Sony delays Home, promises open beta in autumn

Author: Tim Smalley
Published: 22nd April 2008
Comments (8) Stumble
Sony has said that PlayStation Home still needs more development time and has therefore delayed its release further. It has promised an open beta in autumn though.

Sony has said that PlayStation Home still needs more development time and has therefore delayed its release further. It has promised an open beta in autumn though.

Sony Computer Entertainment has announced the expansion of its PlayStation Home closed beta later this summer ahead of the open beta later in autumn 2008.

Home is Sony’s visual representation of the PlayStation community – it was first announced in March 2007 at the Game Developer’s Conference by Phil Harrison, the man who was PlayStation Home’s biggest proponent but who surprisingly left the company earlier this year.

“We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer [for PlayStation Home], but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today,” said Kazuo Hirai, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, in a statement.

“Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PlayStation Home. Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition,” he continued.

Along with revealing that the Home open beta will start in autumn 2008, Sony revealed that it will be “built around providing new and fun community gaming experiences, such as connecting PlayStation games with Home and providing places and items from the games.”

Finally, Sony remained fairly tight-lipped on details of the closed beta, saying that features, registration and the opening of the service will be announced at a later date.

Are you looking forward to Home, or do you think that it’ll be too late to market for people to care? Share your thoughts with us in the forums.
Quote Mongoose132 22nd April 2008, 17:20
mehh, i only steal my brothers PS3 for the games, his looks sort of like 2nd life, and i got bored of that after 10 minutes, ill stick to my 360 and his Ps3 for MGS4 :D
Quote liratheal 22nd April 2008, 17:47
If it had been a launch.. thing, then perhaps I would have been a little more interested, but the fact that it's taken nearly three years for them to get the idea and get to closed beta stages? Just feels like they couldn't be arsed for the people that grabbed one at launch.

Yes, I am bitter.
Quote devdevil85 22nd April 2008, 18:27
Like LBP, Home shouldn't be released until it's ready.

This shouldn't be surprising for people that kept up on the original closed beta. Honestly, all people really want right now is in-game XMB, but people are getting Home & it mixed up, thinking that Home will include it, which (from what I know) is not the case as both are separate from each other, right?

Just keep the games/firmware updates on track this year Sony and I'll be happy. Adding a new SKU w/ DS3 included would also be nice, too.
Quote johnmustrule 22nd April 2008, 21:35
OMG this should not take as long as a Half Life episode to develop! Or has it been longer? Anyways with these sort of delays it better sync with every internet 2.0 app I have!
Quote Mentai 22nd April 2008, 22:34
Arg now I want Half Life 2 ep 3, and we all now that's years away. Thanks! Lol
Quote ssj12 22nd April 2008, 23:31
does this even matter? really its a bonus feature for the console. Its the games that matter.
Quote cjoyce1980 23rd April 2008, 08:25
like most i forgotten that home was still on development, hell i forgot that it was still in existance
Quote mmorgue 23rd April 2008, 09:29
Quote:
Originally Posted by devdevil85
Like LBP, Home shouldn't be released until it's ready

+1

I hate long dev times and delays on games/features like any other person, but no one wants a buggy PoS. I'd rather wait for something that works as it should.

Shame tho.. Was hoping to prance around in my lime-green Borat onesie on @Home.
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