Sony to jump on social networking bandwagon

Wednesday 07th March 2007, 01:01:00 PM, written by TeamB3D

Unveiled at a pre-keynote meeting by Phil Harrison yesterday evening, Sony showcased some of its soon-to-be-announced online plans to a few selected journalists and industry insiders. One of these is Sony's plan to create a social network in order to form a stronger bond between consumers and the Playstation brand.

The service, rumoured to be called "Home", is said to be a persistent online 3D world where PS3 gamers can form virtual identities, not unlike Second Life. According to MarketWatch users can purchase virtual apartments, clothing, etc. Moreover, to foster a spirit of competitiveness, special awards --unlockable within games-- can be transferred to Home, similar to Xbox 360 gaming achievements.

Further, Sony is aiming to incorporate user-created content into its Playstation Network (PSN). Citing YouTube and Flickr as an example, Phil Harrison told the New York Times: “We want to take those kinds of collaborative experiences and make them more central to the gameplay experience“. At this moment it is still unclear if this is related to another feature called “Little Big World”, which is rumoured to enable consumers to create custom games within a 3D world.

We expect further details during the keynote speech "Game 3.0: Developing and Creating for the 3rd Age of Video Games" delivered later today by Phil Harrison at the GDC. Stay tuned.

sony ±

Sony's 4th quarter net loss bigger than expected?
Latest breakdown per studios of the SCEE lay-offs
SCEI considers commercial distributed computing venture
Sony leaves semiconductor alliance
A look inside the European PS3
Sony to launch Folding@Home application on PS3 with firmware 1.6
Sony explains its plans for software emulation
European PS3 to rely on software emulation
Sony talks about 45nm Cell production for late 2008, considers outsourcing
Playstation 3 firmware 1.5 fixes backwards compatability issue