by RadiumEyes, HSM team writer

A few days ago, we received an announcement from Sony; the voice on the other end of the line breathed a heavy sigh (presumably) when it spoke about the news. Japan and Asia’s respective Home regions would no longer receive content updates – a decision they likely thought about over several nights. People who loved the regions can probably tell you how devastated they felt over this call – a “day Home died,” if one can obliquely reference “American Pie” in such a manner.

When I learned of Sony’s decision, my mind had to take a metaphorical cigar break, lounging somewhat anxiously as if in Sam Spade’s office, contemplating what time will tell of Home. Specifically, I felt some detachment to the news – I never visited Japan Home or Asia Home – but I also knew that people who felt a deep connection with it would be distraught over seeing one of their favorite regions fall by the wayside like this. It’s a sad day to see something like this happen, certainly; Japan Home became this special place for many people living in North America, as Terra can attest to. However, this isn’t exactly surprising, as the writing was on the wall.

Speaking as someone who never visited either region, I can’t add any personal anecdotes to this; I leave that to those who do, and could recount the various pleasant experience there. That this happened shouldn’t discourage anyone, however – developers won’t simply disappear from the social map because of the fiscal failures of two specific areas. North America and Europe already have solid platforms for new content, and their continued upkeep tells us that Home will remain active for some time.

For me, what matters is that we continue to have a wonderfully diverse social platform, somewhere where we can interact with each other; no matter what that location may be, if we’re given a fantastic environment and numerous opportunities to converse and make new friends. With Doctor Who’s second wave now upon us, and various developers such as Granzella still offering new material for the Home inhabitant, Home’s future remains bright; it won’t implode on itself over this recent development, and any bitterness over the news comes with the caveat of “this is an initial reaction, and is subject to change.” For those who feel that Ragnarok will soon come for Home, take heart – the sobering new comes with a silver lining, as EU and NA remain in business, for as long as Home does. The ship continues onward, confidently afloat despite the uncertainty of changes. Think of this as a momentary hurdle, the inevitable “Road Work Ahead” that we must work around; it’s an inconvenience, yes, but nothing insurmountable. Home will be there, and the lights will stay on.

But enough about platitudes; we no longer will see new content for Japan and Asia, but we’re not going to see the world end over something like that. If my experiences with HSM taught me anything (and they offered a lot of lessons), it’s that patience is a virtue. I will remain optimistic, because I know that whatever happens on Home, we’re still here, and we must maintain a positive attitude towards life. This announcement only tells me that Home will experience some pruning, which affects a lot of enterprises, but the application itself will not leave. One may love such events as the Macross concert and Xi, but they’re rather ambitious in scope, an undoubtedly cost a mint for whoever hosted them.

So where do we go from here? Well, for me, it’s all about how developers fare; without Japan or Asia’s respective Homes (the latter will be inactive, new content-wise by the coming April), they’ll likely focus on those regions still active, and I know North America has a lot to offer in terms of variety and diversity. My wishlists illustrate both my otaku side and a desire to see Home continue down its route for as long as it is capable. It’s been an amazing year thus far, and there are no signs of slowing down – who knows, we may very well see more IP appear in the near future. I still stand by my wish to see Sailor Moon content, to wit; whether it would become a reality isn’t a certainty.

But that’s simply my musings. The news, for what it’s worth, will not affect North America or Europe (as explicitly said by Sony in its official announcement), which is definitely a cause for hope on Home – Japan’s lack of new content from this month on isn’t a harbinger of doom, as we will see business will go on as usual. I see it as simply Sony being cautious – Home’s not exactly a huge generator of profit, and sometimes tough decisions have to be made. As it stands, it’s not going under any time soon, and things still are looking up. We still have room for new toys, new personal spaces, the works – that Japan will no longer be involved in this isn’t quite the detriment people may initially expect it to be.

We’ll still see new content, d00d.

Let’s face it – Home is far more content-diverse now than it ever has been, and we’re looking to see that trend continue. We’ll simply see North America and Europe expand further, with Japan and the rest of Asia unfortunately out of the race. Otaku like me see Japan as the origin of so many of our favorite material, from games such as Final Fantasy (in all its iterations) to animated fare such as Cowboy Bebop and Mushishi. It’s a shame to see the region ultimately miss out on new opportunities, but it hasn’t been doing well as of late – that Sony opted for this route is an unfortunate but reasonable result of that. What we, as Home users, can do (at the very least) is understand the situation and continue to contribute as members of a social network.

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One Response to “With Closure Comes New Opportunities”

1. Burbie52 says:

   September 2, 2013 at 1:13 pm

   Agreed.

   Reply