I mentioned in a comment to a previous post, and it has been said many times by others, that the world is poised on the brink of spending as much time in the virtual world as the real one.
Project Darkstar was maybe the first step along the path — a shared “back end” that can support any number of people and any number of games, given enough raw computing power and bandwidth. Darkstar could be the universe.
PS3 Home might be the shape of a world inside that universe. When even such a vocal Sony critic as Tycho starts saying nice things about it… it’s time perhaps to take a look.
Home is a virtual world which serves as a meeting place, a portal to their multiplayer games (such as LittleBigWorld, where even while playing the game you are changing the world and those changes can be shared) and online arcade games. You can also make your own personal living place, decorate it however you like, and invite friends over to watch movies, listen to tunes, chat or play games. Text and voice chat are supported, too — and with voice being tied to the position of your avatar, it should be extremely immersive with a head set. (Brent at Virgin Worlds interviewed some people working on such a technology but I couldn’t catch the name. BeBox? BeVox?)
The one thing missing from Playstation Home is user-generated content. That is, you can decorate your home, but only with the things they let you have. You can dance, but only their dances.
The virtual planet will really take off when anyone can buy a server with Darkstar or something similar on it, build their own little place, plug it in and take residence in the world.
