Second Life, and Maybe a Third or Fourth

"One of the things that is remarkable, in the case of Sony's PlayStation 3, is that they have rich content and they have an audience already," Bain says. "When you have a group that has come together for whatever reason, those audiences are going to exploit, partake and enjoy what they would come together to do anyway."

Home won't feature user-driven content like Second Life. Instead, the virtual environment will be provided by Sony and third-party developers. The intent is to develop a gamers' forum, where people can communicate in a 3-D world.

On Home's digital landscape, users can browse each other's Hall of Fame for trophies earned in various retail video games. In larger forum areas, 3-D avatars can chat with text and even voice capability, something Second Life announced in February but has yet to integrate in the system.

One of Home's strong points is that Sony will bring the service to PlayStation 3 owners free of charge. Gamers need only an Internet connection. However, the price of a PlayStation 3 console carries a hefty price tag of $500 or $600, depending on the hardware configuration.

While pricing hasn't been discussed yet by Sony, the company has said that additional items and clothing, as well as downloadable video games, will be made available.

"Sony is very smart, and they're going to follow, learn, and adapt," notes Bain. "It's smart to take advantage of that powerful box and a wonderful network. The more opportunities to engage, the more opportunities they'd have to expose them to new things. They can monetize what they expose their audience to."