Fancy A Ski?
by CheekyGuy, HSM team writer
For those of you who have a European or Australian Home account, a new free private space has just been released by Audi this month, which allows Home users to play a fun, multiplayer skiing mini-game.
Audi, the company that gave us that road-going rally monster, the Quattro, and in more recent times, the turbo-diesel-powered Le Mans beast, the R10 (both of which completely changed the rulebooks of their respective automotive sports upon their debuts), as well as their more mere-mortal-friendly cars such as the A6, the A4 — and hairdresser favorite, the TT — has been gracing the European Home with some pretty amazing things – such as the e-tron Vertical Run game – much to a many car-loving North American Home-goer’s chagrin. And now they’re providing an alpine-themed personal space, complete with a skiing mini-game you can enjoy with friends.
(As an aside, given that Audi is an official sponsor and vehicle of the U.S. Ski Team, one has to wonder if this game will eventually find its way into SCEA Home in the future.)
POWEEEER!!
What I like about this game is the sheer simplicity behind the controls (you simply steer using the left control stick) and that you can still talk on microphone while playing; you are still able to hold down the R2 button to talk – as you can in any private space – while you race. This feature was quite possibly based upon a suggestion that appeared in the SCEE PlayStation Forums. In general, it just makes multiplayers that much much more fun to play. After all, what’s the sense of making a multiplayer game for a social environment such as Home if you don’t let the players communicate with each other?
By comparison, remember when the pool table you could purchase for your private space was released? They were just so anti-social in that you couldn’t talk (or type) while playing. It simply made the game feel cold. You might as well be forgiven in thinking that you were playing against a CPU. The game itself was difficult to play enough, but not being able to communicate to explain how to play just made things a little more frustrating, to say the least!
The game’s multiplayer mode does have a flaw, in that if you (the host) first hit the X button to play, it locks everyone else out of the game, so you pretty much all have to organise a count in order so that everyone hits X simultaneously for you and your party to gain access to the game. This is a small niggle, as the game is hugely playable and fun throughout. Although the races do seem brief, they are insanely addictive and you will see your inner competitor rise to the surface pretty quickly.
The view as you stand outside your apartment.
One such example is that I had a group of friends over to play, and one of them became pretty ruthless after just a few sessions – ramming into my ski player and causing me to hit a small rock – just to get to the next checkpoint before storming her way through the finish line. (I forgave her.)
The space itself is fairly basic in its presentation; it has soft music that plays as you walk out onto the balcony looking over snow-capped scenery below, ski lifts pass by, and there’s a heavy snowfall drifting down. But venture back inside your private space, and it can be deadly silent. If you don’t mind this, and are there to just play the multiplayer game, then it shouldn’t concern you. Personally, this isn’t a place which I can go to to be on my own. There are some retreats that I don’t mind being alone in, as I view them as my own personal chill-out space, and I love the aural and visual delights of anything to do with water (in this respect, I am unapologetically true to my Piscean nature); the Waterfall Terrace and Lake House spaces particularly come to mind.
But if I were to put myself in this apartment for long periods of time, with its overwhelming silence and sense of solitude, I couldn’t do it (and I’m a writer – we’re supposed to like peace and quiet). I hate too much silence – it would just drive me nuts. Truth be told, New York would be my ideal home in real life. So I brought out my Playground Boombox, just to have some sort of sound for company — and it’s great for parties, too.
Strangely enough, I observed that if you invite a friend from a different regional account (like North America or Japan) in order to play with them, the scoreboard doesn’t acknowledge them. I find that annoying and it must be annoying for them, too. I Invited them over. I personally think region locking is ridiculous, although I can understand some of the reasons behind it. However, this is an argument for another time.
All in all, I would say that the quality of this free Home space is one of the best (if not the best) that I have seen in some time. I love Home spaces – whether it be for free or pay-to-play – that have something in the way of interaction for you and your guests, whether it be a multiplayer game such as this, gift machines, or the Entertainment On Demand screens which have recently cropped up in many new spaces as of late.
One thing you can be sure of: nothing ever stays the same on Home and there’s a strong chance you will always find something new and exciting happening every time you log on.
April 16th, 2011 by CheekyGuy | 5 comments
CheekyGuy is a loveable, mischievous Brit who first entered virtual reality via Second Life, and now frequents Home as a Grey Gamer to keep in touch with friends. In real life, Cheeky is a video editor who has just completed a Master's degree in screenwriting from Liverpool John Moores University.
I loved playing the e-tron game (it’s one of my favorite minigames in Home), and I totally would love this space!
Although I’m in America, and I’m not supposed to even know what playing the e-tron concept is like, as having a SCEE account would be against the rules…
Right then.
You guys didn’t read anything here. Move along, move along.
of….course…..i..didnt…..any,..,l.thing. i hav no idea what u r writng about…carry on.
Audi is a premier developer in Home. They know how to refresh content, keep content interesting, and provide users reasons to keep coming back.
Other developers can learn a lot by looking at and following Audi’s lead. Drop and Run spaces are very short term to say the least. This certainly isn’t one of them.
Audi, in my opinion, have a “special” place on my hearth on home! quality, interesting contents, klass,and how much we pay for that you ‘ll ask me?
ABSOLUTLY NOTHING!like joanna say, the other devs should follow this exemple!
in my opinion, Audi is the lone devs on home who respect the original spirit of the HOME…
free play and stuffs of real hi.quality for users…
thank you AUDI, be sure than if i earn enought money, i buy an AUDI!^^
SORROW-
Audi’s parent company, Volkswagen AG, is currently the largest auto manufacturer in the world. Even if you don’t have the money to buy an Audi specifically, I’m sure you could find a car under their corporate umbrella you could get.