Back in March at the Game Developer’s Conference, Sony announced something virtually nobody saw coming. They announced an upcoming service called PlayStation Home that would give PS3 owners a virtual world to socialize with other PS3 owners. A meeting place of sorts, to discuss games and customize to your own personal tastes. It was clear a lot of effort had gone into Home before it was shown to us (and it would mentioned shortly after the initial announcement that Home was originally planned for the PS2 and development had sort of simmered for a couple years).

Gamers were almost universally speechless at the announcement. Then… out of the perfect silence, someone said two words that would instantly create the biggest virtual hurdle you’ve ever seen.

Read more after the jump…

Someone said “Second Life?”

Anyone familiar with Second Life (other than corporate executives) knows that it’s primarily a haven for griefers and pedophiles. What a better way to distinguish yourself in the console market! Let’s create a social networking service that’s easily mistaken for a pedophile haven! It’s pure genius. I should probably get a couple things out in the open right now; from the beginning, I’ve seen value and merit in Home. As much as people rave over Xbox Live, it’s still lacking in the “out of game” socialization. I have friends that meet up in Gears to chat. That’s just odd. Home gives people a mechanism for meeting up and leaving to play games together (although it’s not required for multiplayer gaming; another misconception). When those folks are done playing their games, they’ll be dropped right back into Home where they left off. Imagine your favorite gaming community meeting online every Saturday night. I picture it almost like hanging out at the bar with buddies (only I don’t have that pesky requirement of you know, wearing pants.)

Much like other high profile Sony projects, Home has taken longer than initially planned to develop. We’re not sure when we’ll see a public beta or even a release, but if it takes extra development time to get it right, I’m all for that. We can already play Second Life right now; for free. I’m hoping Home ends up being something special.

That’s why Sony’s announcement of Playstation Home checks in at #69 in our top 100 Gaming moments of 2007!

Click here for the rest of Sarcastic Gamer’s Top 100 Gaming Moments from 2007 all in one place!