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PlayStation Home Reaches 10 Million Users
by Leigh Alexander [PC, Console/PC]
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December 18, 2009
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PlayStation Home, the PS3's avatar-based social environment, has reached 10 million users, Sony says, as it unveils two new themed spaces.
Areas based on Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Insomniac's Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack In Time opened their doors in Home today, and a space themed around MotorStorm will soon arrive, Sony adds.
Sony says the themed areas in Home are an opportunity for developers to "showcase their products and creativity to their core audience," and are a method of reaching gamers with integrated marketing campaigns.
Marking the service's first anniversary, Sony recently talked to Gamasutra about an expansion on Home that adds a microtransactions-oriented action game called Sodium, part of its repositioning as a social networking service for the core market.
SCEE Europe business manager Dan Hill commented: "PlayStation Home is fast becoming the meeting place of choice between users and developers. Every new game space enhances the overall experience for consumers, offering more variety, more choice and more enjoyment from a PlayStation Home session."
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To be successful, products need to be designed around the needs of users, not the desire of companies to push products on consumers. A well designed product will find its own way to meet the marketing objectives of its owners. Google and Yahoo, for example, were designed with no monetary objectives in mind.
Also, the numbers posted are meaningless if 10 million people spend five minutes trying out Home and then never return. A more meaningful number would be return visitors or time spent in Home.