# PS3 "Home" - Xbox Live killer?



## obanite (Mar 8, 2007)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=23349

Not sure where it came from but there was a video going round at work today of this. Basically PS3's equivalent of Xbox Live's lobby service is something like a cross between Second Life and The Sims. To be honest I was quite impressed.

Shame the PS3's a bloody rip off, because there's some pretty decent stuff starting to come out of the woodwork!


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## dweller (Mar 9, 2007)

apparently the place is gonna be choc full of video screens and posters
advertising sony products -

 although it looks very slick (much better graphics than SL) it could be a 
right royal pain in the arse.
second life at least has quite a broad range of geeky users, 
imagine being in a virtual world with only videogame enthusiasts to talk to.


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## skunkboy69 (Mar 9, 2007)

Looks like a walk in advert to me.I hope Sony pull something out of the hat tho.I fear they're gonna get trounced in this console war.Just seen a report that they're planning PS4 for just after 2010.


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## hendo (Mar 9, 2007)

They thoroughly deserve to get a kicking.

- the European verison will be more expensive than that sold in US and Japan.

- Many PS2 games will not be compatible with the European PS3, because they removed the chipset 'for cost reasons'. They may or may not fix this with software patches.

- Late to the market which the XBox 360 now cheerfully dominates, having sacrificed the marketing and tech lead once enjoyed by the PS2.

- Other reasons which I can't remember at the moment. Put it this way I shan't be bothering, and I love a good gadget.


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## FridgeMagnet (Mar 9, 2007)

skunkboy69 said:
			
		

> Looks like a walk in advert to me.






			
				dweller said:
			
		

> apparently the place is gonna be choc full of video screens and posters
> advertising sony products -
> 
> although it looks very slick (much better graphics than SL) it could be a
> ...


Yeah. I've been watching the videos and reading the press releases and so on and all I keep thinking is "but this is _Sony_ doing this". In other words, the tech looks marvellous and shiny, but the chances of them letting you do anything interesting or creative with the service that doesn't involve buying branded products from them, or perhaps other companies, I expect to be zero. It just looks like a place to wander about, IM people, set up games and make micropayments from to me, not a real thing in itself.

And yeah, judging by current experiences, well, would _you_ want to visit a virtual world populated by Xbox Live users? Someone in a comment somewhere said "Great - now I can be called a faggot by a ten-year-old _in 3D_" 

The best suggestion I saw was that they should fill the entire mall-looking place with weapons and household items and let everyone beat the crap out of each other _a la Dead Rising_.


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## GarfieldLeChat (Mar 9, 2007)

hendo said:
			
		

> They thoroughly deserve to get a kicking.
> 
> - the European verison will be more expensive than that sold in US and Japan.
> 
> ...


yawn allthis was said about the ps2 vs the dreamcast you are having a laugh if you think sony are going to loose marekt dominence we'll see how the xbox fares after the inevitable price drop period...


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## GarfieldLeChat (Mar 9, 2007)

FridgeMagnet said:
			
		

> Yeah. I've been watching the videos and reading the press releases and so on and all I keep thinking is "but this is _Sony_ doing this". In other words, the tech looks marvellous and shiny, but the chances of them letting you do anything interesting or creative with the service that doesn't involve buying branded products from them, or perhaps other companies, I expect to be zero. It just looks like a place to wander about, IM people, set up games and make micropayments from to me, not a real thing in itself.
> 
> And yeah, judging by current experiences, well, would _you_ want to visit a virtual world populated by Xbox Live users? Someone in a comment somewhere said "Great - now I can be called a faggot by a ten-year-old _in 3D_"
> 
> The best suggestion I saw was that they should fill the entire mall-looking place with weapons and household items and let everyone beat the crap out of each other _a la Dead Rising_.


ture though my first thoguht was irdoru tbh...

and i'm sure that it'll be totally possible to hack it or create varients


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## FridgeMagnet (Mar 9, 2007)

Would be fun wandering the place with a chipped box, being able to leap over buildings and punch people through walls  I believe the system has a proper physics engine after all. They'll probably have some serious punkbuster type software though.

I love virtual worlds, and this is plus points for a PS3, but not enough plus points for that sort of expenditure - certainly not when I already have Second Life which doesn't cost me a bean (and in fact makes me money).


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## Cid (Mar 10, 2007)

hendo said:
			
		

> - Late to the market which the XBox 360 now cheerfully dominates, having sacrificed the marketing and tech lead once enjoyed by the PS2.



The 360 has sold 10.4 million units worldwide... Sony sold more than 100 million PS2s and the PS2 was outselling the 360 for quite a while. I suspect many 360 owners will also buy a PS3 as it's been a while since the 360 was released. But basically no, the 360 is a very long way from dominating the console market.


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## obanite (Mar 12, 2007)

I think the point is that it's not supposed to be a whole MMO, it's a glorified lobby service for meeting your mates and joining games.

Also wrt the point about having to put up with a load of 10-yr old kiddies, everyone will have their own personal area (house or whatever) which will be invite only; the public areas will be provided by Sony and large devs/publishers. Which means it won't _all_ be Sony crap, hopefully 

I think it has huge potential. The only thing out of the points listed against the PS3 that really annoys me too is the backwards compatibility thing, but then the Xbox 360 hasn't been much better there really, has it?


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## scott_forester (Mar 12, 2007)

obanite said:
			
		

> Shame the PS3's a bloody rip off, because there's some pretty decent stuff starting to come out of the woodwork!



Not sure it is actually a rip off IIRC Sony make a lost on each unit shipped.


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## GarfieldLeChat (Mar 12, 2007)

obanite said:
			
		

> I think it has huge potential. The only thing out of the points listed against the PS3 that really annoys me too is the backwards compatibility thing, but then the Xbox 360 hasn't been much better there really, has it?



I'm not sure that backwards capabiltiy is an issue tbh it was when he ps2 ccame out but in reality i never really played old ps1 games on it ... didn't want to the same will be true of ps3 games you won't wantto play ps2 games on it... seriously how many ps1 games have you played on the ps2 ?

the idea of backwards capbility is a nice to have theory but lets face the ps2 isn't back wards compatible with the ps2 (early ps2 games didn't work on later ps2's and now early multi taps don't work on new ps2 slims...) technonolgy moves on a pace things become obsolete and thins improve.... i think that back ward compatibilty is a nob to those who think they have bought that so they woun't ever but it gain but in reality theres always the this 2 3 or 4 and they'll buy that because it's better....


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## obanite (Mar 13, 2007)

scott_forester said:
			
		

> Not sure it is actually a rip off IIRC Sony make a lost on each unit shipped.



Yeah, but it's still bloody expensive regardless. £425? You could buy a car for that! Then again you get a blu-ray thrown in with it too.


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## Structaural (Mar 13, 2007)

Most people I know (who are gamers) are waiting for the PS3. Remember the PS2 was really expensive when it came out but people put up with the price to get a DVD player (which were quite expensive at the time). The PS3's Blu-Ray will probably have the same effect. 
The fact that it has problems with backwards compatibility won't affect many people as they'll just plug their PS2 back in.
The majority of them just refuse to give Microsoft their money - preferring Sony for some reason... that definitely goes for the Japanese who have bought more PS3s than XBox 360s already (only 200,000 XBoxes have been sold in Japan)... though the Wii is beating them both AFAIK.


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## ChrisFilter (Mar 13, 2007)

In America the Wii is caining both of them, but X-Box is beating PS3. 

I think it's appalling that Sony are charging £425 for it.. all that pressure on people who can't afford anything like that to buy one..


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## Iam (Mar 13, 2007)

No one outside the uber geeks gives a toss about BluRay at the moment.


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## tommers (Mar 13, 2007)

I saw an advert in woolies on sunday...  PS3 + one game - for £465.

I thought "sod that"

and walked out.

maybe in a couple of years, once the price has dropped to about £200.

although I bought my PS2 when it first came out, cost me about £350 if I remember rightly....  I'm just not that excited about this.  I have a Wii, a PC, a PS2, a DS - who needs another bloody game console?


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## obanite (Mar 13, 2007)

ChrisFilter said:
			
		

> In America the Wii is caining both of them, but X-Box is beating PS3.
> 
> I think it's appalling that Sony are charging £425 for it.. all that pressure on people who can't afford anything like that to buy one..



Well, Sony have always pushed a relatively elitist product line / marketing strategy, if you see what I mean, so this isn't really anything new. How much more do Vaio laptops cost than one you'd get from Dell? What about the Bravia tellies? Though their mp3 players and phones are reasonably priced (I have one of each) 

If you want affordable, the wii is definitely the console of choice. Nobody is forcing anyone to buy 1 console at the end of the day, let alone all 3


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## ChrisFilter (Mar 13, 2007)

No, but peer pressure on kids translates into parents feeling pressure on sorting their kids out with 'cool' stuff. 

Everyone seems to prefer the cheaper Wii anyway, so all worked out nicely. Well done Nintendo.


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## GarfieldLeChat (Mar 13, 2007)

tommers said:
			
		

> although I bought my PS2 when it first came out, cost me about £350 if I remember rightly....  I'm just not that excited about this.  I have a Wii, a PC, a PS2, a DS - who needs another bloody game console?


erm when the ps2 cam out it wasn't £350 it was £435 with 2 free games (free my arse...) with in 6 months it had dropped to £350 and 6 months after that it had dropped to £275 ... so that'll prolly be the same for the PS3 thought he 60 gig will always be more expensive thatn the 40 gig and i'd imagine that later on they'll introduce a 120 gig or 500 gig one which will be smaller than the others (using laptop style hdd) and cheaper...

but i'm also sure that with in 2 months the moddign communtiy will have worked out how to update the 40 gig one to the 60 gig spec with a 500 gig disk innit... etc 


and of course how to chip it...


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## GarfieldLeChat (Mar 13, 2007)

looks like i'm getting a bonus at the end of march i think i know what i might be getting with it ... (might even get a wii too)


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## bouncer_the_dog (Mar 13, 2007)

*i want one*

The Gamespot article on its tech specs seemed to indicate it uses a bog standard HD and it basically would be a matter of unscrewing it and popping a new one in...


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## PacificOcean (Mar 13, 2007)

Structaural said:
			
		

> Most people I know (who are gamers) are waiting for the PS3. Remember the PS2 was really expensive when it came out but people put up with the price to get a DVD player (which were quite expensive at the time). *The PS3's Blu-Ray will probably have the same effect.*



I doubt it.  The leap from video to DVD was huge.  DVD to Blu-ray is meh.  I have a 50" HD TV myself and I am not bothered by it.  I have a £70 Toshiba DVD Player that upscales and the picture is fantastic.  I can't really see what blu-ray will add.  It won't make a bad film any better.  Also, how many people have HD TVs?

I did look at getting the HD-DVD add-on for my Xbox360 but looking at the films available for it (and their price), I didn't bother.


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## bouncer_the_dog (Mar 13, 2007)

The pS3 *DON'T UPSCALE!!!*


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## Structaural (Mar 13, 2007)

PacificOcean said:
			
		

> I doubt it.  The leap from video to DVD was huge.  DVD to Blu-ray is meh.  I have a 50" HD TV myself and I am not bothered by it.  I have a £70 Toshiba DVD Player that upscales and the picture is fantastic.  I can't really see what blu-ray will add.  It won't make a bad film any better.  Also, how many people have HD TVs?
> 
> I did look at getting the HD-DVD add-on for my Xbox360 but looking at the films available for it (and their price), I didn't bother.



Yeah, you've got a point. I also heard that Sony are trying to stop porn being made for the format (which is what stopped Betamax - VHS had the most porn) which could be another shot in the foot for the puritanical Sony.

Personally, I think I'll wait until it's below 300 - that's what I did with the PS2 - got mine for 150 I think. Might be some decent games out by then... I'll stick to my PS2 and PC for now... and I'm saving for a Mac, and I've no time to play games anyway, etc...


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## GarfieldLeChat (Mar 13, 2007)

bouncer_the_dog said:
			
		

> The Gamespot article on its tech specs seemed to indicate it uses a bog standard HD and it basically would be a matter of unscrewing it and popping a new one in...


yeah but like the hdd in an ipod and the like it's prolly got some propitory bollicks on it whcih will need copying accrossed formatiing in etc...


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## scott_forester (Mar 13, 2007)

obanite said:
			
		

> Yeah, but it's still bloody expensive regardless. £425? You could buy a car for that! Then again you get a blu-ray thrown in with it too.



But it's a gadget, people who buy new gadgets are willing to pay it. My first MP3 player cost me over £250, my first PC (an Apricot) cost we well over £2000 - to be honest I'll buy a PS3 not because it has a blu-ray, Sony Home, plays old PS2 games (who wants old gen. game on a next gen console anyway?) etc. I'll buy it to play new shiny games.


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## bmd (Jan 7, 2009)

So it's out on open beta, has anyone had a go yet? I'll be downloading it tonight but this article doesn't make it sound very appealing.


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## ChrisFilter (Jan 7, 2009)

Bob Marleys Dad said:


> So it's out on open beta, has anyone had a go yet? I'll be downloading it tonight but this article doesn't make it sound very appealing.



Yeah, the articles I've read have all been along the "Er... what's the point?" lines as it's been so scaled back. Ah well, every little helps when it comes to innovation. At least it's free.


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## bmd (Jan 7, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Yeah, the articles I've read have all been along the "Er... what's the point?" lines as it's been so scaled back. Ah well, every little helps when it comes to innovation. At least it's free.



Free is good. I just wonder at how much fun it's gonna be with the basic control system and text-only chat. I really can't be arsed with gamepad text chat. It's a bit like how I imagine using the Macbook Wheel would be.


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## kyser_soze (Jan 7, 2009)

It looks great, and I've had a couple of reasonable conversations on it (the average age seems to be a bit older than I presume XboxLive is from the sound of it)...looks fucking great too! 

Text chat is a pain, but then VoiP can be a bit shite at times too...


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## Kid_Eternity (Jan 7, 2009)

If it's free no one can really complain that much...


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## ChrisFilter (Jan 7, 2009)

I just don't get the point, now it's so scaled down  

Why on earth would you want to sit there typing away on a gamepad to someone who also happens to own a ps3? If it's a mate, give them a call. If not, join a dating site.

It's a nice front-end for a shopping system, but then why bother? Easier to scroll through lists a la Xbox Live.


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## Awesome Wells (Jan 7, 2009)

Given how shit M$ are and how badly they treat their customers i'd be very surprised if Sony were any worse. I'm fed up with M$. Developers don't even have the say as to whether DLC for their games should be free or not. The whole point system is a complete scam and a total con. They list movies for 'rent' via download on the marketplace that are cheaper to buy new! I'd rather go with sony had i the choice.


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## mwgdrwg (Jan 7, 2009)

Awesome Wells said:


> Given how shit M$ are and how badly they treat their customers i'd be very surprised if Sony were any worse. I'm fed up with M$. Developers don't even have the say as to whether DLC for their games should be free or not. The whole point system is a complete scam and a total con. They list movies for 'rent' via download on the marketplace that are cheaper to buy new! I'd rather go with sony had i the choice.



The very definition of "fanboi".


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## PacificOcean (Jan 7, 2009)

2 year old thread = win

But the PS3 has picked up a bit since.  This is a good thing.  Otherwise we would all still be using Betamax and carrier pigeons.


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## Awesome Wells (Jan 7, 2009)

mwgdrwg said:


> The very definition of "fanboi".


Not really, I don't own a ps3. I own a 360 and having had enough of M$ and the rubbish games for the 360 would be more than happy to give the former a go.


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## ChrisFilter (Jan 7, 2009)

Awesome Wells said:


> Not really, I don't own a ps3. I own a 360 and having had enough of M$ and the rubbish games for the 360 would be more than happy to give the former a go.



Rubbish games?  There are a fuck load of first rate games for the 360. Considerably more than on the PS3.

I think you just hate life


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## Awesome Wells (Jan 7, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Rubbish games?  There are a fuck load of first rate games for the 360. Considerably more than on the PS3.
> 
> I think you just hate life


no i just hate M$.

really though i have been very disappointed with the released for this generation; there was more effort put into games for older consoles by far. I suspect this is because games seem to want to crowbar in a multiplayer element at all costs. This, for example, is why GTA4 wasn't as good as previous outings. There are precious few decent 360 games at all; in fact i've gone back to CoD4 as a result. A game that's over a year old. Whether things are any better for the ps3 makes no difference, I doubt they are worse and at least you don't have to pay monthly to play them online (and for the privilege of hearing racist americans scream and shout).


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## ChrisFilter (Jan 7, 2009)

I'm quite the opposite, been infinitely more impressed by this generation's games than the last.


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## Daniel (Jan 7, 2009)

PS3 home is free, but just about lol 
I'm surprised they dont charge you by how many steps you take!

Home was something that really attracted me to the PS3, so I ended up buying one, and although home is quite enjoyable, everything on that thing costs money, and quite a bit of it. They had something bout clubs, you pay like a fiver for it, and in march they wana start charging you for the privilege of owning the club every month

I really don't get why you have to wait to play stuff on there as well since thats the only thing you can do on it, and there isn't even a que system to go with the waiting.  Why not just let anyone play bowling/pool/checkers/chess (quite a list ey) instead of having to wait there?

I think (hope) it will be better in the future, a club would be nice if it had a a nice up to date music list.

Its something that could be great I guess but whether it will be is another matter.


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## Awesome Wells (Jan 7, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> I'm quite the opposite, been infinitely more impressed by this generation's games than the last.


compare soul calibur 2 to the recent soul calibur 4. The latter is utter fail from start to finish while the former remains the greatest fighter ever and is years old now.


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## Daniel (Jan 7, 2009)

Whats the problem with people concentrating with multi player?  Its usually more fun playing with people then on your own, if a game hasn't got multi player, its got be a bloody good game to make me part with my cash, I don't wana be spending £40 for something that hasn't got re playability. Only disappointment is more and more and removing local multi player, I dont see why they do though


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## kyser_soze (Jan 7, 2009)

That's true, except when you go into a randomised COD4 multiplyer free for all deathmatch and all the 15 yr old 5 star generals with 1 shot kill powers decide to use you as target practice for the whole session. Not that this has ever happened to me, oh no.


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## Daniel (Jan 7, 2009)

lol M16+stopping power= the most annoying thing around


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## internetstalker (Jan 7, 2009)

Awesome Wells said:


> Not really, I don't own a ps3. I own a 360 and having had enough of M$ and *the rubbish games for the 360 *would be more than happy to give the former a go.


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## internetstalker (Jan 7, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> That's true, except when you go into a randomised COD4 multiplyer free for all deathmatch and all the 15 yr old 5 star generals with 1 shot kill powers decide to use you as target practice for the whole session. Not that this has ever happened to me, oh no.


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## Awesome Wells (Jan 8, 2009)

Daniel.x3h said:


> Whats the problem with people concentrating with multi player?  Its usually more fun playing with people then on your own, if a game hasn't got multi player, its got be a bloody good game to make me part with my cash, I don't wana be spending £40 for something that hasn't got re playability. Only disappointment is more and more and removing local multi player, I dont see why they do though


There's nothing wrong with multiplayer so long as the multiplayer isn't rubbish (which it is most of the time, as was the case with GTA) and doesn't compromise the rest of the game (as was the case with GTA).


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## Awesome Wells (Jan 8, 2009)

Daniel.x3h said:


> lol M16+stopping power= the most annoying thing around


nope, loud mouth anti semitic americans with juggernaut are worse.


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