Ben-DutkaSo when we learned of the possibility of Home , the Internet erupted in all kinds of rumor, speculation, and controversy. Leaks here, leaks there, leaks everywhere! Kotaku suffered a black-balling for posting info they shouldn't have, but the New York Times ain't gonna suffer. "Home" is all but confirmed.
The world's biggest newspaper has stepped up today and revealed that Sony will unveil "PlayStation Home," the new online service for the PS3. This news (another leak, yay!) came from an anonymous senior game industry executive who "was not authorized to discuss the service." A few details from the announcement hint at the blending of 360-like Gamertags and Wii-like Miis, which basically translates to an achievement system and avatars. Another intriguing quote from the anonymous source says, "users can create persisting online identities that record players' achievements in different games. As players progress through a game, they will unlock various virtual prizes that they can then show off to friends and rivals." PlayStation Home is supposedly scheduled to launch in the U.S. this fall.
Sony's Phil Harrison is expected to spill the loosely-concealed beans at his GDC keynote today, thereby officially confirming the endeavor. He has referred to it as "Game 3.0," and offered a statement to the Times-
"The packaged media approach on its own offers a closed experience," Harrison said. "You can only enjoy the game experience that the game developer put on that disc. But with the increase in adoption for the Internet and also the increased bandwidth, the Internet has democratized the audience to become content creators, as well as content consumers, and create what I call emergent entertainment.
"Emergent," eh? Well, we're now waiting for Home to "emerge" from your lips this afternoon, Phil.
