A House Divided

Mike and I usually agree on most things, especially when it’s video game related.  But a recent conversation about PlayStation Home found us on opposite sides of an issue.  Maybe it was that we were overly hungry, waiting an hour to be seated at Red Square in the Mandalay Bay hotel (way overpriced, and sub-par at that if you were wondering).  Mike seems to think Home is a colossal waste of time, money, and energy; completely impotent in it’s ability to move any PS3s.  And he’s not alone, our pal who was joining us totally backed him up.  They both predict Home will be about as popular as Sony’s handling of the Star Wars franchise with SOE’s Star Wars Galaxies Online.  Ouch.

What they fail to realize, I think, is that there are a lot of MMO fans out there.  Having been one, I can honestly say what appeals to this style of gamer is collecting loot, and surprisingly sometimes hanging out and doing nothing.  Sony got this concept a while ago, and added apartments to all their MMOs that served as a showcase for your spoils.  Now they are opening this option up to the console crowd.  A whole new market of gamers will be able to upgrade their avatar’s wardrobe, and fill their virtual pad with virtual, yet working arcade machines like Galaxian or DigDug.  “Quests” like the Japanese Home’s Siren mini-game are actually fun!   Complete it, and now your avatar can walk around as an undead zombie nurse (or at least wear the same nasty puss-filled outfit).  It was quite an accomplishment to pull off in the non-localized version, and then import it to the US version.  Spoiler map below.  But now it’s coming to our shores, so forget trying to translate it with your limited Japanese gleaned from hours of watching hentai.

On May 14th to May 21st, Home will allow you to upgrade your pad to the setup pictured below.  Yes, that is a giant tree with a face rooted in your new courtyard.  Questionable coolness aside, you can not beat the price: free.  With your new digs on the cheap, maybe you can switch out of your puss-filled zombie nurse outfit, once the novelty wears off, and buy some Diesel branded texture mapping for your virtual personification.