PS3 Home games integration explained for Warhawk (3D war room), Uncharted (2D arcade game), Resistance (bonus content and new areas)
The PlayStation 3’s Home service is a free online 3D avatar-based achievement and communication system (via text, voice chat or e-motions) and that will give you access to a “home” of your own and a larger interactive world. Last we heard it was to be released sometime between April and June 2008.
You can launch a game you want to play with someone else from within Home. The first game to use this is the Incognito aerial dogfighter Warhawk. You’ll be given access to a “war room” where up to 8 players can meet up to discuss their strategies for an upcoming match. While that in itself may not sound exciting, these strategies you discuss can be planned using a 3D “sand table” replication of the level you’re about to play! To quote: “Warhawk players are said to be able to lay out their strategies in a properly scaled space. They’ll even be able to place little army men avatars around the map to envision their formations.”
PS3 games will be able to not only display their achievements as trophies in your Home lobby, but also add 2D or 3D games (like 2D rescue helicopter or 3D bowling) in a room-environment of their own to draw attention to their latest games. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune adventure comes to Home armed with a side-scrolling 2D arcade game! It’s described as: “Reminiscent of both Contra and Out Of This World. Sounds kind of like Capcom’s 2D remake of Bionic Commando in its execution, full of enemies and exploding barrels to shoot.” Your Home avatar will also be able to walk through Uncharted’s empty levels without the threat of being shot at.
While we already knew film publishers can show their latest movie releases in Home cinemas as a special sneak peek event (Sony showing Spider-Man 3 for example), the same goes for game publishers. Insomniac’s shooter Resistance: Fall of Man also gives users access to a game room where you can “visit unseen areas of the game and tap into bonus content in the form of “intercepted” radio communications between European and U.S. forces. These hidden transmissions will help to flesh out the Resistance story, giving players a better understanding of the game’s conflict.” You’ll also be able to walk through Resistance’s empty levels with your Home avatar without enemies. — Via Kotaku
I hope that more developers take up this room aspect of Home. Obviously these games are all made by developers close to Sony.
I think that more developers will make their own rooms, most likely EA and perhaps Konami with the MGS games.
