Sony Home - Hollywood Reporter
In the wake of virtual worlds like Second Life and such file-sharing stalwarts as YouTube and Flickr, Sony Computer Entertainment is using its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable to usher in its own virtual online-connected community.
The initiative, dubbed “Home,” will allow gamers to create virtual avatars and congregate in 3-D homes and halls to socialise via text, audio or video chat; watch movie trailers or feature films; and play casual games. Gamers will be able to do all this via a free download that will be offered in the fall in the U.S. and Europe.
“We believe there are now incremental opportunities for publishers to create their own ‘homes’ for gamers to visit and play games while being served up streaming trailers and sponsored advertisements in a reasonable fashion,” he said. “Sony’s online strategy, while behind Microsoft’s Xbox Live service and its 6 million global users, appears differentiated and impressive on first pass.”
McNealy cited an example of how Electronic Arts could make money by selling virtual “Madden NFL 2008″ T-shirts for avatars in the “Home” world. In addition, streaming video content for upcoming games, movies or TV shows could be shown on walls throughout the “Home.”
This came totally out of the blue for me. Sony is a strange creature. On the other hand, they have been mimicking the successful products of other companies since the very beginning. On the other hand, they have shown over and over again that they are not following others when it comes to big, strategic moves.
Sony “Home” essentially seems like a Second Life clone without the ability to build your own objects except in a very limited way. Having total freedom to build your own structures and scripts is both the strength and weakness of Second Life. Over time, it has been riddled by a number security incidents… self replicating virus objects, stolen customer data etc.
I have high hopes for this initiative. It will finally bring secure 3D virtual communities to the masses.
EDIT: Here’s a promotional video clip of the project
Posted by api in Ambient environment, Wonders of technology