Microsoft to use playstation home as business tool

A number of major corporations, including Microsoft, will be taking part in a PlayStation Home project to try and cut costs in the workplace, claim the Advanced Workplace Associates.

The UK based initiative is the brainchild of Dr Nipan Maniar and Manish Malik from Portsmouth University who, in conjunction with Advanced Workplace Associates, will be piloting a scheme that will see a number of companies using the virtual world to hold management meetings. Other companies tied to the project include the financial services company, Ernst & Young, and the financial management company, Merryl Lynch.

The official press release states that:

"The firm’s clients include Microsoft, Merrill Lynch, Ernst and Young and numerous companies in the Financial Services sector with large white collar worker populations - executives from which will take part in the research project starting late February, 2009."

Someone's surely made a mistake here. Microsoft wouldn't use PlayStation Home for its meetings, would it? Maybe a Sony vs Microsoft employee virtual fight/text slanging match in the central plaza during their lunch breaks would inject a bit of excitement into Home. Lord knows, it needs it.

That would be odd considering that Sony is Microsoft's rival in the console market.