Playstation Home Open Beta starts tomorrow!

Playstation Home has been delayed more than the average British Rail train, and yet there is still an undercurrent of anticipation from PS3 owners for Sony’s free Second Life-a-like social gaming community thing..

Well, the wait is finally over as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) has now announced that the Beta for Playstation Home will be open to all PS3 owners worldwide from tomorrow the 11th December 2008. According to Sony’s official blurb:

“PlayStation Home allows users to interact, communicate and share gaming experiences. By leveraging the power of PS3, PlayStation Home delivers overwhelming visual graphics and rich gaming social experiences only possible on the PS3 platform. Within PlayStation Home, users can create and customize their own unique avatars and explore the virtual community in real time where they can communicate freely through text or voice chat. PlayStation Home users will not only be able to enjoy variety of entertainment content such as mini-games, videos and special events along with their friends, but will also be able to create their own community by using the “Club” feature to create clubs with other PlayStation Home users who share the same interests. PlayStation Home also allows groups of users to launch directly into their favourite online games together from PlayStation Home.”

One you’ve completed the free download, a Playstation Home icon will appear on the Playstation Network column of the XMB (Cross Media Bar). All the basic services and features of Playstation Home are free of charge, but there will be some premium paid-for content available too. For example, Sony has partnered up with clothing line Diesel to offer some stylish threads in which to dress your avatar, and some items will cost up to €1.50 (£1.30).

Sony have also partnered up with contemporary furniture designers Ligne Roset, which is handy because Playstation Home gives everyone their own apartment to spend time in and entertain friends in. At the virtual store, players will be able to choose from a selection of the most popular Ligne Roset designs, including the iconic (apparently) Togo and Facett upholstery collections. It will also be possible to personalise furniture by selecting from a wide selection of fabrics and leathers, allowing a unique and individual look.

Possibly the most interesting partnership so far though is with Red Bull, who have created the very first consumer brand space in Playstation Home with Red Bull Island, where visitors can interact and take part in many of Red Bull’s unique events. Initially there will be the opportunity to get inside the cockpit of a Red Bull Air Race plane and compete against the PlayStation community in a virtual version of the real-world Red Bull Air Race World Championship.

“PlayStation Home is truly a promising network community service on the PlayStation platform, made possible with the powerful combination of PS3’s overwhelming computational power and PlayStation Network that covers many countries around the globe,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCE. “We are committed to providing PS3 users with exciting gaming experiences with PlayStation Home and together with our partners and users, expand the new world of interactive entertainment as we move forward.”

There will also be specific game-themed environments, starting with Far Cry 2 space available to us Europeans. These game inspired virtual places will allow people to discuss the specific games, plan strategies and access content and clues that will enhance the gaming experience. Sony says the number of these environments will regularly increase, with spaces for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Warhawk, Motorstorm and SOCOM. Publisher-specific spaces will also follow soon, with EA, Ubisoft, Midway, Sega and Atari all confirming that they’re working alongside Sony.

Taking full advantage of the PlayStation Home Theatre, SCEE has partnered with various content providers to enhance the cinematic experience. Offering a wide range of content, the PlayStation Home Theatre will provide lifestyle technology programming from Hexus TV, gaming content from Eurogamer and exclusive film content from Paramount Pictures.

Starting with the release of the highly anticipated film, Watchmen, Paramount will use PlayStation Home to promote its latest films. Initially, PlayStation Home residents will be able to view an exclusive video greeting from Watchmen Director Zack Snyder as well as the latest Watchmen trailer. A selection of virtual Watchmen merchandise e.g. T-Shirts with the smiley face logo, Doomsday clocks and character statues, will also be available in the New Year, ahead of an exclusive Q & A event where cast and filmmakers will meet selected press and competition winners fans within the Watchmen themed environment.

Whether you think Playstation Home is a pointless waste of time or the best thing since cel-shading, no can deny that it’s certainly a nice gesture from Sony to give every PS3 owner an optional free virtual world. And things can only get better!

You can read our first impressions of Home right here on DarkZero, or if you’re the proud owner of a PS3 then you can simply wait until tomorrow to try it for yourself!