The other, less cynical side of Home, then, is that like a viral blog or webisode it wants to blur the line between selling a product and enriching its culture or mythology. Take the Warhawk space, for instance, which surrounds fans and idle shoppers with themed textures and objects, but also practical extensions of the game itself. There are holograms of its vehicles in one area, next to which is a tabletop campaign map on which clans can strategise using moveable miniatures.

In Ubisoft’s Far Cry 2 space, meanwhile, you’ll find themed minigames and exclusive dossiers in the sweat-sodden rooms and blanched streets. “Let’s be clear,” says Hill. “We’re a games company trying to sell games and make consoles. Home can only complement that traditional business.”

Furthermore, even before you reach the bowling lanes and Echochrome arcade cabinets, Home promises to be a game in itself. One beta user made a prison cell in his apartment by stacking sofas around the spawn point for guests. Another used a precarious arrangement of household objects to get up on the roof and enjoy the sparkling coastal view. There will be Easter eggs for more explorative players, and before long we encounter one, hidden beneath a waterfall of LocoRocos as part of a PSP-3000 treasure hunt.

“Without naming names, we don’t want Home to become this thing that people use for a one-off weekend PR bang and then go away and never come back to,” says Hill. “It’s important that it’s much more integrated, and that people come back to it time and time again. In theory, as we move on, every time you return it’ll be different. We’ll keep adding partnerships, brands and games, adding value, giving the community something to do while waiting for other parts  of the PlayStation experience.”

Really, and despite the coincidence of Microsoft’s New Xbox Experience, naming names isn’t necessary. Home is not the XMB, nor is it intended to replace it as the chief launchpad for PS3 games. Hill admits that he wouldn’t complain, “but for the moment we’re introducing as much integration as possible so the two are similar. Some people will like navigating using Home, others a more traditional way.”

As you stroll about Home’s own hub, the rather Stepford Wives-esque Central Plaza, there’s a sense that Sony is, intentionally or not, surrogating many of the things that gaming and technology have slowly stolen away. The high street, for one, with its gleaming displays of the genuinely new.

Collective enthusiasm is another; not the asynchronous kind of an internet forum, but the enveloping buzz of a music gig or a convention. And, dare it be said, society itself – the presence of strangers in more than just their pseudonyms.