DISQUS

Chris Clarke · 2 years ago

I'm already skeptical of anyone who wants to get in on the "virtual worlds" game right now.

But Sony? Shouldn't they fix the problems with current products in this world before they create a second one for their products to be mediocre in?

Stu · 2 years ago

Okay, allow this caucasian to lay it down on the non-blogosphere tip.

I know that nothing's worthy of a TechMeme blob if someone doesn't declare it a something-killer, or in this case, a something-crusher, but Sony's not trying to crush Second Life, they're trying to crush Xbox Live and the Wii and its Mii avatars in a Second Life-esque way. How many people into Second Life are champing at the bit to pay 599 US DOLLARS to use what they were already using on a PC? For the privilege of using an inferior interface to interact with a smaller population?

Since Sony's building something that looks so much like Second Life, it would actually be to their benefit to work with Linden Labs and try to glom onto some of its blogosphere hype. Maybe they could do something where users could have a common account and be able to do extra customizations in Second Life, and then use those same characters in PS Home.

As to Ian Betteridge's point, 98.5% of gamers (look it up!) don't care about having access to the greater functionality and programming that Second Life offers. It's roughly the same percentage that care about running Linux or a web server on their PS3s: it's negligible.

Their biggest concern is the amount of customization that they can do to their avaters and living spaces -- clothing, accessories, appearance, furniture, etc. -- without having to pay a fee for it, to Sony or to anybody else. (I would expect other companies to also sell their wares in the system, just as companies other than Microsoft sell videos, games, themes, etc. on Xbox Live.)

The biggest problem I see with the whole system is my doubts that Sony can pull it off. I don't have time to detail all the software promises that Sony hasn't kept (AOL integration with PS2 online, anyone?), but after all this time, Sony's online efforts are a mere shadow of Xbox Live. And downloadable games -- playable with other people online -- and videos and online voice chat are nothing new, Sony just seems to be wrapping them all in a much less convenient interface. On Xbox Live I can give a few taps to the controller and download some Borat clips -- I don't want to have to walk my avatar into a make believe movie theater to do the same on the PS3.

And sheesh, what's up with all the dancing people in the demo video? If I'm having a conversation and people around me decide to bust a move, I'm going to bust a bat over their craniums.

Michael Dunn · 2 years ago

You might want to watch Phil Harrisons keynote from the GDC conference and edit this blog entry. It shows you have no clue what so ever what you talk about, and only serves to make you look stupid.

Ed Lee · 2 years ago

I haven't read much post-launch on the PS3 but after playing on one for 4 or 5 hours late last year I was extremely impressed.

"Underwhelming" seems a little harsh from my experience.

re the "roach motel" thing; I'm waiting for social networks and virtual worlds to add interoperability (like yahoo! and ms' messenger systems) as a premium feature - charging $5 a month to be able to flit from facebook to myspace to SL to PlayStation home to wherever. that'd be very cool.

Ed

Mathew · 2 years ago

Ed, I wasn't referring to the game play on the PS3 as underwhelming -- more the sales.

And Michael, I did watch the keynote and have no intention of editing the blog entry. Thanks for stopping by.

Anonymous · 2 years ago

It's killer because it's Second Life for the mass market. It's more natural to control yourself in a virtual world on a television, using a joystick vs. on the computer with a keyboard.

Ryan · 2 years ago

Whenever I read hype about Second Life, I can't help but think of the massive failure that was The Sims Online. Back in the early 2000s the Sims was probably the biggest brand in gaming and very much mainstream and yet when they created a virtual world, it tanked. The only difference I can see between the Sims Online and Second Life is the idea (probably a myth) that you can get real world rich in Second Life and blog hype.

Mathew · 2 years ago

I would agree, Ryan -- but one of the things I think doomed Sims was that it was too closed a system, and it sounds like Sony's will be much the same (even if you can share music, etc.). For their sake, I hope not. And meanwhile, Second Life is becoming more and more open.

gump · 2 years ago

I think that mathew here is just a ps3 hater which is fine. he is a person that looks at all the negatives that the ps3 has to offer. Even though the ps3 might not have a high sales rate yet, it will kick off once australia and Europe get there hands on it. Compared to Xbox 360 the ps3 is doing well with not having consoles in those key places yet. Once they open up then the ps3 trend will start. If you take how many consoles the xbox 360 sold in its first 4 months the ps3 has sold more. And the graphics are the same as the xbox 360 and the xbox360 has been out a whole year before the ps3. Now that is amazing that the ps3 games are already looking the same if not better than the xbox 360 games. I also believe that Playstation Home is going to be a success for the reason that it will help unite the community. I believe this is a huge step forward for Sony and it to be in the right direction.