249w ago - Sony's Home is one of the most highly anticipated titles on the PlayStation 3, and it has the potential to revolutionise the way users interact online. However, there's no doubt it's taken a long time to come to fruition.

At the Sony E3 2008 press conference, the company reiterated Home's importance to the platform and promised that it would release an open beta in the third quarter of 2008.

Home is designed to bring together Sony's three key interests: gaming, music, and movies. The home square is the embodiment of this intention and houses a gaming arcade, a movie theatre, a music zone, as well as shops and meeting areas.

The games arcade allows you to play simple games against other people from right inside Home. These include such games as chess, pool, and bowling -- all of which could be described as simple but addictive mini-games. From our preliminary look at the pool game, the physics feel good, but they won't compete with a proper stand-alone pool sim.

In the music zone, you'll be able to listen to communal music and make your character dance along to the music. A menu system allows you to choose from different dancing styles, and we were shown a particularly funny robot dance. Sony hasn't confirmed whether you'll be able to buy music here, but we expect it's a feature...