PlayStation 3 owners in Europe will start feeling the effects of the Dead Island infection shortly before the game launches there on September 9. It’ll all start with a few zombies shambling through the Home Square. Apparently those zombies will be landscapers and building contractors, because soon enough visitors will find themselves wandering about a recreation of the island of Banoi’s Royal Palms Resort.
Then the mini-games start.
Up to four players will be able to take-on a Dead Island-themed challenge in which they must craft weapons and utilise special abilities to repel the zombie horde. Completing all 10 challenges will earn a player a special in-game item for the game proper, something called “exploding meat”. Mmm.
Players can also get their picture taken with a zombie, take on a zombie survival quiz for fabulous Home prizes, or preorder the game directly from Home-based kiosks, scoring an exclusive in-game “Exploding Zombie Outfit” for their trouble.
The key element to take away here is that the PlayStation Home Dead Island experience will lead directly to in-game exclusives that can’t be found anywhere else. That’s a rather aggressive way to get folks to give Sony’s virtual playground a try.
No word on whether this promotion is coming to the US or not. I’ll half-heartedly cross my fingers.
AerintheADEQUATE
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 3:30 AMWeren’t Home avatars lifelessly animated and dead-in-the-eyes enough? :-P
Seriously though, the only thing that would get me to actually log into and do something in Home is if it actually connected with the game itself. “Do a ‘Home-mini-game’ and you get a special whatchamacallit to use in the game” type of thing…