by RadiumEyes, HSM team writer

With the PlayStation 4 now out, Sony officially entered the eighth generation of consoles; thirty years ago, the “video game crash” spelled an uncertain future for consoles, but from those ashes emerged the third generation, beginning with the Famicom. In 1983, the idea of a vast digital social platform that could be accessed via console would’ve been practically impossible – nowadays, however, the virtual world looks incredibly different from its forebears, and PlayStation Home illustrated that such an application could work.

One doesn’t have to look very far to see the history of social gaming that ultimately led to Home; the PC had dominated the market with third-party content such as Second Life, and that concept finally arrived on a home console. The PlayStation 3, whatever you make of it, took a grand step into the realm of the persistent virtual world by offering a huge place for users to interact on a global scale; no longer were gamers limited to their immediate friends and family to chat and set up a gaming session.

Think about it – the nascent video game market of the 1970’s introduced the world to games such as Pong, as well as consoles such as the Magnavox Odyssey. At the time, televisions didn’t have HDMI support (that would debut in 2002), and personal computers of the decade didn’t have access to the Internet; the Internet as a distinct entity came about in 1982, following in the footsteps of such programs as ARPANET. Nothing exists in a vacuum, gaming particularly – it took several decades to get this far, and it all began with a replication of Ping-Pong, a voracious yellow dot and numerous other classic games.

With all that in mind, what will happen with the current generation? At the moment, the PlayStation 4 has some big shoes to fill – its immediate predecessor had a major marketing experiment in Home, perhaps the most important innovation in recent gaming history. Having such as sweeping network to maintain takes a lot of work, and several dedicated developers stepped up to the plate to ensure that everything worked as smoothly as possible, and provide a great virtual experience for all. Of course, such an undertaking had its road bumps; it inevitably saw its share of trolls and bad behavior over the years, a nigh-inevitable result on the internet today. All silliness aside, Sony took a big risk in introducing Home to its console, and the experiment may or may not continue to the PS4.

However, as stated, no Home (or any equivalent) currently exists on Sony’s new outing – whether it will remains to be seen. But there is something that could feasibly work here – Avakin, Lockwood’s premier social network that debuted earlier this year.

One of the great Home developers, Lockwood cut its digital chops on virtual merchandise; one can see their hard work in such incredible offerings as Sodium and the Drey clothing line, as well as more recent fare such as the Venetian Ball clothes and numerous LMOs. Right now, Lockwood’s gearing up Avakin, and tantalizing hints into future content reveal that several of their most popular material (all of which began on Home) will make the transition; as I write this, one can see the Dream Yacht floating close to shore at Golden Sands Bay, awaiting its triumphant inauguration into Avakin form.

But what about the PS4? Can Lockwood translate Avakin onto this new piece of technology, and seamlessly integrate it with the console’s code? To answer my own questions, yes – it certainly can. The PlayStation 4 supports Unity, a game engine developed by Unity Technologies that now has a 4.3.1 release as of this month; Avakin uses this game engine to run, as do many PC games, so the option of porting it over exists.

But the more pertinent question is this: will it work? What does the prospect of a PlayStation-based Avakin look like?

It looks very promising, indeed – even though Avakin is still in its incipient period of development (open beta arrived not too long ago, if one remembers), with further expansion, it can feasibly work on the PS4. Let’s look at it from where it stands now; the app currently stands alone, unaffiliated with Sony or any other company outside of Lockwood, and it still has potential yet in it. For now, it exists primarily as a computer application, and any maturation will most likely occur there. Even so, Lockwood has the opportunity to bring it home (to turn a phrase) and turn it into a new platform functional on both the PC and the PS4.

I briefly mentioned Unity, the backbone of Avakin, and its importance as a gaming engine cannot be understated – every major platform, from the PC to the PlayStation to the Wii U, supports it, and it quickly became a force to be reckoned with in the gaming community. Such diverse titles as rain, Son of Nor and République utilize the engine, and the list goes on from there; Unity’s making a name for itself, and with Avakin based on it, Sony would do well to incorporate it into the PS4’s infrastructure. Home began the experimental phase of social apps on Sony’s flagship console, and Avakin can very well carry it onward; Lockwood already has plenty to show, what with all the personal spaces and clothing lines it produced, so the company would be a great fit for a “new world” of social interaction.

That being said, this will take time to implement; anyone familiar with Home can attest to how troublesome it can be when such a platform receives a large user base. With the PS3 forums being what amounts to a BBS filled with ineffectual anger towards Sony for pretty much anything it does (and few reasonable assessments of the situation), Lockwood could benefit greatly from taking notes. Don’t let detractors get in the way of a great product, and keep a steady head on your shoulders. Any sort of service will get the small but vocal crowd who is upset with any sort of slight, as well as those who think they’re entitled to everything without question, but they represent the minority, even on Home; people showed their support for Home through thick and thin, purchasing content whenever it came out, even if the profit margin may not be as great as Sony might like. We, the users, saw a lot over the past seven years, and Home became the place to be for many of us – Avakin can easily fill that role, as Lockwood happens to be a respected and popular developer.

With a new horizon now upon us in the form of a new PlayStation, new avenues open up for studios; think of this as the Next Generation to the original Star Trek, replicated by Sony products. There’s a new Enterprise, with a new engine and new possibilities, allowing anyone to search the universe for new experiences, both good and bad; where it goes is up to everyone involved, from Sony to the gamers, and Lockwood has a critical role in all this. Avakin, the fledgling program with a lot on its plate, deserves to be on the PS4 as it brings the Lockwood aesthetic to another environment; it looks great on PC so far, and it can only get better.

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2 Responses to “The PS4: A New Frontier for Avakin to Shine”

1. keara22hi says:

   December 14, 2013 at 10:38 pm

   I have been trying to download Unity for about 4 hours now. Today, with Home down, is the golden opportunity for Avakin/Lockwood to pick up a lot of new users -- but I hope others find Unity easier to load than I have.

   Reply
   • Terra_Cide says:

     December 14, 2013 at 11:47 pm

     If you’re talking about having a blank screen where the Avakin plugin should be, check http://unity3d.com/webplayer to see if you have the correct plugin for the browser you are using.

     Reply