Spending The Night At HOME

It is finally out. Announced seemingly alongside the actual console, Home is now available to PS3 users around the world. I spent a couple hours last night with the service and I would like to share some of my thoughts with ya'll. Overall, enjoyed the time spent in Sony's virtual world, but like any launch, and any new software, there were things I dug and things I want to bury. Let's start with some positives:

The initial download is only 77MB, less than most of the larger downloadable games and larger than some patches to disc based games, I had Home on my PS3 in no time at all. The reason for this, Home adopted the mini download philosophy. While you will start in your own studio apartment (which I'm sure I couldn't afford in real life) traveling to other parts of the world require a download of that area which ranges from 10 to 30MB. THese downloads can be performed in the background, so you can rearrange your apartment while waiting for the central area to load.

Customizing your avatar couldn't be easier. Using your thumb sticks, you can alter any part of your virtual self in way similar to games like Mass Effect and Fallout 3. Hairstyles are plentiful, although women get the short end of the stick with some weird looking hair choices. Having now experienced each console's avatar creation system, I am leaning toward Home if only because the aim was to create realistic looking dopplegangers.

You can make some brand new friends. It helps if you're a female avatar, because they get mobbed by everyone with a virtual set of dude-parts. I spent my social time chilling on the ground and found that people were willing to start up conversations, both using text, built in gestures, and mic support.

Games, games, games. While still early, the entertainment offerings within Home are a fun diversion and I'm excited to see them fleshed out. Bowling, billiards, and Chess work well, and the arcade games are throwbacks to days gone by.

Let's go to the mall. Like Canadian superstar Robin Sparkles, my favorite area in Home is the mall. The bulk of my time was spent dancing, chatting, and most importantly, shopping. Clothes are prices at about fifty cents and item, while furniture and accessories can go as high as a buck. A new home will set you back five dollars. I was expecting higher price tags, so color me thrilled.

With all the positives, Home still has a long way to go.

Glitches, bugs, and yet more glitches. From having to restart because prices were not showing up, to not being able to log on, this was not a smooth launch. I was lucky enough to be able to get the service running after a few attempts, but everyone else wasn't so lucky. There were times when I wasn't able to move, which was solved by hitting the circle button, but that doesn't give them an excuse.

Where is everything? Empty stores in the mall, and a trailer for Twilight playing in the movie theater, I felt like I was back in my college town. I know they're adding more content as time goes on, but pickings sure are slim.

I prefer not to be around people. You know in real life you don't really hear what people are saying as you walk by them while shopping or running errands. In Home, everyone likes to talk, and their conversations make me weep for the American school system. What kinda grates my cheese is that you can say whatever you want, and trust me, I heard it all, but don't think about using the word "gay" in a typed conversation. The word gets starred out faster than you can say Neil Patrick Harris. What gives Sony?

So there you have it, some of my initial impressions of the service. It ain't perfect, but Sony is off to a good start. What do you want them to add? Are you even bothering with Home right now? Who has the best avatars? Post your comments below!

TheDoctor
Posted to Video Games on 12 December 2008 · Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: home, impressions, ps3, psn, sony