There are 19 million PlayStation Home users, according to Sony. My question is simple -- who the hell are they?

Four years ago, I went to my first GDC and my first Sony keynote speech. There, the company debuted a new game called LittleBigPlanet and promoted the social feature known as PlayStation Home. LittleBigPlanet went on to be a mega-success and spawn this year's sequel. PlayStation Home got delayed a bunch, found its way to every PS3, and has been quietly moving along ever since.

Today, Sony debuted PlayStation Home Client version 1.5. It's a tool for developers to make better games in Home -- real-time multiplayer, improvements to the physics engine, and better graphics. You know, typical GDC stuff that doesn't matter much to the average player now but will when developers make games with the tools. The game that showed this off was Sodium 2, a free-to-play racer that looks a bit like WipEout and puts your Home avatar in the cockpit.

Still, the interesting stuff came when PlayStation Home Director Jack Buser began talking numbers. Since launch, more than 19 million people around the world have logged into Home and the average session is now 70 minutes long. There are more than 230 games in Home and more than 8,000 virtual items on the Home marketplace.

How+many+people+play+Buzz+in+Home?

Without a doubt, all of that sounds impressive, but I couldn't help but question it. I play a lot of PlayStation 3 and I have a full friends list, but I never see people playing Home. Clearly, I wasn't the only one wondering about these figures. People started asking questions, and Buser said the 19 million refers to the people who have registered and entered the world -- those users could be like me that have played once and never touched the thing after that. Someone asked for the average number of users on a day-to-day basis, and Buser said Home shares that information with developers but couldn't divulge that number to us.

Then, Buser said something that caught my attention: PlayStation Home users are "the most engaged, most active users on the PS3." Could that be the case? I'm on the PS3 daily, and I don't use Home. I have a full friends list, and I never see people on it using Home.

WHO ARE THESE HOME PLAYERS?

I don't know, so I Tweeted and posted on My IGN looking for people who do and don't use PlayStation Home. Now, I have 24,000 My IGN followers and 11,000 Twitter followers. I got about 40 email responses in two hours. In short, these responses are not statistically significant. However, if you're following me on one of these social networks, I'd think it's pretty safe to assume you're into video games and an "engaged" user.

So, what did my respondents have to say about Home...

YES,+I+USE+HOME

"I use PlayStation home at least once a week. I use it to hang out with friends who my parents don't allow me to see in real life since they live too far for them to take me there."

- Geoff Shapiro

"I use PlayStation Home quite frequently, whenever an upcoming game comes out and there is promotional content in Home for it, I use it, especially if using the home service leads to me receiving something in the actual game, like Killzone did."

- Koal McMillan

"Do I use PlayStation Home? Use might be a strong word. I go on PlayStation Home from time to time, usually just to check out what is new and cool. I don't "use it" per se. I think Home is a great idea with somewhat untapped potential. Long load and download times are certainly a barrier to entry, not to mention a UI which I feel is somewhat clumsy."

- Phillip Costiagn

"I still log in to Home maybe once a week. It's always interesting to me to roam around and feel like I'm part of a larger community. It can be fun to mess with people and have really strange conversations with strangers. The experience as a whole has also grown exponentially since it launched. For those who dismissed it early, I'd say it's worth revisiting."

-Sean O'Brien

"When I'm there, I have things to do and people to talk to, but the main issue is I have no real reason to go in, screw around, and most importantly keep coming back -- and the longer I'm away the less interest I have going back. That and I'm too busy playing games."

-Ahmadu Gidado

NO,+I+DON'T+USE+HOME

"I have been on it a few times. I don't really like it, and uninstalled it over a year ago. It doesn't really do anything for me in the sense that it's just a place where people walk around following all the girls, say stupid things and dance around. I liked playing chess with someone, but it's not my idea of a good time... I'd rather just play my PS3 and not go around social networking with a bunch of random people."

- Graham Waldrop

"In my opinion, there really is nothing that Home offers that is new and/or unique. If I want a social network, I have Facebook and Twitter. If I want trailers on upcoming games, I have IGN... Don't get me wrong, I like what Home is trying to do in the aspect of social gaming, but there really isn't anything in Home that I can't find better implemented somewhere else."

- Sam Howard

"I have never used Home. Nothing about what I've seen in demos or heard from other users made it sound in any way desirable. There have been a few times when I clicked on it in the XMB out of boredom, but as soon as it said it needed to install software, my curiosity was overruled."

- Pete Thomas

"The PlayStation Home theater is a pretty awesome idea, and it works very well. The games that they give you to play like flash game are very good idea but are not all that fun usually, and let's be honest, without Trophies? Come on."

- Kyle Leppek

"The simple, to the point reason about why I don't use PlayStation Home is because I find the entire application cumbersome and slow. Loading times are ATROCIOUS. Why not just have a giant chat room? Why do I have to have avatars running about everywhere?"

- Adam Roy

Are+you+a+Home+user?

HOW+DO+YOU+IMPROVE+HOME?

"I think that you should be able to hook up a digital PSone to your TV in your apartment and invite people over -- you then can play online multiplayer with anyone in your apartment on any PSone game you bought from the PS store."

- Josh Hughes

"I want the game launching that was promised and the Trophy rooms. Yes, there are some games (i.e. Warhawk) that use the game launch function, but not enough. And where is the Trophy display room that was promised? I want to be able to display my Trophies proudly in a room for all to see!"

- Phillip Costiagn

"I could be persuaded to get back into it, but the fact that it is something you have to run separately is a big reason for my disinterest. I would likely use it, and maybe enjoy it if it was replacing the cross media bar."

- Stephen Haberman

"It might sound weird but the only way I see Home ever being viable, is if they replace the XMB with it. When you turn on your PS3, it'll take you to your apartment where you could check messages on the laptop, go to your TV to play the game... etc. As it is, Home is little more than a shallow marketing tool void of any true relevance."

- Justin Raney

"If I had a wishlist: Virtual rooms for games where you can see DLCs, forums, etc. Use of your trophies (ie, VIP area in game rooms if you achieved platinum). Integration with social media; for example facebook (and more than just post I'm here)"

- Chris Venantius

Didn't see my call for PlayStation Home input? Sound off in the comments below. Do you use Home? Why or why not?