Playstation Home
 

I don't know if anyone else entered the drawing to join the closed Beta, you automatically entered by downloading the Home theme from PSN about a month or so ago.

Anyways, if you did, they are sending the invites to those selected today. Just got my invite and I am downloading right now. Hope this is as great as they say it is.

Really? I did and I was just on a while ago but nothing popped up message wise.

I'll take a look later tonight.

Not everyone got an invite that got the theme. From the various sites I've checked it seems most people were left out.

The drawing was semi-random, in that the only thing that increased your chances of being picked was PSN activity being high. I guess earning my 67 trophies including the only platinum until recently helped, as did purchasing several things off the store. I am also logged in 24/7.

Anyways so far so good. I have experienced 0 lag and bugs while using a wireless connection. Obviously the customization isn't completely implemented yet in terms of items, but there are still plenty as it stands now. The default studio apartment is banging and I want a real one now. Graphics are alot better than I expected, not the best ever, but def good. Controls work flawlessly so far and the digital PSP interface is quite nifty. Honestly I don't know what is stopping release as this dealio seems ready to go IMO. Gonna go check some events out now, more details later.

Why is this a desirable thing?

Oh really? I downloaded the theme. I'll check tonight. Hopefully I was drawn.

Makes chatting more involved, makes it easier to find people to play games with on the fly, has games of its own incorporated into it, allows you to watch movies with friends over the network. Really all kinds of shit KK. I have never really been into this social networking idea with things like second life, but this was pretty entertaining. Walking up to the dance floor and busting out the robot followed by some disco moves while chatting and listening to whatever you want is even amazing. I was bustin lose last night.

No, the question was about why the Beta was a big thing.

I mean, I can see why Red Faction or whatever would be a big deal, but Home seems like it shouldn't be a big deal.

Ah, my bad. I guess it is a big deal because Sony has been delaying this for almost a year now. Going into the second beta phase and showing off something this polished indicates that they may actual stick to the release window this time around. If my time spent in it is any indication so far, I see this as merely testing the strain on servers, as I have not seen any bugs at all and betas are usually riddled with at least a few of them.

Yeah, I guess I can see that.