Okay Geek Farm
Playstation Home getting a Disneyland-esque makeover, Quests incoming
Ricardo Trejo
Coming fall 2011, welcome to the world of tomorrow… errr, more like what Playstation Home should’ve been all along. Sony has released some info on a massive overhaul of what some might deem an utter complete waste of time. Waiting in virtual lines, yeah, cause I’m sure that’s what people want to do with their time. Well, expect a newly redone world that looks a lot like Disneyland if you ask me.
According to a press release sent out this morning, Sony plans to relaunch the service with a whole new outlook on how it’ll be perceived:
“The new core experience reinforces PlayStation Home’s evolution from a virtual environment to a world of games, with a focus on rapidly connecting players with game content that pertains to their style and mood.”
The big plan to overhaul the seemingly boring online destination into an actual game, something it should’ve been since the beginning if you ask me. With a new Hub and “Zones” you can access with differing appearances to appeal to the cascade of gaming likes and dislikes, players will be able to play free-to-play games and earn rewards via a “Questing” system.
The Zones will be divided like so:
- The Hub: The new, futuristic Hub brings games directly to players with a featured game front-and-center upon login, the Activity Board where players can engage in quests and community activities, and a direct path to free games via the teleporter.
- Action District: A gathering place for the hardcore demographic, the Action District has a gritty, urban feel reminiscent of a first-person shooter level and provides a direct travel point to action and horror games.
- Sportswalk: The Sportswalk has an exciting outside-the-stadium feel with instant major league sports scores, headlines and highlights, ample space for sports-themed games and provides direct travel points to sports-related games.
- Adventure District: The Adventure District drops you in a lush island jungle with an air of mystery, hidden treasure and discovery, where players will be able to launch directly into adventure-themed games.
- Pier Park: A waterfront boardwalk leads players to carnival, puzzle, outdoor and arcade games. Take a ride on the Pier Park Ferris wheel or visit the arcade for some bright entertainment.
Jack Buser, Director of Playstation Home for SCEA, had a little more insight into the direction they’re heading with Home:
“PlayStation Home’s new core experience is a giant leap in the evolution of the platform, not to mention a major milestone for PlayStation Network, and its new modelquickly deploys our users to many compelling free-to-play games that fit their interests. With this update, coming this fall, PlayStation Home becomes a game itself, making it the most robust gamified social experience available.”
So does this new Disneyland-esque Playstation Home make you want to get back into it? Quests sound like an interesting task, but only if they’re regularly updated and don’t require you to play meaningless mini-games to earn a virtual couch to a room no one will ever go into.
