PS3 experience to get a whole lot more fun

Tokyo: Sony's much delayed virtual community for owners of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game console will start worldwide today, but it's unlikely to attract many newcomers to the machine, company officials said.

The free-of-charge Play-Station Home service is meant to make gaming more fun for people who already own the PS3, they said.

Owners download Home software and connect their PS3 to broadband to create three-dimensional digital avatars, and communicate with the avatars of other PS3 owners.

The figures wander around virtual lawns, bowling alleys, arcades and homes in the PS3, but the central activity is playing games and becoming friends with other PS3 fans, according to Sony.

Junji "JB" Shoda, a Sony Computer Entertainment Japan vice president, who oversees Home, said yesterday the service isn't meant to rival virtual worlds like Linden Lab's Second Life, which can be played on personal computers and has drawn millions of people.

Sony had the idea for Home before such virtual worlds or Metaverse in cyberspace became popular, he said.

"This is a community for gamers," Shoda told reporters at a Sony Computer Entertainment office in Tokyo. "It's meant to enrich the interactive experience for gamers." The service will start in Japan, Europe, US and other PS3 available areas.