System: PS3
Dev: N/A
Pub: Sony
Release: September 2007
Players: Unlimited
ESRB Rating: N/A
Preview by D'Marcus Beatty

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

There are different areas in the Home environment that are accessible for anyone. There are gaming areas that allow people to play arcade machines with simple games that can be accessed in real time, that can be played and broken away from instantly and without breaks or shifts. Sony has also showcased a virtual bowling alley (A subtle stab at Wii Sports?) and a virtual pool table where different people can gather and challenge each other to games. Sony expects the atmosphere in these areas to be relaxed, a sort of social gaming area.

Socializing will also be a major part of the Home interface. As the avatars travel around, they'll encounter a number of other avatars representing different gamers. The avatars can communicate through either voice chat, emoting, or texting using either a virtual or USB keyboard. There is even a very efficient Quick Write system that gives commonly used phrases for the player to quickly string together.

It seems ridiculous to believe that Sony could offer all of this for free, but they're standing behind their claim, and the next feature makes this outlandish claim more believable. The Virtual World will have dynamic advertising throughout the game world. Posters and movie trailers will decorate walls, so players can expect to see images of upcoming or recently released movies and games will traversing the Virtual World. So far, none of the advertising is overtly invasive and actually seems to add a bit of realism to the Virtual World, since it is hard to go for long in reality without encountering some form of advertising. By utilizing the possibilities of virtual advertising and the revenues from premium content, Sony is expecting to help recoup the costs of Home, and it seems a likely bet.

Sony also plans to have different rooms for fans of particular themes or franchises to congregate. One example is the EA Sports room, which will have different sports themed areas, complete with sections for three-point shootouts and other likely challenges expected from EA Sports, such as Batting Cages or maybe even Dunk Contests. There are a lot of possibilities here, with the ability to groups of people around favorite games, franchises, genres, or even characters.

What Sony is hoping to achieve in the Virtual Community is creating a sense of community. Sony is expecting players to gather at each others apartments to plan gaming sessions or chat, which definitely seems better than just inviting each other to private chat rooms. Players can set up headquarters, invite friends to their homes, or even throw virtual parties complete with music. Impressively, Sony also plans to include a system to protect users of the Home system from jerks and perverts. Anyone that is bothering a player can be muted or visually blocked at the touch of a few buttons, and there will also be community moderators to keep the peace and discourage abusive avatars from disrupting everyone else's good time.

Although Home isn't expected to launch until the third quarter of this year, the hype for it has already reached a fevered pitch. The possibilities for Home are endless and the interface is still a long ways from even being released, which means that Sony could possibility add and implement more cool ideas. However, Sony is known for its empty and sometimes broken promises, so hopefully they can deliver on everything they're offering here and keep it free. If so, both Nintendo and Microsoft are going to have to step up their online plans and system interfaces, or they may find a lot of their customers seeking a new Home.

By D'Marcus Beatty
CCC Co-Site Director