Saturday, July 26, 2008

Hirai: Home will be worth the wait

Sony Computer Entertainment head honcho Kazuo Hirai has said that the eagerly-anticipated PlayStation Home service for the PS3 will be worth the wait.

Home has been heavily delayed after being originally slated for launch last October and it's now expected to come out from under the covers later this year.

Speaking to GI.biz, Hirai remained bullish when asked if Home would be an anticlimax given the hype and anticipation surrounding the service.

"I would put it the other way around," claimed Hirai. "Because we've got so much buzz, had we launched it be thought it was the right time and the right features and functionality to launch it – with the high anticipation, people would go there in droves the first time around, they would check it out and say, 'This isn't fun at all, so I'm not coming back again.'"

Hirai said he doesn't regret the way the situation played out. He is happy to take the flak for the open beta delays and the constant 'dinging' that's been going on. "If I know we're doing it for the right reasons and that once we launch the service this Fall it's going to be something that the consumers once they go there see that it's actually going to be a fun service, that to me is a lot better than doing it the other way around," he said.

"I've said this on many occasions, and right now we're aiming for a Fall open beta programme, but no beta should be opened before its time, and it's important enough of an initiative for the platform and for SCE, that we don't want to prematurely launch it and then be dinged for having a bad service," added Hirai.

Are you looking forward to Home, or do you think it's going to be the anticlimax Hirai says it won't be? Share your thoughts in the forums.

  • Nuclear unit
  • Moore: “Disappointed” by Home delays
  • Windows Home Server data corruption bug fixed
  • XP SP3 breaks WHS RDP
  • 0 comments: