Sony has gotten us used to often releases of new products, or at least new versions and accessories. The PlayStation is one of the most popular, successful, technologically advanced and forever-improving video game consoles on the market. The PlayStation console series surprised every time, getting slimmer, darker – some gamers and game reviewers even called it “sexy” at one point.

For over a year, Sony has promised the release of PlayStation Home. The new item from Sony’s game division was an online 3-D networking service. Recently, Sony has announced that the long-overdue launch will finally take place tomorrow, Thursday, December 11th.

The PlayStation Home is similar in concept and format to Linden Lab’s Second Life. In PS Home, users are able to interact with one another by using their own computer-generated characters, or “avatars”, in a virtual environment.
Over the past two years, it seems that the once top console has been losing business, according to official reports issued by Sony’s video game unit. Thus, Sony hopes to regain its lost customers by releasing a new type of service, one based on social networking. Given the success of Second Life, and even the social-networking features of the Xbox 360, there is no doubt that this new “face” of Sony and PlayStation will attract new users and bring back old fans.

Officials from Sony want to lure people in before starting to charge them. They plan to first offer the PS Home as a free software download for all the users that own a PS3. The services provided by Home will also include a video downloading feature, which in itself attracted 15 million subscribers from around the world.