We dig into the development of dominant players in the console arena and sniff out the almost-untapped marketing opportunities they hold.

Last week, we touched on the recent development of the online-gaming landscape.

In the console arena, players are clustered around the three dominant platforms; one of these platforms, Sony's PlayStation 3, has actually yet to launch its version of a social network. This will be Sony Home, a virtual world for gamers. Scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2008, Sony Home is a community-based service for the PlayStation Network, which has been in development since early 2005, and this is the first service of its kind. Home will allow users to create an avatar for their PlayStation 3 console. In addition to apartments and a "library" of virtual merchandise, players will also able to meet each other in a lobby area and socialise before jumping into a game together.

Microsoft's XBox Live was launched in November of 2002. It took 18 months to reach one million subscribers, but it currently boasts over 10 millions subscribers -- a community of gamers built around gaming. However, until recently, the service did not provide its own social network or virtual world -- players needed to gather in other venues, like Facebook, when they weren't actually gaming. With a recent patch, users can now see friends of friends to extend their social circle.

Finally, the Nintendo Wii has a nascent social network in place with Nintendo "Wi-Fi." "Friend codes" are used to identify friends to join in games across a wireless network. At the 2008 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Nintendo announced that the service will remain free of charge.

Ad serving companies such as Adscape Networks (owned by Google), Double Fusion, IGA Worldwide and Massive (owned by Microsoft), already have the capability to serve ads via billboards, audio, video and even customised 3D objects directly into newer game titles that can be measured and tracked. The challenge is providing relevant advertising to the widest possible audience. With the emergence of this "middle layer" of social interaction, advertisers looking to enter the console category will soon have an easier, integrative way to reach the social gamer before they even begin to play.

The hybrid social game model is exemplified by Electronic Arts' "Virtual Me," a new digital entertainment concept that bridges the divide between traditional TV and videogames. The current launch of the project extends the viewer community of Big Brother in Poland and Germany, with more markets coming online soon. Virtual Me provides consumers with a way to meet, compete and socialise in online digital worlds. EA also offers "Gameshow Live", a scheduled interactive sports-trivia show where contestants compete by logging on to the internet and answering questions posed by a live internet DJ.

Marketers are still struggling to understand how to work in social networks in general, and when such networks are organised around the specific interest of gaming or virtual worlds, in many cases crossing multiple platforms, additional complexity comes into play. Undeniably, however, markets understand the significance and potential power of distributing messages through these networks. In-game advertising and social networks are among the hottest -- and least understood -- fields of marketing. In truth, even recognised experts in these areas are still feeling their way along.

Finally, many argue that the most useful social network we have is found in our mobile phone contact database. Companies such as Cyworld appear to understand this by extending the social gaming experience on to the handset, allowing users to share their "Mini-Hompy" avatar with over 1 million other users.

Ted Tagami is vice president, business development of Millions of Us. Read full bio.