PS3 Dev: People Think PlayStation Home "Is Sh*t"

It must feel pretty strange when you work hard on something that you know most people think is a piece of garbage. That's exactly the case with PlayStation Home content developer Veemee's Kirk Ewing, who fully acknowledges that the game space doesn't have the most favorable view amongst the gaming public

[LordMarius]

How about you integrated more with PSN

[Davoh]

I agree that the main problem is integration, the developers should just stop and ask themselves the question, why would anyone need to sign into home because;
if the user wanted to play games, that's what the whole ps3 is for
if the user wanted to meet people, that's what multiplayer game modes are for
if the user wanted to learn information, that's what the internet is for
Everything the PlaystationHome can do, can be done better without it.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I agree with you, that the problem is PS Home has no goal! There is no real rime or reason for why I want to be there and then the whole thing is a mess of downloading and reloading of spaces.

With that said, the comment is pretty funny People think PS Home "is sh*t"! LOL!

[pimpmaster]

you know what home needs, xp. every new area u go to gives u xp and activities in that area are also xp and u level up and get new clothes unlocks. i dont use home but im just sayin it be better than just walking around bored

[BattleAxe]

They really screwed up by getting rid of voice chat. Also I think that if there were more games within the Home spaces, people would go on there more. Personally I think they should intergrate Qore with Home.

[Tony-A]

If it makes you feel any better:

No matter how well your product sells, the majority of people in the world haven't bought it.... and probably more than half of them never will.

[Hotel_Moscow]

its free you cant buy free

[Tony-A]

That's not what I meant, but ok.

PS: To all those below. Don't judge Home based on what you saw months or even weeks prior. Asking for more spaces/minigames and things to do is like asking for something you already have.

They add that stuff every update (not firmware-style update) which is every two weeks.

[spektical]

Home isnt bad. Thers always people on there, but i seldom use it. I think they need to incorporate all those ideas that they havent to make it worth while.

[sikbeta]

Home Needs:

1·More Places
2·More Mini-Games/Games
3·More Things to do
4·Voice-Chat

[Gothdom]

I agree, sikbeta. There was voice chat at some point, but people are what they are, and they had to turn it off because of verbal abuse.

Xi was fun and free. Sodium sucks balls and it costs too much (yeah, more than free is too much).

I gathered a couple of the free elements, but the menus of the wardrobe need a redesign. I've got like 50 T-shirts, but no accessories.

For awhile, there was a new space every 2 or 3 weeks. Don't know why this stopped.

Also, selling crap like a golden toilet for 6$... I still can't believe people bought that.

edit: I know it's stupid, but I kinda wish they would map a button with a "jump" function.

[Anon1974]

I hadn't logged in in months for the very reasons you stated (well, not voice chat. Couldn't really care.) Then in this month's episode of Qore they had an update on Home. I couldn't get over how many new spaces have been added just over the last few months. Home's exploded compared to what it was just a short while ago. I'd suggest you check it out again. I really like the new, XMB like interface they're using now and there's gotta be about 30 different gamespaces now on top of the regular homespaces with stuff to do.

I didn't realize it until I went into home but when I bought Batman AA, it unlocked the Batcave for my personal space. The freakn Bat Cave! That's so much cooler than that apartment you used to start with.

[corneliuscrust]

FTL. Until they really increase the speed for the transitions between locations, it really is kind of a chore to get around.

Not a bad virtual environment, just too rough around too many edges at the moment. I have no doubt it will keep improving.

[DA_SHREDDER]

Dont worry, Home is gonna be even more sick when cross game chat comes.

[pixelsword]

and the worst part is that there is no excuse for it; a lot of people gave great advice for changes that are either being put in SLOOOOWLY, or they're not listening at all.

[Hotel_Moscow]

would you like to code for home

[knight626]

Home is not a bad idea just needs to be more better

[Homicide]

Gameroom has a purpose unlike Home.

When I log in into Home, I walk around for a few minutes, and then log out. It has no purpose, nothing to do, etc. I'm not sure if they did it or not, but they need to get rid of waiting in lines to play mini-games.

[iceman06]

Home does have a purpose. It's real problem at the moment is that it is trying to serve many purposes at one time. It is loaded with spaces. It is loaded with advertisements, it's loaded with lots of extras to spend money on. BUT...it is just a bit disjointed. Load times aren't horrible, but could stand some improvement. Waiting lines have been eliminated.
I use Home as a long distance phone call for one of my friends. I see him online...message him to meet in home. Go to one of the many spaces...and just talk...while interacting with the environment.
My wish list for Home is simple. Better speed, integration, more free stuff. (that's when I usually return to it...when someone offers a new free space or something)

[RememberThe357]

But I can't. It sucks. Every time I log in I log right back off because I really don't want to be there. I love the idea of customizing your home(s) but I got old after all of my house ended up with all the same furniture and I'll be damned if I'm going to buy a living room set for Home. It could have been something but it is not integrated into game enough.

[Rhythmattic]

I haven't been in Home in a long time, but recently , to my surprise, Its loads a hell of a lot faster and with that, it dosent make the experience so laboring...

Not that i'm a Second Life/ Home sort of guy, but I think I'm actually starting to see what Sony's idea is, its starting to be less of a chore.

[devilhunterx]

Integrate PS home with XMB.

[thehitman]

Im still waiting for my Trophy Room etc if they dont integrate it properly people wont use it as their is no need to. I was excited about home but they way they going about it is wrong.

[Pacman321]

Bubbles

[UnSelf]

yes?

[pody]

Haha funny :D

[dorron]

In fact it is pure crap...

If I wanted to interact with people I'd go outside and hang with my friends.

[bloodybutcher]

see,i disagree with you.home is not great,hell no,but i really prefer to go there and have a chat with my friends that live in different countries then to just simply send them messages.

[Krugsy]

Problem with the 'other country' thing, is that it is region locked. That is why I never use it, I come under the EU region (basically NZ, Aus, UK and all of Europe), and most of the people using it aint English speaking and are chasing 'virtual poon tang'.

It runs slow, large updates and not integrated into the PS3 very well. I love my PS3, but I want something better. I think they should scrap it and try something new.

[bloodybutcher]

well,i actually come from Poland,i live in UK though.and i talk to friends from Scotland,Germany and Poland.and they all can speak english:) (no surprise with scotts i suppose)

[Krugsy]

Maybe its the times I go on, because majority of the time I can't find too many English speaking people. But oh well, I guess I don't go on much anymore anyways.

But, the virtual poon tang thing stays true, everytime I see a female avatar (could be a male), I see all the male avatars flocking in that direction.

[dazzalfc]

so thats why you posted on this site eh?

Isn't this 'interaction with people'?

[redsquad]

Some people say gaming is "pure crap"... are they right too, or is it that we all like different things?

[TrailerParkSupervisr]

What about the friends that live in different states/countries? Facebook? Puke.

[masterofpwnage]

idk now but back in i think 07 or 08 it was so slow i just never went back to it.

just make it faster. im not into this kind of 2nd life thing but my complaint was it load to slow.

edit
yup that alone was a turn off

[dorron]

Yeah, really slow and took huge amount of hard disk downloading each area...

[saint_john_paul_ii]

well there you go, you just said it, that was the last time you went in?

its faster now.

[asdf12]

I'd go back to it if it was like a giant GTA PSN city.

That would so epic.

[Berser]

I hope it gets better in the future.

[EverydayGuy]

They should just turn Home into a MMO like Maple Story.

[Final_Rpg]

it's got potential, to say the least. But right now it's mostly a waste of my time.

[Colonel-Killzone]

Honestly I see a lot of people on home. Sony has a very good audience on there always a lot of people on home believe it or not. Its just that sony hasn't got everybody to use home how they intended for it to be used. But some people rant and has not seen the new updates. Can some of you check it out at least before you rant about it. I know people some of you haven't used it in a while maybe months maybe worse years so check it out.

[Mustang300C2012]

Why? Everytime an update comes out we are supposed to run and see what update "possibly" made the experience difference? It is called first impressions so why the hell would anyone look forward to an update to a product if the whole premise isn't satisfactory in the first place? All I need to do is go look at a Youtube vid of whatever changes and see nothing has really changed. A few changes here and there isn't going to change that I don't like the concept in the first place. Your just as bad as HHG trying to sell this to people about changes in HOME. It defeats the purpose to launch into a program that doesn't offer the same features the XMB offer like launching the browser or PSN store. It should have been intregrated and that has been Sony's problem with their whole process is that nothing is intergrated. Got to purchase Qore to get updates. Got to launch HOME to interact with groups of people. None of that is intergration. Live got it right with intergration and Sony took the other route. It simply isn't as fun to use IMO.

It sucks period and Sony knows this. It doesn't affect my experience with my PS3 because I avoid it.

[Colonel-Killzone]

Because experience something for yourself is better then watching any video my friend. Kid you need to calm down. Who is trying to sell this to people ?? You have a dude above trash talking home in which he has not even tried it in years. What does HHG have to do with this article why bring him up ?? Seriously thats a weakass argument. You must have used home when it was first released with lot of glitches bugs etc and also lag.

[Mustang300C2012]

Regardless if I used Home in the beginning or in the middle or last month does not matter. If the product just like a demo to a game doesn't attract my attention then why would a concept like HOME require me to revisit it just because of an update when the main premise doesn't work for me? I didn't say HHG had anything to do with the article but either you don't follow the Warzone podcast cause this cat loves to hype HOME. But then again he hypes anything that is Sony in the first place. You can sit up here and assume when I used it all you like. No one person needs to prove to you what date they tried HOME out. I know during the times I did use it when it was updated it wasn't intergrated with XMB. Doesn't work for me and others. Not interested waiting in a line to play an arcade game or leaving the XMB to launch home to launch a game that I could have just accomplished in the first place. Intergrate it or throw it away. Why the extra step boggles the mind.

[Redempteur]

You seems to forget THE MAIN POINT :
Home is getting new geaturs, new spaces , new games and is improving each 2 weeks ...
The HOME of now has nothing on the first HOME release ..

I could tell you about XI , about sodium , or about many awesome events that keep more than a millions of people comming back each week But hey you seems to know what you're talking about ... when in fact you don't know anything ...

[Chicago8506]

u must forget that Microsoft started Live with the 1st Xbox..

Neither Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony tried anything like Home in the previous generation.

This is something new to consoles...

Apparently u don't fully understand Home's purpose.

Sony is merely testing the waters on (THEIR) community...
They're building upon (THEIR) Network...

it's sad how some ppl can't understand this..

Game on!

[insomnium]

I would love for home to have the possibility to go to my home with friends and watch a movie from my HDD there or listen to the music that is on my HDD. Why is this so hard to do? This is something home was meant to have implemented wasn't it?

Why is this any different than getting together in real life and listening to my music from my stereo or watcking a movie I purchased? What makes this so hard to make happen. I WOULD LOVE HOME FROM THAT POINT ON but without this I really don't find the time to visit home anymore. This would be a dealbreaker.

Give me and my psn friends the possibility to watch or listen the data on my HDD in my home apartment together. Do this and I love you. Don't let us to copy and give out the data through this since that's illegal but watching and listening the data is in no way different that doing it in real life. No harm done but this would make HOME the crown jewel of social spaces anywhere ever imho.

[Redempteur]

it's not hard to do .. on a technical level ...

But if you take into consideration copyrights ..yes it's very hard to do ...
See how hard is it for europe to get pictures frames ??

[insomnium]

Yes it must be. Just think if they would do a system where you must've been friends with people for atleast 6 months or so. Wouldn't this help to prevent all the sharing and s*it like that TO AN EXTENT atleast. I wouldn't care even if they would make the limit a full year. I just want a reason to love Home. This would be it.

[Chicago8506]

I personally think Home is much better than some (IRC)...and in alot of cases (Party Chat).

Home is good 2 go...all Sony needs to do is continue building upon it...

I'm enjoying it myself...

I only wish that they Merge Home with everything on the XMB...

Example: I wanna surf the internet from within Home.
I wanna Phone a friend without being in Home.
I wanna use my Home Avatar as my PSN Avatar..and I want it to b Dynamic..

Other than that...I applaud Sony and all their efforts for everything that is Home...I wanna see more.

Game on!

[OneShotThrill]

Its nice that Sony tried to offer something neat for free but Home isn't integrated enough to gaming and is rather boring. Hopefully they can get something out of it in the future but right now its non existent with many.

[Capdastaro]

Home + Chainsaw - limbs * gore = Fun

Home + shops = Not much fun

[ULTIMATE_REVENGE]

Sony should just ditch Home all together because it's lame and boring, and you can't run people over with a car so it sucks!

[vTuro24]

THEN I might start using it

[AK46]

Yeah that woud be cool

[n4gn4gn4gn4g]

on PS3 then need to integrate it, and its avatars, into HOME.

[wr]

home is cool lotpeople play on home it social network

[Veneno]

i guess i'm the only one who agrees with kingoftrolls. who cares if some think it's sh it, i think Halo is sh it for little babies, so i simply don't play. plain and simple. to me home is a nice place to go when i want to be on my PS3 but don't necessarily want to engage in a game and get aggresive. something casual. But what home does need is many many many more spaces that don't have to be related to gaming.

ideas: espn channel can make a home space to promote themselves, or have a space that plays music videos all day so artists can promote themselves (not like the room in the theatre that loops the same two videos).
theres too many ideas to list here, but the idea is to grow Home outside of just gaming, cause we all already play games, so to some ppl, going to the game's Home space just seems redundant.

[Wrek Gar]

Could not agree with you more. If home had more "non game" related content it would be a social place like facebook for the PSN/PS3. The singstar space would be cooler if they integrated it with the singstar viewer app. Giving us the ability to see the videos that are posted by people in that "game".

But the abilities that were touted at the announcement of home should be implemented before it comes out of the beta phase.

[Imalwaysright]

Im one of those people. Went there only once for 5 minutes and i believe that it was more than enough for one lifetime!!!

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

PlayStation Home is a social network, meaning it is meant for people to make online friends or use current friends to just talk. PlayStation Home is very similar to this website, where the sole reason why people come here is to comment on news.

I think, many people go into it thinking it's a game when in reality it's just a portal to gaming. Think of PlayStation Home as a universal game lobby for all - if not all, most - PlayStation 3 games.

[Mustang300C2012]

Actually that is what Live is "A universal game lobby"
that is intergrated.
That is part of HOME's problem is that there is no benefit to launch the program when you have to leave the main program with the majority of features on it just to meet and launch games from when I can already do that from my XMB and meet my friends that way. Again pointless extra step.
Sony knows that this product doesn't really benefit any of us PS3 owners to go in and launch or meet up. If they had intergrated this with XMB then they are on to somthing. Either have XMB or HOME but don't promote I need to leave XMB to get to HOME to launch a game with friends.

[thehitman]

Sony need a find a way to fully intergrate Home maybe they should have options inside the games to jump directly from the multiplayer mode into home and vice-versa and carry your parties with you etc. Unless Sony puts home smack in our faces it will stay as just that thing on the side and wont get a general acceptance. Also where is the promised Trophy room can anyone tell me if they put it in or not?

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

With XBOX Live you can't meet people outside of your friend's list unless it's through a game. I think the reason why you have to leave the XMB to go into Home is because it's an application (add-on) not so much of a feature. So giving people an option – meaning it isn’t mandatory - will make people think they are more in control of their entertainment, when in reality the options are limited to what is given.

It's like GUI (Graphical User Interface) vs. CL (Command Line), Linux gives you an option even through the CL is more efficient. I do think Home is in the right direction for the fact that it's more interactive than a simple menu and can meet, talk, and play against random people outside of a game. I think the real problem is that I think Sony needs something similar with the XMB option since that’s the favourite.

[DelbertGrady]

"PlayStation Home is a social network, meaning it is meant for people to make online friends or use current friends to just talk."

They already use Facebook for that.

[JayD-1K]

I use it to find and stay in-contact with friends I ALREADY know!

I like the fact the Sony doesn't MAKE me use HOME, it's my choice if, I want to go and spent time there or just get straight to gaming. I use my apartment as area to group chat and start my MP party. It also gives me something to do until every body shows up.

But that's just me.

[solidjun5]

However, it was poorly implemented. Especially with the hype it came in and the constant delays that followed, it just didn't bode well. Plus it's still in Beta. I liked Xi and they need to more of that. Also, the fact that the trophy room was promised and that never materialized. I think KAZ uffed this one up. IT is making SONY money but from a gamer's perspective, it's a bit underwhelming.

[AKS]

If they made it so that you could easily and quickly find other players for a specific game who have mics and want to play and allow you to launch into every online game, that would be a huge improvement. I did that with Warhawk, but it needs to be for every game.

[lost2]

I stopped using Home a looong time ago

[Shadow Flare]

Its probably because the home devs just don't make anything good for it. Where the hell is the trophy room?? Where the hell is it? You guys touted that when you first showed off home like 3 years ago. Why the hell can't I still not play my own music or watch my own movies or look at my own pictures in my apartment? Another feature you guys said it would have. Why the hell do I have to queue to play a game of something in home? Alot of the time I can't play it at all because there's too many people on it. Thats why I don't use home. I mean, they've had that monorail gate locked off since launch. Do something with it! Lazy!

[Karlnag3]

I think you just can't do enough. EG you just walk around and talk and do dances... throw in a jump button, a sprint button and add vehicles to bomb around home square in. Someone above said make it GTA. Essentially they should, but it can't be violent. Solution would be to put in a paintballing game which basically plays like a TPS. They should also make the voice chat possible between more than 2 people when you "call" people on there. Another good idea would be to have little competitive minigames that use the whole area... maybe collecting things or a CTF type game that everyone can play. Basically make it more like a game and less like a giant borderline pointless hub for a bunch of mediocre minigames that most people have no interest in playing because they have proper full games that are of a better quality and more complex.

Another thing they should do is make the customisation better. For example they could split hairstyles into different sections so that it's easier to customise your avatar to match yourself, seeing as, currently, if your hairstyle isn't on the list then your avatar won't look like you. More free items that don't suck to the point that they aren't worth wasting your bandwidth on, even though they are, what? 200kb.

But yeah I think the main problem is you just can't do enough in home to make you want to go on there... at least it's more of an integration than MS and nintendo have.

Sorry for the ramble but that gives me another idea. They should link your home avatar to your PSN profile more, like the xbox avatars... that would make it seem more worthwhile.

[Claudinho69]

integrate it with psn and make it more like a mmo....then it would blow up guaranteed

[MaximusPrime]

IMO: meeting and adding great friends to your list is faster on PSN than Xbox live. Thanks to PS Home.

[MysticStrummer]

LOL @ those who think Home needs violence between avatars to succeed. You people are amazing. If you want to kill someone, play a game. Home is not a game and was never intended to be one. It is a freaking 3D chatroom, people. Why is that so hard to understand? I agree that Sony should have done some things differently, but they make lots of money on Home as it is so major changes are unlikely for this generation. I'm amazed that Sony hasn't put out any games that use the Home avatars. Trophy room? Couldn't care less. Music and video sharing? Sony and anyone else who thought those things would happen didn't really apply reality to the equation. I am surprised that videos from the PS Store can't be shown in Home though. Anyway... Home is not sh*t, but there are sure plenty of people who want to convince others that it is. If you want GTA, play GTA.

[bjornbear]

i don't think its "sh!t" but its definitely not interesting at all =P

it works but not well enough to interest me

what amazes me is how many people use it

whenever I sign in its FULL =O

pelase improve it...then again its still a Beta, for all we know the final thing will be HUGE and epic =D

[Dogswithguns]

Make it a big city maybe?

[crapgamer]

Home is terrible, it's boring, it's a bunch of guys running around being vulgar and trying to hit on people they "think" are women. It's the most awful thing I've seen on a video game and I don't even log into that stuff anymore.

[phantomexe]

Home is a joke,nether me or any of my friends use it. Home is a bunch of kids runing around asking if your a girl. Jump on there and just check and see what games people are playing,tropy wish. Its sad, very few gamers on there.

[tiamat5]

I don't know what the problem is. Home is a perfect diversion when I am not playing games like GOW 3 or UC2. It is a much more relaxed place to be and I have actually met other gamers while using it. Plus it's free and any accessories you buy are not only cheap but optional. Sony never get appreciated for what they do for their gamers. All they hear is complaints, whining and ungratefulness.

[fuckitimout]

it's free and you still bitch about it. I bet sony could get away with charging to use it but they don't. Home is fun with friends

[PooEgg]

It free and we don't want to use it, what makes you think people would ever pay for it as it currently stands? You are silly, but nice try.

[phantomexe]

home is fun for little kids not gamers. The fact that you think its so great tells me that you are one of those 2 billion if not more little kids looking for a make beleave girlfriend. I don't get why anyone would defend home its so bad sony could put that money towards more awsome games. You almost never see a person above a lev 5 in tropys on it and most of the time they have no tropys at all...There hole life is home,its a joke.

[PooEgg]

What I think home needs...

It needs more free stuff... free furniture, paint, wallpaper, I mean lots more, what is available now is boring (Unless you want to pay for it, and who does?). Currently, it isn't fun to decorate your space.

It also needs more 'fun' things to do, and that could actually be the best way for people to gather the free stuff. How about a big treasure hunt, they could place a lot of free stuff to find and some stuff could be really rare or hard to find. Gamers love finding treasure and everyone loves free stuff. Every week new treasure could be added, and some treasure could stop being available, so if you missed a week you would lose out on that coveted ceramic Snake statue for your patio.

And yes I said free, seeing as how Home is really just a big advertising space for Sony and gaming companies, this stuff should simply be free the trade off is home would be better and more people would use it and see the ads.

It doesn't need to be violent, but yeah, if it could be a little more like a fun game, and a little less like a snooze fest commercial it would be much more worth all the wasted download space it takes up on my harddrive.

[AliTheBrit19]

It IS Sh*t

It's a shame because Sony could have done so much more with it

Look at Avatars on Xbox Live, they are so well integrated into the Xbox Live experience.

And no, this is not a fanboy comment, because even before I ever owned an Xbox 360, and only had a PS3, I still thought Home was terrible.

[PooEgg]

Well, I don't think that Avatars are much better, they were fun for about 15 minutes where Home was fun for about 10, so both could be better.

[2cents]

"Is Home sh*t like most people seem to think, or should it become a regular visit for more PS3 owners?"

Using the choice of words from the article, my vote is

"its sh*t"

[joker2k8]

HOME is ok but why would i use it. they need to integrate it with PSN.

[drsnobby]

This is a perfect time for sony to start working on a more unified network for PSN in the PS4.for those who own both consoles like me can honestly say that a unified network works better for the gamer.the next PSN needs to be more stream lined and easy to navigate through. everything should be standard. developers must conform to this unified network,from xmb to home,gamers should able to launch games meet up with friends and stay connected without going to apps to meet up.psn has the potential to be the envy of networks

[VforVideogames]

isnt psn free? well you get what you paid for.

[pody]

It sure gets alot of attention and discussion on n4g, when it "IS SH*T"!

[Qui-Gon Jim]

The next paragraph says "Ewing followed the statement with: 'I'm here to say that it's not.'"

I think Home is a good idea that is waiting to come to full fruition. My guess is that PS4 will launch with a more complete version of Home, possibly as the main user interface. Video files will be accessed by moving to the TV in your Home space, demos and games will by played by walking over an arcade type area, etc.