i just saw this on their site and i have to say its pretty amazing. I wonder what kind of items from games you can put. OMG OMG OMG.. a statue of Solid Snake infront my house would PAWN!!!

Cool. Just like what I'd thought it'd be.

Where do I get quests? How do I equip items? What classes are there? How do you PvP?!

The dancing animations are hilarious. Looks very impressive, though.

...Wow

Assuming this lives up to the trailer, I have to say that Sony is actually using their heads now. This seems very interesting.

I still don't like the logo though.

Like I said last week, reminds me of Phantasy Star Universe's whole lobby and bed room thing. You just can't go on quests.

Again, looks sweet and might be really cool, but Until its fully released, I will take it with some grains of salt.

It looks cool as shit. Nice job, Sony!

But was this really worth pissing them off so much for with that rumor story? Sure, it's hot news, but I don't think it's worth breaking a bond of trust with Sony over, just my opinion.

-cwb

I cant wait to put up a big ass "painting" of aria giovanni above my mantle.

I'll be having gangsta parties in my backyard ALL day long.

Interesting, just like previously noted it does remind me of Second Life done by Sony. I hope those items on the Playstation Store are free. What modes of transportation are there? I think it's a great concept of having a living and breathing world but walking or loading for a good 3+ minutes to the trailer store instead of popping it up on the web browser would be time consuming (i'm looking at you Wii). Hopefully there will be some sort of Portal system to quickly access Personal | Corporate | Media outlets.

Looks like The Sims. I hate The Sims. Ergo, I hate Home.

yea this is pretty sweet... only issues I see are:

1. Lag Issues
2. Load time to actually get into home (if its over 1 minute, that would be bad.
3. How big will this be? Im thinking around 3 gigish or so on the HD.
4. How much will SOny rape you in microtransactions to customize your home.

Definitely look forward to this... Microsoft will surely copy it in one form or another.

Very clever, Sony. They do have a knack for taking ideas, running them to their logical conclusion and coming up with something fresh and decidedly better. This destroys the whole Nintendo Mii advantage and makes the Xbox Live, subscription based, user interaction seem paltry in comparison.

All in all.. if it turns out good, I might be picking up a PS3 afterall!

Crap, there goes $600. Sony, why couldn't you just stop while PS3 sucked? No, you had to go make it good.

I'm buying a PS3 next week and I couldn't be more excited now.

Yeah, I don't see the stuff on the PSS being free at all. I think thats where sony is looking to make its money back on this network, by charging people for furniture and shit. Kinda like SL.

Cripes, I really didn't expect this. I was imagining an Animal Crossing house. This is as far from that and Mii's as you can get. At last, Sony do something right.

Ok, after seeing the video, I can see me me wasting a shit load of time just customizing my apt.

Damn, Sony just might do something right. Good for them.

Realistic avatars defeat the whole purpose of having a Mii style copycat.

Wow. I can't remember the last time I felt this excited watching/reading any press media released by a console company.

I do have my doubts, and on this I agree with Scrappie. For such a lush and beautiful 3D world, lag issues will really kill the experience. Not that worried about microtransactions though, if you want it, you pay for it. The point is, the basic service is free.

You know, for a long time I was wondering how the very same people who pushed out 100million+ PS2s could be fumbling so much with the PS3. This goes to show that they've still got some brains and tricks up their sleeves.

I'm gonna watch the Home trailer again. Gosh. I'm saving my money for the PS3 NOW.

You're probably right, and I'm sure the games that incorporate Home into their achievements would offer things for microtransactions.

Maybe an miniature metal gear, or a motorstorm helmet trophy.

Very nice. First thing Sony has done right in a year or so, but I love the concept and ideas :)

Obviously, they plan on making money from the PS3 store to compensate for the fact that Home is free.

With second life and this, I wonder if we are seeing the first steps of truly virtual worlds...It makes me wonder how things will be ten years from now. This is truly a next gen feature.

This console war just got HOT!

Just wanted to see how many other people are changing their minds now about the PS3? I'm not a PS3 fanboy, but I would have to say this looks like it could be the next thing as far as getting a group going on-line and sharing videos then playing multi-player.
Like they say down here in Miami, this looks clean.

This is very nice, two things I noticed:
1. They didn't claim that it was some great innovation on their part

2. Perfect way to get those Sim/Animal Crossing people into this and spend money

Only problem is, voice chat is a must and lag.
How can they broadcast 50 voices to each other in real time without blowing up the internet's?

Ether this is Sony's big turnaround or just more of the same graphics hype that they always do, but now with online features.

Wait and see, but hope..

Wow this really makes me edge closer to actually saving up 600. gj sony!
Its a real life animal crossing!
The abillity to play games with others (if its at least somewhat smoothly intergrated into the whole experience)looks really awesome

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I try to maintain a bias free approach when it comes to the next-gen consoles, but this looks absolutely incredible to me. Assuming they pull this off as well as they have presented it in the trailer, I think this will be the tide turner. Couple the Home concept with some good games finally coming out and it seems like the next-gen race just got close again. XBOX Live still does online the best, but I think this is going to change that. Well done, Sony. Well done.

Looks very impressive, but I'm wondering if all this can really be pulled off smoothly with only 256K of RAM and an average internet connection?

See, this is what I wanted the Miis to be like. I mean, the Miis are fine, but you could make more complicated custom designs on the 64 and Cube in wrestling games. I think the simple approach was the wrong way to go. I was interested in this when it was "announced" and now I'm even more interested. If they did it right, you could basically have a physical myspace, albeit pertaining to games. If this doesn't help move their system, I have no clue what will. I'm not buying one, because I have a computer, but still. And I second that the micro-transaction issue will be huge as to how this pans out. Say what you want about it being an animal crossing rip-off or whatever, but it looked great to me.

OMG... The PS3 now officially kicks ass. This justifies my $600 purchase.

Heh, I hate Sony, but this may be exactly what they needed to clear up the FUD storm they were stuck in!

Now all they need to do is let EVERYONE know this RIGHT NOW before the original "oohs" and "aahs" fade and we realize how laggy this thing will most likely be. We must be BEAT over the head with it, while the wound in our 360 fanboy armor has a chink in it.

OMG OMG OMG, i can't even think. this is awesome! This is perfect for my me and my brother who lives in Tokyo. I can finaly fart in the same room and he won't even smell it! AWESOME.

Those mini games look cool too, especially if you could pick up a quick game of billiards with someone while anyone looks one. Wishful thinking...

ARGH!

This means I can't hate Sony with the same vigor I had before.

That actually looks really cool, I'm interested in seeing its execution, which is huge, because I've never been interested in ANYTHING PS3 related. In fact I've been quite allergic to the system.....

You've got my attention Sony, now do something amazing!

"Home" doesn't appear to be for me. In the limited time I have to game, I want to be gaming, not hanging out in a lobby with people that I generally can't stand (i.e., people I meet in multiplayer games.)

Everyone here seems excited, so this is clearly over me head. Someone edumacate me please.

Ok...did anyone else think Balamb Garden when they saw that?

... i'm crying. As a UI developer and programmer, this is what i have been waiting for for a good decade now. finally, it is here. thank you sony, thank you very very much.

Incredible!!!

Also, ONLINE BOWLING BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am impressed beyond belief. Suck it anyone that said this would be like Animal Crossing.

It looks good, but I'll also voice my concern about lag...hopefully these things will remain accessible without having to go through the Home Universe.

Actually so far the miss have the advantage, The mis can be used in any game the developers want.

The miis are just used to represent you in the game. unless I missed it they did not say that in this video.

This still doesn't sell me on why I should buy a PS3.
I see nothing in HOME that would affect the games I play. It's just another game with an unappealing avatar within the system itself. Big whoop.

Show me games I want to play on your system, Sony. Don't show me funneled marketing ploys for fake social interaction.

Second life is already really boring, and it has flying penis raids. I don't see how this will be any more interesting except making you have to interact with people before you find a multiplayer game.

I was actually on the fence as to when i planned to pick up a PS3. I mean it was an eventuality, but i always expected that games or a price drop would be what caused me to pick up the PS3. This changes the dynamic. I am now much more excited to pick up a PS3.

2 years ago I couldn't have possibly watched any Youtube video with my dial-up. I had a max download of 4kb/s, and that was good for maybe a picture or two in email attachments.

But now? Sure, not everyone has broadband yet, but I've just gotten a fixed line cable, and heck I'm watching Heroes over their website.

Just imagine, man. Wow. People are just going to get connected faster and faster... Sony has less than a year to make sure they don't screw this up.

They better be working their asses off now, trying to make this technically possible! GAH.

Impressive, a couple of dozen comments and no one has bashed this. I gotta give a hand to all you Kotaku posters today.

It does look impressive the only thing that annoyed me are the dancing emotes. But just like any other game with dancing you can ignore it.

@gapzi11a: "Looks very impressive, but I'm wondering if all this can really be pulled off smoothly with only 256K of RAM and an average internet connection?"

I hope you mean 256 MEGABYTES, not KILOBYTES. The PS3 isn't some rinky-dink 20-year-old Tandy Personal Computer

@majortom

I believe it was recently revealed that Nintendo isn't allowing third parties to access the Miis. Like in the situation of the new Sims game.

Honestly, I was quite impressed with the video. But, if I've learned one thing from Sony over the past 6 years or so, it is that you have to wait until they actually deliver something. They will promise you the world, and then quietly start removing features.

Also, even though it does look really cool, I don't see myself really ever wanting to do much that is there. Maybe get a house with the achievment thing, but that's about it. I get on the PS3 to play online games, not to show people how nice my fake couch blends with my fake rug with the fake paint in my fake apartment.

-Sam

Sure, it's not going to make the games any better. But it could tie in all the other media elements nicely, so it is sure to appeal to a lot of people.

Who are you?

isn't that Nintendo's slogan at one point?

@Scazza: Exactly my view. They are going to nickel-and-dime people to death. In the press release announcing Home, Sony is very careful to specify that it will be a "Free Download," not just "free, period."

/clap

This looks VERY promising. Basically it looks like Miis x 10 (so much more customizable, though you lose the funny/cute factor). You've got the achievements, PLUS you got cooler chat rooms/areas and the customizable room (which is bad ass).

The thing I'm worried about though is this looks like it'll eat up a lot of bandwidth. How is Sony going to keep this free?

I actually just prefer using Miis in my games. The whole super-realistic look of these things is kind of boring...

shindoki says:

i just saw this on their site and i have to say its pretty amazing. I wonder what kind of items from games you can put. OMG OMG OMG.. a statue of Solid Snake infront my house would PAWN!!!

I agree. That would be awesome, or what about Gabe Logan! I'm going to get a PS3 once this comes out!

First a possible rumble controller, and now a VERY cool online friends service? I was ready to declare the 360 my console of choice for this generation, but it looks like I might be making space next to it for some competition. Still, I wanna wait for all this to be actually implemented, before I buy my $600 system.

So it's the sims online? Who is this for? The miis are cute little charactures you play tennis with from time to time, why do I want some half assed mmo sims to invest my time with when I should be playing real games on the playstation.

Last time I checked not too many soccor moms have a PS3, so who the hell is this for?

Okay, I am going to be the big negative guy saying everyone is still in awe about it. First, lemme get this outta the way.... I think it looks cool, and could be really fun. So im not flaming the service per-say. I just wanna point out a few things:

-Its overly complex it would seem to actually do gaming. For anyone who wants to just play a game with friends, they have to run this program from the XMB, THEN find someone and goto them and then play a game? Sounds overly complex.

-With this, is sony finally going to fix its friends list and allow access to it when you press the PS button on the controller yet? Because if I am playing a game online, I don't want to exit the game to go to the PSHome to find a friend to invite to a game. Please tell me they are going to change that.

-Money Money Money. This is going to be a huge cash cow with people buying virtual items on the PSstore... You guys complain about shit on a disk on marketplace... I wait to see what you say about buying a chair for 99cents.

-This service appears more as a thing to do when you don't want to game on the system. Unlike XBL, where friends list is tied into a background service, and can be access anytime, this dosn't seem to take gaming into account too much. Its more of a community tool.

-Microphone please?

-I hope for Sonys sake they have incredible parental control on board. This is a HUGE magnet for media types to pick apart. Sharing videos, private places to chat etc... its like AOL Chat with more chance to see a big dick.

-Privacy, I hope they have ability to block friends on your friend list from seeing your room, or everyone, etc. Some friends on my list would be just for convienece and I wouldn't want them to barge in on my while I am hosting a friend at my private room, *snicker*...

These are just the first few things to fly into my head. Again, NOT FLAMING THE SERVICE, I just picking some points that people might not think about... I think it looks sweet though, and could be really cool for guild meetings etc.

That looked really great. Not $600 + inevitable micro-transactions great, but I'm still impressed.

This seems fine in theory, but I can't help but wonder how much I'd actually use this. I mean, I'm not sure why me and my buddies would stand around chatting in this virtual world while we could just be chatting while playing Rainbox Six or whatever.

It looks great if it's something you want to use, but I just don't see myself really using it much. And, in my opinion, it does absolutely nothing to change the fact that I'd rather play a multi-platform game on the 360. The 360's experience, the experience while actually playing the game that is, just seems a big step ahead of the PS3's due to how well they integrate all the console's features.

I'm a bit disappointed if this is Sony's big attempt to get back into the race. The PS3 Home is fine, but it should a side dish, not the main course.

My head just exploded...!!!!

I am concerned though that it may get divided onto different servers like Guild Wars towns, causing situations like:

-"Hey, meet me at the bowling lanes!"
"Which one, Bowling Lanes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12?"
-"Oh, well John was going to lanes 4 so I guess 4?"
"But Mike and Sara are already at lanes 3..."
-"Ok, fine I'll tell John, 3 it is."
"Wait, I just told Mike and Sara we were going to 4!"

The Sims + Phantasy Star Online + a hint of Mii + daft gangster wannabe dance moves that every chav on the network will be using non stop = this thing.

The problem with being a pioneer (Read: Sega, Nintendo), is that Sony will always come along, take what they started, and make it theirs by blowing it wide open like this. Seesh.

Pretty nice. I'm glad to find something that might make me want a PS3 someday. Keep those good ideas and the good games coming.