Virtual Worlds and the Console Gamer

So I was talking to my friend Clay today, and the topic came up about co-op gaming. He emphasized that the rise in gas prices will create a rise in online gaming and co-op play. I heartily agreed and said the more people appreciate online play,the more companies will expand online capability for their platforms. I put forth this postulate:

Eventually platforms like Sony's "Home" will overtake the menu-based systems of Xbox Live and the Wii, as gamers can finally and on an even and regulated playing field enjoy the same gratification people currently using "Second Life" do, in seeing a physical representation of themselves and others in a virtual environment.

I think this is 100% true. Home will be the testing ground for a forward movement that a lot of online savants can see on the horizon. Second Life is proving to be a multi-million dollar venture, for companies and individuals with rocket boots and angel wings to sell to avatars for Linden Dollars (Second Life's currency, that is bought by users with real money). Home, however, will be accessible. By this I mean that upon loading home you won't feel disoriented, or have to stream it to your PC, or suddenly see a furry fox go flying by with a girl wearing a magically flowing cape in tow as you barely dodge a boat that happens to have spawned on the street your on, carrying a cargo of flying phallus. It's insanity. I personally cannot spend much time in Second Life, despite it's cash-cow nature, because I feel like an outsider, like I don't belong in this mad world with it's cyber-sex and it's avatar crafting and land-owning and CLICK ME FOR A FREE T-SHIRTness.

Home, hopefully, will be not QUITE as bad. My crystal ball forsees advertising out the ass, but it also sees regulated image. Conservative avatars for the most part, more kid friendly appeal, more aesthetic, more shine. Sony's got the guns to make Home into something fun and casual for PS3 owners to enjoy and utilize. For those of you unsure about what it may be like to use Home, here's a little scene:

You log on to PSN, and you load up Home. Your avatar appears in your apartment (An private room, that only you and your invited friends can enter), where on the walls are posters advertising Metal Gear Solid 4. There are plants, and a lovely oak coffee table with two sofas. A TV cycles through some advertising pictures. New PSN games, Blu-Ray movies, Burger King...etc. You walk around, and decide to change into a nice suit. On the wall near your room is a picture that shows you what game you currently have in your PS3's drive. You walk out the door.
Outside there are a few people in the Commons (Not the official name, but I like it) milling about. Think of the commons as a public park. There's a path, a little pond and some tables and lanterns lighting it. Being night outside, it's night in the commons. Your friend Clay walks up to you, and says he'd been waiting for you to log on. There's an event over in the EA Homeroom, and he wants to check it out. You both jog over, and EA is advertising a new game. You both get free jackets for your avatars for showing up. You leave, and decide to go play a game together. You go to your Home, and talk about which one. You settle on Call of Duty 4, and you both load the disc into your trays (Because home runs off the HD, changing the disc in the tray won't interrupt it) and start playing. Hilarity ensues.

There you have it. Doesn't that sound...intriguing?

If Home takes off, then Microsoft won't be far behind. The Wii already proved console gamers love little, polygonal versions of themselves. People treat the Mii channel like a game in and of itself, spending hours crafting perfect little doppelgangers of their friends and family. Gamers are diversifying, gamers are getting more into their social gaming, and the online world will rise to meet that. I give it about two years...maybe three...before most if not all major consoles have a Home-esque service. It'll be free to download, free to use, ABSOLUTELY CHOCK FULL OF ADS...but it'll bring another social level to gaming, and another personal touch to your console. Just by calling it Home makes it feel warm an colloquial. Second Life has a negative sound to it. Home is where the heart is, they say...and I think Sony is definitely on to something. Let's see where it goes.