In the past few years, with computers increasingly cutting down on the amount of face-to-face time people spend, a new popular phenomenon has risen: virtual communities. Different than standard MMOs, these online social refuges focus more on acquiring virtual property and interacting with other like minded individuals than on reaching a level cap. Today, there are several different options on the PC, including Entropia Universe, Habbo and Second Life (to name a few) and soon they will be joined by the first console equivalent: Sony's Home for PS3.

Now, granted Xbox Live has many of the same underlying qualities as home and Wii has its Mii avatar creation, but neither holds the exact scope that Home aspires to offer. Players can not only create avatars, but they can customize their wardrobe with many different options and lay out their own personal spaces with fancy looking furniture. Along with being able to meet people and talk to them in general lobbies, there will be spaces specific to particular games and companies that users can check out. All of this comes without any subscription fee to speak of... and leaves advertisers licking their chops.

We chatted with in-game ad specialists Jon Epstein, president and CEO of Double Fusion, and Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide, about Home's rather significant potential.

To date, Sony has mentioned three possibilities for how Home will be supported including content purchases in the form of clothing and accessories for your avatar, general advertising, and content auctions. The direct advertising part is obviously what has the most potential for in-game advertisers. Banner ads and billboards provide a steady, consistent level of income to a game

"We're exceptionally excited for gamers, publishers and Sony," said Epstein. "I think Sony is making a quantum leap forward defining what an online game service can be. Sony is serious about online and anything that brings a higher percentage of gamers online is good for Double Fusion. It recognizes the importance of advertising in games. This was demonstrated with spaces for moving and 3D ads and we're a big believer in rich media ads. It also gives advertisers multiple contexts to approach gamers. Games, in general, are an emotional experience and advertisers can benefit by attaching their brands to those emotions. PS3 Home gives another context, social, for marketers to reach that same audience of gamers. As the service develops, we think it will be a big factor in what consoles people choose to get."

"It takes time to get console rushes right. It's to their credit that they came out with something like this. It's not that there weren't issues with the release, but they were treated unfairly by the press. A lot of people forget that Xbox didn't have Live in the first year, and the first Halo never supported it. Would it have been great online sooner? Yes, but I'd rather have something with this potential now."

"It's been a while in the making. We've heard the first rumblings about a year ago, and we've been waiting to see the sort of vision that PS3 Home was going to take," ventured Townsend. "In some respects, it's not too much different from what has been offered on Xbox 360 and Wii. However, with PS3 and other multimedia devices, having gamers spend time in media environments is the Holy Grail for advertisers and was crucial given the recent Live announcements."

With virtual content sales, there's another level of potential for advertising in Home. Just like every piece of furniture and clothing you own in real life is branded, virtual items in Home have that same capacity. While GameDaily BIZ recalls a period in middle-school where social standing was often determined by the presence of a Starter jacket, we realize that these instincts of oneupmanship never really leave and are still thoroughly present in even virtual communities.

"These are markets that have a lot of potential," commented Epstein. "Different categories of advertisers have different tastes. For instance, if a designer gets a portion of their clothing being downloaded, that's doable. But if it's going out and spending a million to get a brand or product, I don't think so. As a paradigm, though, it makes sense."

"It's the sort of thing that goes beyond billboards," described Townsend. "it's 'positive product association.' For example, Red Bull gives you energy in real life; then, as an item, it has to give your character energy. Michelin tires have to make your car faster, and so forth. It's different but still vital. What we're delivering is geometries. Generally, any product placement has to be hard coded, but what we can do is serve code dynamically, so the amount of effort to integrate an item into games is less."