Sony's long-in-development virtual world Home started as a grand experiment that let PlayStation 3 owners create avatars, decorate apartments, stroll through polygonal marketplaces and chat with friends. Three years after its release, the company has decided to step in and play God. Sony announced this week that it will reshape Home's cyber-world this fall.
Sony plans to tweak how PS3 gamers interact in Home with the addition of hubs and districts explained Jack Buser, Director of PlayStation Home. Ultimately, the company aims to streamline the overall experience.
"We are excited to announce a complete redesign of the heart of PlayStation Home to reinforce our evolution into the ultimate social game platform on consoles today," wrote Buser at the official PlayStation blog. "This redesign will connect you with the world of hundreds of games in Home faster and better than ever before."
A singular hub that resembles a futuristic shopping mall will take center stage. This area will host an Activity Board which Buser claims will turn Home into a meta-game of sorts - offering quests, digital adventures and (unspecified) rewards. The regular suite of Home's social networking and commerce options will also be present, including text messaging.
Attached to the central hub will be four distinct districts, each named after their respective theme. The "Action District" is located in the shadows of skyscrapers at night and focuses on traditional core games. "Pier Park" is a bright, sunshiny NJ shore-esque boardwalk full of arcade games and an interactive Ferris Wheel. (Thankfully, there won't be pizza joints with Roman numerals every 10 feet.) Those who purchase "Madden Football" every year will probably flock to "Sportswalk," which features a constantly-updated major league sports ticker. Rounding out the new locales is the "Adventure District" - a dense jungle environment aimed at "Uncharted" fans.
One feature noticeably absent from the redesign was a "Trophy Room."
Prior to the service's launch in 2008, Sony had considered including an area where braggadocious gamers could display their virtual in-game achievements to friends. Buser danced around the issue when it was broached by a commenter, but didn't rule out additional improvements. "Home integration into your favorite games and the ability to display your accomplishments is very much a priority for us, and we are looking to expand the variety of ways this is implemented in the future," said Buser.
Buser added that new back-end changes would make Home "faster than ever before." No date was set for the "separate" update.
