The Diesel Island Mystery

The Diesel Island personal space came upon PS Home in EU last year in July. At first, it created buzz because it was a new beach, and we all love the beach don't we?

As time went on, it never sustained the popularity it sustained in those first few weeks. Now, it is leaving for good in just a couple of days.

The space, developed by Veemee for Italian clothes designer Diesel, was large and had an interesting design. If I had to guess why it was never widely accepted, I'd blame the poor lighting.

I purchased the space when it first came out, but quickly forgot it and rarely used it. Until this week. A long time friend in Home, Cuddlypaws, told me about "strange sounds" in Diesel Island. At first, I thought these were "crossover" noises from another space in Home. I experienced that first-hand in Japan Home.

So last night, we met up and she showed me where these sounds were. Much to my surprise, they are not "crossover" noises. These sounds were "baked in" on purpose. They are consistent and they have a "range" just like any sound does in PS Home. "Crossover" noises are faint. You can easily tell the difference.

Two spots are on the perimeter of the pond area. One is a series of sounds in a loop that sounds like footsteps in snow; someone eating something; and footsteps on metal stairs. The other sounds like a ping-pong game.

On one side of the beach (again at the perimeter) there is the constant "tick-tock" sound of a pendulum clock.

OK, so now I'm curious. Veemee contracts out for sound design. Why would they pay to have this done for no reason? Is it Diesel's strange sense of humor or is there a reason these exist?

Posts have appeared that suggested there was a hidden game room that could be accessed if you solved the mystery. So far, that has proven to be false.

Cuddlypaws pointed out to me that the items in the store for Diesel Island have "clues". I checked that out. They do all have strange descriptions. One, a "dimensional gate", even suggest that something might happen. I have all of the items that were sold for Diesel Island and have them all out in the space. Nothing.

Now Diesel Island is leaving. It appears that coincides with Diesel's ad campaign itself. Maybe because the campaign wasn't successful? BrandChannel said this about Diesel's ad campaign:

"While projects like Diesel Island are certainly good diigtal exercises to keep the creative muscles flexed, it's questionable exactly what it does for the brand. In fact, going deeper down the stupid hole seems to be an inexplicable brand strategy, communicating nothing about the brand. The initial campaign may have been eye-catching and buzzworthy for its… stupidity, but such a dynamic extension of stupid doesn't really seem to have a brand strategy behind it."

Is there a mystery yet to be solved on Diesel Island or is it just Diesel being Diesel? If there is a mystery, will it disappear when it all disappears from Home next week? This weeks PS Blog post on the EU Update said,​

"Finally, Diesel Isalnd will be sinking from sight in PlayStation Home on Wednesday the 25th of April. You’ve got one week left to rescue some of the Island stock from the Diesel store – such as The Tropical Paradise Beach Crib, A.I.- B.O.T. or Aunt Mildred. Coming soon – more news on what’s next in PS Home for Diesel."

It will be interesting to see if Diesel comes back with new items for PS Home. If they do, I hope they improve the lighting ​

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I was referring to the personal space version. Went to the public version even less, if ever.