Sony’s Home is that rarest of beasts. Somewhat equivalent to the Loch Ness Monster, one worries that they’re either on the cusp of a great discovery, or just a log in the water. Sony is starting to show some real meat to their service, though, as they’ve announced exclusive Content through Home for three of their biggest titles.

Warhawk will allow players to meet in a war room inside of Home before playing it. There, they will be able to use a sand table map of each level to plot strategies. Once ready, players will be able to jump straight into the game. And yes, this is a feature through Home, not simply a new one through Warhawk. So, you could always go bowling at the last minute, too. (more…)

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While Home for the PS3 is still on the horizon, the PlayStation Network might be getting what some would say is a very necessary update. The PlayStation website briefly touted that a friends list and in-game messaging would be coming in the near future before quickly being removed. The option to communicate in game with both video and voice chat through the cross media bar (XMB) has been a desire of many PS3 owners since it’s debut but Sony has yet to fulfill the wishes of gamers yet.

It was promised recently at CES 2008 that the in-game XMB would be coming before the end of the year but so far no updates have been reported. Despite this missing feature, which has been available on Xbox Live for some time, the no cost online service is still a major bonus without the option of in-game chat.

Sony is expected to announce more information about the rumored feature at the upcoming Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco on February 18th.

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There is no doubt that the first year of life for the PS3 has been a rocky one. Price cuts, new system bundles, and bailing third party exclusives have all served to help muddy the waters of what was supposed to be another easy win for Sony. However, recent events have started to shift things more and more in Sony’s favor.

At least some of the PS3’s problems can be blamed upon the inclusion of its now infamous Blu-Ray drive. While that certainly was a hindrance in the first year (leading to higher system costs and therefore fewer buyers), it has proven to be a worthwhile gamble for Sony. HD-DVD, Blu-Ray’s rival format, is dying a expedited death and Sony now has a corner on the high definition media market.

Recent rumors of yet another new PS3 bundle may have some worried about more confusion, but it offers keen insight into Sony’s long term strategy. With the optical disc format cornered, Sony now turns its attention digital downloads and to Apple’s iTunes and Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace. It’s already well known that Sony will take on Xbox Live this year when the finally introduce their Home online counterpart, and it’s been long rumored that around the same time they will move more into digital media distribution. The rumored new PS3 models seem to indicate this may be happening soon. (more…)

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