Back in August, we got our first look at what would become the new PlayStation Home.
Now, the full redesign is less than a day away. Today, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has announced that the redesign of their virtual social and gaming interaction service will launch throughout the US and Canada on November 3.
As some of you know, this overhaul will give Home a new central hub, surrounded by a variety of new districts based on game genres. This will also come with several free-to-play titles, including Bootleggers '29 (an FPS in the Action District that pits cops vs. criminals in the Prohibition era), PlayStation Home Hold 'Em (pretty much what it sounds like), PlayStation Home Sports Trivia (in Sportswalk, duh), RC Rally (build, customize and race your own remote-controlled car!), and Cogs (a 3D version of Lazy 8 Studios' award-winning Steampunk puzzle game). Said Jack Buser, SCEA director of PlayStation Home:
"This is a major milestone for PlayStation Network, and we are thrilled to bring a new core experience to PlayStation Home where games are front and center. Home’s community is made up of some of the most passionate gamers on PS3, and we’ve listened to their feedback since Home launched in 2008, finally transforming Home itself into a game. This redesign marks a new beginning for PlayStation Home, and players can expect much more to come."
The new districts to explore are as follows:
Action District: A gathering place for hardcore gamers, the Action District has a gritty, urban feel reminiscent of a first-person shooter level and provides a direct travel point to action and horror games.
Sportswalk: The Sportswalk has an exciting outside-the-stadium feel with instant major league sports scores, headlines and highlights and sports-themed games.
Adventure District: At the launch of the PlayStation Home redesign, the Adventure District will present the UNCHARTED™ 3: Fortune Hunter total game integration event, providing a third-person adventure experience including a partial recreation of the Yemen level from UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception™ multiplayer mode and a cover-based shooting system complete with weapons and gameplay inspired by the hit series. Players can unlock content that can be used in the UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception Blu-Ray Disc™ game as well as additional PlayStation Home rewards.
Pier Park: A waterfront boardwalk leads players to carnival, puzzle, outdoor and arcade games. Take a ride on the Pier Park Ferris wheel or visit the arcade for more games.
PlayStation Home Theater: The PlayStation Home Theater features an ultra-modern architectural design and hosts a wide range of videos programmed specifically for PlayStation gamers, including episodes of Pulse and Qore, trailers and interviews from the PlayStation Blog, and exclusive user-generated videos in the popular Community Theater.
PlayStation Home Mall: The PlayStation Home Mall is loaded with thousands of pieces of content from some of the most popular games and entertainment in the world. Shop for PlayStation Home games, extravagant personal spaces, costumes, clothing items and other avatar enhancements, and tons more in the redesigned Mall.
With over 230 games ready-to-play, over 10,000 virtual items, and over 70 spaces, there's a lot to see and do. That includes the PSXE Show in the theater (expect a new episode soon), and another related announcement we'll give you tomorrow. 🙂
Oh, and check out all the new screenshots !
The adventure district seems like fun. I haven't visited Home in quite a while, I'm excited to see what they've done in the remodeling. I just hope with the reorganization, that some of the lag has been cut down. Lag was easily the most frustrating aspect of any Home visit.
Lag has been reduced but unfortunately not eliminated. If they perfect that forget about it.
Another vexation was Loading Screens between each individual Location. If all the locations are somehow interconnected and accessible through one another, that would excellent.
The thing is, loading screens are inevitable in any online system of this nature.
Yes I know. But I was saying if all the Sections were connected into one big environment. Then one slightly larger Loading screen would be sufficient, such as loading up an Open World Game. But Going into shops and other buildings requires a smaller loading screen. I feel it would be more efficient.
The system only has 200MB or so of available system memory, I don't think that they can load multiple locations to allow seamless transitions. You can't exactly compare the PS3 running home against a up to date PC with 4-6GB of RAM running an open world game. Open world games on consoles constantly stream their world data from the hard disc, because Home is underpinned by web technologies, I don't think it can handle that kind of streaming of world data, especially when so much of the data is coming through the network anyway.
The update tomorrow is just the replacement of core spaces with new versions; there will be no changes to the client (and so load times, etc.). The only real difference is the Activity Board functionality (providing it's working).
I've been in the closed beta for the redesign and all I can say is: don't expect too much from the "new" Home, at least not initially.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 11/3/2011 6:33:07 AM
I'd like to try bootleggers
Thats the only portion of the NEW Hub that was unavailable to me. I am curious about that too.
I got into a 1 vs. 1 game. Needless to say, it was (hopefully) not indicative of the full experience, but I was not captivated.
The new hub looks cool, but I haven't had much time in Home recently, I'll have to make a point to have a look tomorrow.
Home just keeps getting better and better.
I participated in the Beta. The experience has improved drastically. Definitely gamer centric. Load times are faster but they do still exist. You get around mostly with teleporters. I have suggested an actual transportation system so users can enjoy the views. They have a lite rail so maybe this will become a reality someday. Or maybe provide vehicles. Users would definitely enjoy that. That is something I know can be done. But the number one thing I think will spike usage would be if Trophies were implemented in the games in Home. Along with the much anticipated and requested Trophy Room. How many Trophy Whos can resist that?
I also enjoyed the Total Game Integration in the Uncharted Fortune Hunter Space. It was much better that I thought it would be. Good work Home Team. I can only imagine what Home will evolve into in the next few years.
That transporter type of thing was done within the Sodium One space when transferring to the game room from the hub. I kind of expected to see that appear elsewhere because it's a good way to buy a few extra seconds to load something from the HDD without the user feeling the delay..
I was hoping for a more open-world design, but if anything it's the opposite.
The Hub, in particular, is IMO a real downgrade from the Central Plaza. It feels like a mini-mall.
Last edited by Fane1024 on 11/3/2011 6:38:34 AM
GTA 5 trailer is up! Just letting u guys know..
LOS SANTOS!!!
Cool.
Looks like I'll head over for a nice little housewarming after Home's gotten itself all unpacked and settled in, & once all those 18-wheeled moving vans have gotten off my damned lawns.
Last edited by BikerSaint on 11/2/2011 2:14:28 PM
meh.
sorry $ony but you lost me on home when you first put up E3 in there and had it load so slow poor jack could only get out 2 words before it would freeze to buffer!
not to mention this year we were greeted by a sexy black screen………
dont $ony test things?
seriously!?
obviously not, because they never work!
As a participant in the beta I can say the same as the others. Don't expect too much. The new Hub is so sterile and lifeless.
The Bootleggars game is/was riddled with lag making it a very blasé experience.
The sports trivia was freaking hardcore. I have never been a sports fan so I didn't expect to do well in there but wow are some of those questions hard. Stuff like how many tackles did so-and-so have in week 7 of the 2003-4 season.
The Texas Hold'em had a lot of bugs but was a blast if you were able to actually play.