Why Xbox Users Should Care About Home (Me Included)

PlanetXbox360.com is answering the question as to whether or not current Xbox 360 owners should care about the imminent Playstation Home launch.

"As a current owner of both a Xbox 360 and a Playstation 3 I am trying to figure out whether the "360 owner" side of me should even be paying attention to Sony's online service, known as Home. As of right now I have only played a couple, at most, online games on my PS3. On the other hand I use the Xbox Live service almost every day, to either play games, chat with friends, or watch movies over Netflix. What does Sony have to offer with Home that can compete with that?

Over the next week, running up the the imminent launch of the Home service, I will look at what the online playground is offering to both current and potential Playstation 3 owners. For now I would like to know what you (please let us know whether you own a PS3 or not) are looking forward to from Home and if those features cause excitement or boredom. What should Microsoft think about Home? Use the comments section below or the link to the forum thread on this topic (also below) to sound off; I want to hear from both Xbox 360 and PS3 fans."

[jack who]

xbox: dont care

[TheHater]

they seem to care. You for one seem to care consider you troll all the HOME articles

[UltimaEnder]

Why do you think that, personally I think the Xbox community should take notice to Home and make changes to NXE depending on how the gamer community responds to the online service......ignoring it will help no one, especially not the Microsoft fans!

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Agreed Jack. Don't care. Just bring me AAA exclusive games and I could give 2 craps about my virtual dollhouse.

Yes, I've been in the HOME beta and it is so overhyped mainly by people who have not even been in Home. It's free(at least to login and get started) so can't complain too much about it. Going to be interesting to see the gaming public response when it launches, if it's in the same state as it is now in beta it will be one to gather the kids and make some popcorn because there will be flames.

[digger18]

You say over hyped Crab mate, but It will sell a few systems.

How do I know this?

My 18 year old daughter was playing around with Home beta on Saturday night, with 5 of her friends watching. After 20 minutes, two of her friends went on Amazon.co.uk and both ordered the 80 Gb Little big planet bundle each. Two of the others are getting one in the January sales.

So, this to me is proof this will be a system seller.

Edit for the Disagrees.....What is there to disagree about? If 2 of my daughter friends brought a PS3 straight away after seeing Home and the other 2 are going to buy one in January.

What up fanboys, can't you stand to see that Home will be a system seller?

[resistanceFAILofman]

nonsense. Systems are decided on Games and what other systems mates are on ... NOT between HOME or NXE ...

[chaosatom]

....

I thought that Xbox owners or Microsoft would care. But an Xbox????

now that's new.

[AAACE5]

The avatars look more realistic and less corny than the Wii and 360 ones. It seems like HOME might be a great environment for gamers, and would keep gamers on their Ps3's for even longer periods of time!

The good thing is... they should have all the kinks out of HOME by the time I buy a Ps3!

[chaosatom]

Now my comment is out of place.

It said that should xbox care, something like that.

[Matsuiichi]

Bubbles to you just because your literal approach to that made me laugh.

[acedoh]

Will care... Millions who have myspace and other social networking websites will care... Eventually as word spreads and people learn about how great the social network is. People will be able to personalize their HOME spaces with personalized pictures and other objects. I do think HOME will have a great effect on the gaming and social networking world of the next several years. This is just the beginning.

[cherrypie]

A better Question:

Why dont current PS3 owners care about Second Life?

Second Life is a better platform, suitable for voice and video chatting, open to development -- why dont they care?

Because 3D Dollhouses like Second Life have proven to be pointless.

GOOGLE(!) even shut down their **OWN** 3D dollhouse, lively.com just recently.

Why on **EARTH** would Google do this? Because it has no future.

Bottom Line: home is stillborn, beyond a doubt, totally pointless.

Dont agree with me? Tell me, how much time do you spend Second Life?

[cactuschef]

@cherrypie
I can see where you are going with this, but in Second Life all you do is "live" in your 3d "world". Home however integrated games into it, and players can get together and create a party to go online in a real game to play. You can meet up with people looking to play some Cod4 or whatever other game, and then go play the game online together.

Personally i think it is a very cool idea to get like minded players together to play games. It's also a good way to meet new players online.

[Andor_Trask]

that home is also free

[potenquatro]

Some fanboys might actually think their xbox has feelings and indeed cares. I feel just like the writer does, I do 98% of my console gaming on LIVE, but I can't wait for HOME and I hope it delivers on making matchmaking more efficient and easier. I really don't care about avatars as much. I just want to be able to connect fast anytime with anybody playing any game, wich I belive HOME will let you do(never got invited to the beta). The one thing I know is, the moment I install it I'm gonna study it for a while.

[Matix]

Home has been delayed countless times, and I think by the time it's released, people will be over the hype and it will not live up to expectations.

[Fishy Fingers]

Release is in just a few days. Also, like many people who claim to have lost interest, your still clicking on the threads. So...

[Anon1974]

The notion that because of delays people won't care about home is beyond ridiculous. Did people lose interest in Halo 3 after multiple delays? How about Gears 2? Alan Wake? The NXE? Bioshock?

Considering the fact that Home has the advantage of being free, do you really believe that the 14 million people signed up on the PSN are going to log in, see the option of home and turn away without giving it a try?

[gambare]

if it were a game that I should pay for it I would be disappointed if it weren't what I expected to be, but is an interactive social free software, and I have many friends on the PSN and I will enjoy it, already enjoy it in the beta.

about the crowded bowling, arcade, pool etc. it happens IRL :/

[solidboss]

i completely agree with this guy (matix) sony has taken way too long making home and really gave us nothing in the form of videos and pictures to make us hyped up for it. dnt get me wrong i rather have something take long and be made right then make a game fast and careless. i love what konami did with mgs4. sure it took long but every trailer that they showed was worth it and made the hype grow. cant say the same for home

[firetaw]

how you guys consider home to be a game... cmon now weve been over this countless time. home is a service not a game.

[phosphor112]

Release is tomorrow "evening" according to, well, every Sony rep

[deeznuts]

I also have both. And I prefer my ps3 over the 360. That said. Nope don't really care. Of course I don't care about Live either. I found out I didn't even have my 360 plugged in!

I'll check it out though.

[acedoh]

As compared to other consoles which force you to accept their system. You can use HOME or not use it... Choice is what matters most. Everyone won't use it but I guarantee plenty of people will. SONY made the right move with HOME and in the long run it will really pay off...

[DG]

Even if its as good as Sony reps claim it is I doubt it will hold up to the hype or sustain anybody's interest for more then 6 months. Its not a system seller Ill tell you that much.

[HDgamer]

This is a beta, the full version will be out before this year ends. I'm waiting for the full version which is much better.

[snowy1185]

I have both the Xbox360 and PS3. I am currently in the Home Beta. I will have to say that I am loving every second of it in Home. It has definitely increased my time spent on the PS3.

[Monchichi025]

You get entertained fairly easily then my friend. The Beta has you in a room full of nothing, with nothing to do. MADD BORING!!!

I'ma wait till the final build before I make my decision.

[kewlkat007]

.....

[Lord Vader]

What ??? WTF are you DOING in HOME exactly ???? There is very little to do in HOME Beta from what I've heard dude, it's a service not a game as mentioned before. NXE & Home both are nice, but neither excite & are not a GAME.

Biggest thing I like about NXE is partys & 8-way private chat. You can seemlessly go from game to game without any problems. Hell, we played Gears 1 last night & 2 dude's had to update & NXE put them back in our party after their updates automatically. That is good stuff.

Let's see how seemless & efficient HOME is with chat, partys, & going from game to game with friends. If it doesnt offer that, then it's trash compared to NXE & XBL offering efficient ways to play games with your friends. *IF* all HOME is is SONY SIMS... then lol, I'll PASS.

I havent tried the Beta myself, but crap like NXE avatars, HOME, LBP, Crash Bandicoot, & Ratchet & Crank don't do sh!t for me. That stuff's for little 10 year old girls IMHO.

[acedoh]

and I have yet to spend more than an hour in it. The games get a little dull and running around gets boring. It's not as much what the BETA hasn't offered but what the full version will... Can you imagine in the future SONY/BMG artists making appearances to promote their new songs. Or how about Columbia pictures having actors promoting their movies. The same goes for video games. Designers can even take questions about their games and let people give input. That is what I really look forward to. HOME will become the ultimate entertainment forum for the future.

[BananaSlug]

how can 360 users care if they sold their souls to MS?

i kid!

[hay]

Simple: Cause MS will do a Home clone soon. And when it happen be sure to expect a lot of great content from both sides. I mean... Come on, competition in game/console market was always a good thing. More quality software.

[paul-p1988]

wouldnt suprise me if they made a clone. Expect an anouncement for "Microsoft Apartment" or "Microsoft House" any day now...

[acedoh]

There is a reason it has taken SONY nearly two years to get this up and running. A lot is involved with contracts, content, and servers. This will obviously take a lot of money when you could have over a million on the HOME servers...

[darkdoom3000]

LOL! Microsoft apparment! bubbles for making me laugh

[Heldrasil]

I own a 360, and I don't care about "Home" because it's not on my system...simple as that. Nice for Sony owners though.

[ultimolu]

I don't think they care.

[chrisnick]

its just that without a ps3 there isn't much they can do about it.

[Eiffel]

I'll be to busy gaming, not socializing.

[pp]

Home is for losers who have nothing else to do and play with their Avatars like a bunch of gay boys.

[TheHater]

you and Jack are the only two losers i see right now. All you two do is troll PS3 articles.

[digger18]

But not quite as gay as just dressing your Avatars in NXE

[Cintai]

I go on there and laugh at the all the guys dancing with each other on the dance floor, with not a girl avatar in sight.

There are some female avatars but when all you see is guys by the jukebox dancing and you being a guy and decide to join in..

All I can say is

Sausage fest on the dance floor!

[lokiroo420]

@cintai

sausage fest, lets act as if home is a real house party or club, maybe everyone just want to smile and laugh and have a good time with others,maybe they dont see it as some attempt at picking up chicks. you are a sorry loser, for real, not virtually, you are a real loser!

[caffman]

and I've done everything on there and I can honestly say that I couldn't now give a stuff. Its a freebee that I may use once in a while if not putting in a game straight away

[resistanceFAILofman]

about NXE and Avatards etc ...
It's there. It's free. I don't care. I just play games.

[whoelse]

lol funny reading about people saying how home is imminent or in a few days just a few hours before the GREAT news.

[jmare]

360 fans should care because if Home is as successful as Sony hopes, MS will be coming up with "Condo" and say they thought of it first.

But what I find kind of funny is that 360 fanboys talk about how great the community is on Live yet trash a community building app? How is something that strengthens an online community bad?

[joemayo76]

ditto, thats exactly what i was thinking.
only question is whether it will be as big a community builder as Sony hopes, which i personally believe it will as it really adds another level to gamers interacting other than in just game lobbies.

If this platform is a success you can be sure that 360 will incorporate something similar (maybe wii??), which is win-win for gamers :)

[DOOMZ]

Its cool, but nothing amazing!
But, u can bet those Avatars will have something like home to romp in soon! And a LOT more people use live than PSN!!

[gamfreak]

Because all they care about changing hair colours for a bunch of gay avatar on NXE and at the same time polish their nails....

[Amsterdaam]

Did you type this comment from your virtual dollhouse?

I understand you need something to do whilst waiting for a virtual bowling lane to free up.

[Cintai]

while dancing with other guys next to the jukebox. Home is quite HOMO..

[Arsenal4Ever]

its coming out tomorrow.

[Morratut]

I have both a PS3 and a 360. For me the 360 is by far my favorite console.

I am not bothered about Home. It doesn't interest me in the slightest. I don't want to walk around a 3D virtual environment looking at adverts.

I only do 2 things on my PS3 play games and watch BluRay films.

Plus don't compare the NXE to Home, it's not the same the thing.

NXE is comparable to the PS3 XMB.

By the way I preffered my old 360 Blade dashboard to the NXE.

[ceedubya9]

Why people disagreed with you.

[kevnb]

liking the 360 best is a sin here.

[Morratut]

LOL.

You can only tell it how it is :D

[Diamondwolf]

Is there some kind of benefit for getting agrees or does something happen when you get disagrees? Like do you get points, bubbles, or rewards for someone agreeing and lose....etc for disagrees?

[ceedubya9]

Its sad the depths that people will go to here because someone doesn't feel the same way about their system of choice.

[No Way]

Nawh.. Nothing happens if you get lots of agrees or disagrees. But, if you get a lot of agrees, you may get a bubble because people gave you a bubble, but not from the agrees. And, if you get lots of disagrees, expect to lose a a bubble or more.

[creeping judas]

I was mildly excited about NXE, that got boring really fast. I am mildly excited about HOME, I have no expectations, so perhaps it might blow me away. But I don't think it's going to be the second coming of christ as some fanboys are claiming it will. I'll just have to wait and see won't I??

[ThaGeNeCySt]

I don't care but... only because I have it :)

[kevnb]

if they buy a ps3, then they could start caring. Most people only have time for one system though. Personally, I could care less about something that sounds like the console version of second life.

[JHUX]

Unfortunately people care a lot about things they don't have in this console "war". Just look at what happens to exclusive games on metacritic, fanboys from both sides go and attack the user review scores of games way before the games are even out. And most likely they will never even play it either. So I expect a lot of 360 fanboys to just play this as a "stupid", etc etc... just because they won't have it. I for one could do without, and am not really hyped up or anything about it, but since I do own a ps3 I will be checking it out atleast, since it's free and Sony gives you the option if you want to use it or not, so if I enjoy it I will use it, otherwise theres no problem with PSN on it's own.

[eagle21]

PS3 is where you can play quality Killzone 2 with free online. 360 is toast! Jump Out! I love PSN, no one needs overrated Live.

[sennasnit]

IT's FREE, Free, Free, i've had many hours of excellent online play on my PS3 all for free, i'm in the home beta, i like it and guess what, it's free!!!.....

[OOG]

personally I dont really care about it too much...I just want good features and to be able to play my games online.....

But im sure it will appeal to others.

[farhsa2008]

its obvious they will care, you envy what you do not have!

[drdre74]

why should you care if you don't have a PS3? Makes no sense at all to me. If you don't have something and you don't plan on having ti then why worry about it? I'm in the beta now and its okay. Nothing to go run home to everyday and start up. I'll turn it on once it becomes open to see the new stuff thats not in the better and its easier to chat with online friends than sending messages back and forth. But people have to understand Home is NOT a game. So don't go in thinking its going to be GTA or something crazy. Its really laid back and I can see how a lot of people will say its boring.

[DJ]

I can't wait to go on Home tomorrow night. =D

I've heard a lot of accusations that Home is 'boring' and 'lame', but I seriously doubt that's going to be the case when millions of people download it tomorrow.

[kevnb]

alot of people like Second Life, so why not.

[demondoor]

bah quake in fear as your puny systems are still lagging behind the one, the only, the greatest of em all the DESK TOP PC!!!

convert now blasphemer or face the wrath of over priced crap and lack of games or hardware failures

In all honesty who cares along as you get to play all the great games

[sennasnit]

Yes, even as a PS3 owner, i can still say I like my PC, although I never play it online, too many "professionals"...

[SL1M DADDY]

Chess, Pool, Bowling, Plane rides. All free. An environment to hook up with your buddies then launch into a game. Free. Rather than chatting as we do now, we can enter into a virtual world and chat while playing a game of chess, or bowling for free. Not sure but the one word here that makes me happiest is Free and it is what I would love to see Live become. Free.

Should they care about Home? Yeah, cause if it is free and works well and helps expand the community all the while allowing gamers to game online for free... Sure, that would be something to think about as any gamer should want to game online for free.

[Bolts]

You're making it sound like having a 3D character in a persistent virtual world that can play chess and bowling for free has never been done before. Its time to discover this thing called the internet. I can't wait to see what revolutionary technology Home bring us next, an endless stream of 3D adds and product placement, all completely free!? OMG!! That's incredible!

There are some really serious issues with Home, and you'll see soon enough when it goes live. Lets put it this way, what looks cool and awesome on Youtube will be annoying and tiresome in a week.

[farhsa2008]

agree completely buddy, microsoft could learn a thing or two

[power of Green]

If people cared PS3 would be doing alot better in sales.

What's with this PS3 fan desperate agenda?

[RGB]

xbots are interested for sure. lets talk numbers.

PlayStation Home can have depending on users ISP speed, up to 300+ on 8Mbps i.e Me.

MAG is going to be a 256 player shooter.

Xbox Live only way of communication is 8 person party. max 8.

Frontlines fuel of war. 32 players. enough said.

[captainjy]

Seriously, who cares if MAG has 256 players?!?!?! I can barely stand MP games with 10 players. More doesn't mean better. Home is gay, you just don't want to admit it.

[sennasnit]

Is that because you get owned every time you play, now who's gay...

[Gamer_Z]

nope don't care

[darthv72]

I play games and chat once in a while on live. I play games and (hardly) chat on psn. Doubt that will change with home. You have to have time to dedicate to the virtual social world. Time I would rather spend playing the game instead of talking about other stuff. That is why I come here when I am not playing games (or watching movies with my kids).

Home will be nice to check out but I know personally I wont be using it as much as sony would like me to. Just my 2 cents worth.

edit: I would honestly like to like it. I will walk around and all but in the end, home will be a ghost town for me. I can see myself coming back as special events happen and the theme of home changes to suit. Otherwise if it is the same old same old each day until those times........

Sony could keep the content dynamic each day. That would create some incentive to keep checking it out on a daily basis.

[kenjix]

The same reason people come here to post there 2 cents and crap is the same reason people will enjoy home. It's the same community of gamers you look for on the internet but you can interact with them in and out of game using voice and chat. Games love find a website that suits their needs and people to talk about the topics on that site. PS3 owners will be moving some of their chatter from the messages boards into home.

[joebahrjoebahr]

it has he potential to be awsome but so far underwhelmng.

this and the new xbox front are different so shouldnt be compare.
i think all people should be interested and supportive, wether a 360 owner or playstation owner cause ts bringing all of us as gamers to the next level and further into gamings future.

[power of Green]

PS3 is inferior, fucin PS3 losers trying to hype that POS like they did with PS2.

Everybody knows PS3 is not the super computer it is boasted to be hence nobody wanting the console; with PS3 being in the dvd market which is the only thing keeping it alive.

Shop workers beg me to buy PS3 in shops using Blu-ray movie excuses on why I should get one.
Sony payed shops and electronic stores to flood displays with LBP. lol

Sony is so desperate they're going to launch unfinished buggy BS Sims for PS3(Sony SIMS)

[Magic_The_Celt]

hahahahahahahahaha

your pathetic dude, either get a PS3 or shut up, only people with both should be allowed an opinion.

But oh look i dont need to worry about your sorry ass replying since your all outa bubbles pal! lmfao

[Shane Kim]

WaaaaaaaaaaaH, Im PoG and I want a PS3 WaaaaaaaH mommy please buy me one.

[lokiroo420]

Sony paid shops for advertising, hmm all this time I thought advertisement was done for free.

[darthv72]

Maybe, what would make me participate in home would be if there was an N4G space. Where all the same people on this site can quibble and bicker about everything gaming (and stuff that isnt).

Just an idea. Oh, can anyone make a gamespace? People create their own gamespace (like newsgroup or forum) and require memberships to join in on the fun.

[bviperz]

Should be an N4G fighting arena! Never mind bickering, FIGHT to represent your preferences! Now THAT would be awesome!

[krauley]

you can make a club house and envite peeps from this board into the club allowing pretting much what goes on here... beaching, moaning, whining, bragging, gloating or pretty much anything you have here and have as much fun doing it :)

[sirbigam]

Let's not forget that it's free, and if it ends up suckin, well why complain.

[Allowen]

I am testing HOME and it is indead cool but my real interest on it was not to virtually see friends in there and chat with then as if I could not do via XMB but I want to buy movies ,games and etc.

The problem here with Sony's system of region lock will be very hard to have ONE HOME to everyone that any international credit card works on the online stores.
Also testing in an european account I noticed I can't chat inside HOME with friends I have worldwide but I can do that via XMB. So in the end it just looks awesome but I will get bored with it fast.

Come on SONY and do like Nintendo did and make your online stores accept any international credit card and unify all the PSNs !!
This is taking way too long and you are losing money this way since there are 1,000,000 that are not buying from your stores because the region lock credit card.

[dooge]

It's the moron's that play Xbox that give it such a bad wrap on the PS3 side.

[iistuii]

around home, had a game of pool, changed my clothes, watched a trailer on one of the screens...........then said oh nice, and put a game in and started doing what i bought a console for....playing games. Thats why microsoft don't need to worry, it's a great games machine , and xbox live is great as it is, if i wanna buy something or download something i will, i just dont need to walk around and dance to do it.

[pangitkqb]

Home will be great for PS3 users, but Xbox users shouldn't care too much. How does Sony's new app change how much an Xbox gamer enjoys his/her system? Obviously it doesn't. It only changes how PS3 users enjoy their respective systems.

Personally, I can't wait to create a virtual me and jazz up my virtual apartment. I'm sure that as Home opens the world/mall will be rather limited, but over time it will be filled with many fun and interesting things to do and see, none of which change how I feel about my Xbox.

[Matsuiichi]

Well, I just think that it makes sense for the system. Even being a greater fan of the PS3, Microsoft really shouldn't be too worried, because its audience is there for what it is: Xbox 360 is a game console. Meanwhile, PS3 (and PS2 before it) are formally known as 'computer entertainment systems'.

I'm not saying that one is better than another, it's just that it makes sense what each console is doing. Xbox has its agenda and it's working for them, and PlayStation has its agenda and it's starting to work overall. Home will be a nice addition for everyone in the PlayStation Network, and, having played around in the beta, I feel it's a reach for the casual market which gets there in some places but not entirely in others.

It's a good direction, but it works with PlayStation's direction. So, the Xbox's direction really shouldn't be worried at all. Isn't really a direct competitor with anything---you can't compete without something trying to compete against it, and there isn't really anything trying to do what Home's doing on a console.

I'm excited to see what more they add to Home in the next couple of weeks and months, but right now, Microsoft and the Xbox have nothing to really worry about---from Home, anyways.

[SSCOOLCHEA]

on netflix..............again ms brainwashes the xbot F@GGOTS ....

FYI....we don't wan't you F@Gs buying a ps3 ..so stick to live .......

[ASSASSYN 36o]

When I sit down infront of my 360 and 42" lcd and jump online to play games I promise you I don't think nor car about home or the ps3. I have no reason to financially or by loyalty. It won't pay for my real home nor help me snipe somone accross the map in battlefield. Out of all my 43 friends on xbox-live 4 have ps3's and 3 rarely play them.

[Blaze929]

Giving a playstaion service limelight O_o?

And still dont care really care..yet...the beta is boring so waiting on more stuff to be added

[captainjy]

Don't know, don't care. Live is so far superior than Dome.

[XxSolid SnakexX]

because in home you can meet new people and not even have to play games to meet new people thats what xbox live forces people to do when they don't have any friends Home is going to be the best social networking place yet just wait Home is going to be Revolutionary

[antt3]

I've been enjoying the home beta. Though, I'll admit, I've been looking forward to the open beta because there is a limited amount of content right now.

Still, It's exciting to see how this all plays out, and how Home will evolve. I'm not a huge online gamer, but I think Home might get me a bit more interested.

As for silly comments about delayed releases and advertising in Home: it's free and it comes out tomorrow! I'll deal with ads (anyway, they are integrated into the environment in the form of posters and video screens) since it's free to use Home.

[UltimaEnder]

I really think Microsoft can take some of the positives from Home and move them into the next update of NXE, if not they are really overlooking some good alternatives; it's obvious that PS3 owners are pumped about this update.....up until now the PSN has been almost a complete joke!

[UltraMafia]

home rules, and will only get better with more content.

[bsquwhere]

nobody cared? There are a lot of nobodies posting all over this thread. I guess they care enough to tell people that do care, that what they care about sucks..stupid..

[McDaygo]

Is it still going to be cool after a bit? So cool you would rather be there than playing games? From what I've read it sounds cool, but alot of stuff sounds good til people wrap their heads around it. What's success with Home? Or the NXE? The PS3 is fine without Home.

[XDF]

Good, maybe Home will be the new place where the N4G Sony Fanboys hangs out so we can have less fake Yahoo is Microsoft articles and "Killzone is the greatest" threads. Please make Home a success :D

[Senden]

I've tried home and tbh, it's crap! Sony have no clue what so ever in my opinion. I buy a games console to game, if I want to socialise, I will go to a pub. If this is sony's answer to xbl, then M$ are going to be laughing.

[Matsuiichi]

Sony's Home service isn't Sony's Answer to Xbox Live. Xbox would need to have something like Home in the first place, which, at present, it doesn't. So right now, Home isn't really an answer to anything more than the ability to foster a sense of community that could extend beyond just the gaming aspect of a console.

I'm not saying either option is better. Some would say Home gets in the way of gaming, while Xbox Live is the perfect solution. Meanwhile, others would say that Xbox Live is all the experience needs and Home is just a pointless add-on to the community at large.

But the point is here is that Home is not an answer to XBL because XBL doesn't have something like home. In the sense that there is no direct on-console competitor to the Home service and what it does, Nothing compares and can be compared to it. Compare the avatars on all three consoles; go ahead! But while everyone has avatars, no one has a whole 3-Dimensional community to go with that.

And it's great you're entitled to your opinion that Home is stupid. Because for people that think like you, Home is free and optional, so you can just never use it if that's how you feel. If you hate it then don't get it. No harm, no foul, no cost. So there you go.

[UnasFortuna]

Having been exposed to both... I don't think most care one way or the other. You either love your 360 or you love your PS3. 360 owners have nothing like HOME and thusly should not be compared to the console, NXE or LIVE. Should they really care... probably not... for right now.. they have almost everything that HOME does available to them in one form or another. However, once HOME launches fully and is expanded to do things Sony stated it would be able to do... then will be a different story IMHO. As of right now... I have mixed feelings on home (being in the beta and all); but, I am looking forward to what is has to potential to be. I truly don't understand the whole comparison to Second Life and other virtual reality worlds. There is nothing real about those platforms and is just a form of entertainment. HOME is so much more. If you don't recognize that then you are just a hater or simply short-sighted. I am used to traveling all around the world to do my shopping throughout the year. I envision being to to walk into one of my favorite stores in HOME and have their products displayed for quick purchase and then auto shipped to my address. You can do this on your computer already; however, Sony is trying to create a virtual world that you can do anything in without having to leave the environment. I hope they are able to work out the kinks in the shared movie watching to be able to put it in (getting together with a group of your friends and watching the same movie while still linked up either just audio or both audio/video. I think broadband speeds would have to improve though before that option gets put into effect. HOME is a virtual interface for gaming and everyday living activities. We will see how the final product turns out though when it finally launches full steam.

[Matsuiichi]

True, good post. Bubbles all around for you. Thanks for saying that. :D

[jacques444]

Ps3 all the way i own a ps3 and i love it. Me personly cany wait till home i just like the idea of hosting a party in your room and then going in to a game to battle it out.

[SixAmpFuze]

People say how MS steals ideas from everyone but isnt sony stealing secondlife and just boosting the graphics? Now I have played second life and I can tell you it is very addictive the first few weeks and Im sure home will be the same but who is going to want to walk around in a virtual world instead of playing a ps3 game? The only way I can see home actually being a good ip is if all games on the ps3 have a mandatory install and u can play games right off a hdd by going into a homespace of that game and you wouldnt have to keep a disk in the drive like the 360. Home is going to be a gimmicky scam to get players to buy couches and land and covered with ads . Also the server load is going to be tremendous loading in buildings avatars and all the objects with the visuals it has now is going to be a treat. I personally think it wont have any effect on ps3 sales or such just like nxe. Its just a new gimmick . But im sure alot of perople will use it because they have no friends and need a virtual life ,Enjoy it .

@UnasFortuna

Good post but if you dont see the comparision to second life then you should go and download secondlife. Home is an exact copy of second life just with boosted visuals. Everything that can be done in home has been done in secondlife . Avatars,houses,stores,spaces,b uying furniture,cloths and party games and using your mic and such. The reason you dont see the comparision is because when u look at home it is second life. Now second life should have been alot better than it is and im sure sony wil improve home but it will get old fast .

[Bolts]

There are some cool things about Home and there are some seriously screwed up things about Home. But none of those issues were addressed in this article. It reeks of jealousy and spin control.

[Lykon]

I own a PS3 and have not yet got into online gaming on a console except for a few fun sessions on team fortress. I am looking forwards to home and hope for an opportunity to socialise with other PS3 gamers a bit more, maybe i will get a keyboard and a headset.