After much delay, Sony Computer Entertainment is opening its Home on Thursday. The Home virtual community, originally scheduled for a 2007 launch but hit with several delays, will be available to PlayStation 3 owners worldwide free of charge.
PS3 users will be able to download and install the Home software, create three-dimensional avatars to represent themselves in the community, and communicate with others. The company said the main activity will be creating friends as avatars visit virtual bowling alleys, arcades, game- and movie-related spaces, and homes.
‘A Social Gaming Service’
Sony says Home, which has been in a closed beta stage for months, will leverage the power of the PS3 and deliver “overwhelming visual graphics and rich gaming social experiences only possible on the PS3 platform.”
Susan Panico, senior director of the PlayStation Network, called Home “a social gaming service unlike anything else on the market.”
Users will also have access to mini-games, videos and special events, and will be able to create their own communities via the Club*2 feature. Players can also launch into their favorite online games with friends in the Home community, and communicate through text or voice chat.
PS3 owners in North America will be able to explore high-definition virtual environments, such as Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Far Cry 2 spaces, as well as upcoming Warhawk, Resistance, Guitar Hero, and SOCOM. In these spaces, users can discuss specific strategies and get access to content or clues related to that game.
Sony Computer Entertainment is partnering with various game publishers to create virtual environments and other content. The publishers include Activision, Disney Eidos, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, THQ and Ubisoft.
‘Games, Games, Games’
There will also be tie-ins with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Paramount Pictures, which will provide “original intellectual property” in specific spaces, sponsorship of events, virtual items, and exclusive media viewings….