BoxBeats and Shimmer Sphere: nDreams Brings the Party
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
Musical items in Home are a double-edged sword.
On one hand, the Playground Boombox sold well because, quite simply, there was nothing else to choose from. Given how much pent-up demand there was to listen to music that wasn’t piped in with a carefully-timed R2 button, it was a foregone conclusion it was going to be a sales hit. It also didn’t hurt that it had a really good collection of 80’s music that never existed.
As for other musical items, they’ve met with varying levels of success or obscurity. Did you know there’s a musical item that plays traditional Irish music, like what you’d hear in a typical Grafton Street pub? It’s been a fantastic addition to my nDreams Pirate Galleon estate (which already had a built-in jukebox down by Tarquin’s Bar).
Thing is, though, musical items do face two problems: first of all, we live in an iPod age of having thousands of tracks available at any given time to listen to. Home’s limitations for its musical items, therefore, seem…quaint. The second problem is that once LOOT’s portable jukebox goes on sale, that’s going to effectively kill this entire market segment in Home.
But we’re not there yet.
Which brings us to nDreams’ new BoxBeats and Shimmer Sphere.
Where I suspect these items will be used most heavily are in clubs. If you’re going to throw a dance party, a clubhouse’s greater capacity is a logical choice, and contextually it makes more sense to have this sort of setup in a clubhouse. Although, to be fair, nDreams’ Musicality apartment would also be a logical place to put these.
(Which reminds me: nDreams, please offer Musicality as a club skin. You will make money.)
To date, only Hellfire’s woefully-underutilized Discobot outfits allow you to enhance a party atmosphere in a public space, but due to malicious users exploiting technological weaknesses in Home, public events in general are, at best, a risky proposition. So this does create market demand for commodities which allow users to create really fun private parties in Home. In this regard, the new BoxBeats and Shimmer Sphere offerings from nDreams are excellent choices.
Before we dive into these new items: the reason why I prefer virtual commodities which enhance the setting rather than the avatar is because dance outfits — specifically, full-body costumes which give you customized emotes or dances — have one massive drawback: it’s not your avatar.
I’ll explain. In the days before HomeStation, I was heavily involved in Home’s dance subculture. There was (and to an extent still is) an entire community of Home dancers who frequented Singstar, Singstar VIP, Ratchet & Clank, the old Central Plaza dance floor, Konami Penthouse and so forth. And what we got really proficient at was chaining together regular emotes and dances to create completely new movements. Let me tell ya: you can get your avatar to do some really wild stuff if you put in the practice.
(Here’s a very basic one for you to practice: Yawn/Spin/Running Man/Rock n’ Roll/Hero pose/No Way. If you do it fast enough, you’ll pull off a double pirouette with a hip waggle and then pose like a boss.)
Here’s what makes the difference: it takes skill to achieve. Buying a dance outfit doesn’t take any skill. So the reaction to the dance itself is completely different. Instead of fellow users admiring you for your ability, they marvel at the emote your R1 button brought up — and then dismiss it as soon as the novelty wears off. Or, worse, grow annoyed with it. Remember those insipid Ford Fusion dance outfits? The ones that make you look like you’re having a seizure? Yeah.
An example: when I was hanging out at Sony VASG’s offices, we took a brief break from playtesting Cutthroats 2.0 and loaded up some full-body dance outfits. The dancing was fun, but what had us all laughing was when we chained together various movements that didn’t interfere with the dance and at the same time made it look really absurd. In short, it was the personalization that made it memorable.
Now, granted, Home 1.7 — which I can finally talk about — is going to offer some changes to avatar functionality and emotes. Specifically, what developers can create to expand the versatility of a Home avatar’s range of expression. This is exceptionally exciting, because it opens up a new market segment of Home commerce. Thus, I suspect you’re not going to see many more dance outfits along the lines of Street Moves developed as we move forward. That said, thanks to nDreams, it’s going out with a bang.
Like I said: this is why I like the more environmental stuff that’s now being offered with BoxBeats and Shimmer Sphere. It’s got more versatility, because it’s what you do with it that matters.
Shimmer Sphere takes up only eight furniture slots, whereas BoxBeats uses twelve. Considering what you get, the small footprint is quite surprising. I could go on at length about the features and whatnot, but I decided to do something a bit different. Since multiple Home media sites were given individual snippets of different BoxBeats tracks to feature, this was one bit of developer PR that was guaranteed to get coverage from several outlets.
So what does HomeStation do to set itself apart?
More.
Enjoy!
September 11th, 2012 by NorseGamer | 4 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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only 12? not 22??? MINE! NOW!!!
No, mine! Oh, wait… I spent all my birthday money. Hmmmm… writer for hire. I work cheap!
Wait. Norse, you’re into the dance scene!? Didn’t see that coming! lol
I’m massively into my club/dance scene ( coz in the UK and Europe, it’s cool ok!) and have felt this has been a lost commodity in Home really. Theres the Singstar room, Musicality and now X7 but as any clubber will tell you; you can never have too many venues to jump around. 11 slots is a winner for me too, I’ll probably pick up both items asap. It has taken me years, but I’m getting closer to having my personal club. And while I’m talking about it, GIVE THE PRIVATE CLUB SOME DAMN TUNES!!!
I listened to some of the songs and couldn’t find any I liked. Maybe my player is broken. They sound terrible and cheap.
OK, so now I’m a critic. They give awards and build statues for music makers, not critics. Ignore me, but listen first if you can.