I’ve occasionally played Second Life (that’s me in the upper left; I’m still on the “Help Island-I really should go look up my ex-employer’s space), but today I learned about the PS3’s Home service that is going to launch in April.  That’s a screen shot on the right hand side.

Among the cool features it’s going to have: you can watch movies online and you’ll be able to play online games with people you meet online (literally: you can all flick a switch and suddenly you’re in a game).

Check out a short teaser video here (2:30) and a full-length demo here (21:30).  If you’re wondering what the hell Second Life is, check some videos here.

Incidentally, could the dark horse in this race be Google with their Google Earth software?  Here’s a photo of my neighbourhood; it’s not a stretch to see thousands of little avatars scurrying around...