14 DAY TRIAL // PlayStation Home did pretty well for itself so it would be only natural that the competition got interested in the topic. Microsoft's new project sprung a leak and a survey regarding a new virtual Avatar arcade ended up in the hands of the masses. The idea will be set up for theXbox 360 and it will be very similar to Sony's PS Home environment but with the special Avatars. The news is brought via Joystiq, which seems to have been the first to get a hold of this concept.
Being still in a primordial stage of evolution, the project doesn't really have a name yet, but there are plenty of possible choices. The unborn child is looking at titles such as "RetroCade," "Classics Live," "Tower of ROM" or the far simpler "Game Room." We should probably expect plenty of classic Atari arcade titles, with some from Namco close behind. The virtual simulation of an old school arcade hall can be expected somewhere in the following year, but such projects have an oscillating evolution, so plenty of updates regarding them are bound to surfaces.
The PlayStation Home proved to be a success even though it's one of those mind-puzzling concepts. Or maybe that is exactly why it was successful. Just like the Wii console, the PSH focused on casual gamers, on personal interaction between them and a simulation that involved some degree of real life.
Sony's social environment offered to its customers a digital playground that mimics the actual meeting place of people who come to play games. In other words, it's a game that simulates real life, where people play video games. That should have clarified any misunderstanding. It's the alternative for all those people who enjoy playing games with their friends, don't have the time anymore to gather at each other’s place around a D&D board but still miss the presence of some around them.