STOP PRESS: Sony do something RIGHT! (TWICE!)

In news that is sure to rock the gaming industry Sony have unveiled their plans to bring a new feature to the PS3 online network. "Home" is a feature that combines Second Life with the Nintendo Wii's "Mii's" and the Xbox 360's achievements.

Everything I read about this feature is fantastic, sounds like it may be the killer-app that Sony need to make the PS3 a must own console. Unfortunately it is not due out until fall but it looks well worth the wait. Here is some info nuggets I stole directly from C|Net News.com.

Essentially, Home is a 3D, avatar-based social environment available for free to users of the PlayStation 3 network. The idea is to give users a way to connect in a multimedia space and interact with the various forms of media available on the PS3.

Home will be a free download. It will go into a large-scale beta in April and will launch publicly this fall.

While Home has some innovative features--most notably the ability to watch high-definition quality video available through the PS3 network--it's strongly reminiscent of virtual worlds like Second Life, only deeply scaled back.

Home participants will be able to meet other members, most likely in a main public area known as the "Central Lobby," and communicate through text, audio or video chatting. They will also be able to pipe in--either in public or private theaters--the latest movies or TV shows available through the PS3 network, as well as their own user-created videos.

Further, users will be able to infinitely customize their avatars. And each member will be given a small (and free) private space, somewhat like an apartment, that they can customize per their own tastes.

Harrison told CNET News.com that while users will be able to design their own clothing and avatars, as well as other content--be it furniture, vehicles or the like--Sony will moderate anything meant for public spaces, most likely to ensure that Home remains a family-friendly space. Content meant for private spaces will not be moderated, he added.

"We've been working on Home for about two-and-a-half years," he said. "So we're absolutely aware of other avatar-based (environments), but we're taking a different approach."

He did say users would be able to create some forms of their own content, though he did not specify what kinds. He did indicated that, like in Second Life, There.com and other virtual worlds, users would be able to conduct transactions in exchange for some form of payment.

And while it's evident Sony doesn't expect Home to be a major cash cow, there are some potential revenue sources.

Those, Harrison said, would include sales of in-world goods; in-world advertising (Home allows for high-quality, realistic advertising); and business-to-business services like sponsorship opportunities.

Sony also announced a game called LittleBigPlanet, which is a "user designed playground". A create-your-own-platformer tool of sorts. Looks freaking awesome too! Two peices of great news from Sony regarding the PS3 in the same day! Shocking! Check out the LittleBigPlanet video below and prepare to drool.



Originally found on the fantastic video game blog Kotaku.