by Susan, HSM team writer

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” -Mary Oliver

When PlayStation Home began open beta, we had the option to own a clubhouse. Back then, for me, most of the people I knew who had clubhouses were people involved with that degenerate social group called fams — and yes, I was in with that group.

They were always set up with chairs or couches for us minions to sit on. There were always some better-quality chairs up on that wood platform where the people who decided our fate would look down upon us with judgement. We had that stupid blank video monitor that just stared at us in defiance at us wanting to use it somehow, and the only thing on the wall was the note board. It is still around as the basic clubhouse we know today.

The first clubhouse

It cost $4.99, and we were advised that there was probably going to be some type of monthly fee that the owners were going to incur if said owner continued ownership of said club — something like that, which to this date has never been implemented. I could just imagine the massive discontinuation of clubs nowadays if they had to pay a monthly fee. Clubs also have a limitation of how many people could be in the space at one time, which to this date has never been changed.

Eventually I escaped the clutches of that “fam” lifestyle and discovered other types of clubhouses out there. Some were set up as social places to hang out and talk about Home-related stuff. The Louisiana Hurricanes had the most colorful clubhouse I can remember, with their use of the rainbow-colored furniture. People glitched their clubhouse with the Sodium telepads to get on top/outside of it; people made wedding chapels and dance areas.

But no matter what you did, it was still a small, one-room box.

Build it and come they did.

Then, in late 2011, the Desert Haven skin was introduced, which of course became the top seller for December of that year. Three years of pent-up demand, and the first thing out of the gate for clubhouse owners is a top seller. It was large, compared to what we had. We actually saw the outside world and we liked it. When you get a chance to taste the waters of possibility, quenching that thirst becomes ever so more difficult. We pleaded for more variations – or skins – from the Home developers, and they answered that demand of ours with a smile as they walked more frequently to the bank with deposits.

And the day came that the first high-priced space became available. Game Mechanics said voila to a consumer market that had been screaming for the best of the best. SeaClyff was introduced, and a fervor immediately began over the price of $19.99.  Somehow those people overlooked what it was offering: rooms with lighting you could turn on and off, music selections for each section of the house, a microwave and fridge with opening and closing doors, showers that turn on and off, a working toilet and it had more automatic opening doors than the Enterprise – any of them – just to name a few of the perks that came with the space. Go big or go home, indeed.

How can you go wrong with working toilets?

Now they are introducing a different version of this extravagant and impressively constructed space: the nighttime version. I heard it was supposed to be the the kind of nighttime that hides the shadows from the creatures that only come out at dark. Your usage of lighting will greatly affect the ambiance and demeanor of your place. It now has outdoor lights to turn on and off, new wallpapers, and the hot tub lights go on when the tub is activated. People complained about the “man cave” sign, and now you have the option of having it visible or hidden from everyone. The also changed the music that can play in your choice of locations throughout the space.

Frightening thought, isn’t it: these Game Mechanics guys did listen to you. Or, at least, those of you who could form coherent and constructive feedback.

Current owners of the day space can purchase the new version at a loyalty customer price of a mere $4.99. There are furniture rewards as well as items for purchase in the store. The PlayStation forums where ablaze with discussion as to the price of this place, and initially people were vocalizing their opposition to the price point, but it seemed that as soon as the loyalty price was revealed that tone of discussion went to a more supportive path, with some still upset that it costs what it does – just as they did when the daytime version was released.

So I now own the clubhouse version of this place.

Once I figured out I had my gamma correction set to high and moved it back to setting 5, I got to really enjoy this place, though the helicopter pilot still leaves with the helicopter after being told to stay home. I still haven’t figured out how you get to the helicopter since I don’t see any doors leading outside or a path that takes you to the helipad. (Editor’s note: to our knowledge, the helicopter is not designed to be accessible. Game Mechanics may need to clarify/correct us if we’re wrong.) The night sky is as I expected, with the absence of any shooting stars or planes noticeable, and the clouds had an odd look about them. Not ominous, just…odd. The flames from the gas engines on the hot air balloons drifting across are now visible, even though they never changed elevation — but it’s still cool. The Santorini-esque yacht continues cruising the waters off the estate, but now the wake and bow wave have an odd blue color. I actually was expecting it to be even darker outside, since no moon was visible up in the sky.

Check out their loyalty program.

Looking toward the house from the outside, you can see better the use of Game Mechanics’ colors and the great job they did adjusting the placement and brightness levels of the overhead lighting. Activating the hot tub now turns on some lighting, and I thought how cool it would be if we could change the colors — much like how PS Plus users change the hair color on their avatars beyond the normal spectrum of options. I could have pink lights for breast cancer awareness month, or green for St. Patty’s Day.

Another nice choice would be to be allow the user to just turn on the lights without turning on the hot tub. There are three light posts that add the perfect amount of lighting around the exterior of the pool area, and you don’t see these in the daytime version.

There is food in there fridge when you get home, new wallpapers to select, and the clock is still fifteen minutes ahead of the time on my cable box — maybe because I stay on Hawaii time. Overall, though, I do indeed like this place; how could you not? It is a perfect setting for an upcoming Fourth of July fireworks show and barbeque. I own both clubhouse and estate and in both daytime and night. With everything that is included, for the price it is easily one of Home’s best spaces today, and their newly implemented loyalty program should entice the Home community to check out this trendsetting and bar-raising space. Who knows; maybe it will encourage others to not be afraid of the dark any more.

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One Response to “SeaClyff at Night: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark”

1. John C. Ardussi says:

   April 22, 2014 at 7:54 pm

   Thanks for the wonderful write up. We actually like the night version of the space slightly more than the day version just because we get to play with light. It is a lot of fun.

   How dark it is depends on a lot of settings including the brightness on your television. We have also compared the dev area with the live area and it is brighter in the live area. We will look into it more to see if there is anything we can do.

   The helicopter is just for show. Think of it like the train in the Mall. It is big and beautiful, but not interactive.

   We played with a shooting star but it was never right. It was so small it looked more like a graphic glitch or so big it looked like a missile. We also tried adding a moon but it made the sky look cluttered.

   The clocks all work on your PS3’s time setting. So if it is wrong, you need to go the “Date and Time” setting when you first log on to the PS3 and fix it there.

   Your hot tub suggestions for the lights are all good. We will see if we can work those in as updates.

   Thanks for a great review. We will keep listening.

   Reply