Sony's Home, Safe... and Full of Ads.
At the Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Sony director Peter Edward discussed with audiences the upcoming alternate reality and content distribution system, Home for the PS3. In his presentation he outlined some of the methods Sony will deploy when handling their online world.
As with any system that links a large group of people together security is always a factor. It only takes one person to ruin it for everyone (see last weekend). Sony has said that they do not wish to create a "Virtual Police," rather they have created a system to allow players to police themselves. Areas will be able to be structured in a method that allows them to be divided into similar interests and age groups. There will be a number of communication blocking tools available to the user to allow players to police themselves, and alternatively they may report the offender to the administration themselves. Extreme cases can result in a ban so extreme that the offender would have to move as well as purchase a new PS3 before they would be allowed to return online.
"Clearly that's not something we would want to be doing very often but as a disincentive to mess round too much it's in our power".
With the information Sony is collects from account information, moderating what the players are are allowed to access and what should be distributed to them easier. Along with the ability to maintain age specific areas, they also plan on having age specific advertisements. Claiming that they don't wish to "sanctify" the experience, they could offer ads for things such as condoms, alcohol and cigarettes to players of the appropriate age group.
"Undoubtedly there are going to be some things and some brands that we are not going to want to be involved in the environment at any stage."
Personal feeling aside there is not much about this that isn't to be expected. The often cited Second Life offers nearly identical security features, and it appears to have worked out fine for them. While I do not (yet) own a PS3 the concept has intrigued me since it's conception. We can only hope they stick to their promises.
EIF: Home abusers can be turned off and banned, warns Sony [GamesIndustry.biz]
