PlayStation Home gets off to a rocky start

Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:04AM EST

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After months of anticipation, Sony finally pulled the trigger Thursday on the open beta of Home, its virtual 3D meeting space for PS3 gamers. The bad news? Actually getting into Home is still a tricky proposition.

The Home beta went live in the afternoon on the East Coast, and for hours, I tried, and tried … and tried to log in, only to be greeted by a variety of arcane server errors. Of course, I wasn't the only one—here's a huge thread on the official PlayStation Home forum, complete with error reports (the pithy "/HUBPS3_SVML/account/SP_Login_Submit.jsp" seems to be a favorite).

I finally managed to get into home after 9pm EST last night … only to be kicked out again about an hour later. As for Friday morning, well, no dice—first I got a server error, and then Home froze just as I was about to enter the Central Plaza.

In any case, it's not the most auspicious start for Home, a long-delayed project that's launching months after the whole Second Life craze began fizzling out.

So, what's going on? This post on the EU PlayStation board from a Home "Community Manager" explains quite a bit—it's a catalog of technical problems, plus word that the PlayStation Network went down at some point Thursday, which "set us back a while."

Anyway, if you do manage to log in, you'll notice a few changes from the closed beta: a redesigned (if not radically different) Central Plaza, new spaces for "Uncharted" and "Far Cry 2," and a few open stores in the Mall, complete with microtransactions for clothing and furniture in your virtual apartment. (Disappointingly, the Home stores don't look like the virtual 3D stores in games like "Grand Theft Auto 4"; instead, you just get the typical PlayStation Store interface. Talk about a missed opportunity.)

OK, PS3 gamers, sound off—have you managed to log into Home yet? What do you think so far? Will you be back? Suggestions for changes?

Comments on PlayStation Home gets off to a rocky start

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  • 1 Posted by wolverinemarky on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    I was a part of the closed beta, and now that the open beta opened I havent had any problems logging in and I think its pretty good. I do agreee the stores would look nice if they could have done it like in grand theft auto 4 that would have been pretty cool

  • 2 Posted by ytech_patterson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:58PM EDT Report Abuse

    Just now managed to log in -- hanging out in the Central Plaza, listening to some tunes.

  • 3 Posted by nerd160 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:36PM EDT Report Abuse

    I can't wait to get my PS3. Do you think the servers will be crushed again on Christmas? And is the Home Update a necessity to download, because I want to start gaming once I get my console, not wait for it to update..

  • 4 Posted by megatronfights on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    While it would look cool the make the stores like GTA4 it would also make searching for items completely impractical and inefficient. Something like that can only work when you only have a very low number of unchanging items available to purchase like in GTA4.

  • 5 Posted by lizardking10033 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    i've tried and ran into same problems as written in this article, so i'll pass on this experience until i hear otherwise.

  • 7 Posted by lbwlion08 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:57PM EDT Report Abuse

    I was a closed beta tester as well and i experienced the same problems logging in, but once it was up and running i did somewhat enjoy it. i look forward to sony making more additions to the stores and wardrobe because my avatar looks nothing like me thus far. lol keep up the good work sony. and post 2 there is nothing like this on "xbox live". step it up.

  • 8 Posted by m_ell1s on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    I logged onto Home but after a day of seeing the error you mentioned. I was severely disappointed by the interface and the lack of being about to launch a disc loaded game from Home though

  • 9 Posted by chadsy03 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    I logged on for first time last night. I believe that it has a lot of potential and could be a great addition to the Playstation system. However, after playing echochrome for a while I got booted right after it told me that I unlocked a number of items. Also, I think that it is very lame that you have to pay for everything. Unless Sony makes these available as unlockables for different home achievments I am not sure how much I will use home.

  • 10 Posted by redmced on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    I haven't really had any problems with logging in. Also they could have made the stores nicer, and maybe instead of buying things with real money you could earn in game credits towards them. Finnaly, I was also part of the closed beta =).

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