April 22, 2008
Sony’s Home still under construction
We’re still a long way from Home.
Sony has just admitted that its virtual-world interface for the PlayStation 3 is going to arrive at least a year later than first expected.
Sony announced Home with an impressive demonstration at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March last year.
With stunning graphics and simple controls, Sony showed how players could create avatars and experience games, movies and chats with fellow players through a far more sophisticated interface than Second Life or Microsoft’s Xbox Live.
However, a demo is easier than a full implementation and Sony appears to have underestimated the amount of development work needed.
Beta testing began last April, but a full launch planned for the autumn was then postponed to this month. Now Sony says an “open beta” service will launch this autumn.
“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 Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment.
The news is a disappointment after Sony appeared to be making a recovery with the PS3. Some big games are expected to boost console sales, starting with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue this month, exclusive to the PS3.
Home’s delay will not hit any financial projections though. Its revenue model was unclear and its only impact so far has been the wow-factor of Sony coming up with something genuinely innovative after being in the shadow of Nintendo and Microsoft.
Unfortunately, the continuing delays are turning wow into oh-oh.
