ie. Banana Republic opens a room showing images and video of their fall catalogue along with any current sales they may be having.
* Guild or Clan halls showing achievements, current tournaments, rankings, recruiting, etc..
* Developers rooms bring forth a never before seen element of global user input. Insomniac may want to field test its latest ideas for weapons for RFOM. Users will be able to provide feedback on what they like/dislike in realtime with dev's.
Intro
Taking personal representation online to the next level Sony embarks on one of the greatest undertakings in console history. When you first enter PSHOME you'll encounter a character customisation screen which is the first example of exactly how indepth and unique your experience will be. Described as having a infinite number of variations your (insert unknow avatar nickname here) will be forever adorned in possibility. How is it possible to achieve such great variation to personify your inner self you ask? With constant user, first party, and third party content avaliable expect to be overwhelmed with a plethora of unique articles for your avatar to dawn.
The idea of an every changing online world though is not a new concept. MMORPG's haven been generating this same style of play for a long time now. Their are however great diffrences between PSHOME an your average run of the mil MMO. These will be touched on in great detail later on. What I would like to instead discuss now is the knowledge of what an online architecture like PSHOME will bring.
For people who ever taken part in a MMO you can tune out for a moment cause I'll preaching to the choir. Developing a sense of depth to every person you meet is why 3d avatars can't be compared to a 2d or text representation of someone. The greatest reason why games like WoW have such great loyalty is not only the game play, but the comraderie and feelings that are evoked by the interaction that takes place. Some may be thinking well I get interaction with other people when I play FPS's online - I see them, I kill them, and I squat on their face as I say goodbye. The thing that isn't developed however is a relationship with that character. Hanging out with your buddies that you've never met before in a 3d enviorment such as PSHOME provides the opportunity to generate those feelings.
Now that I've run that into the ground lets get the real reason you are here WTF is PSHOME, and why do I want it?
Navigation and Interaction
While the idea of finding your way through this virtual monstrosity may seem overwhelming it is actually quick and concise. Going along with the fact that this is not a MMORPG we aren't exactly bound by logic. This introduces the Virtual PSP (your PSH menu) and teleportation. No one wants to be wasting time running from place to place if they don't have to. Simply pull out your PSP, open the world map, select your destination, and Kazaam (think Shaq) you are there. The primary world map interface consist of I believe 6 (got to watch the movie again) areas that you can quickly access like this.
1. Apartment
2. Main Plaza
3. Game lounge - arcade
4. Theater
5. Game Lobby - genre specific
6. Trophy Room
Now the unique thing here is that the World map is not actually the farthest out you can go. In what seems almost like a Universe map you can visit other worlds created by companys and possibly guilds/clans. (A note on the guild/clan areas - We know they will be avaliable, but we don't know if this is how you will access them.) Selecting that company will take you to all the content they have created. This is has some amazing and unique possibilites. - Look under PSHOME - Ideas
Your VPSP is used for more then just teleporting around the PSH however. It is the basis of how you will interact with that world. The menu of the VPSP is set up exactly like the XMB visually. Not all of the menu is known atm, but if you find something that is not listed please submit it to me. The known abilites of the VPSP are listed here:
Home Space
1. Add Furniture - Allows you to enter the add furniture screen.
2. Move Furniture - Allows you to select furniture and move it.
3. Wallpaper - Allows you to select the current wallpaper displayed in your home.
4. My Home Spaces - Allows you to select which current home you are in. For Multiple Home Idea see PSHOME Ideas
Locations
1. World Map - Brings up World map view within VPSP. Within this menu you are able to zoom out to the PSH Universe view.
Personal
1. Customise Character Clothing
2. Customise Character Face
3. My Purchases - Brings up character options that you've bought on the PSstore
4. Messages - Instant Messaging with friends.
Exit PSHome
Items found throughout the PSH are also interactive without use of the VPSP. Examples of this are things like TV's and picture frames in your home. To access and set content that is displayed in these items you walk up to them and press X.(I assume X button) This will bring up a menu where you can select content to be displayed. All avaliable media is the content on your PS3.
You'll also encounter areas outside of your home that you can interact with. In the game lounge there is a number of mini games that you can access. By approaching a pool table, bowling lane, or arcade game you can play them without any loading screen. What you are doing is also displayed realtime so even while in the middle of struting your stuff you can carry a conversation with your friend. Arcade games have customizeable content in this area. It is the only public place known that displays diffrent content for each user. You are allowed to set the arcade games on your HDD to be accessed here.
Interacting with the other users in realtime can take place in 4 diffrent ways.
1. Emotes
2. Virtual Keyboard
3. USB Keyboard
4. BT Mic
Emotes are gestures that your avatar can make, text typed is displayed over your head, and Voice chat is displayed as 3 periods (...).
Large Title Gaming and Friend Interface
Some of the content contained within this block is not verifyed. Take with a grain of salt.
Here I'm going to tackle the "I want to game, not play hooky with a guy posing as a girl in some virtual world." This is something I've seen as the greatest reason people don't like the sound of PSHOME. They invision something that dosen't concern them cause it dosen't concern games. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The ps3 community has unleashed a steady outcry for an online experience similiar to that of the MS's live. Sony in turn has giving you something greater, and let me now explain to you why.
Entering into the PSHOME when you first start your system will give you access to all that live offers, and more just as fast. If all you want to do is quickly jump into a game with some friends you first place to look will be the PSP virtual console. This is going to be the place where you find those options similar to live that everyone craves. -Who is online, what game is he playing, and is their room for me to join him?- After selecting the friend you wish to join you'll be prompted to insert the game if you haven't already. Next will be a seemless transition which will take you directly into the game. Next I imagine you'll be dumped into whatever lobby exist prior to entry into the game you selected. Why do I know all of this? By analyzing the fact you will be able to make party's in the PSHOME, and directly enter a game with your friends denotes the ability for the PSN to see into a game and its lobbies. So we can reasonably deduce that it will be able to see your friends and at least take you right up to the point of actually joining him.
Exploring PSHOME
One thing that most people want to know is what kind of experience can I expect from this PSH? This section focus' on the physical aspects of PSH, and what you can expect to find as you explore this world.
Personal Apartment
The largest focus you will have as an individual will be on your own physical apartment. The design and style of this area is totally up to the owner. This is kind of where the myspace page comes into things. If you had a myspace page renderd as 3d this would be it. In this area things that only a couple days ago were the unimaginable fall seamlessly together. To start off with you'll be the in the low house on the totem pole. A studio apartment that screams boring. Don't worry though it will quickly take on an appearance that defines you and your taste. The ability to customize content is rampant in the entire PSH world, but here is where it is greatest. What you want goes... Crave a room filled with dragons from lair soaring over hundreds of unfortunate souls as your wall paper? You got it. Throw in some trailers of the game streaming off of your own bravia in HD and all I can say is "Success" (Imagine Borat). Total immersion is apparent when you grasp the fact that picture frames, televisions, furniture, and even the wallpaper display the content that you deem fit.
Most of the content to stock your new home will be found on the PSstore under one of two catagories, free and premium. Obviously the "Free" items will be just that, and pretty standard. "Premium" on the other hand will be governed by micro-transactions that will come out of your PSstore wallet. Other sources of "Stuff" will be from the games we buy and the Milestones we unlock. User created content is supposedly on the hook, but i got to find the source again to verify. It makes sense though as everything about PSH is to further our immersion.
Trophy Room
As if working out from our apartment we will run into our trophy room first. Now this room is not actually attached to your home were you can simply walk into it. You will be greated with a short load screen between major content areas. Customization of the trophy room comes in the style of you displaying the milestones that you wish others to view. Instead of having a massive clutter of "You successfully named your character" type trophys you are given the option to show those that mean the most to you.
Accessing the milestones that you have unlocked is as simple as 1,2,3. near the center of this large circular room is a gate in the floor out of which rises all of your awards. Catagorized by game the menu of selecting and moving about your accomplishments is both easy and eye catching.
To top everything off with a real wow factor there's an outlet from your room that leads to the largest space in all of the PSH. Seemingly modeled after the senate on Corescant from Star Wars every milestone that is achieveable is displayed here. Meaning that this room grows.
