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PlayStation Home is the attempt of the Sony PlayStation 3 brand to be more than a static gaming console platform and to dabble in virtual worlds and online communities. Home, as it is fondly called by Sony PlayStation 3 gamers, is a community-based service which is being developed by Sony Computer Entertainment’s London and Cambridge 3D animation studio departments. It has been announced in development as early as 2005 and presently it is now under open public beta testing.

Home can be acquired directly from the PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar. The major requirement needed to join this online community is a PlayStation Network (PSN) account. Like all free virtual worlds, Home is centered on the user experience of creating customized avatars. Apart from the avatar character, there is also the HomeSpace, a little online nook which serves as the personal apartment of the avatars.

Through the avatars created by the Sony PlayStation 3 gamers, people can navigate through the online virtual world which is regularly updated by Sony. Places inside Home are referred to as Spaces. Many Spaces are provided inside Home for varying purposes – be it for public display, fun and entertainment, socialization with other avatars and even some mini-games which can be played either through single player or multiplater.

PlayStation Home had its roots in the PlayStation 2 game The Getaway: Black Monday. It was originally conceptualized as a 2D animation-powered online lobby. The PS2 project never found completion until it was transferred to the PlayStation 3 under the code name Game 3.0. The presence of such a 3D animation-powered free virtual world has been in speculation until Phil Harrison, then of Sony, revealed it during the Game Developers’ Conference of the year 2007.

However, the development of such a massive free virtual world based on superpower PS3 graphics had many twists and turns. It was originally planned for a global public release of late 2007 but it was pushed back continually. For a while, Home was perpetually in closed beta mode with a few participants coming from PlayStation 3 contest winners.

Major progress was seen when in December of 2008, Sony commenced to the Open Beta Test phase of Home. Reception was very positive as it was downloaded by around 6.5 million users worldwide. Sony has stated that it may stay in the Open Beta phase for a long while. Gamers should not despair because they can experience the improvement of Home through their experiences in Open Beta.

Home is in the perspective of the third person and it is through the avatars that gamers can get to interact and travel around the free virtual world. The administration of Home is very hands-on in its development because they are continually informing users about the improvements and issues of Home through the Message of the Day prompt.

Communication, an important part of the virtual world experience, can be achieved through a variety of means. Users can exchange text messages via the PlayStation 3 controller or a USB keyboard. Non-verbal aspects such as waving and dancing are also available for the avatars. There is also a voice chat feature but this is not as widely available as text messaging.

Sony has been stern in saying that the behavior of Home users should always be of top-notch quality in order to maintain peace and order inside the free virtual world of Home. Thus offensive words, conversations and messages are thoroughly eradicated from Home. Moreover, users are given with the chance to block off messages from people they don’t know. Now with a full-fledged economy and more expanded gameplay aspects, PlayStation Home is an interesting case study of how a gaming concept from a gaming console platform turn into a world of its own thanks to the World Wide Web.