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The year is almost over, but Sony has once again reassured gamers that it will make good on its promise and make its long delayed PlayStation Home virtual world open to everybody before the end of 2008. Speaking to IGN, Home director Jack Buser said that the service is nearing the final stages of its closed beta and that just last week it was moved to its 1.0 client.

For those not in the know, Home is an ambitious “3D social gaming community” where users can customize their avatar and virtual space. Sony hasn't had the best track record with the service, though, as the virtual world has been marred with delays on a number of occasions since it was announced in March 2007. More than a hundred thousand people have been invited to the closed PlayStation Home beta already, but hopefully it won’t be much longer before everyone can walk around in the free virtual world – whether it lives up to the hype (which has rather faded by now) remains to be seen.