PlayStation Home. I'm going to be completely honest here, and admit that I've barely played around with the PlayStation 3's social application. Now, I'm not denying it's great looking, or that it doesn't contain neat content related to PlayStation brand products – but I've personally never found it all that exciting. It's never really risen above a glorified chatroom, in my opinion, but hopefully Sony is going to change some of that with a new reboot.
Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Home director Jack Buser gives the impression that the company is completely dedicated keeping the service as an important factor in the PlayStation lineup. While Sony has recently added new features – including a "Dead Island"-themed area and game – this upcoming update actually seeks to completely redo an entire portion of Home.
"Coming in fall 2011, this new core experience for PlayStation Home features a 'hub and districts' design that will help you find games, people and places that fit your favorite game genres," Buser wrote. "The design features a new Hub that integrates games, quests, community events, and user-generated content, while providing you with additional navigation, shopping, socialization and entertainment options."
The new hub area, which looks like a futuristic Mall of America, will remain as the main gathering point for you and your friend's avatars. While the screenshots look nice, the new Activity Board is really the most interesting sounding feature. Apparently, this board will feature quests, turning Home into – gasp! – a videogame.
Surrounding the hub are four new, themed districts: the Action district, combining first-person shooter and horror game aesthetics; the Sportswalk, featuring real-time sports scores and highlights; the Adventure district, a jungle beach; and Pier Park, including a ferris wheel and ocean boardwalk arcade.
Buser also noted that Home's client is being streamlined, which sounds great, because it sort of runs like crap on the rare occasion I actually log-on. I'll withhold my opinions on the new features until this fall, but I would love to see Home turn into something I actually look forward to playing around with.