Welcome to PlayStation Home Beta
by ted2112 HSM team writer
Four years ago, Home made its debut to the world. It was packaged with the brand new PlayStation 3. At the time, the PS3 was the most technologically advanced gaming wonder the world had ever seen. The slogan for the new machine was, “It only does everything.” – and it did. Not only was it a gaming system, it was a Blu-ray player, a movie streamer, an internet portal, and a research tool. At around five-hundred dollars, it was a costly investment.
One of the ways Sony enticed us to shell out this large chunk of change for their new technological wonder was a little social networking/gaming platform called Home. Home was shipped with the new PS3s as a closed Beta. If you clicked on the icon, it brought you to a page that chose random users to participate.
Finally in December of 2008, the open Beta doors were unlocked for us all to participate, and there we have been ever since. The Beta tag still is prominently displayed for all to see, leaving many of us to wonder just why we are still in a Beta test four years and millions of dollars later.
Home was the brainchild of Phil Harrison over at SCEE. He laid the groundwork for Home from a simple 2-D platform, originally called Hub; into a new type of experience he dubbed Game 3.0. Eventually called Home, it would be unlike anything else in gaming, and this new 3D version is the game we all now know and love.
In a strangely timed exit, Phil Harrison left Sony just as Home was coming into its own.
I feel this had major consequences, as Home lost its singular vision. The good news for Home was that Jack Buser took the reins and led SCEA Home into what will likely be called Home’s “Golden Years” and although Buser doesn’t directly oversee Home now, he is part of a team that includes GlassWalls and LocustStar that help run not only Home, but now they oversee the entire PSN itself as a part of SCEA’s new Digital Platforms initiative. As of this writing, this initiative is exclusive to SCEA.
Home Closed Beta Application
There has been a lot of talk lately about our apprehension about the future of Home. I have read many articles; some talking about number crunching and some fueling the fires of rumors and speculation. But the fact is, we simply don’t know. My personal feeling is Home will be with us for some time to come. The PS3 will still be in service alongside the PS4, and even if Home doesn’t port over, its doors will still be open for us.
But that’s the real question, isn’t it? Will Home migrate over to the PS4? Will it remain compatible with the PS3 version if it does? Will the PS3 version close if we see Home on the new console? I think we are at a point in time right now where we are seeing Sony give up more and more responsibility of Home’s content to third party developers, and also lurking on the horizon is the new PS4, tantalizing close to being debuted. So, it’s only natural for us to start to wonder – and for those who are deeply invested in Home – start to worry.
In an interview in 2009, Jack Buser stated that they were not taking off the Beta tag until they had reached what he referred to as “representing a level of final quality.” Later he expanded the comment, saying that the vision of Home had “evolved” and was being built as “a game platform, first and foremost.” This gives us the sense that Home is not a fully formed, and yet still growing concept. Due to Home being a unique and very complex social/gaming hybrid, it’s understandable that Sony isn’t 100% sure what they have on their hands. All that being said, here we are four years later with the Beta tag still firmly in place.
Home in indeed a complex eco-system. Our virtual world rakes in millions and has given birth to some truly amazing game developers. The Home of today stands massive over the first day of open Beta. Just this past E3, Jack Buser who was newly promoted to Senior Director of Digital Platforms called Home an amazing testing ground for Sony. Citizens of Home have been very inviting to new developers and as some of them are branching out beyond its borders these companies find themselves with a built in and dedicated fan base for them going forward.
Phil Harrison
Home has made a quiet yet powerful impact in gaming. I find it very interesting that Phil Harrison is now working at the Interactive Entertainment Team at Microsoft in these crucial run up years to the new Xbox. I also feel that the new Xbox will have its own virtual community, and this further leads me to believe that the PS4 will have Home on it. I don’t think that Sony will squander these years of making Home into what it is today, only to hand off the concept to Microsoft.
So welcome to Play Station Home Beta. We are the pioneers, and like the pioneers of old, sometimes our paths takes us in directions we didn’t intend to go, and we end up finding ourselves in an even better place. In this time of change and worry over the future of Home, I can only say let’s not strain our eyes searching for the new welcome sign in the distance; it’s the journey not the destination. Yet somehow, I have a feeling that on that welcome sign we just might still see a Beta tag.
January 13th, 2013 by ted2112 | 3 comments
ted2112 is a writer and a Bass player that has been both inspired and takes to heart Kurt Vonnegut words...."we are here on planet Earth to fart around, and don't let anyone tell you different."
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Great read Ted!
I always wondered about that Beta tag. Wonder when it won’t be there any more. It will be interesting to see what happens to Home when the PS4 comes out. I hope it stays because it is a great place with so many possiblities. Great article and if you find out any information about the future of Home, please inform us!!
i liked your optimism. My hope is that sony doesnt cofirm the rumour and shut down in 3 months, wait a year and a half, pressumably to devolope it, and release home 2 .0 in 2016. To me why would Sony lose all these millions they’ll lose doing so until the release of the new home?