How many of you have seen Xam’d: Lost Memories, the anime series available only through the PlayStation Store? I’m betting not too many as it’s a bit pricey, made worse by the fact that the 26 episode series is only available for rent, rather than purchase. It would seem that few Japanese people have seen it either, so this past week, Sony threw up the first full episode in Home JP’s theater, free and for all to see.
If full length features are possible, the Home Theater may not be such a bad place after all, in the future anyways.
Home JP’s citizens seemed just as eager to see this marvel in action, as I have never seen the huge, cavernous, Home JP theater room so full of people. The video took about five minutes to download and start playing, and was split up into two halves with another download for the second half in between. Afterwards, we were asked to go downstairs and take a survey on the experience.
The questions ranged from the basic demographic stuff to more interesting topics that may suggest future directions Home things like this could take, such as “Would you like to have movie start times so that everyone in the theater sees the videos at the same pace?” and “Would you like to see more of these events in the future?”
I’ve got to point out once again how much more closely Home JP’s virtual world approximates the real world by showing you the actual interactive object that initiated the survey.
It looks just like a promotional cardboard display you’d see in a real theater here, trailer running LCD screen and all. (see top)
Finally, upon completing the survey, I was awarded with a new “glove” item, the big arm in the picture I posted last week. It’s quite cool, and goes nicely with all of the other swag I’ve accumulated in Home JP.
What about Home US?
Imagine how many more people would actually voice their opinions on Home if surveys were actually in the virtual world rather than outside on a website many people don’t normally go to. Plus, in-Home surveys that give out freebies? How could people not want to participate?
It has occurred to me that Home is very much still a work in progress, with many features that have yet to be utilized and thus tested with the public. So with time being the ultimate scarce resource, it only makes sense that each region of Home should test different features alone, allowing for a wider array of concurrent testing within a finite amount of time.
So, hang tight. These types of things will undoubtedly arrive here someday too.
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