Atom Republic’s Hoverbikes
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
“Come on devs, give us the CARS!”
To this day, that’s one of the most annoying thread titles I’ve ever read on the Sony forum. It’s not that I disagree with the sentiment: it’s that the way people phrase their requests and criticism on that forum often has all the maturity of a truculent child who needs a good swat on the landing gear.
But there is a truth behind that immaturity: we all want more out of Home. No matter how far it advances — no matter how much it continuously manages to offer — we’re always looking for more. That’s human nature, and it applies to virtually everything. And that’s a good thing; consumer demand drives innovation. Were it not for consumer demand, we wouldn’t be at Home 1.7, after all.
So let’s take a look at the latest form of avatar locomotion: hoverbikes, from Atom Republic.
Makes perfect sense. Altitude control doesn’t exist with any Home locomotions (for obvious reasons), and everyone’s capped at 150% speed, so it’s all about looking stylish. And hoverbikes are just conceptually cool. When George Lucas had to make Hayden Christensen look like James Dean in Attack of the Clones, he put him on a hoverbike instead of a hovercar (which poor Luke had to tootle around in, like the family station wagon, in order to establish the humdrum mundanity of his life). Whenever Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross got boring, you’d inevitably get a gratuitous scene of hoverbikes racing around or chasing each other. And believe it or not, an actual hoverbike exists, although it’s nowhere near as sexy as you’d like it to be.
What to make of Atom Republic’s hoverbikes?
Quick impression: not buying it personally, but I like the idea.
I’m not buying it because I don’t like the design. Simulated vehicular transportation in Home is a fashion statement; you buy it because you want to say something about yourself as a person. I have no doubt that Atom Republic will sell several of these bikes simply because of the novelty factor, but it’s just not my cup of tea. If I’m rolling up on a bike, I want to feel like some incredibly cool spiky-haired anime character, and I can’t really do that when riding around on what looks like a chrome chicken.
No, seriously. Whether you’re on a cruiser, a sport bike, a scooter or something else, you want it to look good. You want it to appear aerodynamic and aesthetically pleasing. And I’m sorry but these hoverbikes from Atom Republic are rather ventrally bulbous, which just doesn’t lend itself to looking sleek.
Yeah, somebody built this.
Okay, smartass, you’re thinking. What do YOU think a futuristic hoverbike should look like?
And that’s the beauty of virtual reality: form doesn’t have to follow function. The function of this commodity is to provide a different visual means of transportation between two spatial points in Home. But since there are any number of ways to depict this, and they all function exactly the same way, it’s simply a matter of who can make the most aesthetically appealing method of doing so.
That’s where the real challenge is. Atom Republic’s hoverbikes are just the latest entry into a brand-new market segment for Home, and it does represent a fantastic opportunity for revenue generation — if you can come up with something sufficiently cool. There are some fantastic upcoming commodities, presently unannounced, which are going to be introduced to the Home marketplace soon — stuff which is going to generate a tremendous amount of buzz for this market segment. So while I don’t like the specific design of this particular commodity, I’m wholeheartedly encouraging Atom Republic and every other Home developer to continue to pursue this new market segment, because there is money to be made here.
In the meantime, I look forward to seeing these hoverbikes in Home soon. Certain public areas, such as the vast salt flats of the Sodium Hub, sound like an ideal setting to go race around in. Should be fun to watch!
November 20th, 2012 by NorseGamer | 3 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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Norse! Great article, I just have to say one thing from my point of view. I love this bike: Why? It is a direct reflection of the old PS1 game “Jet Moto” and those were cool bikes, even in the low quality rendering of the PS1. I fell in love with those old bikes from the game so much that I have always secretly wished they would bring that game to the PS3, oh well. I even included my own variations in my own art work as I thought that thee designs were great. That of course is my opinion. But I do love the bikes and am planning to get one simply because they have that reference for me. Woooooooo, bike on brothers.
Locomotion items such as these hover bikes currently have such a long load time, I havent bothered about them as I can get to a space do a lap or two of that space long before anyone has got a locomotion item to load. Love the dance moves looking forward to new poses , but cars, bikes, hover disks, and looking like He-Man riding battle cat not for me.
Have to agree with Gary here. I like idea of these things, it’s good new ideas are being tried but, until they make an *actual* hoverboard ( Back to the Future 2 style) I’ll probably just be happy to watch people skoot around on their oddities. Here’s a question, y’know how you can turn off pets? Well, can you turn off locomotions too? And if not, WHY NOT!?
I just dont wanna see people riding giant battle cats (or whatever) in inappropriate spaces…