HOME is still coming

According to IGN Home is still coming! Having been subject to so many delays, it's ultimately reassuring to see that the software exists, and not only is it real but even in its current state it's a highly buffed and polished affair. While that's no surprise given both the four years of development that have informed every single area of the virtual space and Sony's propensity for digital slickness, it's still pleasing that what was initially seen at the forefront of the PlayStation 3's offerings to the current generation is now a tangible prospect that is edging ever nearer. That said, in light of Microsoft's all singing and light fingered new interface it will certainly find itself walking into a much-evolved online console landscape when it does finally arrive, and may have had a little of its sheen dulled by what's available on rival consoles. For now they are hoping by the end of the year, we will see.

Well I had no doubt that it was coming, just when. It does look really sweet and some of the features I have read about sound amazing.

hanner74 wrote:Having been subject to so many delays, it's ultimately reassuring to see that the software exists, and not only is it real but even in its current state it's a highly buffed and polished affair. While that's no surprise given both the four years of development that have informed every single area of the virtual space and Sony's propensity for digital slickness, it's still pleasing that what was initially seen at the forefront of the PlayStation 3's offerings to the current generation is now a tangible prospect that is edging ever nearer. That said, in light of Microsoft's all singing and light fingered new interface it will certainly find itself walking into a much-evolved online console landscape when it does finally arrive, and may have had a little of its sheen dulled by what's available on rival consoles. For now they are hoping by the end of the year, we will see.

Quit editing my posts! You still didn't write this.

Home will be ok. I say this because I won't have much of a use for it myself, I see myself barely using it. For much the same reasons I don't play MMORPGs. There's a potential for spending way too much time in it, time I'd rather spend playing an 'actual game,' like MGO or something.

But, to each their own. The @Home experience qualifies as a game in it's own right, so there will be those who spend a lot of time on it, playing it as if it was like any other game. So don't get me wrong, I'm interested to see it, just not so excited about it.

I'm saving that excitement for Bionic Commando Rearmed.

Home. We've been waiting for it for quite some time now and some gamers were beginning to think it would never arrive at all. Martijn Van der Meulen, a Producer on Home, says that it is a 100 percent guarantee that Home will be released by the end of this calendar year. He has absolutely no doubt that this will be the case, so it looks like the long wait to come Home is finally reaching its conclusion. Van der Meulen also said that Home will always be a free service -- only premium content will need to be purchased.

When it launches everyone will get a free Harbor studio apartment when they first get into Home and better apartments can be acquired down the line. There is a wardrobe tool which allows you to create and customize your character in a variety of ways, including simple things like clothing all the way down to the finest details. You can actually adjust sliders for things such as facial structure, skull width and other attributes.

Items like clothing, furniture and other knickknacks can be unlocked and also rewarded through other external games. Games can communicate with Home, so if you beat, for example, God of War 3, maybe you'll unlock a Kratos t-shirt in Home to wear. These sorts of possibilities are definitely exciting because this gives developers another avenue to not only promote their products but give gamers a little bonus for playing their games.

There is a place inside called Home Square, a beautiful central area with trees, an open sky and several entertainment hotspots. From the Square, users will be able to access a bowling alley, theater, shopping mall and a monorail station. You can play pool and a few of the arcade machines. Players will be able to take arcade machines back into their private apartment so friends can play them without waiting around in line at the public venues. With so many spaces to worry about, some gamers were concerned that walking/running around through the world would take too much time, but you can warp anywhere you'd like using your virtual PSP, just by selecting the visual chip from the World Map.

There is also the PlayStation Event Space, which some of you may have heard of before. In this space, Home users can watch live conference streams with other PS3 owners and even use the space as a way of communicating with developers.

I know some people are skeptical about the service, but I think Home has a lot of potential and could really personalize Sony's online service. I look forward to really getting into Home sometime this year.

Hey you know what would be cool? A certain player has a blu-ray or dvd in his/her drive and then on home you could set up a party and everyone can watch it. That would be friggin awesome!!!