Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Rumor: Associated Press dates Home for Nov. 19http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/12/Rumor-associated-press-dates-home-for-nov-19/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/12/Rumor-associated-press-dates-home-for-nov-19/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/12/Rumor-associated-press-dates-home-for-nov-19/#commentsFiled under: ,

An article purported to be from the Associated Press has been floating around today that very casually dates PlayStation's Home for November 19 -- coincidentally, the same day as the New Xbox Experience launch. The origins of this version stem from The Inquirer ("Sony, Microsoft begin battle of virtual worlds"). It's also interesting to note that the article does not mention NXE's simultaneous launch date.

When you search the AP website, however, you will instead come across a "Sony, Microsoft virtual communities to start" from the same day (via Yahoo!). In this version, Home is "dated" for "later this year," while NXE is coming November 19. Both pieces also use the exact same quotes from Enterbrain's Hirokazu Hamamura, Sony's Ryoji Akagawa and Microsoft's John Schappert. It's likely that the former piece was an earlier, now-corrected draft from the AP or a gross misread by The Inquirer (and subsequently propagated from there).

It should also be noted that at Sony's Tokyo Game Show press conference this weekend, the company announced an open beta for Home would be launching in Japan this month and end in November. We've gone ahead and contacted Sony and AP to confirm.

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]]>homenew-xbox-experiencenxeps-homerumorrumorongRoss Miller2008-10-12T13:30:00+00:00TGS 08: Japanese Home beta on track, 21 new contributorshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/09/tgs-08-japanese-home-beta-on-track-24-new-contributors/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/09/tgs-08-japanese-home-beta-on-track-24-new-contributors/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/09/tgs-08-japanese-home-beta-on-track-24-new-contributors/#commentsFiled under: ,

Remember Sony's TGS press conference last year? When Home was delayed? To Spring? Well you'll be happy to know that during their Japanese press conference Sony announced that, for once, Home is not delayed. In fact, it's almost out. The open beta is on schedule for release in Japan later this month. It'll then end at some point in November when, presumably, the actually really real thing will be released.

Sony also announced that twenty one new publishers have signed up to create content for the service. It's a pretty exhaustive list of contributors, despite the lack of Square Enix. There's no indication as to whether those on the list will also be creating content for the US and Europe. Hopefully we'll hear more of that before the Western release of the service, which should hit around the same time as Japan. The full list of new contributors for Home in Japan is after the break.
  • IREM
  • Activision
  • Acquire
  • Atlus
  • Walt Disney Japan
  • SNK
  • EA
  • Capcom
  • Q Entertainment
  • Game Republic
  • Genki
  • Koei
  • Konami
  • Spike
  • Sega
  • D3 Publisher
  • Tecmo
  • Nippon Ichi Software
  • Hudson
  • Bandai Namco Games
  • Ubisoft

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]]>homeplaystation-3sonyTGS08Jem Alexander2008-10-09T04:50:00+00:00PlayStation Home Manager: PS3 firmware 2.5, Home 1.0 in Octoberhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/19/playstation-home-manager-ps3-firmware-2-5-home-1-0-in-october/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/19/playstation-home-manager-ps3-firmware-2-5-home-1-0-in-october/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/19/playstation-home-manager-ps3-firmware-2-5-home-1-0-in-october/#commentsFiled under: ,

home
click for full-size screenshot

A PlayStation Home beta participant with access to a restricted PlayStation Forums thread has passed along a potential release month -- October -- for the next major PlayStation 3 firmware update (v2.50), PS3 Fanboy reports. The date was suggested by Home manager "TedTheDog" who clarified, "late October is my guess." The update will supposedly include a bug fix for freezing and network errors currently affecting Home users.

Ted (just "Ted" is okay, right?) also hints that Home v1.00 could coincide with firmware v2.50's release -- Home is currently at v0.98. Common sense, while not always a part of Sony's repertoire, tells us that Home 1.0 is the version that goes public -- we'll see. We should note that the Home beta was further expanded today, supporting the possibility of a public release next month.

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]]>breakingnewsfirmwarehomeplaystation-homeps3-firmware-2.50James Ransom-Wiley2008-09-19T15:15:00+00:00Get a look at Home's 'extended closed beta'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/get-a-look-at-homes-extended-closed-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/get-a-look-at-homes-extended-closed-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/get-a-look-at-homes-extended-closed-beta/#commentsFiled under: ,


click to enlarge
As we mentioned in yesterday's guided tour of PlayStation Home, most of the game's virtual world's "spaces" have undergone some significant visual re-tooling since it was announced at GDC '07. Today we can illustrate the point with fresh screens from the latest extended closed beta client for PS3's answer to Second Life.

The apartment space itself hasn't really been tweaked that much, but the view off the balcony has (it's quite gorgeous in person, really). Check out both our original and updated galleries below to see how many changes you can spot.

Gallery: PlayStation Home Extended Closed Beta


Gallery: PlayStation Home

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]]>betahomeplaystation-homesonyRandy Nelson2008-09-18T22:45:00+00:00Video sharing nixed from Home betahttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/video-sharing-nixed-from-home-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/video-sharing-nixed-from-home-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/video-sharing-nixed-from-home-beta/#commentsFiled under:


Though it once seemed an ideal channel for showing friends and loved ones videos of two people having intercourse, it seems that we'll need to find a method other than Sony's Home for furthering our hobby of filth propagation. Wired reports that the previously announced video sharing feature of the service has been axed, at least for now.

Sony says it's "looking into it," but it's looking less and less likely to us, especially considering the considerable legal hurdles Sony would have to overcome to implement the functionality. So, it seems to feed our curious habit of public pornography distribution, we'll be forced to turn to other channels. Speaking of which .... do any of you know any really good skywriters?

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]]>homehome-betasonywiredJustin McElroy2008-09-18T11:15:00+00:00A guided tour of the PlayStation Home betahttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/17/a-guided-tour-of-the-playstation-home-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/17/a-guided-tour-of-the-playstation-home-beta/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/17/a-guided-tour-of-the-playstation-home-beta/#commentsFiled under: ,


Home's Central Plaza now looks altogether different from this early, mall-like setting.

Since its impressive unveiling at GDC '07, the virtual community of PlayStation Home has gone from being Sony's most ambitious software undertaking as a console manufacturer to something just shy of vaporware. We hear that more members of the gaming populace are being cherry-picked to test it, but despite this - and a spattering of showings at industry events - it nevertheless seems no closer to realization.

With the expanded closed beta underway and Sony still talking about a public "open beta" release by year's end, we met with PlayStation Home director, Jack Buser, to get a look at what those under NDA are experiencing right now.

Gallery: PlayStation Home


Our tour began in the totally re-designed Central Plaza, something that Buser calls the "pride and joy of SCEA." This area, inspired by elements of modern architecture from Munich and Los Angeles, serves as an entryway and hub into the world. As it stands, the world is comprised of this space, the Games Space, which contains virtual pool, bowling, and arcade games; the Mall, which offers free and paid clothing, furniture, and even entire properties; and a currently single-screen movie theater, which is being used to screen trailers (WipEout HD at present) with plans to expand it into a multiplex offering "more types of video content."

"It's clear that Home is still very much a work in progress, but, as Buser explained to us, will continue to grow."
It's clear that Home is still very much a work in progress, but, as Buser explained to us, will continue to grow long after its doors have been open to a (hopefully) eager public. Manning a DualShock 3 sporting Sony's upcoming keypad peripheral, Buser walked us through Home's current state.

First and foremost, Buser shared his distilled explanation of what Home is all about - something that was still fairly unclear to, well, anyone. "It's all about expanding the game experience. Expanding the gamer community," Buser told us, explaining that, "Every time we do anything, the first thing we ask ourselves is 'How does this expand the game experience? How does this enhance gameplay? How does it enhance existing or upcoming games?' That's our 'laser focus' with Home."


The original Games Space (shown) has undergone a major face-lift in the beta.

Some - ourselves included - have seen the Game Space before and wondered what was so special about multiplayer online pool and bowling. Buser explains that this area of Home is actually a key community component in the eyes of the team. "The real reason for the game space being there is to give you an excuse to do something to meet people," he said. "Take pool. It's just like playing pool in real life. You do it to hang out with friends. Maybe one out of 10 times you play pool it's actually to get better at your game."

Buser believes that the space will serve as a novel and better means of making online friends. "There are really only a couple of ways to meet new friends on traditional game consoles. Either play a game with them, shoot them down, and say, 'Hey, I shot you down! Be my friend' and add them to your friends list," he noted, adding that, "Sometimes you often regret doing that and have to remove them."

"There's no place that gamers can meet up en masse and get to know each other. Which is really kind of sad." - Jack Buser
His second analogy was that, "You meet up with them in real life and exchange PSN IDs, etc.," but that, "There's never really been this layer in-between. There's never been anything built into a game console that's been purely designed as a way to make friends. In Home, you can take time to find out more about somebody - what games they're into, etc. - and decide if you want to be friends with them."

Buser lamented the death of arcades as a congregation spot for gamers, saying, "Think about the real world. If you wanted to go out there and meet other gamers, where would you go? It used to be you'd go to the arcade, right? You can't do that anymore. There's no place that gamers can meet up en masse and get to know each other. Which is really kind of sad." In his mind, "[Home] is the place to meet other gamers. Especially outside of the context of games. You don't have to be blasting them to chat."


The basic - yet customizable - apartment all Home denizens receive still looks nearly identical to this earlier iteration.

But what about other reasons to stay once you've made those friends? We asked about plans for expansion, and were told that, "What we want to do with Home is dynamically grow. What you see on day one is not what you'll see on day two. It's not what you're going to see a month down the road or even six months down the road." The cinema complex was one example. "We wanted to experiment with only one screen, to make sure we got it right," Buser told us. He illustrated how the world will extend past the Central Plaza by opening the World Map, a 2D representation of all the game's spaces. Buser explained that new spaces will be added to the world without necessarily appearing in the Central Plaza, stating that, "We have a ton of content in the pipeline."

"We're constantly going to be adding new spaces, new items, new features, new events ... and even new technology." - Jack Buser
When we quizzed Buser about the oftentimes lengthy loading when moving between zones, and whether this will be optimized before the open beta, he responded, "I can't really talk about that specifically, but what I can talk about is that the reason at launch we're calling it a 'open beta' is because we're constantly going to be adding new spaces, new items, new features, new events ... and even new technology. It's always going to be a living, breathing platform."

We wondered what transpires if spaces become too crowded. For example, would we see queues to play pool? "They way we've designed it, each area that's on the map - game spaces, the Central Plaza, and so on - they fill up to a certain limit and then [another is created]. That way, we know how many people are going to be in a given space, max, he explained. "We've designed it so that it will be crowded, but not so crowded that you won't be able to get to the [Games Space] game you want to get to."


There's no cinema lobby like this in the beta. You walk through the main doors straight into a single-screen auditorium.

Rounding up our tour, Buser booted a newer version of the client to show us the still work-in-progress dedicated Game Space for Uncharted. This envisioning of Sully's bar was a lavish, two-story adventurer's club affair, complete with what we realized were doors that could only be unlocked using special passcodes, one of which we suspect was hidden in a video playing on a TV above the bar. There were also Mercenary Madness arcade machines running. The game, as it turned out, was a simple Pitfall-esque platformer.

Buser said that the Uncharted space was just one example of what can be done for first- and third-party single player titles within Home. "It's also a way for us, with cross-platform games, to provide content for them you're not going to find on any other console," he said. "The farther along we get, the more you're going to see things that happen in-game affecting things in Home, and vice-versa."

We left Home impressed by the atmosphere and vision, yet still uncertain about what the average gamer - even the hardcore contingent - will make of (and in) it.

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]]>betahomeinterviewjoystiqfeaturesplaystation-homevirtual-worldsRandy Nelson2008-09-17T09:15:00+00:00Home features shown in new videohttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/15/home-features-shown-in-new-video/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/15/home-features-shown-in-new-video/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/15/home-features-shown-in-new-video/#commentsFiled under:

Sony's PlayStation Home has gone through some changes since we first heard about it in 1988 2007 (really, that's all?). A new video from the company reveals some of the game spaces for various titles and gives a better idea of the general interface for those of us not in the beta. It also shows off some of the in-Home games like chess, billiards and some colored triangle-sphere game. If you're liking the features shown, don't worry. You apparently won't have to wait too long. Home is 100% guaranteed to release at some point this year.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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]]>homeplaystation-homesonyvideoAlexander Sliwinski2008-09-15T18:30:00+00:00Just say 'no' to Home Beta Injector scamhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/03/just-say-no-to-home-beta-injector-scam/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/03/just-say-no-to-home-beta-injector-scam/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/03/just-say-no-to-home-beta-injector-scam/#commentsFiled under:


Defender of the PS3 nation, PS3 Fanboy, has put the kibosh on a nasty little scam capitalizing on PS3 fans desire to get into the latest wave of the PlayStation Home beta. Sony's ninja-like lawyers are already stealthily shutting down the "PlayStation Home Beta Injector Blog," which promised visitors access to the beta ... if they'd turn over their PSN account names and passwords.

Sound shady? Oh yeah. Since doing so would, oh, give the site's proprietors complete access to your PSN account, including your credit card. If you ran across the scam and happened to fall for it, Sony suggests contacting its customer support for help with reclaiming your account.

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]]>homeplaystation-homescamRandy Nelson2008-09-03T20:00:00+00:00Check your email: Home beta invites senthttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/check-your-email-home-beta-invites-sent/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/check-your-email-home-beta-invites-sent/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/check-your-email-home-beta-invites-sent/#commentsFiled under: ,


You may have downloaded the PlayStation Home theme from the PSN Store thinking, "How can this possibly work? How will I know I've ... won?" The answer to that question arrived today for the Selected Ones, the latest batch of Home beta recruits who were informed via email that they'd won out over the presumably thousands of others who'd downloaded the theme. That's right: Sony knows where you live your email address.

Sony isn't saying how many invites are going out, but has confirmed that it's happening in waves over the next 24 hours, so keep checking your email if you haven't received one yet - you might still get lucky. We're told by Sony that another "beta wave" will hit in the next few weeks, so look for more news on that as we get it. Did you land an invite? Lets us know in comments, and have fun Home-ing.

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]]>betahomeplaystation-homepsnsonyRandy Nelson2008-09-02T21:30:00+00:00PlayStation Home beta extends to Asia this Fallhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/28/playstation-home-beta-extends-to-asia-this-fall/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/28/playstation-home-beta-extends-to-asia-this-fall/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/28/playstation-home-beta-extends-to-asia-this-fall/#commentsFiled under: ,


Those looking to help iron out the kinks in Sony's silicon-powered social gathering space, PlayStation Home, can now add Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan as valid entry locations for the program's closed beta. Sony's Hong Kong site (via Edge) is already asking readers to check back on August 29th for information on the test, which is expected to begin in mid-September.

Edge also notes that an open beta will commence this Fall, coinciding with similar events in Europe and the US. The more the merrier we say ... even if everybody in the virtual room is just whining about how a plain ol' menu would suffice.

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]]>AsiaBetaHomePSNLudwig Kietzmann2008-08-28T16:15:00+00:00PlayStation Home 100% guaranteed for 2008 releasehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/playstation-home-100-guaranteed-for-2008-release/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/playstation-home-100-guaranteed-for-2008-release/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/25/playstation-home-100-guaranteed-for-2008-release/#commentsFiled under: ,

leatherhead
... by Martijn Van der Meulen. To be fair, Van der Meulen is a producer on the Home project, who apparently assured IGN during Games Convention that the service would launch sometime this year. "Van der Meulen told me (without hesitation) 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," IGN's Ryan Clements reports. Well, there you have it, just blame Van der Meulen when Sony rushes to get you all moved in later this year and, with the first step you take into your new Home, you fall right through the ... map.

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]]>homeleipzig-08playstation-homeJames Ransom-Wiley2008-08-25T17:10:00+00:00PlayStation Home tied to console regionhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/playstation-home-tied-to-console-region/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/playstation-home-tied-to-console-region/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/playstation-home-tied-to-console-region/#commentsFiled under: ,

home
With the next phase of PlayStation Home construction getting underway, we now have a clear picture of the region restrictions placed on the virtual world, at least those being implemented for the expanded beta. Users are apparently being matched to servers based on their consoles' native regions (which are not configurable), PS3 Fanboy reports. While this peculiar restriction will only affect the small percentage of PlayStation 3 owners whose consoles were imported from other regions, it counters the open access granted to PlayStation Store users, who can shop in any Store region from anywhere by setting up PSN accounts based in different regions. The Home region restrictions also mean that make-believers won't be mingling internationally nor will they be able to sign into their Japanese PSN IDs from an American console, for example, and hop onto a Japanese server.

PS3 Fanboy points out that the obvious explanation for the lockdown is optimized advertising. There's no sense in pushing American products on a UK gamer who is bird watching on a US server. Still, we're holding onto hope for some cross-regional opportunities, like tournaments or maybe exchange programs. Who's up for a semester in the Caribbean Home?

Gallery: PlayStation Home

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]]>homeplaystation-homepsnJames Ransom-Wiley2008-08-15T13:30:00+00:00PlayStation Home beta accepting applicationshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/playstation-home-beta-accepting-applications/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/playstation-home-beta-accepting-applications/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/playstation-home-beta-accepting-applications/#commentsFiled under: ,

home
No previous job experience necessary. No references or extracurriculars. Heck, you don't even need a first grade diploma. All you need to do is download the PlayStation Home PS3 theme released today on the PS Store and you'll have applied for access to the expanded Home beta test (a mundane magical world brimming with "stuff" -- just like real life ... only avoidable). Of course, there's one thing you can do to make sure your application rises to the top of the heap: Play. "We will be using a variety of criteria including activity on the PlayStation Network to determine eligibility for the Beta community," Home director Jack Buser explains on PlayStation.Blog.

If you do make the cut, please remember to wear your hard hat. This Home is still very much under construction.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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]]>betahomeplaystation-homepsnJames Ransom-Wiley2008-08-07T16:45:00+00:00Echochrome re-tooled in 2D for Home, creators working on new projecthttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/31/echochrome-re-tooled-in-2d-for-home-creators-working-on-new-pro/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/31/echochrome-re-tooled-in-2d-for-home-creators-working-on-new-pro/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/31/echochrome-re-tooled-in-2d-for-home-creators-working-on-new-pro/#commentsFiled under: ,

During the Develop conference in Brighton, England, Sony Japan Studio producer Tatsuya Suzuki told Eurogamer that there are no plans to create a sequel to the PS3 and PSP puzzler Echochrome. Instead, he and Jun Fujiki, the Kyushu University researcher who helped develop the game, confirmed that they will expand on Fujiki's work in "3D trick imagery" in a completely new title.

Those hoping for more Echochrome shouldn't feel totally forgotten; the duo also mentioned that the original game is being remimagined in two dimensions exlusively for PlayStation Home. The game will appear in the virtual space as an "arcade game" along with titles previously announced by Namco.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Source - Eurogamer
Source - Develop

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]]>echochromehomejapan-studioRandy Nelson2008-07-31T20:20:00+00:00Japanese Home beta opens, adds Namco classicshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/31/japanese-home-beta-opens-adds-namco-classics/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/31/japanese-home-beta-opens-adds-namco-classics/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/31/japanese-home-beta-opens-adds-namco-classics/#commentsFiled under: ,

Sony has begun accepting applications for the next beta phase of Home ... in Japan. PS3 users can put their names in the hat (from which 10,000 will be chosen) directly from a new option in the Japanese PlayStation Store. Successful applicants will be notified via email before the beta officially kicks off at the end of August.

In related news, classic arcade games from Namco are showing up as virtual coin-ops in the Japanese Home client. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Xevious have been rolled out so far, with three "secret" titles still on the way. It's interesting to note that Home users - at least in the beta - can play these games for free, whereas they are paid downloads on Xbox Live Arcade. We'll have to wait and see if this holds true for Home games from Namco and other publishers in the open beta (which is supposed to hit by year's end).

Source - Engadget
Source - Siliconera

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]]>betaBreakingNewsdig-duggalagahomenamconamco-bandaipac-manplaystation-homexeviousRandy Nelson2008-07-31T15:50:00+00:00Kaz Hirai isn't rushing Homehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/24/kaz-hirai-isnt-rushing-home/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/24/kaz-hirai-isnt-rushing-home/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/24/kaz-hirai-isnt-rushing-home/#commentsFiled under: ,


Kaz Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment's "Big Boss," tells MCV that the company is taking its sweet time to make Home. Hirai explains that if Home is good, it won't matter when it launches, "so long as it's in a reasonable time frame." By our estimates, "reasonable time frame" left a while ago on a trip around the world and, if we think in a circular fashion, should bang back around sometime soon.

Hirai goes on to say that if the competitors decide to follow what the company is doing with Home, it would be their prerogative -- we're sure Linden Labs is thinking the same thing about Home. Anyway, Hirai is "confident" that the Home open beat is something that'll "resonate" with consumers.

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]]>betahomehome-betakazkaz-hiraisonyAlexander Sliwinski2008-07-24T12:15:00+00:00Uncharted and Warhawk Home spaces snapshotshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/21/uncharted-and-warhawk-home-spaces-snapshots/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/21/uncharted-and-warhawk-home-spaces-snapshots/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/21/uncharted-and-warhawk-home-spaces-snapshots/#commentsFiled under: ,


Click for high resolution
Hype for Home may be pretty dead right now, but there are still a few aspects of the service that intrigue us, like Game Spaces. A couple of these were shown off in trailer form at Sony's E3 Press Conference, but we had a chance to have an in-depth look at the Uncharted and Warhawk spaces with a Sony representative. Most of the presentation was seen through the lens of a camera, so check out the gallery for plenty of snapshots.

The Uncharted Game Space takes the form of Sully's bar, complete with "photos" of characters from the game on the walls. The space is made up of several rooms and rull of relics and mounted animal heads. There's a chance that something in there might be indicative of where the series is headed (a diver's helmet? Uncharted 2: Quest for Atlantis confirmed?)

The Warhawk space is similar, featuring assets from the game. The best things about these Game Spaces are the interactive elements. Uncharted has a locked door with a keypad input. The number can be found by carefully looking around and this will open another room for you to explore. There's also an Uncharted-inspired platforming mini-game. The Warhawk space has a sandtable for you and your clan to plan out your method for the upcoming match before jumping into a game.

Gallery: Home Game Spaces E3 2008

Uncharted Game SpaceUncharted Game SpaceUncharted Game SpaceUncharted Game SpaceUncharted Game Space

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]]>e3-2008homejoystiqfeaturesplaystation-3sonyunchartedwarhawkJem Alexander2008-07-21T11:20:00+00:00PlayStation Home's public areas region lockedhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/playstation-homes-public-areas-region-locked/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/playstation-homes-public-areas-region-locked/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/17/playstation-homes-public-areas-region-locked/#commentsFiled under: ,

Looking to go virtual bowling with your South African friends in PlayStation Home? Think again! According to a Sony representative at E3, Home will be region locked. While you can visit anyone's private apartment, all public pavilions are restricted by your geographical area.

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]]>breakingnewse3e3-2008homeps-homeRoss Miller2008-07-17T00:00:00+00:00Rumor: Microsoft to introduce Home-like My GamerPadhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/26/rumor-microsoft-to-introduce-home-like-my-gamerpad/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/26/rumor-microsoft-to-introduce-home-like-my-gamerpad/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/26/rumor-microsoft-to-introduce-home-like-my-gamerpad/#commentsFiled under: ,

New images are circulating around the 'net about Microsoft's supposed answer to PlayStation Home. Dubbed My GamerPad, the two images (which are said to have originated from the very dubious 4chan forums) show a crayola-esque logo and an Avatar waving to nobody in a pavilion.

While we're pretty confident with the information about Avatars, My GamerPad looks like bad Photoshopping from a questionable source. We've put in a request to Microsoft for a statement. Update: Official statement: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."

[Via X3F]

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]]>avatarhomemy-gamerpadrumorRoss Miller2008-06-26T19:45:00+00:00Source: 'Avatars' to be Microsoft's answer to Miis and Homehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/15/source-avatars-to-be-microsofts-answer-to-miis-and-home/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/15/source-avatars-to-be-microsofts-answer-to-miis-and-home/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/15/source-avatars-to-be-microsofts-answer-to-miis-and-home/#commentsFiled under:


Any time one video game company attempts to capitalize on another company's good idea, there's always a bit of backlash from the fans of the company copied. We can only imagine the kind of retribution Microsoft will soon face from fans of the Wii's Miis and the PS3's Home -- if our sources are accurate, their upcoming "Avatar" service bears a striking resemblance to Sony and Nintendo's pre-existing lookalike creators.

"Avatars", mentioned in an independent survey for Microsoft (as taken by an X3F tipster), will supposedly be used in place of gamer pictures, and will give Xbox Live subscribers an animated, customizable online persona. The meager amount of information provided for the service claims it will be available "this holiday for all Xbox Live connected members", and "this Spring for all new console owners."

This information lines up nicely with details recently relayed to Joystiq by a trusted source, who tells us that a robust "avatar" (source's term) creation service which blends the customization options of Home with the in-game functionality of Miis would comprise a substantial chunk of the 360's fall update. With the breath of E3 hot upon our nape, we're sure to hear something more concrete about this service in the coming month.

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]]>avataravatarsBreakingNewsFall-UpdatehomemicrosoftMiisGriffin McElroy2008-06-15T17:40:00+00:00