An open letter to Nintendo regarding Sony PlayStation Home
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 10:27am by Jack
Dear Nintendo,
Hi. Jack Here. How are you? I’m feeling pretty super myself.
Quick little thing. I know how you and online don’t exactly see eye-to-eye right now. And Friend Codes. *whistle* Yeah, Friend Codes. Don’t get me started on those. I tried entering all the people I know into my system for Mario Kart Wii the other day and my TV literally walked out on me. Said “enough is enough” after four or five hours of me pointing at it with the Wiimote and plum went down the street for a beer. I can’t blame her; my wrist’s still in traction, and I’m typing this one-handed.
But anyway. Do one little thing for me if you’re working on your online stuff today or over the holiday. Make sure it never, ever, looks anything like Sony PlayStation Home.
Seriously, I think Sony lost a bet with someone or something.
Thanks,
Jack Loftus
Senior Editor
Infendo
December 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Hear hear.
I never thought I’d ever be able to see what I’d look like without a soul….
December 16th, 2008 at 11:30 am
hahaha, I just tried Home for the first time last night, and let me say that’s the last time I’ll ever try it
December 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I haven’t even downloaded, it looks so boring.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Amen.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:40 am
That is…IF it even lets you get on the stupid thing in the first place.
December 16th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Yeah, forgive me, guys, for straying out beyond the bounds of Nintendo on this one… but covering this thing for another site and seeing first-hand coverage from other gaming sites was so offensively boring that I had to do SOMETHING.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Home only excites marketing people, which means no one who matters.
I have to pay $1 for a chair!?!?! Come on.
December 16th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
It might be easy to pick on some of the problems with Home, but let’s not forget what Sony got right: You don’t have to pay anything to use the program “as is”, and you don’t have to download it at all if you don’t want to.
That means that Home users will end up being peope who want to be there, and enjoy their time there. It might not appeal to everyone, but it definitely will appeal to some. Giving free content is never a bad thing, so I think Sony should be applauded for their effort here.
What has Nintendo done to foster an online community? I love my Wii, but have to admit that my system of choice is WAY behind in terms of online social capabilities.
December 16th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
ejamer, jack mentioned in his letter here that nintendos online wasnt up to snuff.
That has nothing to do with the point of the letter which is that if nintendo does improve online they should stay far away from sonys design for online community ideas.
I agree.
And the free excuse isnt valid. Even free things deserve criticism. How will anybody know this free thing isnt worth wasting time with if nobody criticises it. A person can save the time they took downloading and “trying” to log in, then waiting to do suff, playing more games if they already know what to expect from others who have used the service.
Even if they really want to try it, at least they can have an idea what they are getting into before jumping in.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
See, that’s where we differ. I feel that offering something is much better than offering nothing, even if Home doesn’t look spectacular.
Of course, I also think that people should be more supportive instead of being critical in most cases. Home doesn’t appeal to me personally… but I’m not willing to write it off and call it out, because I know there are other people who will get great use out of the service.
December 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Honestly, I think the “problem” with Home is that it’s a public beta. There is next to no content there, so people come, find nothing, grief away and then they bitch on forums because it’s the cool thing to do.
But applauding Sony for spending so much time and effort on Home instead of, say, increasing their PSN offerings just seems, in the short term and due to people’s reactions, a poor decision.
It’s too early to tell if Home will be as useful as Sony is hoping, but really, a chair?!?!?! For a dollar?!?!?!?!!
December 16th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
“because I know there are other people who will get great use out of the service.”
Right, like Diesel.
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Penny Arcade discussed Home the other day with a comic and a commentary. They hit upon criticizing free things quite well, I thought:
“There is already a growing school of Home apologetics, fostered by the same Order of Perpetual Masochism that lauded the rumble-free Sixaxis at launch and suggested, hilariously, that Lair and Heavenly Sword were videogames. They’re under the impression that because something is free, this places it on some golden dais beyond censure. It’s no virtue to give away something that no-one in their right mind would buy. Sony has no idea what this world is for, and that ambiguity infuses every simulated millimeter of it.
This is the terrible secret that roils beneath their false universe: it is nothing more than a cumbersome menu, a rampart over which you must hoist yourself to accomplish the most basic tasks.”
To Paul’s comment: We know exactly what this beta will be full of, if or when it emerges from beta: More microtransactions and soulless avatars. Sorry, soulless, humping avatars. With $5 virtual shirts that give free advertising to companies like Diesel.
December 16th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Wouldn’t Friend Codes solve the problems Home has?
I mean being in a large group of anonymous people tends to make some just harass the others. But if you knew everyone personally or at least from discussion online, wouldn’t that make them less likely to run around being idiots?
Just a thought. As far as Friend codes, I think just the Wii code itself should be sufficient in the future. The one code per game thing is a bit much, but I’d rather enter 40 16-digit console codes that one 16-digit friend code off of my credit card.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
@Jeff, well said about which codes I’d rather be entering.
@Jack, totally agree about the soulless, humping avatars and their $5 shirts. And you make it sound horribly awful.
@ejamer, so if I offer you a knife which you must slit your throat with, or offer you nothing, which is better?
Although I would like more online community feeling on the Wii, I want it to be worth the valuable space it would take on the Wii’s limited memory space. And since their really isn’t any space left (barring a firmware update that keeps everything on there currently but somehow makes it take up less space) we won’t be seeing an online community.
December 16th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Can someone tell me why the goddamn hell anyone would want this in the first place? Why reduce yourself to a PS3 controller for a program that is like a third rate Second Life rip off without the things that makes such a world work? No user generated content? no point.
December 16th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I was dissapointed with home, it’s slow and clunky, bugs galore. takes a minimum of 5 attempts to sign in each time and when you’re there, there’s nothing to do… That is, other than spend loads of money on things you won’t ever touch and nobody even cares about…
December 17th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Man we all say the train wreck coming. SONY is the new sega yet they can only hope for conduit and madworld in their after life…..
December 17th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Home is a mess. Girls are mobbed, profanity is rampant, it’s slow to connect, and you’re nickel and dimed for any decent content. It’s basically a huge advertisement program..
December 17th, 2008 at 9:56 am
As lame is Home is, it doesn’t even come close to Wii Speak. Home is free optional content, as Sony already has a free solid online gaming system that supports voice chat.
If you don’t like it, no big deal, go back to online gaming on the PS3 as your were. However, if you don’t like hearing your buddy’s mom in the background on a speaker phone giving out his friend code, tough luck.