One of those Sony synergy moments, which Sir Howard Stringer has been endlessly encouraging, happened today in its Home virtual world on the PlayStation 3.
The chief executive expects joined-up thinking between different divisions, and Sony Pictures Entertainment – the movie studio – and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) – the PlayStation people – have delivered.
Sony Pictures announced the launch of a Loot team, a name that conjures up piratical skunkworks.
It was “a group of innovative developers dedicated to creating branded interactive entertainment products and experiences for PlayStation Home,” Sony said.
The developers are based in Sony’s Digital Authoring Center and, for a movie bunch, their first product is very apt – a virtual Living Room Stage Set.
This consists of “a movie soundstage and a full range of movie production props and equipment such as interactive cameras, lights, backdrops and basic furniture items that users can operate within Home – acting as director, actor or cinematographer on their own virtual production.”
It can be bought in the “Estates” store, located in Home’s virtual mall, for $4.99.
According to a PlayStation Blog note, Loot’s debut product is part of “one of the biggest content updates in the history of Home” this week, as Sony ramps up its attempt to monetise the sophisticated PlayStation 3 interface, launched last December.
But Sir Howard should be awarding a virtual gold star to the Loot team, for imaginative exploitation of virtual items in the face of declining industry sales of real-world DVDs.
