Home beta welcoming another 100,000 testers [Joystiq]

[DP ServBot]

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3 (http://www.joystiq.com/category/ps3/)

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We would tell you all about PlayStation Home (http://www.joystiq.com/tag/home) version 1.0, but then we'd have to kill ... ourselves. (Wow, that was dark.) Fortunately, no harm will likely befall us, since you might just find out all about it soon yourself. Sony has announced that 100,000 more invites to the beta are now going out (although an impish email server may delay them for European readers).

Sony itself has officially revealed some features of the new client. Like the fact that the in-Home navigation tool is no longer a PSP - it's been replaced by a PDA-like "Menu Pad." Oh, and it has added Clubs, which allow for up to 32 members to gather in a private Clubhouse space, complete with an editable bulletin board. Plans call for the open beta - the one everyone can get into - to feature "premium" for-pay Clubhouses. Perhaps they'll be specially themed? We'd put down a few for Kratos' throne room from God of War.

Home beta welcoming another 100,000 testers (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/21/home-beta-welcoming-another-100-000-testers/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).

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[GrandAmChandler]

I think this is the Sony Duke Nukem Forever. This is never coming out.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

God Damnit Sony ...

Where's My Damned Invite!!!???

[Sudo]

God Damnit Sony ...

Where's My Damned Invite!!!???

Seriously. I've been a member of the PlayStation Underground since its inception, have registered my PSX, PS2 and PS3 and a bunch of games. They've never invited me to the G.A.P. or any betas at all.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Seriously. I've been a member of the PlayStation Underground since its inception, have registered my PSX, PS2 and PS3 and a bunch of games. They've never invited me to the G.A.P. or any betas at all.

Ditto on the underground and the registration stuff.

I got invited to the Warhawk beta...

and I've downloaded the Home theme twice already (hoping they'd notice the second time) ... I didn't sign up for the LBP, Resistance 2 or Killzone 2 betas, but I REALLY REALLY want in on Home.

[skaar]

Oh, so that's what that was.

I like haven't turned on my PS3 in 6 months. I got an invite :D

[Howie6925]

Got my code today, have not had a chance to go on my ps3 to download it hopefully tonight I will check it out.

[BHvrd]

Holy shit, cool, I got an invite. Gonna try this baby out, sweet.

I was also in LBP and Resistance 2 beta so maybe thta had something to do with it I imagine.

[walrusmonger]

I've had the home beta for what seems like forever, it is so boring.

[jcalder8]

I hope I get in but I'm not holding my breath, I haven't been a member very long and I haven't signed up for anything, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to or not.

[kupomogli]

According to my friend, I haven't turned my PS3 on in over 90 days before yesterday. How do you know if you get a home invite? Is it going to be in your inbox?

All I got in my inbox were messages from a few people. "You don't come on very often do you?"

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

People on my effing friends list are in the damned beta!!!

This makes me so angry/envious.

The criteria for getting in this round is "Activity on the PSN and the Playstation Store"???

I'm on every freaking day for hours at a time!!!

AND I'm on the Gamer Advisory Panel ... AND I've participated in every one of their marketing focus group surveys.

OH JACK TRETTON WHY HATH THOU FORSAKEN ME!

[swlovinist]

Holy cow, if Frankie is not in...I dont feel that bad for not getting picked

[BHvrd]

I've had the home beta for what seems like forever, it is so boring.

Seriously?

I think it is fucking brilliant, i'm loving the hell out of it, once it all loads up it is a very nice experience.

I would say BY FAR the biggest thing is the communication pad. You can join friends in-game, invite people to a game, call friends like a phone call and numerous, NUMEROUS things, it's smooth...very smooth.

I love the arcade, there's a version of Echochromo that I actually like better than the real game and if you get a certain score you unlock an Echochrome costume you can walk around in, lol.

Bowling is a fun social experience as well and it is so funny hearing other people having conversations, it's the next big thing, imo. I will Definitely be logging into Home everytime I start my PS3, no doubt.

Home is brilliant period, much success and win. It can only get better...

[Half Japanese]

I thought it was pretty sad, seeing the nerds huddling around the two girls in the central area and trying to chat them up/dance all over them, watching the same promo clip for Socom in the theater, and listening to the same 3 mediocre songs in the music area. I can't see myself ever using it on a regular basis.

It seems like every console this generation is trying to merge me in real life with video games, failing to understand that I play games to get away from real life.

I seriously don't understand the appeal of Home.

[Sudo]

Guess I spoke too soon.

WELCOME TO HOME BETA

Dear PlayStation®Network member,

Congratulations, you have been selected to help beta test PlayStation®Home!

Too bad I can't actually connect to it, after trying ten times or so now.

[G-Boobie]

Just got in today. It's basically second life without the weird cult angle or deviant lifestyles.

The arcade machines in the bowling alley are brilliant. The people who are cybering huddled in corners in central plaza are not.

It's the foundation of something that could be great, though. The idea is sound.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I can totally understand how this could be a "your mileage may vary" application with varying degrees of entertainment per user.

ME, I'm a pretty big social butterfly/online gaming enthusiast who enjoys any opportunity to meet other online users, especially on the PS3, who's games are usually less populated than XBL. This seems like a great forum for that type of thing that's head and shoulders above what Nintendo and MS are doing with their free dashboard area non-game online user experiences.

I've been "gifted" a Home key by a very generous DP forum member ... I won't have time to see if they're transferrable across regions until tomorrow (Lis and I are accompanying Joe to the VGXpo today) but if they are and I DO get in via an official code in the future, I'll have a free one to give.

I'll report back soon.

[G-Boobie]

Without breaking the NDA, I can tell you that after unlocking and donning the Echochrome costume I deployed the bubble machine in central plaza, started dancing, and nearly caused a robot dancing, bubble machine nation, server wrecking riot. It was stupid fun, but it probably wasn't what the creators had in mind.

The theory behind Home(and Second Life, for that matter) is sound, but it doesn't seem to gel the way it should in practice. Most of the conversations I've taken part in in Home were either flame war squabbling or requests to cyber. I ended up speaking to two or three interesting and intelligent people, but the scope of our conversation was restricted to our horror at the behaviors we'd witnessed, robot dancing notwithstanding.

Consider also the fact that there just isn't much to do yet. The world is pretty much an empty shell. The only decorations are advertisements. It's like a digital mall. And when you're at the mall in Home? That's a mall in yet another mall. That's some recursive meta shit right there.

On the other hand, there are flashes of brilliance. The arcade machines and other games are genius. The 'apartment' conceit is smart, and I'll admit I spent a few minutes arranging my 'furniture'. The options for customizing your avatar aren't bad either, and will probably get even better.

The most important thing though is that for every minute I spend in Home starting dance riots and wrecking the latency curve for cybering adolescents, I lose a minute I could actually be playing a real, honest to god game. I'm an adult(though there are some who'd argue that point) with a job, school, friends and family. My gaming time is precious. With the XMB finally having all the functions we've gotten used to with Xbox Live, Home just feels superfluous.

Anyone else?

[poloplayr]

IF any kindhearted member would have a Home beta key who they do not want/need for any reason, I would be deeply thankful for it...

I've spent way too much money on the PSN and time there yet have not received any invite...argh

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'm in debt to a generous DP forum member for helping me get in (two actually extended their codes, but only one was region compatible with my North American account), and as G-Boobie aptly said "flashes of brilliance" are everywhere to be seen.

The bowling alley/pool hall/arcade area is absolutely fantastic, I'm very impressed with the well behaved social interaction found there ... especially considering how immensely populated the spaces are ... at any given time that I was in there were hundreds of users milling about in all of the open public spaces.

Though, even in case of well-behaved people, the ability to mute users with mics is welcome (as it is in most games that allow for open channel communication) ... even if your conversation isn't offensive, it can still be annoying to hear about your wife having a baby while I'm trying to bowl competitively.

A few times I found users running around looking to launch games of Warhawk ... but sadly I didn't have my disc in my drive. What is very subtle about this aspect of Home is that this is an incentive to buy DLC versions of games like Warhawk, Gran Turismo Prologue and others that allow for Home game launching.

Home certainly provides an edge of social interaction that creating Miis or making an NXE avatar party absolutely can not (not that those things aren't fun or well made ... they're just not Home). Waiting in line for a game of Echochrome in the arcade ads a layer of "nostalgia" that I haven't felt since I put a quarter on the monitor glass/bezel of a Street Fighter III machine at Fun N' Games.

The remainder of the service seems very well crafted, but purposely gimped for Beta ... there are items and functions that are missing that I'm looking forward to playing with (notably things in the home apartment like photo, video and audio streaming) ... and the avatar creation seriously needs more hairstyles and FACIAL HAIR styles.

To both of the DP forum members that extended their beta codes to me, thank you very very much, I'm eternally grateful ... and I hope to see you both in the final releases of the service!

[jcalder8]

Just a heads up to all DPers, check the clubs for "Digital Press"

[G-Boobie]

Just a heads up to all DPers, check the clubs for "Digital Press"

I just did a search; I came up with nothing. Quote, "The list is empty". Is the club already up and running?

[G-Boobie]

Double post. Disregard.

[G-Boobie]

TRIPLE post, somehow. Please disregard.

[jcalder8]

I just did a search; I came up with nothing. Quote, "The list is empty". Is the club already up and running?
I have had one person join so it is up and running but I tried to send you an invite. But I was told it's an invalid user name: Geoffvdl

[jcalder8]

SolC is the only member of the DP club, anyone know who he is on DP?

[G-Boobie]

SolC is the only member of the DP club, anyone know who he is on DP?

No I don't; he's on my friends list, I'll send him a PM and ask him.

I'm going to try and join again. More details as they develop.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I searched for "Digital Press" as well and came back with "no results"... though strangely enough I randomly ran into somebody I knew from a totally different forum in the bowling alley.

[jcalder8]

Has anyone tried searching for just digital?

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Perhaps the club owner needs to actually be ONLINE when the search happens?

[jcalder8]

Perhaps the club owner needs to actually be ONLINE when the search happens?
I'll head online right now, can you try again?

[jcalder8]

I'll be online at least most of today if anyone wants to search for the club.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'll be online at least most of today if anyone wants to search for the club.

Worked today. Got the invite and joined.

Nobody was there, but the clubhouse looks neat ... can't wait till we can get our own arcade machines and pool tables and streaming video for the space.

We could literally have a mini virtual nava meeting there ... or we could potentially have a PS3 with a PS3 Eye camera set up (if future updates allow for that) at the store and running DURING a real Nava for remote Home users to interact with!

[jcalder8]

Worked today. Got the invite and joined.

Nobody was there, but the clubhouse looks neat ... can't wait till we can get our own arcade machines and pool tables and streaming video for the space.

We could literally have a mini virtual nava meeting there ... or we could potentially have a PS3 with a PS3 Eye camera set up (if future updates allow for that) at the store and running DURING a real Nava for remote Home users to interact with!
I hope so. Living so far away I never get to go to anything so I thought the Clubhouse would be a pretty good idea.

When I created it I got a message saying that it will be deleted when the Open Beta starts and I'll have to create it again.

[BHvrd]

SolC is the only member of the DP club, anyone know who he is on DP?

*raises hand*

[jcalder8]

*raises hand*
I thought I'd seen the user name around somewhere.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Home needs more/better mustaches my Home avatar looks like a pedophile or a Malibu 10-speed bike cop.

[BHvrd]

Damn...get this.

Japanese players got Pacman, Galaga, Dig Dug and Xevious in their arcades, in addition to all the others. Namco also gave them all 4 of those arcade machines to put in THEIR rooms...awesome.

They also got awesome shirts of each game, (i've seen the Galaga and Pac-man ones and they are so retro) pants, shoes and Dig Dug hats.

It kinda pisses me off that only Japanese players got this, but also makes me glad cause it shows what to expect and that they are really serious about this.

Btw, I unlocked 5 items on Icebreaker, but can only find 3 of them in my data pad, anybody know what's up with that?

[Lothars]

I got in, everyone should add me to there friends list, my psn name is lothars

[G-Boobie]

I also have joined the Digital Press club. The clubhouse idea is excellent.

The more I screw around in Home, the more I like it. Hopefully, they won't do a server wipe when they move from 'closed' beta to 'open' beta... This is a service that needs a nice soft launch.