LOOT’s Hollywood Hills House — Night
by NorseGamer, HSM Publisher
When I was a kid, I used to watch Captain N religiously. What hooked me was the concept of living inside a video game world: the idea that these places we all spent hours enjoying as children — Hyrule, the Mushroom Kingdom, Britannia, etc. — were in fact living, breathing worlds that could be explored and enjoyed, not just played through.
Do you feel the same way? Maybe that’s what drew you to PlayStation Home, as it did me? Because here, finally, was the chance to live inside a video game world.
The challenge, of course, is once you’re inside that world, what exactly is there to do? Home is a decentralized social metaverse with no clearly defined purpose. It serves as a very entertaining game platform, but the true, enduring strength of it lies in its ability to bring people together for shared experiences inside the framework of a video game environment.
And, on this front, LOOT’s product releases place them at the forefront of deepening Home’s social experience.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: I work for LOOT Entertainment now, so I can hardly claim to be an unbiased voice when I write about LOOT content. But let’s recall that for years prior to my work with LOOT, exactly the same words were being written: that when it comes to “breaking the fourth wall” between the virtual world and the real world, no one has done more than LOOT to make Home feel connected to the outside world.
Ghostbusters. Men In Black. Doctor Who. These are major IPs which have been introduced into Home via LOOT. But it’s deeper than that: can anyone argue with the truly seismic level of entertainment provided by LOOT’s Entertainment On Demand interface? Free movies from Crackle, free music from RadioIO? These are not small or trivial achievements. You can hang out with friends from thousands of miles away and enjoy shared entertainment experiences — for next to nothing.
And, judging from the number of people who still frequent LOOT’s Hollywood Hills House, years after its release, it’s clear that a lot of people are doing just that.
So now we come to LOOT’s latest release: Hollywood Hills, now as a clubhouse as well as an estate, available in daytime and nighttime variations — for SCEA and SCEE.
Let’s get the details out of the way: each new scene is $9.99. And the original Hollywood Hills House daytime estate is being raised in price from $4.99 to $9.99, since it’s the equivalent of $9.99 in the other regions which never got it until now. That said, for anyone who owns the original daytime estate, you’re getting free retroactive upgrades: a new swimming feature and a new built-in RadioIO control panel that plays music throughout the entire estate.
These were not trivial or low-cost elements to develop. They took a lot of time and a lot of money to implement — and let me reiterate that not only are these new features available in the new scenes, but they’re being retroactively added to the original scene. For free.
(Disclaimer for HSM’s international readers: you know the drill about EOD content restrictions based on the geolocation of the device. Due to contractual and rights agreements, some EOD channels are nation specific. Crackle content is only available in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. RadioIO is only available in the United States and Canada. In addition, due to rights issues, countries may not receive the same content selections within the channels. Only one TV can be active at a time. The LOOT EOD will work in any private space, UNLESS the space comes with a video screen you cannot turn off.)
The other element which took a lot of time and money to get right was the lighting. The first question that jumped out, as soon as we previewed the new nighttime scene during the AlphaZone 4 Expo, is why we didn’t just implement diurnal controls into the original scene. And the answer is because it would completely wreck the lighting. Diurnal controls are a cool feature, and we’d love to implement it, but so much detail work went into the lighting of the Hollywood Hills House that it would simply look…well, false if we scrapped all of that. Remember, Home scenes have a finite amount of memory to work with; implementing diurnal controls are an awesome feature which can help drive a price tag, but the trade-off is that you just can’t get the same immersive subtlety as you can with a bespoke lighting scheme.
For me, personally, the really exciting version is the Hollywood Hills Nighttime Clubhouse. It’s one of only two clubhouses in Home that come with built-in EOD (the TARDIS being the other), plus it’s got the built-in radio for scene-wide music. Those two features alone save a tremendous number of furniture slots. Coupled with the new swimming feature for the pool, you really do have the ultimate club party pad for Home entertaining. Clubs are a major part of Home’s social scene, and let’s face it: Hollywood Hills makes a very strong case for being Home’s ultimate clubhouse.
(And the ultimate bundle? It’s crazy. Go look at what’s being offered as part of that bundle: an avalanche of new and bestselling active items, plus four scenes, for $19.99 — which gets reduced even further to$14.99 if you’re in SCEA Home and you already own the original daytime estate.)
Here’s the big thing, though: this is a setting that has a certain “it” factor which makes you want to come back to it. At HSM we’ve debated over the years about the merits of aesthetics versus technical functionality, and what actually drives people to return to a particular clubhouse or estate long-term. In the case of Hollywood Hills, beyond just the technical whizbangery, it has that mysterious something, which can perhaps be quantified as relatable luxury. It’s the sort of place you would live in — or at least experience — if you had the means and money to do so in real life.
I obviously can’t guarantee everyone will love the new setting. But I think it’s going to hold a lot of appeal to a lot of people. It’s a nighttime scene that looks like a nighttime scene, but it’s exciting. I hope you’ll join us at Club LOOT on Saturday evenings for our weekly movie night, and use the space with your friends and fellow club members to do what Home was designed first and foremost to facilitate: social networking with friends. The movies and music and parties are just a backdrop to facilitate this. You get out of Home what you put into it, and LOOT has thrown a lot into this latest release in the hopes that it’ll blow everyone away.
For me, personally, it’s still that old thrill of living inside a video game. And LOOT’s made it a very dynamic world to live in. I hope you’ll explore and rediscover Hollywood Hills when it’s released this Wednesday. And, if you do, share your stories of how you used it. Share the story of your life inside the video game. Because ultimately, that’s why we’re here.
June 5th, 2013 by NorseGamer | 8 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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Loot have made some of best spaces in home, I still think the sunshine yacht is the best space home has to offer. The EU blog made no mention these were out this week and I’m not sure as an EU user id want to pay the equivalent as an NA user and be missing the radio function. Even worse if you live in Europe itself as you lose the film function as well and still pay the same. Is it too technical to charge depending on where you live and what functions you can use? Or as a secondary question can other regions expect these functions very soon to warrant paying the same as regions that have more functions. Agree with you on the lighting the day version has some of best lighting for picture frames of any space ever one of the frames can be seen clearly and there’s a lot of frames in that space.
SCEE’s pricing for Hollywood Hills is roughly equivalent to SCEA pricing. Although RadioIO isn’t available (and that’s a licensing issue that’s way beyond LOOT’s control), Crackle content will be available to SCEE users in the UK and Australia. Combined with the swimming feature and the fact that the scenes are sold bundled with the Active Camera and Active Light, to say nothing of the jaw-dropping scenery, it’s still a very justifiable price.
Although the content is being released first in SCEA, SCEE’s release date is coming up on June 12th, I believe. Given how much pent-up demand there’s been over the years from SCEE users — even knowing the restrictions on movies and music — I think it’s really exciting that LOOT’s finally delivering one of Home’s most successful estates to Europe. The nighttime clubhouse, in particular, is a slam-dunk.
It’s so easy to brush off a problem as big as the EOD not working when you can get the function for yourself. I’m not saying that breaking Home’s T&C’s is okay here, but to get your full money’s worth from a place such as this you have no choice. It’s either that or dont buy it.
Personally, this is one if my favorite spaces, right next to my Space apartment and my Sunset yacht -- all of them made by LOOT. But know this; I would not spend my money on them if I was restricted to the paltry offerings the EU gets in comparison on their EOD. It’s all or nothing as far as I’m concerned.
Speaking of which, I hope you guys n’ gals at LOOT are ready for LKWD, who seem to be picking up some serious pace with their spaces. Have you seen their latest offering?
Believe me, were it up to LOOT, there would be no restrictions on the EOD content — anywhere. It’s a licensing issue that’s way outside of LOOT’s control.
Some in SCEE, likely those outside the UK, may opt not to purchase Hollywood Hills because of the EOD restrictions. That’s their choice, and it’s understandable. By the same token, though, we can’t ignore the clamoring of SCEE users — for years — to have the scene available in SCEE, even knowing the restrictions.
One thing that often gets overlooked in LOOT estates, usually because they’re so jampacked with features, is the aesthetic beauty of them. You mentioned Lockwood, and they’re an excellent example here: Lockwood’s one of my personal favorite Home developers, and they sell estate scenes for a premium price tag based on aesthetics and bundled items (Dream Yacht and Dream Island come to mind). Even if you stripped out EOD and RadioIO from Hollywood Hills — since some SCEE users won’t have access to them — it’s still an aesthetically jaw-dropping experience, bundled with the Active Camera and Active Light.
Ultimately, what’s great is that SCEE users will soon have the option to choose whether or not to purchase Hollywood Hills in their own region — a choice which didn’t exist previously. It’s taken a long time to get Hollywood Hills over to Europe, but now that choice is being presented.
Dont overlook that most EU users and clubs have friends or members that are from regions that can’t have crackle, so EOD becomes a feature that’s redundant in a clubhouse unless you say sorry you can’t come to the clubs movie night or don’t invite your friend I suppose. And then to pay the same as someone that can use all the features may put it a bit expensive compared to other available spaces. Perhaps a cheaper version with the functions that have licensing issues removed might be a good move. I believe one of the loot movie nights got held up due to someone getting into the club from unlicensed region and how bad would you feel telling a friend sorry you can’t hang out with us tonight.
Oh, I believe you! I’m not aiming any disappointment at LOOT here, being from EU region however I’m all too aware of where the blame for these lacking or missing features lay. LOOT has been a main-stay of Home for so long now, I applaud them for what they’ve brought us. It’s just a shame that those in EU will pay the same price as those who can get much, much more out of it. As the host, I’ve had to miss out on movies with company because someone has arrived that simply cant see it and would otherwise be left looking at a blank screen unless I give them my full attention. All because of conflicting EU laws.
The space without EOD however is still very nice; the sunken TV is a seriously cool feature, the mini-cinema is great, the whole place just works y’know -- not so sure about the tiki-bar bit but hey, nothing’s perfect. But the Jacuzzi, and now that you can swim in the pool are both nice touches too. The skyline is cool and (I’d say) still quite unique in a Home space, it looses it’s magic if you use the telescope but that’s true of all spaces. It’s a nice, big, bright space. If (and when) the furniture count gets raised again it’ll be one of the first places I’ll go to for redecorating straight away.
LKWD’s aesthetics however have always been (IMO) the best from Home so far, and now with the release of The Venue, they’re adding functionality and that will keep them at the top of the pile I reckon, but competition is a good thing.
Bottom line is this: Knowing what I’d be missing due to being restricted to a different region, I would be unlikely to put my money down for this space. It’d feel like a kit-car if I did; it might LOOK the same as a Ferrari, but you’d always know it was just a shell.
ACES Norse!
This is a great read. Loot has so raised the bar with the realism of this place. Even before swimming was possible this was that jazzy rat-pack cool,relaxing spot in the virtual world! It already had that SOMETHING factor. Kudos for the clubhouse! Go LOOT!
Got to see this today and I must say it is without a doubt my new #2 favorite personal space. Great job Loot.