A Refreshing Update To Home’s E3
by Burbie52, HSM team writer
E3 is back! I have seen three of these virtual showcases now, as I’m entering into my third year of being in PlayStation Home. Each year, this event is eagerly anticipated by everyone in our community: some for the free rewards it brings, others for the new information about upcoming events and games, and some like me for both of these reasons.
E3 is the SuperBowl of the gaming industry: an incredible cross-cultural event that takes place each year and never ceases to amaze us with the content it provides. It is the same for us in PlayStation Home; we are lucky we use this console as we can actually experience the E3 from the comfort of our living room. Each year we are spoon-fed little tidbits to heighten our anticipation of the event, and each year Sony has to up the ante to retain our interest and fervor for the event. This one is no exception.
I loved the new questing system and the way we were greeted when we arrived in Home and were spawned into the event. The fact that Jack Buser himself greets us and welcomes us into the event is awesome! That is such a personal touch from Sony, and it starts the whole experience off in a very nice way. Christina Lee coming up next to bring us into the questing portion is another nice touch. I love the
Hi Christina!
way they have upgraded this with videos for each of the twelve quests; it makes it much more fun than last year when we simply followed the lights. These personal touches show me that Sony is finally getting that the social aspects in Home are very important and are really its lifeblood.
Not only does Christina Lee greet you and walk you through the stages of your reward hunting, but she has an NPC representation standing on a podium to give it a more real feel than just a video presentation. This is another step they have taken to personalizing the experience this year for us, and I applaud their efforts for they have succeeded.
This is an international space, just like the Feva Arena was when the World Cup Soccer was going on. I saw people there from all over Europe as well as the Orient and Japan. It was a very cool experience to see all of these native languages being spoken in our beloved NA Home, as well as all of the neat costumes and clothing we don’t have here. I wish we had more of these events that cross all of the cultures that Home represents. Many times we miss out on things because the rewards are not “localized” and allowed to cross into each others Home; not so with this event, everyone can quest and be rewarded.
The quests themselves are made easy and fun by all of the different types they have. You can take pictures with some of your favorite
Ryu and I
gaming characters, hunt down elusive symbols that represent the game, or answer simple trivia questions, or a combination of all of them as for the last one. Even after you have gotten the original twelve quests done you aren’t finished yet. If you go to the activity board you find a few more necessary to complete all of your goals and obtain the sought after exclusives only gotten at this time of year.
Just as last year, completing the twelve main quests gains you access to the upper room VIP area. The major difference this year is that the entire top area is devoted to Home and their major developers. Lockwood Publishing has a few different rewards and an incredible glimpse at what we can expect at the new Mercia: Fractured Realms game this summer. Hellfire Games, nDreams’ Aurora, Juggernaut MiniBots and Cutthroats games are all there as well with accompanying rewards to use in your personal space or in clothing your avatar.
Event Horizon
The addition of unlocking the Dust 514 – Event Horizon Lounge area to explore was an added bonus for us. This new game which will be featured on the PlayStation Network is going to be a blockbuster just like its counterpart Eve was in online play. The game you have to play to get a possible invite to the beta testing and the male and female outfits you can win is called Slay, and is very reminiscent of the game that was the focal point in the Nepalese Village of Uncharted. It is a challenging game with a lot of rules but looks to be fun and I hope they keep it in Home long after E3 has gone.
They also have some news flashes, like the highly anticipated MiniBots multi-player update that will bring us something I have been saying was needed since the day the game came out, a MiniBots personal space to fight your friends in! Not only that it will be free with purchase of the game! Way to go Juggernaut, I will be at the store the day it arrives!
nDreams’ Aurora took their rewards a bit further by not only giving you a picture frame when you look at their kiosk, but giving you a second reward when you visited Aurora for the first time after receiving the one at the E3. You not only get a new version of the unicorn Vincent called Damien, his evil twin, you also gain a thousand experience points towards your level one hundred goal, a very nice gift indeed.
Last but far from least was Hellfire Games announcement of Home Tycoon, a new game for us that has so many ways it can be interpreted it makes you very curious as to what it is truly about. It seems like a Home version of SimCity, but them again it seems to have its own thing going on as you can go to a place called the Train Station, which will be a public space designed for users to compete in their city building, but give them ability to see each others cities and compare rewards they have earned. This is an entirely new 
concept for Home.
There is also going to be the ability to create racetracks, stunt loops, ramps and car chases on the streets of your city to share with your friends and play. Many people have been asking for cars to drive around Home; while that is not possible, at least Hellfire has tapped into that desire and made this attempt to satisfy them, something they are extremely good at.
This entire event, from the floor itself to the theater videos of the real E3, have been handled with such panache this year I don’t know how they will top it next year. But, knowing Sony, I am sure they will find some way to do just that.
June 7th, 2012 by Burbie52 | 3 comments
Burbie52 is a 62 year-old published author and founder of the Grey Gamers group within Home. Born and raised in Michigan, she has lived there her entire life, with the exception of a twelve-year residency on the Big Island of Hawaii. She enjoys reading and writing, as well as video games, especially RPG's. She has one son in his twenties.
Hey Burbie, great article. I went there and did the quests, and for me being what some call a “lamer” even the quests are fun. It was a blast to run around and collet all the freebies. The space is well designed and made it easy to run around and find the targets. All in all it is a good space. The kiosks are fun and do a good job of informing one about the games at hand. I had a glitch that didn’t give me the skull companion, but I enjoyed it.
Had a few probs with bugs myself in there but it all seems fine now *crosses fingers*
I loved the whole space. The quests were great and you came out with a ton of free swag. The double sodium ex points are a great add on to the whole E3 celebration as well. It makes you appreciate how long it took to make this space and the whole complex process behind the scenes. Next best thing to being there.