Playstation Home Open Beta Impressions
Playstation Home was recently released to the public as a beta version, known as 1.03. The initial launch has been a bit rough due to server errors when trying to login to the Home client, which has most likely led to a lot of furious gamers out there. But, for those that have been patient, the Home experience may be a bit entertaining. When I was finally able to login, I created a avatar to the best of my abilities. The facial customization is fairly complex, but the choice of clothing is a bit lacking. Of course, this is because Sony is expecting to make a profit on microtransactions to include clothing, furniture, etc.
As expected, the initial release wasn’t as smooth. I experienced many server error connections, and it still takes a few tries to login. Once you login you are presented with a character customization, where you decide what you will look like in the Home virtual world. If you have ever played the latest Sims game, it is a lot like the customization presented in the Sims. Although it is fairly complex, I felt like I couldn’t quite get my Home character looking like I wanted to, but it is still detailed.Once in the Home virtual world you are shown your “apartment”, which isn’t much to see. The Central Plaza is where much of the online action occurs. The Home environment in its current version pretty much consists of a bunch of teens trying to swarm the female characters. Although, most of the female characters are in fact males in disguise for the lulz of seeing desperate males trying to hit on them. I witnessed a male character actually give his phone number to a “female” while several other Home characters watched.
In its current version, Home is no more than a over complex version of an online forum for people to chat. The games are lacking, and the areas to visit are not really worth the time. Don’t expect much customization at this point, visiting the mall only reveals a limited amount of clothing to buy at $0.49 a piece. Hopefully as Sony expands on the Home experience it will thrive as a true social networking environment.
December 13, 2008 at 10:01 pm | Playstation | No Comments