It’s hard to believe that we’re coming up on the one year anniversary of Home’s open beta launch. With millions of transactions taking place, anybody who thought this social networking application would result in utter failure has pretty much been proven wrong. I know personally, I started taking more interest in Home after the release of the EA Sports Home space and the addition of Poker, but for some, you’ve been there since day 1. Well, with a year nearly in the books, I thought I’d break down the top 8 improvements I’d like to see Home make in order to push the application to the next level.

• Home support from more exclusive titles in order to create Spaces.

One of the coolest aspects of the Home world is the ability to explore and hang out in Home spaces designed after some of our favorite video games. The problem is, there doesn’t seem to be enough exclusive support when it comes to Home. There have been a ton of exclusive titles released for the PlayStation 3 that has yet to capitalize on the Home aspect of things. I’m most particularly surprised that we’ve yet to receive a Hot Shots Golf space or LittleBigPlanet facility for us to play some minor miniature golf or even the ability to do a little programmed platforming.

What are some of the Home Spaces you’d like to see developed?

• Home Space mini-games need more access. Wait times are worse than theme parks.

We’ve all been there in Home, right? Standing around in the Siren Home space waiting an hour or more to play their mini-game only to last 30 seconds because of other Home characters wearing Nurses outfits leaving us confused, right? Who hasn’t that happened too? I’m sure a lot of you have experienced the same thing at the Golf Driving range in the EA Sports space or the Burn Zombie Burn maze. This is one of the most disappointing aspects of Home for me, because I think I’d spend a lot more time in the virtual world if I was able to take part in some of its aspects more often.

How many of you have had this problem when going to spend time in the social network application?

• Home Items need to come in a little bit quicker batches.

When the Home updates take place every week or so, small batches of clothes make their way into Home; however, they seem to be coming a lot slower than I thought they would. I don’t know if I’m correct or not, but I’d almost bet that LittleBigPlanet has released more clothing content since release than Home has. It’s definitely got to be close, right? I understand Home can double their numbers through two genders, but I still feel we need to see more creation and production from the Home store environment. Also – Much like Home Spaces, Home needs to develop more game-oriented clothing items as well.

Agree or disagree? Simple as that.

• Spaces need to be demo-able before users buy. Having “open houses” through other users is great, but sometimes we can’t schedule our lives around the other users being on.

Currently, Sony offers up specific user volunteers who are willing to show you the new purchasable apartments before buying, however, I’d like to know why these apartment spaces don’t have an option to just demo them. With Home v1.3 set to launch, players will be able to try on clothes before purchasing. I’d imagine this is the next likely process in the line of upgrades.

Have you ever purchased a Home apartment and then realized maybe you should have passed?

• Arcade games shouldn’t reset on you. Taking out the dog in real life and coming back to a game that’s returned to the start screen is frustrating!

So, I was checking out the Ice Breaker game at the good ole’ Bowling Alley when my dog needed to go out. Since he was a puppy, I knew he’d take it out on the carpet if I didn’t take him outside. At this point in the Ice Breaker session, I was nearing the end hoping to unlock the rest of the clothing items to complete my set. Alas, when I returned with my pooch in tow, the stupid game had set me to start screen because I had idled for too long. While I understand this is a precaution to prevent people from hogging the machines and leaving the house, it’s quite frustrating when you need to take a legitimate break. I think they should either extend the wait time to a more legitimate amount or remove it entirely.

Has anyone else experienced this?

• Avatar Interaction. Actions should be able to take place like handshakes, hugs, etc…if opposing player accepts. Things like High Fives and “secret handshakes” would be awesome.

Avatars can wave and dance, of course, even I could put down some better dance moves, but they don’t really have any avatar-to-avatar interaction. How cool would it be if you could give a buddy a virtual high five after bowling a strike? I know it would pump me up even more! It may sound odd, but I think improving the avatar interactions would create a more engulfing atmosphere within the Home world.

Would you be for or against this addition?

• Voice Chat needs to return.

This one is fairly simple. Voice interaction was fun. Sure we had the random avatar blasting annoying music that a mother would hate, but I’d bet there is a lot more of us who would like to see it return than those that wouldn’t. I say, bring it back and let us have our virtual say!

Agree of disagree?

• Finally Implement Trophy Support

It feels like forever since Sony demonstrated how cool it would be for your Home apartment to display some of your crowning Trophy achievements, doesn’t it? To see a sweet Batman Trophy reflecting the last Platinum Trophy you unlocked. Bring a couple of friends over so they can get jealous over your ever-growing inventory of awards. Don’t kid yourself, you know you consider your Trophy whoring as a sign of awesomeness. So, let’s stop kidding ourselves and stop letting Sony jerk us around with it. Release the Trophy support into Home already and let’s start filling up our apartments with achievements only we care about!

How excited are you to finally see this implemented?