GDC 07: PS3 “HOME” video

Ok gamers, Sony thinks thinks this is the future of their online community… aka “Gaming 3.0″.

Here’s som vids via Youtube from the GDC that might grow on us.

Is the PS3 poised to make its comeback?

GDC 07: PS3 “HOME” video

Ok gamers, Sony thinks thinks this is the future of their online community… aka “Gaming 3.0″.

Here’s som vids via Youtube from the GDC that might grow on us.

Is the PS3 poised to make its comeback?

Sony’s PS3 gets a new HOME: The new frontier is “Game 3.0″

Not one to content to let their share of this generation’s gaming pie off to competitors Sony has declared their new strategy for this fall is to incoporate a new feature for PS3 owners by providing each PS3 gamer their own virtual HOME.

In business week, writer David Radd states that Phil Harrison (from SCEA) is planning to declare in his GDC keynote speech today that the next wave of gaming is “Gaming 3.0″… a title Harrison is giving for the future state of PS3 gaming.

Taking concepts from social networking sites, Gaming 3.0 will introduce features similar to recent phenomenon’s like Myspace & YouTube and build virtual homes like Second Life. Essentially the goal is to give gamers the chance to interact; by building avatars, create a social web of friends, sharing videos ala Youtube, etc. Sony is banking this new HOME will be your dream one.

Now if its beginning to sound like we’ve all “been there, done that”, its because we have. That is, unless you’ve been stuck on an island somewhere and haven’t participated in any Web 2.0 activities.

However of course, Sony is positioning this to be the next big “IT” factor, even if its says its NOT competing with the fore-mentioned services.

Hopefully for Sony and the PS3, Gamer 3.0 will turn the tide.

It definitely has the potential… unlike the PC and Second Life, the “console specific” gaming community, has not had a virtual community built directly for it AND by combining so many services under one roof, PS3 Home might actually have weight behind the hype.

Yet unless Sony comes up with new ways to make this interesting, it may look like Sony may end up being a jack of all trades and “master of none”.

It almost seems like Sony has spent their entire fortune this generation playing a game of cat and mouse; trying to catch up with whatever is currently the top-pop social experience now in style. In fact, if you read today’s San Jose Mercury News, columnist Dean Takahashi carries my same criticisms by stating, “I have to wonder if it’s possible for even a giant like Sony to pull together a virtual world like this.”

Now while this virtual home might take off, (heck I never thought Second Life would have taken off as far as it did) it will take quite a bit of convincing on Sony’s service to make gamers actually stick to this virtual HOME sweet home. But if it can tap into what makes each of those services tick, and present it in such a way that makes gamers crave more… who knows?

In comparision, Myspace itself is an improvement over the initial offering from Friendster and is proof that an idea can be improved; evidence that being the first to provide the service isn’t necessarily important as the content thats being provided. In this case, HOME is free for all PS3 owners. And if Sony’s PS3 HOME is a hit it might be THE ticket to get the ball rolling for Sony.

I say here’s hoping Sony gets it right amd that their recent fall from popular grace will be temporary at best. And if anyone has the fortune and power to turn the tide, it definitely is Sony… but they’ll have to earn their respect as both Nintendo & Microsoft have shown that they are playing for keeps.

In the end, everyone has their time to shine and time to fall and time will tell if Sony can either make or break their dry-spell.

Source / businessweek.com / mercurynews.com / Gamedaily.com

 

Sony’s PS3 gets a new HOME: The new frontier is “Game 3.0″

Not one to content to let their share of this generation’s gaming pie off to competitors Sony has declared their new strategy for this fall is to incoporate a new feature for PS3 owners by providing each PS3 gamer their own virtual HOME.

In business week, writer David Radd states that Phil Harrison (from SCEA) is planning to declare in his GDC keynote speech today that the next wave of gaming is “Gaming 3.0″… a title Harrison is giving for the future state of PS3 gaming.

Taking concepts from social networking sites, Gaming 3.0 will introduce features similar to recent phenomenon’s like Myspace & YouTube and build virtual homes like Second Life. Essentially the goal is to give gamers the chance to interact; by building avatars, create a social web of friends, sharing videos ala Youtube, etc. Sony is banking this new HOME will be your dream one.

Now if its beginning to sound like we’ve all “been there, done that”, its because we have. That is, unless you’ve been stuck on an island somewhere and haven’t participated in any Web 2.0 activities.

However of course, Sony is positioning this to be the next big “IT” factor, even if its says its NOT competing with the fore-mentioned services.

Hopefully for Sony and the PS3, Gamer 3.0 will turn the tide.

It definitely has the potential… unlike the PC and Second Life, the “console specific” gaming community, has not had a virtual community built directly for it AND by combining so many services under one roof, PS3 Home might actually have weight behind the hype.

Yet unless Sony comes up with new ways to make this interesting, it may look like Sony may end up being a jack of all trades and “master of none”.

It almost seems like Sony has spent their entire fortune this generation playing a game of cat and mouse; trying to catch up with whatever is currently the top-pop social experience now in style. In fact, if you read today’s San Jose Mercury News, columnist Dean Takahashi carries my same criticisms by stating, “I have to wonder if it’s possible for even a giant like Sony to pull together a virtual world like this.”

Now while this virtual home might take off, (heck I never thought Second Life would have taken off as far as it did) it will take quite a bit of convincing on Sony’s service to make gamers actually stick to this virtual HOME sweet home. But if it can tap into what makes each of those services tick, and present it in such a way that makes gamers crave more… who knows?

In comparision, Myspace itself is an improvement over the initial offering from Friendster and is proof that an idea can be improved; evidence that being the first to provide the service isn’t necessarily important as the content thats being provided. In this case, HOME is free for all PS3 owners. And if Sony’s PS3 HOME is a hit it might be THE ticket to get the ball rolling for Sony.

I say here’s hoping Sony gets it right amd that their recent fall from popular grace will be temporary at best. And if anyone has the fortune and power to turn the tide, it definitely is Sony… but they’ll have to earn their respect as both Nintendo & Microsoft have shown that they are playing for keeps.

In the end, everyone has their time to shine and time to fall and time will tell if Sony can either make or break their dry-spell.

Source / businessweek.com / mercurynews.com / Gamedaily.com

 

Game Informer’s Online Contest: Enter to Win “Captain-N” DVD

If you ever grew up in the 90s, you’ll know that the syndicated show “Captain-N” was a memorable NBC Saturday morning cartoon series.

Well if you’d love to relive some of those moments then make sure to enter to win in Game Informer’s online contest. Of the characters, my favorite in the series was Megaman and Kid Icarus! (For more info, see Wikipedia’s notes)

Click here to enter Game Informer’s contest. Make sure to hurry, the contest ends next Thusday 3/15/07!

Good luck! (Let us know if you win and we’ll bring the popcorn!)

P.S.

And if you’re not the lucky winner, don’t worry, you can always pick up your own copy from the Shout Factory, the cool cats who are releasing the DVD.

Source / Gameinformer.com  / ShoutFactory.com

Game Informer’s Online Contest: Enter to Win “Captain-N” DVD

If you ever grew up in the 90s, you’ll know that the syndicated show “Captain-N” was a memorable NBC Saturday morning cartoon series.

Well if you’d love to relive some of those moments then make sure to enter to win in Game Informer’s online contest. Of the characters, my favorite in the series was Megaman and Kid Icarus! (For more info, see Wikipedia’s notes)

Click here to enter Game Informer’s contest. Make sure to hurry, the contest ends next Thusday 3/15/07!

Good luck! (Let us know if you win and we’ll bring the popcorn!)

P.S.

And if you’re not the lucky winner, don’t worry, you can always pick up your own copy from the Shout Factory, the cool cats who are releasing the DVD.

Source / Gameinformer.com  / ShoutFactory.com