14 DAY TRIAL // Online services are currently one of the biggest deciding factors for a lot of people who are looking to buy consoles nowadays. Whether it is the top-notch structure but not always free features of the Xbox Live, the great free experience of the PlayStation Network, or the barebone Wii Channel, every console has something so that gamers can interact.
In an effort to tilt the balance in its favor, Sony launched the Home service, meant to be an interactive online social network for gamers, in which PlayStation 3 users could interact, spend time and play minigames with their friends and loved ones.
As the service was launched into public beta in the middle of December last year, people weren't extremely impressed, since it had been hyped up for quite some time, but plagued by delays, which irritated them. Now, the boss of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, David Reeves, talked with EuroGamer and expressed his opinion that the service should have been launched as early as September last year.
“I would have liked to introduce the open beta at the beginning of September. We wanted to make some modifications so gamers could take more advantage of things like Trophies that were in place, but weren't tested. Now we're trying to sprinkle the dust over. We've got avatars, pavilions and spaces, and now you're going to see the content. It's still only open beta, it's not a full launch. I don't know how long it will remain in open beta, but we're now starting to get the rich content. I don't know how many people buy PS3 because of Home, but I'd like to think it's a lot.”
While Sony is striking partnership deals left and right with other game developers or companies from the real product markets to bring their brands to Home, concrete statistics to back up the hopes that it will move consoles don't exist, so the Japanese company only needs to hope that things will be alright and that Home will be a worthy investment. What about you? If you didn't own any of the current consoles, would Home make you interested in buying a PlayStation 3? Leave us a comment below.