Virtual World Platforms

Sony Home: Will the Delay be Worth It? Unlikely

I’ve covered Sony’s Home previously, and commented that the delay in its launch sounded primarily cosmetic. Once feared as a possible competitor to virtual worlds like Second Life, by the sounds of it all it has going for it are nicely rendered rooms.

Kotaku reports that a peek at the current beta version of the platform “wasn’t packing any pleasant surprises”.


Source: Kotaku

The review highlights frustrating loading times and what sounds like a bland (although beautifully rendered) world:

I went from an outdoor area to the movie theater lobby to an amusement area containing a bowling alley and an arcade. If that all sounds familiar it’s because it was. The Beta wasn’t packing any pleasant surprises.

Instead, what I encountered was a lot of loading. Each area my avatar stepped into had to load.

The launch delay allowed the developers to, well, offer more prefab houses for their avatars:

“Venables and Festejo also revealed that it was now possible to take your avatar out onto a balcony from your own apartment, and that there would be “around eight or nine” different apartments available at launch, although no new details on potential pricing options for the premium apartments were available.”

So while Sony’s Home once threatened to be a highly engaging space, it’s now sounding more and more like Kaneva, and last time I checked there wasn’t a lot happening over there either.

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