by Phoenix, HSM team writer

Sony has a new mansion — with less bling!

This understated mansion was packed with curious would-be purchasers at the open house. Personally, on the subject of bells and whistles, I found some bells, but very few whistles.

[BEGIN NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF ENVIRONMENT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN’T SEEN IT]

This mansion is set on a beach, as the name implies, and there is a boat dock with three spaces for boats. One of the berths has a water taxi which can take you to the public Yacht Club space, which is a rather interesting touch. Water surrounds two sides of the space; lovely, yet was curiously still for oceanside conditions. There are two garden areas with paths that lead to a gate with a “coming soon” announcement on them. Then one other leads to a beach and a classic ocean view.

The first floor has a few attractions that had the crowd applauding Sony’s developers. The first floor itself was comprised of several rooms: a living room space, kitchen, bathroom, a small den/study/tv room, and several odd hallway partitions. There is a stairway that has a roped-off entrance, with another “coming soon” reminder. This is because currently the first floor is the only space available in this mansion, much like the first mansion; the second floor will be available when it is released. This mansion is to be a two-floor plan, not three. To this new one there will also be another infinity pool, and I believe a private yacht as well.

One notable party piece: in the center of this space is a floor-to-ceiling fish tank. There appeared to be a few baked-in pieces(very understated) and a few pieces that come with the space that appear to be movable, as they showed item space amounts. The layout has views that give the outside a presence inside. Outside the house you are able to explore the gardens and beach area.

[END NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION OF ENVIRONMENT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN’T SEEN IT]

All in all, a rather nice setup. Now we get to the bells.

Bells:

The new mansion boasts new interactive elements: the kitchen cabinetry has working doors, for instance. The crowd was wowed. I was not. I have a space by Sony that has that already: the Weekend Luxury Lake House.

Same goes for the refrigerator. Good to see it utilized again. Here the cabinets and refrigerator open. The stove turns on, the hood above turns on. The sink, however, does not work — which is odd, because if you go into the bathroom here you will find a double sink that is interactive with running water. Then there is the toilet; this too is interactive. The sound of flushing water can be heard when you interact with it. Oddly, this has two seat items, but neither could be sat upon. I don’t know if it was simply not working the day the space showed up or if that was an oversight in design.

There’s also a built-in wall TV that shows the same video as the first mansion (Playstation Blog). Oh, and there’s a workable ceiling fan, and a control that allows tinting of the windows to change.

The doors in this space can be opened and closed. Two in total, I believe. This was a must-have for the throngs of people milling about. They truly enjoyed the sense of reality it gave to the space. I did too. To that subject, the space has diurnal controls just outside the front doors. This time the mansion has weather controls as well as diurnal controls, which is a welcome customization. So many of us enjoy changing the mood in a space this way; these aforementioned things alone had quiet a few people wanting to by the space that moment. Kudos, Sony.

NO WHISTLES:

Those that didn’t want to buy the space cited these reasons:

The fact that the fish tank, though interactive, has a less-than-appealing appearance to it. It was compared to the tank in the Tycoon Penthouse and came up lacking. This new tank seemed to be a less-creative knock off. Then there were the baked-in furnishings: though many where glad they were not gaudy, they were less than inviting in style. They did not have the appearance of Mansion quality, frankly. Some there compared the baked-in sofa to that of the Lockwood leather sofa from the Dream Island: the leather sofa won. Perhaps a leather sectional would have had more appeal. The idea that came to mind, during discussions, is whether or not it’s possible to have furniture baked into a space programmatically, but then offered with a toggle switch to show it or hide it as desired.

As expected, this Mansion comes with a gift machine, as does its predecessor, with which you can gift your guest exclusive items. This is something nearly all Home users enjoy and love about the estates which offer this feature. This new Mansion also has a resident exotic pet: a white lion. However, it was compared by some to the tiger in the first mansion, as well as the Lockwood lion. While the white was deemed better than the tiger for its greater sense of free roaming ability, where the white lion fell short however was on the aesthetic presentation. Some of the guests complained that it had a stuffed-animal look to it. Granted, I should add that some were not impressed with the diamond litter box and the white lion‘s jewel-encrusted cat bling. It was not nearly realistic enough, compared to some of the animals in Home.

One big drawback that kept coming up: no swimming interaction in any of the surrounding water. Very disappointing.

All in all, the space was for most of the people I interacted with relatively well-received. As the old mansion was such a classic high-seller, I’ve no doubt this version will be a lucrative seller as well, though the $14.99 price tag was surprising to some there. This is where the disappointment in the innovations cropped up; this space seems to take a step forward and a few back in what is possible in a personal space. It should be interesting to see if the Home users clamor to  have these items addressed, or if Sony opts to make improvements to this estate as new sections are released.

As for price, I guessed it would be comparable to the first Mansion in price, with a descending scale price as the other pieces become available and are purchased. From what I observed at the open house, this new Mansion could go either way as far as popularity with personal space collectors; some will overlook the price or accept it, as they have with some of the newer spaces, but there was the sense that those other spaces had a bit more to offer. Since the opening night, more info has become available on the Diamond Beach Mansion, such as the mini-game in the space for treasure hunting, along with a secret space which is unlocked after you own all four pieces to this mansion. Will these additional elements help drive sales? I suspect we’ll know soon enough.

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