Gamasutra sat down with Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison to discuss Home, its similarities (or lack thereof) to Second Life, the importance of Blu-Ray to the PS3, and the value of bringing big-name developers to downloadable games.
Phil Harrison: "It started life on PlayStation 2, actually. It was something we were working on to create an interactive 3D lobby that would become a launchpad for a number of online games. But, the PlayStation 2 -- great platform though it is -- was coming up against some technical limitations in some of the user-created content that we wanted to put into the space, because we didn't have a hard drive in every PS2, and we didn't quite have the 3D processing power that we wanted. So, we thought that this would be better off on PlayStation 3, and we've been working on it for about two and a half years.
The decision to do it was to create a rich 3D layer that would sit on top of or around the existing PlayStation Network platform, without trying to change that functionality, but just present it in a very immersive way that would resonate well with our audience and also develop this conducive opportunity for them too."
Square Enix launches Final Fantasy X 25th anniversary site, revealing new Nomura art, books, music releases, and merchandise.
Look I know VIII has its issues and all that but how on earth can the do big anniversary events with new artwork and merchandise for VII, IX and X yet VIII got sweet f*** all.
They could have given it something during its 25th anniversary yet all it got was a single Happy Anniversary post on their social media.
they should know that we are OG fans of VIII as it sold truckload as well. not as much as VII or X. I personally didn't like IX but X and VI are my personal fav.
Shadow Hearts 2 covenant is another game I love. I hope one day someone can make remake, I would be delighted
Final Fantasy VIII is great and you are always the first to defend it in the comments
A brutal reset, a smarter story, and a return to what made it great—Mortal Kombat (2011) revived the series.
Underrated comment. I used to hate that game so much that any time my siblings asked me to play it, I just picked Hom and shut myself down mid-match.
15 years went by so fast. I remember playing through the story mode at launch.
Why did Sony push Shuhei Yoshida out of his role leading PlayStation's first-party games? He'd overseen some huge successes. Well, apparently, he didn't listen.
Yeah I can see that for sure. Shuhei Yoshida should have been in charge not Jim Ryan.
It should be free highway for him now.. but Sony are too stupid to see this, especially that moron Hulst
Wtf why all that anger. PlayStation is dominating on every level. Besides I think there is a little more to hiring a CEO than just who is available. Its not like its a athlete your team wants to buy.
S2Killinit
live service failures, chasing trends, closing studios. yes dominating
Sony is Dominating because competition is not existing. Compared to previous gens this is the poorest in terms of software offerings.
Last gen we got Uncharted 4 Lost Legacy and TLOU2 from ND alone.
This is so far a remasters gen, with no competition to lift up the quality
..."PlayStation is dominating on every level"....
...Really???
PlayStation are soon heading into a new generation in the not to distant future. They currently have the worst customer satisfaction they've ever sustained as a company. The company is heading for a huge crash while at the same time they'll need to be planning how they are going to try and win back that favour and the build up to their new releases.
Yes financially they're winning but they're going to have to ride out this complete public corporate disaster. No one has faith in the company or the product anymore. They've damaged their public image so much this generation. Greed can kill anyone.
He would've done the same thing and fire Jim Ryan and Shuhei would be the villain. Why?
Because Elite creates the narrative and distraction for gamers, users and citizens.
More confirmation that Jim Ryan is the culprit for what has happened to Sony. Hulst needs to go too. What sucks is that a lot of the good top heads at Sony are no longer there. I wish that guys that were forced out prematurely by Dumbo Jimbo like Shuhei and Layden came back.
Yep. Yoshida was responsible for bringing one of the best games of this generation to playstation (Stellar Blade). He is an actual gamer and is in touch with what gamers want (creative, fun games, not GaaS and agenda pushing). He also seems like a genuinely nice guy if you watch some interviews. Of course they got rid of him.
Makes you wonder if MS even thought about hiring him after Phil and Sarah were leaving. He certainly couldn't make their situation any worse.
All the gamer/consumer lead heads are gone across PS and Xbox. shuhei gone phil's gone (questionable) but gone. The future of gaming is somewhat uncertain across the board.
"We've got over 50 products in development right now for the PlayStation Network."
"Home is a service that runs on top of the PlayStation Network itself. The PlayStation Network as a set of features continues to grow, so we will continue to add functionality, features, and sophistication to it. As we do that, Home will also grow by nature of the fact that it sat on top of that platform" - don't have to use HOME.
Cant wait to get the PS3 friday :D
Is it too sophisticated for the masses?
The high price of the console also draws a defined line as to who can afford it.
I can appreciate it all but I just wonder about how long its all going to take (if ever) to catch on with the general populous.
its HOME going to be Like the Sims?
i mean the sims, is like a online world where u but house ect...
in Home u can do anything. so its it the Same?
No not like sims..
sims = life simulation... where you simulate how you're going to work, raising family etc.. i doubt Home is about that... hehe
You should see Home as a "3D _interface_"..with a bunch of features, that would be the correct term :)