It doesn’t take a Disney vacation home to have a good time at home. All that’s really required is to experience Sony’s new PS3 online experience, Home, set to debut later this year.

Home goes beyond the convenient design of Xbox Live to become a Second Life-style of online avatar community, only with more of a gamer-intensive focus. The design looks appropriately powerful, high-def, and next-gen. The character models are quite versatile and the whole thing takes the concept of “online community” to the next level.

While few have seen it yet, other than in video form, Sony has to be congratulated for thinking beyond what Xbox Live is doing, to offer something far more robust and forward-thinking. Well done!