Looks familiar? Yep, it's their version of Second Life with some great features to connect gamers. And it does look soooo pretty. But what it doesn't look like (at least from this trailer) is an open environment. It is limited to a single console and my first impression is that it is a very sterile environment. Maybe a bit too much.
Anyhow, I take Sony's Home community as a sign that virtual 3D communities are getting big and that that the digital natives of the next generation will probably will be very comfortable with virtual worlds and the ability to travel between different worlds - just as today's natives are comfortable with MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube and Flickr. However, I do hope that more open alternatives (Croquet and Ogoglio are worth mentioning again) will be available on the market. It is also up to us - the users, consumers - to support open source projects and demand more open environments. Let's not just settle for the first cute thing that comes around; we can and should have so much more!
Note: This is just an archive post. The blog has moved to a new home at blog.ialja.com, where you will also find a copy of the entire blog.
