At Home with the PS3

It's been some months since we were tempted to use the words "Sony" and "positive reception" in the same sentence. But at a press conference today at the Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco, something unexpected happened: Sony unveiled a new PlayStation 3 feature, an online service for players to explore, socialize, customize and game together, to widespread approval. And there were no giant enemy crabs to be seen.

Home, as it's called, will be launched in the fall as a free download for PS3 owners. Looking like a cross between The Sims Online and Second Life, but with a full physics system and PS3-quality visuals, it's Sony's answer to both Nintendo's user-customizable Miis, Microsoft's achievements points and matchmaking features.

Sony chief Phil Harrison demonstrated Home's character customization features. You create your avatar in much the same way as any RPG or sports game, choosing facial shape, skin coloring, features, clothes and accessories from a series of options. From there, you're free to walk around Home's world and chat to the other people you find there. You can play simple arcade games, watch trailers on in-world TVs, explore, or set up regular multiplayer PS3 matches without leaving character, as it were.

Away from the public areas, Home allows each player to create their own private residence, and furnish it with your choice of downloadable furniture, TVs and other goodies. If you have media like pictures, movies or music on your PS3's hard drive, you can share them with your visitors. It'll support chat via an external keyboard, an on-screen menu system or with a Bluetooth headset. You'll also get your own public room that contains trophies you'll win by playing PS3 games, in a system that sounds very similar to Microsoft's achievement point arrangement - but here you can walk into someone else's trophy room and see each one decorating the walls.