Another (Somewhat) Open Letter To Sony

This was prompted by the recent PS3 Firmware 3.10 update, which unexplainably focused on Facebook integration, and promised more in the future. Please shoot me now.

... By linking your PlayStation Network account to your Facebook account, you will have the option for the PS3 to automatically update your Facebook News Feed with Trophy and PlayStation Store activity. You can then check out your updates, and those of your friends, on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media favorites through the PS3’s built-in web browser.This is just the beginning of our integration with Facebook...

Additional highlights from update 3.10 include:

• The Photo category on the XMB has been revamped to make it easier to see more of your photos stored on the PS3.
• The PSN Friends List has been modified based on feedback we received after update 3.00. Additionally, you can now choose a color for your PSN ID on the XMB.

(via Playstation Blog)

Dear Sony,

I appreciate the better photo layout, but the other stuff seems either minor (coloring your avatar), or misdirected (Facebook integration). So many Firmware updates… and yet few have done anything to actually improve my PS3 experience. It’s such a waste of resources when there are many more important things you could be working on in the firmware updates.

1)Instead of Playstation Home (ie Second Life Redux) how about better Friend finding for multiplayer (ie a universal way to find/join friends that doesn’t require a clunky, game-specific method such as in Rock Band 2). How about cross-game chat? Xbox360 has had that for a long time. I can't believe Facebook ranked anywhere near as high on users' want lists.

2) How about the “Memory Manager” others mentioned, so that I can selectively delete DLC and saved games?

3) And a fix so that I can organize my games into albums without typing each cAsE-SeNsiTiVe album name for EACH file? Seriously, it feels like UNIX? For a company that prides itself on shiny gadgetry, the amount of interface polish is lacking.

You might want to check your priorities. Give me some of these types of important features before worrying about how to color my avatar or clog up my already overwhelmingly bloated Facebook experience.

The Ball Droppeth... again

Sony Computer Entertainment has today announced that it will perform a worldwide release of the new PlayStation Home service on December 11, 2009. The 3D social gaming service has recently completed its lengthy beta test and will allow PlayStation 3 users to interact, communicate and share game experiences with each other.

PlayStation Home will allow open interaction among users, business partners and SCE, and will evolve with additional features including dedicated game spaces, special events and exclusive themed items, to further enrich the entertainment experience on the PS3 platform.

A variety of consumer partners will participate in Home including Paramount Digital Entertainment, Red Bull and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
(via Gamespy)

Great Sony... you just invented Second Life, except now I'll be dealing with people who don't have a keyboard. Leaving most to use BT headsets (though many people on PSN don't, and those who do, I can seldom understand them clearly).

Well, regardless, I'm sure all my friends will be on here, just like in Second Life... oh wait, that's right... none of my friends use Second Life.

What I think more people would REALLY appreciate is for Sony to improve the ability to communicate with people on your Friends list, and to more easily hook up with them for games. I'd really appreciate a better interface for jamming with my buddy in online Rock Band 2, for instance. Seriously... "Invite a Friend" basically emails them an attachment?

Come on, Sony, make this easier. Take all these social-networking type feature and make them 2D (ie built into the XMB interface) rather than revert back to the "ooh, 3D is the Wave of the Future!" mentality of the 90's. I'd much rather have the ability to make a audio/text chat room with a few clicks in the XMB, to meet with my buddies and arrange a game, rather than go join a 3D one that involves having to run around and find people. Much more complicated.

(Note: I'm not bashing Second Life, just the fact that it's not so wildly popular that I think it justified PS Home being pushed ahead of the other updates I mentioned)

12/15/08 Update: I tried out Home the day after it went public (turns out 12/11/08 was just the public beta) and I couldn't get on. I tried again today, 5 days later and I still get a "can't connect" message. What's worse is there is no option to retry the connection. Some form of "busy redial" would seem appropriate to me. All in all, it's a bust so far. I'm asked to accept the online usage policy every time, as well.