As promised, and after much struggle in getting my PlayStation 3 to do so, I've finally had a look at what
everyone in the PotterMore community have been
talking about for the last month or so:
PotterMore for PlayStation Home.
PotterMore, as all HP fans probably know by now,
has become J.K. Rowling's virtual home for
all things Potter, including the Harry Potter e-books,
and the free interactive visual re-creation of scenes
taken from the book, in which users can see what
the author saw when first writing the book,
as well as some cheap 2-minute mini-games.
All of it interesting, but not enough to keep the fandom going for years to come on its own.
Now we come to PotterMore on PlayStation Home.
PlayStation Home took a hard look at what PotterMore was, and how it could better fit
on the PlayStation 3, and how the experience could be more interactive, fun,
and overall offer a better experience for users.
Only two Harry Potter locations have so far appeared in PotterMore in PlayStation Home:
Diagon Alley, (pictured above,) and the interior of the Hogwarts Express train.
Diagon Alley: An amazing sight to behold, especially with the PS3's full 1080p HD.
From the moment your PlayStation Home customized avatar steps into Diagon Alley,
they are given a temporary wizard's/witch's robe to blend into their surroundings,
and, (if you know where to go,) can participate in the fun exclusive "book herding" mini game.
In addition to this, users can, (sadly not for free) purchase their own animal companion.
(Which is either a cat, an owl, or a toad, of course!) As well as view Gringott's Bank,
although there appears to be no way to enter Gringott's Bank yet,
unlike the computer version of PotterMore.
Hogwarts Express: Players can explore this magnificent train from one end to the other,
sit down wherever they want to interact with other users, play some wizarding card game,
(which is overly-complicated and somewhat difficult to play when using a PS3 controller,)
from the previous version used on the PotterMore website, with simpler controls,
and overall, just a lot more fun.
Final Verdict: PotterMore at PlayStation Home greatly improves on what the PotterMore
website had started, and allows users to finally experience the wizarding world digitally in the
way J.K. Rowling had imagined it. But the exclusion of Hogwarts Castle cannot be overlooked.
The one major downside is that a visit to see everything in Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express would only take 15-20 minutes. Hopefully Sony will address this in the future,
and add more visitable locations over time.
Grade: A-