A Review of The Winter Vacation Villa, From Someone Who Hates Snow
by xx96791DEATHxx, HSM team writer & videographer
When I first encountered this personal space, HSM was conducting early preview tours for the Home community. Just seeing this space from the XMB menu definitely aroused my curiosity. Are we going to have a mini game? I could easily see a Sean White snowboarding game, carving some powder on a half-pike. Just imagine the Home rewards and/or possible clothing line. Or maybe, just maybe, even a snowball fight, against say, NorseGamer, Jersquall, OneCheekyGuy and Cubehouse versus Terra_Cide, Olivia_Allin, tbaby2008 and myself. Will they even make it snow?
And by the way, I hate snow.
Mother nature at work
I hate snow. I don’t ski, I don’t snowmobile, and the weather dries up my skin. It floods my garage when it melts. I hate snow enough that I moved away from my quaint country abode in the Poconos of Pennsylvania to go live in the land of paradise, Hawaii. Snow brings down power lines. Snow becomes ice. Ice makes everyone forget they are behind a two ton vehicle. For me, snow makes for a picturesque drive out in the country, or belonging atop Maunea Kea. Other than that, you can have it all because I’m through with it.
Back to the Villa. Upon arrival at this space, immediately the first thought that came to mind was Christmas! I already could see where the northern pine would stand, tall and proud, fully adorned in all of whatever holiday items the Mall had for sale. I envisioned Santa Claus and his eight tiny reindeer landing atop the roof, delivering my bag of coal as the voices of Dean Martin, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra serenaded me into a wintry bliss. The aroma of a hot toddy was slowly drifting its way toward me. The presence of freshly baked gingerbread and pumpkin pie were finding its way into my vision.
"she said there would be punch and pie"
That is, until I was awakened from that daydream by a jab in the side from my husband. Until now he was sitting quietly besides me, his head buried in some cooking periodical, but he looked up and saw what was on the television.
“Oh my god, what a cool space,” (no pun intended).
“Honey?” He says in that voice that can only mean one thing. “I have a plan.“
Cue the Battlestar Galactica music.
Now, my husband created this account – my username – way back when HOME was in the dinosaur days. The PSN ID you all see me under today was his idea when PSN was laying down the foundation. So I decided to assimilate it when he purchased something called an Xbox 360. He had already spent a lot of money purchasing personal items for his spaces on here, so I saw no reason to create another PSN ID. “Death has a name and it is Sue”.
He obligatory agreed with my assessment of the situation and decided to hand over the reins (again, no pun intended). He is also a retired Executive Chef. That being said, I felt I should at least show him the courtesy and hear him out. And that is about to become clear as to why.
"Would you care for a glass of Chianti with your Liver and fava beans?"
“Let’s make this into a restaurant,” spews forth this epiphany from his lips. I kinda saw this coming, so I mulled this over for a minute or two and decided to entertain him. He proceeded to go into great detail on how we should create a little winter cottage restaurant located in the upper mountains of Noobville, USA. He even went as so far to grab a pencil and some paper to layout a floor plan.
“Can I at least have my Christmas tree in there somewhere?” I asked this with the spousal knowledge that he was already taking a chainsaw to it in his mind. At first it did not seem like a bad idea. We already had the items to create this eatery. I could still get my hot toddy and pumpkin pie.
“What about the upstairs bedroom? The bed cannot be removed,” I inquired. He looked at me like I had just asked for him to come up with the ultimate answer to the ultimate question. He proceeds to advise me we would deal with that when we buy it.
It is a Thursday morning as I turn on the PS3, a morning no different than the other ones. I grind the coffee beans and brew coffee. I grab a bagel and plop it in the toaster. I gather up my breakfast and plunk my okole on the couch and proceed to load up Home.
There it is. The narrative describing this space had been written like it was for a listing in a real estate brochure. It was overlooked by a cascading waterfall and nestled neatly in between a snowy cliff and snow-covered town. Sold.
But it was a public space? It was being shown on the Navigator as an open house. What a brilliant idea. I can see what, if any, changes have been made since I first viewed it. This is something the Home management team should definitely consider doing with all the new personal spaces coming out. If we are allowed to the chance to review clothes before we purchase them, then why not a personal space? I have quite a number of personal spaces I would have gladly passed up on had I been giving the opportunity at an early look-see. Besides, you can’t really get a grip of what you’re stuck with until you’re in that space attempting to decorate it.
This place is packed with people! I’m really hoping the slow loading time is for that reason. As I walked around, I did not notice anything different from my previous visit. Then I looked outside and did not see the Jeep.
There was a kiosk in here and that I thought was an excellent idea. All you impulse buyers beware, lol. They decorated it sparingly with the furniture designed for this place. Not bad, I thought, but some plants would help make it less “manly” looking. As I walked outside to the lanai I couldn’t help but notice what appeared to be avatars attempting to set a Guinness record for the amount of bodies one could cram in a hot tub.
Anyone up for a sponge bath?
Satisfied with what I saw, and a $50PSN card in hand, to the kiosk I ran and purchased both the furniture pack and the Villa.
I HAVE NO JEEP! People were saying if you had any one of the mansion spaces the Jeep was to be here. I had the Garage. We all did. It is what Sony gave us in appreciation for their support and dedication. Well, I didn’t need it anyways. It wasn’t like we were going to be delivering pizzas with it.
My husband was off-island so he left it up to me to decorate according to his I have a plan idea. So with his schematic (ugh) and his item want list, I proceeded to go about placing the pieces throughout the space. While doing this, it occurred to me that I did not know if the Home management team decided that a higher item limit was deemed necessary for spaces like this.
I soon got the answer I was not wanting to see so soon. You have reached your furniture limit for this space.
I had not even finished the bottom floor, let alone outside. I counted the items. Apparently they did not get the memo. I crumbled up “the plan” and tried to think of a way to make it work. I tried starting out on the lanai first. Nope, it did not look good, and besides, who eats outside in the freezing cold? After about an hour, I was still at square one.
The heck with this. This is my space, not his. He won’t be using it; I will.
The first item to get placed was, of course, the Christmas tree. I was glad it was pre-decorated, since we are still having to deal with a small furniture limit. I then surrounded the tree with presents for all of my friends I made on Home. I then brought in my two dogs, the whiny golden retriever and my trustful lazy Binx. I created a small vignette in front of the fireplace. I tried to unsuccessfully place a television to stay on the wall above the fireplace. I decided that the majestic glow of the fireplace was good enough. I placed a writing desk by the stairwell and added some little things to personalize it. Then it came: you have reached your furniture limit for this space. I was so wrapped up in what I was doing that I totally forgot about that. Even after removing some presents and a few other items, I was still left with a somewhat bare space.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAWRuap7onw
I decided to decorate the house in five separate sections with each section being maxed out on the furniture limit. If I was not able to decorate it completely as a whole to my liking, I would choose to make a video showing what can be done if we are given a higher furniture limit. A fifty item limit is fine for personal spaces like the Harbor Studio or maybe the City Penthouse. Larger spaces require a larger furniture limit. All the plants, soda bottles, guns, plates, thermonuclear warheads, etc. add up. It’s been regularly asked of the Home management team to please take this into account when designing a space. Someone said it has to something with server capability and/or pixel allotment. I don’t know. I am hoping that this can be modified or amplified at some point.
With the revamping of Home as we know it now, I await anxiously with a stack of PSN cards for the upcoming modifications that are being bestowed upon us.
September 23rd, 2011 by Susan | 28 comments
Susan is a team writer for HomeStation Magazine, co-founder of the award winning media group-AvatardProductions, a PlayStation MVP and a Home Guide. PSNID SCEA/xx96791DEATHxx-SCEE/oXx_EnIgMa_xXo. An avid PlayStation Home user, she is most often found setting land speed records at the Sodium 2 velocity racetracks, sitting at the Pier Park or playing with the R/C vehicles at Acorn Meadows Park.
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Nice article
And a fun video very well done. Me thinks you put too much stuff in your space however. While I have the Winter Villa I haven’t tried to decorate it yet so I reckon I shut shut the heck up, eh?
I love the scenery of the space and I’ve noticed the moving chair lifts on the ski hill… but there’s no skiers!!! Either they’re out shoveling snow in their driveways or else the peeps moved to Hawaii (speaking of which, where is the Hawaiian space?)
SONY will hopefully put a public viewing of future apartment spaces.
TY Kid, If you saw briefly,I have a gun rack by the BBQ area..that is why you didn’t see any skiers,the word is out..I made the Tropical Paradise space my Hawaii get-a-way..
Cool and funny review Sue and the video came out great as always. It was fun making it with you too. Good Job!
Thank you Burbie,working with you is always a delight.You all make these video look great,I just glue in the pieces.
WOO HOO, GIRLY! I LOVE IT!!! oooo, yeah, a higher limit. that would be sweet.
Sorry you had to bring the monkey out. I think the reason I kept getting booted out of the space was the Loot Video camera. When I was pau and tried to either move it or remove it,we all got the boot..IDK..
A fun article and video. I think the place looked a little cluttered with all those items. I am a “less is more” decorator.
..and see, I am sometimes a “form over function” person. I was going for a cozy feel..Glad you enjoyed it Duece. Thank you for the things you do on here to make this a enjoyable atmoshere.
Your video is amazing. It beats the ones that come from Sony itself. I love how you tried to have something moving in so many scenes. It is what I try to do for Home -- make things that move.
An extremely nice job. I sent around the link for those who created the space. It is a happy day here at the office. Thanks!
WOW…you mass emailed the link??? Oh hamburgers!!! You just turned me into a mixed personality of the characters from South Park-Tweak and Butters.
This video is absolutely stunning. Extra, extra kudos to Sue for a very professional piece of work!
Also:
Quoted for truth and awesomeness.
The Jeep requires you own three parts of the Mansion.
Yes, I am aware of that.
My real point behind quoting it is that you didn’t see her doing an impression of preschooler being told that free play period was over because she didn’t get the Jeep.
Well, I was throwing snowballs at the Villa because I did not have the jeep.That was until…..
……until a friend came by and asked why i was throwing snowballs at my windows.When in formed that I needed to have all of the mansion pieces guess what I did? I ran back to the store and added to another 3 spaces to decorate on 50 item limit..Not complaining but the canopy area alone would eat that up.I maxed out my Tropical Paradise space with just decorating the “Pier Bar”.Thank you for all what you do for us Deuce..
Thank you Terra, your very kind with your words.
Great decorating job and article Sue! Loved the video too, it gave me a lot of ideas about how to decorate my Villa
Thank you Julie, I could have still used another 100 items…
Sue, what a great job you did on the video, I loved being in it too..lol I also am one who hates snow. The article you did was insightful and full of humor. What a great outlook you have doing this.
Thank you Karen, you all made it fun and look easy..
That was fun to read and made me remember that I want this space for one reason only… I love Christmas in the snow. Great job!
Thank you Kassadee. It was because of DarthGranny I was allowed the chance to write this article.She had the awesome idea to want to have a review written of the Villa.I am glad it turned out like it did and that people are enjoying the video. :0)
Awesome article Sue! Had fun doing the video as well. The cast was a blast! And u sure can write for someone that swears they are not a writer. And while we are stating our likes or dislikes of snow… put me down as one who LOVES snow. It makes everything fresh and new. It does make my metal parts hurt but it is worth it. You go to sleep one night and wake up the next day to a newly redecorated world that u can slid around on, make forts and ammo, snow people,snow icecream and so many other things and then in a few days its gone… thats awesome! An art medium that vanishes on its own making what ever artu made with it a rare thing. I love a snowy day when people only go out to play. The pot of chicken and dumplings smell wonderful and warms you from the inside out, much like love does…. did I mention I love snow… because I can go on and on about that if you dont believe me…. mmmm snow
The Sapporo Ice festival is a gorgeous event showcasing people talent with the use of ice as a medium. I prefer to make sand castles on the beach..
Greatly written article Sue and very well done video. Loves it
I like your decorating too. I’m not really good at that kind of stuff, probably another reason I don’t really buy personal spaces. But with places like yours, I would rather visit anyways
Was cute to see the scene at the end with me & Olivia. That was fun to be able to help with that. Nice work again!
Thank you Trisha. I am sure you are selling yourself short on your decorating skills..I,like you,have a tendency to spend more time in other peoples spaces than my own.
Great article Sue! Especially because we are in the video
If you watch carefully you see a twin passing by in a flash… 
For Jeep you need all parts of the Mansion.
Like in the Tycoon space you will get a helicopter that will bring you to every section of the Mansion you like.
Nice feature when you have no friends coming over… because when you drive or fly off… they all go poef
Christmas wishlist for Sony’s PSHome programming department:
-- 200 friends in friendslist (now 100)
-- 30 friends to invite in apartments (now 12)
-- 60 clubhouse members (now 31)
-- 150 items furniture max (now 50)
-- 10 active items max (now 2)
At least this is a start
Afterall we buy ourselfs crazy, only to see that we can harldy use 10% of our inventory… very frustating!
Sony… please listen to us!
ah yes… i was looking for a way to add a profile pic for my comments… but couldn’t find it. So can anybody tell me where i can add pic? Thanks!