: Virtual Worlds Archives

Gowalla Plays Around With Virtual Product Placements

(* Source: Erick Schonfeld *)

Erik says...

As geo social networks gain some traction, we are beginning to see novel forms of marketing and advertisements triggered by people’s location. On Foursquare, for instance, you can get a discount if you check into a restaurant or even get a free meal if you become the mayor. GowallaIncase messenger bags, computer backpacks, and iPhone sleeves. Collect all the badges and you get a chance to win a real Incase product.

Gowalla is doing the promotion in partnership with Incase. Apple has nothing to do with it, but because the location of Apple Stores is known, Gowalla can trigger the promotional badges whenever someone enters a store. The badges serve as a virtual product placement. The hope is obviously to raise awareness of Incase products at the point of purchase. “Our experimental goal is simply to encourage people to visit a real world location where they can actually find and sample the Incase products,” says Gowalla founder Josh Williams.

It is very much an experiment, which is in keeping with Gowalla’s focus on virtual goods. In this case, there is a link between the virtual goods and real-world goods. Gowalla will be tracking impressions, check-ins, number of badges collected and other metrics to figure out how best to charge for such promotions in the future. It seems that one easy way to charge is to tie a coupon to each virtual good and then simply track purchases. Or maybe if you collect all the badges, then you get a discount.

But there’s a line between cool virtual goods and spammy ads. The key is to keep it fun and make it seem like a game.

Posted by brian tiong at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Real Kids in Virtual Worlds

(* Source: eMarketer *)

Whe-e-e-ere are you?

Kids today still play baseball and cut out paper dolls. But increasingly they are playing online—in virtual worlds.

Altogether in 2008, an estimated 8 million US children and teens visited virtual worlds on a regular basis, and eMarketer projects that number will grow to over 15 million by 2013.

Virtual world usage among children in the US is already quite strong and getting stronger. eMarketer estimates that 37% of online children ages 3 to 11 use virtual worlds at least once a month. By 2013, 54% will.

In addition, 18% of online teens will visit virtual worlds on at least a monthly basis in 2009, according to eMarketer, and by 2013, 25% will.

“Unfortunately, as with social networks, advertising has not kept pace with usage,” says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Kids and Teens: Growing Up Virtual. “Not surprisingly, the hype and fizzling out of Second Life, combined with the tough economy, have made some marketers skittish for virtual worlds in general.”

But things are turning out differently for virtual worlds aimed specifically at the youth audience.

According to Virtual Worlds Management, as of January 2009 112 virtual worlds aimed at children under 18 were already up and running worldwide, and another 81 were in development.

“The rate of development in virtual worlds targeted to the youth audience will slow as economic pressures mean less money for venture capital and for advertising to support new worlds,” says Ms. Williamson. “But there is no denying that creating avatars and exploring virtual worlds are growing activities for many children and teens.”

Virtual worlds reside in a sweet spot between online games (which are intensely popular among children) and social networking (similarly popular among teens).

While the vast majority of virtual world users are children and teens, adult users are more likely to be parents monitoring their children’s use of virtual worlds.

According to a late-2008 survey by Accenture, 9% of adults said they spent at least 1 hour per week in a virtual world. But Forrester Research found in 2008 that only about 3% of adults engaged with virtual worlds at all.

Currently, virtual world advertising is a small business, but it has interesting growth potential.

“Advertising in virtual worlds gives marketers new insights into how consumers perceive and interact with their brands,” says Ms. Williamson.

Posted by brian tiong at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Study: In-Game Video Advertising Trumps TV Advertising In Effectiveness

(* Source: Robin Wauters *)

Robin says...

A study commissioned by NeoEdge Mountain View, CA-based casual gaming advertising network, says (surprise, surprise) that video advertising within online games is more effective than TV advertising. Preliminary results of the study, which will conclude at the end of this month, seem to indicate online gaming audiences are more inclined to remember and positively percieve brands who experiment with pre, mid and post-roll video advertisements inside Web-based games.

Of course, studies ordered by commercial companies with a clear stake in the subject of the research like this one always need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the results are interesting nonetheless, and deserve a closer look. After all, major companies like Google and Sony are eyeing in-game advertising revenues in a big way, and for good reason: depending on which research organization you trust, spending on in-game advertising is supposed to grow to between $732 million and $1.8 billion by 2010, although I personally believe the current economic climate might prevent spending to reach even the more conservative prediction by the end of next year.

For more context: some say in-game advertising will ruin the video game industry altogether, others believe standards will spur industry growth, and a recent article on our sister site Crunchgear (based on another study) suggested gamers don’t have a problem with in-game advertising at all.

Anyway, going back to NeoEdge’s study, which was conducted in conjunction with research agency Frank Magid Associates, this is how they came to their conclusions:

The research goal was to determine both the value of online video advertising inside of casual games and the most efficient use of video advertising in casual games. In partnership with advertiser Zappos.com, casual game players across the NeoEdge Network were intercepted with a survey request after game play. Consumers saw one of ten different online video advertising scenarios, which varied number of ads seen, frequency of ads and additional ad products. Over 2,000 consumers participated in the research study and over 1 million ad impressions were used to conduct the comprehensive research.

According to Vicki Cohen, Executive Vice-President at Frank Magid Associates, the preliminary results show a 5x increase in unaided brand awareness over TV advertising where a game included a Zappos.com ad. Other key findings according to the release: over 80% correctly linked Zappos.com as the advertiser who “allowed them to play the game for free” (who knew gamers were such a grateful lot?), while 56% had a more favorable impression of Zappos.com because of their trade-off of watching an ad for free game play.

I am skeptical that the reported uplift in percentages and absolute numbers can be generalized across all in-game advertising and more extensive research would be welcome for backing up the statement, although I am inclined to believe the notion that in-game advertising is generally more effective than TV advertising.

Then again, which form of digital advertising isn’t?

Posted by brian tiong at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sparkle: The iPhone Gets Its First Virtual World

(* Source: Serkan Toto *)

logo_genkii

The number of apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch is nearing the 30,000 mark but hardly any application takes advantage of the network effects that lie within the Apple ecosystem. Most developers simply ignore the fact that all iPhones and iPod Touches are interconnected globally and roll out stand-alone applications. This is one of the major reasons why the vast majority of fun apps lack stickiness and are easily forgotten after a few quick bursts.

But a Tokyo-based start-up called Genkii is building a unique app that has the potential to not only let a few iPhone users connect with each other, but thousands of them - at the same time or asynchronously. Sparkle is poised to become the first virtual world for the iPhone. What’s more, it’s being developed completely from scratch, exclusively as an MMO for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

The first iteration of Sparkle, a text communication app called Sparkle IM, actually went on sale yesterday (App Store link) and costs $4.99. Sparkle IM basically brings Second Life communication to your iPhone, connecting you to Second Life (and OpenSim) grids. Users can send and receive IMs, chat, send teleport requests etc. on the go through their Second Life and OpenSim accounts.

This video shows how Sparkle IM works:

But for the average iPhone user, Sparkle 3D will be much more interesting. Once finalized, Genkii says users will get a full-fledged virtual world in 3D (the company has a track record in virtual worlds development). Sparkle 3D will have its own economy, customizable personal spaces and avatars, social networking functions, virtual goods, games, streaming audio support, etc.

Have a look at some early Sparkle 3D screens and avatar designs below.

sparkle_iphone_first_virtual_world

sparkle_iphone_first_virtual_world_2

CEO Ken Brady says the company is looking at ways to integrate Sparkle 3D with other significant platforms such as PlayStation Home and plans to support these platforms in the near future. This means that users from fixed-web virtual worlds and MMORPGS can connect with Sparkle 3D users without having to own an iPhone or iPod Touch. The app will also be available in a number of languages right from the start.

Another obvious option to expand the virtual world is to make Sparkle 3D available for browser clients, Android phones or video game machines like Nintendo’s Wii. Brady says this would be an important step in growing Sparkle and a viable option due to the way the technology is built, but right now, the focus is on developing a virtual world for the estimated 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch owners out there.

The viral potential for a mobile virtual world optimized for the Apple ecosystem could be as big as the potential for continuous monetization: sales of avatar accessories, virtual apartments (utilizing iPhone 3.0’s new subscription option), sales of in-game items, music downloads, branded spaces and conventional ads come to mind.

Currently, Genkii is completely self-funded and has been bootstrapping for over a year. The company is now actively seeking angel investment to accelerate development of Sparkle 3D. We will stay tuned.

Posted by brian tiong at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Death Of “Web 2.0″

(* Source: Robin Wauters *)

Robin says...

I’m not going to discuss the economic meltdown and its devastating effect on technology companies and internet startups in this post, but rather something that crossed my mind earlier this morning: “Web 2.0″ seems to become more and more a void (and an avoided) term. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it is definitely apparent.

So why do I say it’s fading? For one, because the number of startups that contact us and include the term Web 2.0 in the subject line or message is visibly dropping (and that’s a good thing), and I hardly ever see it mentioned anymore on other technology blogs and news sites either. That’s not really tangible, so I took a look at the number of mentions of the phrase across the web, and they seem to be decreasing significantly, reflecting my feeling on this.

Judging by Google Trends, which shows how often a particular search term is entered relative to the total search volume across various regions of the world (and in various languages), the term started being used at the end of 2004 when Tim O’Reilly organized the first edition of the Web 2.0 Conference. Search queries for the term started picking up in the middle of 2005, when TechCrunch was started - with the tagline “Tracking Web 2.0″ by the way - and the number kept increasing until the end of 2007. After that, the trend is clearly downwards, falling back to the level it reached in early 2006 today. If the trend continues, there should only be a handful of people left who scour search engines for “Web 2.0″ by 2011.

Also noteworthy: take a look at the geographic regions that have generated the highest volumes of worldwide search traffic for the term over the years - it’s Asia, with the top 5 regions being India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia (in that order). Furthermore, Google Trends pegs the number one language in which people search for stuff related to the topic of Web 2.0 to be Russian before English.

And just in case you’re curious: “Web 3.0″ doesn’t seem to picking up much.
Let’s all rejoice.

Google’s “Insights for Search”, a beta service that analyzes a portion of worldwide Google web searches from all Google domains to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you’ve entered - relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time - gives an even better overview:

Posted by brian tiong at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We Are The Creators Of Worlds

(* Source: Marta Strickland *)

Martha says...

Little Big Planet is one of those games that defies explanation. On Friday, Eric Diem wrote, "I can't find the words to describe what a unique experience this game produces, so I figured it would just be easier to bring in my PS3 in so everyone can check it out."

So he did, and the impression that he left on the office was monumental. Jeff Bossardet confessed to me, "It is gorgeous. I have never been a gamer. For many years now I have thought that it may be advantageous, as an interactive professional, to understand the gaming world from a users perspective. I think I have found my gateway drug I mean game...Little Big Planet."

Why were we all so excited? Little Big Planet isn't just a game. It is a way to make games, mold games, and share games. The only limits are that of human imagination.

In its simplest form, Little Big Planet is a platform game, but it is a game that teaches you how to create your own levels. It provides you with different materials and all the tools you need to turn those materials into moving, changing, and logical objects. These objects can be set to react to different changes in the environment or actions of the players. The result is the ability for every player with patience and practice to create entire video games of their own.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. The social element of the game is another side to the revolution. All worlds can be "published", which means they are open for the entire community to play. Those worlds can be rated, tagged, and shared. And, if the world creator so chooses, they can give the objects they create (villains, tools, etc) as gifts to other players to use in their levels.

Some see this all as a bold move in consumer-generated gaming, and others see it as opening the door to other greater deeds in co-creation. But everyone agrees it is a HUGE step forward for the industry. Just look at this guy who defied game-makers expectations and created a working calculator. Prepare to be amazed:

Posted by brian tiong at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Trends in gaming

(* Source: Dan Taylor *)

Dan says...

1. New input devices / interfaces
The last few years have seen an explosion in the number of innovative new gaming input devices; dance mats, the EyeToy, the DS touchscreen and stylus, Buzz!, the Wiimote and Balance Board, Guitar Hero/Rock Band and the iPhone. Next up: the Neural Impulse Actuator (no really). See earlier post: A visual history of the evolution of video game controllers.

2. Digital distribution
It's been talked about for years but the digital distribution of video games is finally becoming mainstream thanks to the online stores of the 7th generation consoles (PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, Wii Shop Channel), the growth of Steam (not being bought by Google after all) and, perhaps most unexpectedly of all, the launch of the iTunes Apps Store (100 million downloads and counting, many of them games). Digitial distribution is also enabling the little guys to get their games out there (check out the wonderful Ben There, Dan That! from the two-man Zombie Cow Studios).

3. Social networking
Gaming and social networking are coming together in a variety of different ways; via casual games / social objects in existing social networks (e.g. Facebook applications such as Scrabulous, Texas HoldEm Poker and the supremely annoying Vampires/Zombies); via games which work across networks (e.g. Mytopia, Come2Play); via social networks dedicated to gaming (e.g. Raptr, Character Planet); via casual gaming sites with integrated social networking functionality (e.g. Cafe.com, MuZui, doof, i'm in like with you) and via browser based games with a social dimension (e.g. PMOG, WebWars: EVE).

4. User-created games
Once the province of the bedroom-coder, it's getting easier and easier for non-technical users to create their own games thanks to sites such as The Sims Carnival and PlayCrafter. The visual richness and complexity of what it's possible to produce is also increasing with the advent of more sophisticated 3D engines like Atmosphir. Sites such as Kongregate and YoYo Games enable amateur developers to get their games out to a wide audience. Creating elements within games is also becoming increasingly commonplace with games such as Spore and LittleBigPlanet taking the creativity offered by The Sims to the next level.

5. Free-to-play games
It looks like Chris Anderson might be right (again) - the shift towards free is gradually starting to permeate the games industry. Whilst freeware has been around for years it's only relatively recently that it's started looking like a viable option for bigger games companies as ad supported gaming and alternative revenue streams (e.g. clothing for avatars) become increasingly commonplace.

6. Personalised avatars
The days of choosing between Pac-Man and Ms Pac-Man are long gone. Fully customised 3D avatars are increasingly becoming the norm in gaming environments. Online virtual worlds and MMOGs such as Second Life, MTV's virtual worlds, EVE Online and City of Heroes set a new benchmark of avatar personalisation which is now starting to percolate through to console titles. WeeWorld and Nintendo also helped shift expectations with their respective WeeMees / Wii Miis.

7. Real-world gaming
The number of gaming experiences tempting joystick junkies beyond their front doors has been on the increase over the last couple of years; from ARG's like I Love Bees and Perplex City to geo-location games like PacManhatten, Crossroads, Conqwest and Plundr. Whether these games transition from the geek-elite to the mainstream remains to be seen, although Akoha (which bills itself as "the world’s first social reality game") looks interesting, as does Zyked (think Nike + on steroids).

8. Episodic gaming
A logistical nightmare when shipping physical product, episodic games becomes achievable when delivered over IP. Telltale Games is at the forefront of episodic gaming having published three separate series: Bone, Sam & Max and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People (with Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures coming soon). Other high profile episodic games include GameTap's American McGee's Grimm, SCE's Siren: Blood Curse and Kuma's controversial Kuma\War. BioWare provided additional downloadable episodes for Mass Effect and Warner Bros. Interactive are reportedly planning to release the Watchmen video game episodically. A somewhat lower profile example is Channel 4/LittleLoud's Bow Street Runner (see earlier post).

9. Casual games
The casual games market has gone through the roof in the last few years. Uber portals such as Pogo, Miniclip and AddictingGames attract millions of visitors a month whilst series such as Virtual Villagers and Mystery Case Files have been downloaded many hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of times. There's also the occasional David amongst the casual gaming Goliaths, with individual titles like Line Rider and TypeRacer capturing the public's imagination and spreading virally.

10. Into the mainstream
Extensively documented elsewhere, there's little doubt that the Wii, Wii Fit, Guitar Hero, Brain Training and Nicole Kidman have all done their bit in helping move gaming beyond the hardcore to members of the family whom previous gaming eras couldn't reach. Will be interesting to see how much further gaming can diversify in order to reach new audiences or whether that particular market strategy has now been exhausted.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Video Games Myths Revisited: New Pew Study Tells Us About Games and Youth

(* Source: Henry Jenkins *)

Some takeaways comments from Henry Jenkins from a recent report released by the Pew Internet & American Life Project offers some valuable new data about the place video games play in the lives of American young people.

At the most basic level, game playing has become more or less universal.

Fully 97% of teens ages 12-17 play computer, web, portable, or console games. 50% of teens played games "yesterday."

The Pew research may also force us to rethink once again the assumption that there is a gender gap in terms of who plays games:

"99% of boys and 94% of girls report playing video games. Younger teen boys are the most likely to play games, followed by younger girls and older boys. Older girls are the least "enthusiastic" players of video games, though more than half of them play.
Some 65% of daily gamers are male; 35% are female. Girls play an average of 6 different game genres; boys average 8 different types."

The Pew Data complicates easy generalizations about the place of violent entertainment in the lives of American teens.

The five most popular among young Americans are Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFL, Solitaire, and Dance Dance Revolution. Of these, only Halo 3 would qualify as a violent game. Over all, non-violent genres were the most popular.
But, 50% of boys name a game with an M or A/O rating as one of their current top three favorites, compared with 14% of girls. (0ne of those places where gender really does make a difference in how people relate to games.) 32% of gaming teens report that at least one of their three favorite games is rated Mature or Adults Only.
12- to 14-year-olds are equally as likely to play M- or AO-rated games as their 15- to 17-year-old counterparts.

The Pew Data further challenges the idea that game playing is a socially isolating activity.

The researchers found "65% of game-playing teens play with other people who are in the room with them. 27% play games with people who they connect with through the internet. 82% play games alone, although 71% of this group also plays with others. And nearly 3 in 5 teens (59%) play games in multiple ways -- with others in the same room, with others online, or alone."

More here

Posted by brian tiong at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tootsville Launches a New Virtual World for Children and Tweens

(* Source: Doriano "Paisano" Carta *)

Doriano says...

Tootsville is a new virtual world for children ages 6-14 that’s very similar to Disney’s online cash cows ToonTown and ClubPenguin (which they purchased for $700 million).

The reference to Disney is important to note because monetization is obviously extremely important to Tootsville. This is evident by the fact that kids cannot really do many of the fun things the site has to offer without their parents ponying up some money on a monthly or annual basis.

These premium accounts range from $5.95 per month up to $57.98 annually. Here are some of the things your kids CAN’T do unless you upgrade to a premium account: Walk on 2 legs, Dress up your toot, buy clothes or furniture, decorite your house, attend special events, collect pivitz, play premium games and safe chat with friends. I know, then what CAN they do? The answer: not a whole lot really.

Speaking of money, since the characters in Tootsville are a bunch of colorful elephants, the currency they use is in the form of peanuts. Kids get a bunch of peanuts if their parents subscribe to the more expensive premiere plans, naturally. This is important because this is what they use to buy objects such as clothes for their elephant or furniture for thier house. Some might say this is a good way to teach children the value of money and how to spend wisely.

On the positive side of things, the site is full of bright colorful worlds and loaded with activities (some are even free!). Kids can easily chat with other “toots” and checkout places together. The good news is that there are ways for kids to earn peanuts by doing certain things. For example, by going to the water fountain (see image above) and making a wish you quickly make 19 peanuts.

Tootsville’s goal is to mix educational lessons with entertainment as displayed throughout the site. The Tootering program is scheduled for release for spring 2009 and the Teacher’s Pet Program will emphasize the fun in learning, at home, and in the classroom.

If you’re a parent with children that enjoy playing online, then safe sites like Tootsville and the ones from Disney provide a service that’ll provide fun for kids and peace of mind for parents. When you look at things that way, then the small cost of membership is well worth it.

Posted by brian tiong at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Japanese Girl Sensation: Virtual Boyfriends

(* Source: Serkan Toto *)

In Japan, girls are crazy over virtual boyfriends. Webkare (Web Boyfriend in Japanese), a mix between a social network and dating simulation site, is Nippon’s newest web sensation. Geared exclusively towards girls, the site attracted over 10,000 members just 5 days after its release on September 10, racking up 3.5 million page views in the same time frame.

The site is a huge hit over here. Girls sign up and become members of a social network but also users of a dating simulation in cartoon style. They have to try to hook up with one of four male Anime characters (who are the “stars” of the site) through “conversations” and must collaborate with other Webkare members in order to move on in the game. Eventually they conquer the heart of the chosen cartoon boy.

It’s pretty weird but clever. Dating simulations have been popular in Japan for quite a while now, but Webkare marks the first time the concept has been brought online and combined with social networking functionality.

Girls choose between one of four different male cartoon characters they want to hook up with upon registration. They can then “communicate” with their digital crush in cartoon-like sequences to try to win over his heart over the course of the game. It’s also possible to meet other boys later in the story, which uses a virtual high school as the main setting.

Interaction is quite limited, as users themselves can neither type text nor “speak” to the characters. Instead, Webkare will display a short cartoon clip if you click on the boy you like (some of the clips include voice samples such as “What’s up?”, “Do you always stay in the class room until dark?” “Leave me alone!” etc.), driving the love story forward step by step.

Important conversations or events can be stored in the album section of the site as “memories”.

On the surface, Webkare’s social network functions are kept to a minimum. There are profiles (including the “Propeta” feature that lets you decorate your profile with small branded icons, similar to the HotLists used in HotOrNot profiles), a direct messaging system, a discussion board and a Twitter-like microblogging function. But the social aspect is actually quite distinctive, as members need to befriend each other and collaborate. LinkThink, the company behind Webkare, is strangely secretive about the game mechanics, however, making it hard to figure out how to advance in the game. For example, it seems to be essential to “talk” to the boyfriends of other users and view their profiles and albums.

Currently usage is free, with display ads and affiliate links as main sources of revenue. Webkare’s future monetizing strategy could include turning the concept into a video game or novel, merchandising, product placement, selling virtual items, expanding the concept to cell phones, developing a version for male users or offering premium memberships.

Another obvious option is internationalization, but here the question is if such an idiosyncratic way of curing loneliness 2.0 could succeed in the US or Europe as well. Reportedly, 52% of members are Japanese females in their twenties, with thirty-somethings accounting for 18% of the user base.

Posted by brian tiong at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Who’s winning the War of the Virtual Worlds?

(* Source: Fred Guillet via KZero *)

Nic Mitham reports...

Virtual worlds need new users, particularly new worlds. But there’s only so many users around to sign-up to new worlds. Is supply exceeding demand? At present, quite possibly. In the near future? Even more likely, until new worlds stop relying on viral activities and focus more on more traditional marketing channels to raise their awareness.

There’s been a flurry of new worlds catering for kids, tweens and teens (KT&T) lately. Some are in open beta and some are fully live. But how are these worlds doing in terms of attracting traffic to their sites? One thing’s for sure, unless a world has a specular rate of new sign-ups, they’re not going to release these figures. But, we can look at other ways of determining who’s doing comparatively better than others.

Using Alexa traffic rankings is one way. Alexa ranks websites based on visits from users of its toolbar integrated into internet explorer and other other browsers. It’s not perfect, due to potential sampling biases, but it works well for comparative assessments.

The graph below shows newly launched or open beta virtual worlds for the KT&T segment. The number axis refers to the comparitive score of each site - the lower the better (the most popular website in the world would be ranked number one). Just in case you’re wondering who’s in the top five across the entire web, it’s as follows:

Yahoo.com
Google.com
YouTube.com
Windows Live (live.com)
MSN.com

Ok, so here’s the new virtual worlds, using the traffic ranking from the primary (usually .com) website……

With an Alexa rank of 14,558, Buildabearville is attracting the most traffic for new KT&T worlds. Of course, Alexa rankings do not take into account the conversion rate of visitors to sign-ups (or the demographic profile of visitors), it’s just an indication of traffic to the site and that’s the basis it’s being used for. This is of particular relevance to newly launched worlds - these guys need traffic asap.

Second place goes to Chapatiz with a score of 18,896. Two UK based worlds, Vizwoz and Lola’s Land are not doing as well as their US counterparts, explained primarily by the localite nature of the viral activity taking place for these worlds.

The middle ground is comprised of Smallworlds, Whirled and ZooKaZoo, with rankings in the 160,000 range - not bad.

But, all these worlds have a long way to go to get into the territory of the more established KT&T worlds, as shown by the graph below.

Gaia Online (assisted by their extremely popular forums) is the leading world in this segment with a rank of 291 - the 291st most popular website in the world, based on Alexa rankings. Neopets comes in second best with a score of 368. Interestingly, Stardoll and Webkinz are extremely close from a ranking perspective - 750 - 800 range.

Perhaps surprisingly to some, Club Penguin is in fifth place, with a ranking of 1,121, although it’s three times more popular than Habbo (.com) and over four times more popular than Barbie Girls. All of these worlds perform extremely well on an overall basis though.

Lastly, the graph below shows virtual worlds for older teens and young adults, with Second Life included as a benchmark. It’s important to also point out here that these worlds are all downloadable clients as opposed to browser-based, so visits to these websites exclude actual usage in-world, unless directed from a login.

Clearly IMVU is nailing this segment with a ranking of 709m globally. Often compared Kaneva and There demonstrate their similarities here as well, with scores of 24,380 and 25,870 respectively - Kaneva is marginally more popular according to Alexa.

vMTV and Twinity are also level-pegging, albeit on a less popular basis than Kaneva/There, with rankings in the 73k - 75k range. Newcomer vSide has an understandably lower (less traffic) score of 109.408.

So, of use?

Treating Alexa rankings with the provisos noted above, these comparative numbers shed some great light into how well worlds are performing, especially for newly launched worlds.

For companies currently in stealth/early development mode thinking growth will come purely from viral activity: take note of these rankings - these are your benchmarks.

Posted by brian tiong at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Virtual Worlds: Tools for Creating 3D Graphics and Environments

(* Source: Sean P. Aune *)

Sean says...

Earlier this week Google launched Lively, a new social network where anyone can create an avatar and virtual room that can be embedded anywhere on the Web. 3D services such as Lively are popping up more and more online thanks to the popularity of virtual worlds like Second Life, Meez, and more.

So are your skills up to snuff? We’ve gathered over 20 3D creation tools so that you can create your own avatar or virtual world. Whether you’re a 3D pro or just starting out, we’ve got tools for everyone. Try them out and let us know what you think.

Free 3D Tools

scenecaster-screen

SceneCaster.com - Create 3D environments, complete with talking avatars, that you can then share on Facebook, Flickr Flickr and more. 3D models are partially based on items from major retailers. Can be displayed on any device that supports XHTML (i.e. the iPhone). You can learn a lot more in the write up our Kristen Nicole did.

Akebulan.com - Makers of 3DBuilder and 3DRender. Builder is currently in beta (you need to sign up and they will email it to you), Builder lets you create interactive 3D environment that can then be accessed in a browser via a regular URL. 3DRender allows modelers to test their models with the Java3D API.

Anim8or.com - A freeware 3D modeling program created by a software engineer at NVidia. The last stable release was in April 2007, but it says it’s still being worked on.

ArtOfIllusion.org - An open source project for building a 3D modeling program that can be used by all skill levels.

AutoQ3D - Has both free and paid versions.

Blender.org - A full-featured, GNU licensed free program that clearly gives you more bells & whistles than we could ever list here.

Seamless3D.com - An open source 3D modeling program project, has several tutorials and seems like a good place to get your feet wet.

SketchUp.com - Proving that Google will come out with some crazy stuff, this Google app has numerous 3D modeling possibilities, and can help you create more 3D buildings for Google Earth Google Earth .

TopMod3D.org - An open source 3D mesh modeling system that is platform independent.

Wings3D.com - An open source mesh polygon modeling program that is under very active development.

ZModeler2.com - A 3D modeler primarily aimed at those creating models for games.

Environments

Ajax3d.org - An effort to build 3D online worlds using both Ajax and the X3D open standards. Seems a bit quiet over there, but there is some activity on the forums.

OpenGL.org - A standard for 3D, cross-platform, cross-device development since 1992.

Web3d.org - A project that is working to develop an open standards, royalty free, system based in XML. The goal is for it to work between the Web, networks, and mobile devices from the same development and render full 3D environments.

Commercial 3D Tools

3ds Max - One of the top tier makers of 3D programs, offers different programs for different jobs, expect to spend several thousand dollars.

Animation Master - This program will let you create still images as well as animation. Offers annual subscription plan or one-time purchase pricing.

Bryce - This program boasts of its landscapes, but from watching their demo reel, it is capable of a lot more, and is reasonably priced.

LightWave - High end 3D modeling that has been used in movies such as Sin City and 300. Will cost you around $1,000 at the high end of pricing.

Modo - A rich 3D tool used by architects, package designers, animators and more. Price is in the $900 range.

Maxon - Is capable of lighting, polygons, animating, texturing and more. Works well with Adobe.

OpenWorlds.com - Used by groups as large as NASA, you can find uses for learning apps, ecommerce, gaming and more.

http://www.blinkdevelopment.com/3dBoxMaker/

3D Box Maker Professional - A shareware licensed tool to create 3D software-style boxes such as the one pictured in the screenshot. Perfect for the small software developer.

Posted by brian tiong at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Be Funky

(* Source: Erick Schonfeld *)

Erick says..

Founded by Tekin Tatar and Kemal Ozisikcilar, BeFunky offers two services: The Cartoonizer and Uvatar. The Cartoonizer lets you upload photos and give them a cartoon effect. Uvatar lets you create a more realistic avatar based on a photo. The startup is releasing a newly designed Website today, and upgrading its Uvatar service to make it more automated.

Posted by brian tiong at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WeeWorld: South Park Style Avatars Designed By Girls And Big Business

(* Source: Duncan Riley *)

Duncan says...

UK startup WeeWorld is offering a avatar focused social networking service that is doing some great numbers.

WeeWorld is pitched as the “world’s first multiplatform visual identity” and offers a personalized Web experience that can be used across IM, blogs and social networking sites. WeeWorld users design a WeeMee, a customizable avatar that gets its own space, and embeding is fully built in for users. The site offers a social network platform in its own right, described as “a community offering of entertainment and exploration to enrich their online and mobile experience.”

Where WeeWorld gets more interesting is the link ins with big business. This from their email pitch to us:

On WeeWorld, users actually ask us for brands to help them express themselves. And the more we give them, the more they ask for … I think it works because it’s content, not ads. Plus it’s visual, fun, and helps our users express their mood and personality.

Brand advertisers and agencies are starting to get it and to get what WeeWorld is about. We’re in the midst of a big P&G PROM promotion for example. Girls are snapping up everything from make-up and hairstyles to beauty tips, while embracing brands like Herbal Essences, Crest Whitestrips, CoverGirl and more. They are even participating in brand-sponsored, surveys, contests and forums. Check it out at: weeworld.com/prom/.

comScore reports that the site did 100 million page views in March 2008 on 1 million uniques, and WeeWorld reports more than 21 million sign ups. The company took $15.5 million in their second round from Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital in 2006.

comScore notes the majority of users are female, and although many might presume that it’s a service targeted at kids, comScore notes broad usage among many age groups.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Second Look at Virtual Worlds

(* Source: eMarketer *)

It's all about engagement.

At the recent Virtual Worlds Conference held in New York, a keynote speaker asked the crowd of a few hundred for a show of hands. About a third of the attendees represented kids' brands, a third were with virtual world companies and a third were vendors of software and other technology.

Only one person identified herself as a brand manager.

Why don't more brand managers market in virtual worlds?

For one thing, they're scared of wasting money. Established brands spent millions building virtual stores, only to reap disappointing sales, or worse, to be outsold by the brands of in-world entrepreneurs.

Robin Harper, senior vice president of Second Life parent Linden Lab, told eMarketer that part of the problem was a "Build It and They Will Come" mentality.

"Like any other campaign, you have to consider what your objectives are," said Ms. Harper. "Building a virtual store and then not staffing it properly will leave customers disappointed."

Ms. Harper said that on the positive side, there are a lot more ways to market in a virtual world than just setting up shop. She said that Toyota's Scion campaign let Second Lifers test drive in-world versions of the vehicle, making for a more engaging experience than items which couldn't actually be used in the virtual world.

The word "engagement" came up repeatedly during the Virtual Worlds Conference.

That's partially a reaction to a lack of established marketing metrics for virtual worlds. There is also a lack of faith in some of the data that's been thrown around. Craig Sherman, CEO of Gaia Online, said during a session on virtual goods that virtual worlds don't do themselves any favors when they inflate their numbers.

"If 46 million people have visited your site, but only two million do so regularly, then you have two million users—not 46 million," said Mr. Sherman. "And that's fine."

During the same session, Millions of Us CEO Ruben Steiger said that real metrics and benchmarks for success were difficult but not impossible to track.

"Data is trackable on where users are, what in-world items they have and the like," Mr. Steiger said. He added that although many metrics were not comparable from world to world (e.g., Second Life user data and There.com user data might not be completely apples-to-apples), basic statistics like number of users and time spent using a branded item were always useful.

Ben Richardson, vice president of business development for virtual world There.com parent Makena Technologies, told eMarketer that rather than attempt to gain brand recognition within an established community, marketers could also create their own virtual worlds.

There.com recently white-labeled a virtual Ford Model contest for MTV, sponsored by Mariah Carey's perfume. The contest drew 750,000 visitors within two months. Modeling agency staff went in-world, giving fashion advice to visiting avatars.

"What works depends on the community," said Mr. Richardson.

However, Millions of Us' Mr. Steiger said that brands that attempted to create permanent alternatives to established worlds like Second Life would be wasting time and money.

Still, virtual worlds will continue to attract marketers as consumer media consumption changes—especially among young users.

David Simmons at Entropia parent Mindark said "the amount of time that people spend online in virtual worlds demands attention."

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Blue Mars Looks Pretty Sweet

(* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

The Gamers Developer Conference (GDC) 2008 began yesterday, and it’s been interesting to see some of the announcements that have come out of the conference so far. As you may have noticed, gaming (which was already huge) is creeping into our every day web activities more and more, on a more complex level. And by “more complex” I mean that it’s more integrated.

Today, we hear of Avatar Reality’s upcoming launch of an MMVW called Blue Mars. Those at GDC 2008 get a sneak preview of the virtual world, and you Mashable readers get a bit of a sneak preview as well. The graphics are probably the most noteworthy aspect of Blue Mars, especially at this stage of the game’s life, but equally as important are the platform options Avatar Reality will be extending to third-party developers for creating games of their own.

From the looks of it, Blue Mars will be along the lines of Second Life or Sony Home, where individuals can create realistic representations of things that could occur in real life (shopping, home decor). It could be right up the alley for retailers and brands that would like additional options for integrated online marketing campaigns. I’ll admit, I’ll be anxiously awaiting the arrival of Blue Mars so I can try it out comparatively, though it won’t be available to the public until after Spore is scheduled to actually be released. We’ll see how much free time I have left after that!

Posted by brian tiong at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Movie Licensing Goes Virtual With Habbo-Paramount Deal

(* Source: Erik Schonfeld *)

An important part of any blockbuster movie’s revenues these days comes from merchandising deals—all the ancillary toys, T-shirts, and backpacks that flood stores after the release of a Harry Potter, Spiderman, or Star Wars movie. Now that virtual worlds are popping up where residents actually pay for digital representations of avatars, furniture, clothing, and other items, perhaps there is a new licensing opportunity there for the movie studios. Paramount Pictures and Habbo, a virtual teen hangout with 8 million members worldwide, may have just struck the first such deal.

In February, Habbo will begin selling virtual goods inspired by The Spiderwick Chronicles, timed for the release of that Paramount movie. It will later add virtual items from Beowolf and Mean Girls, two other Paramount films that have already come out. Habbo says it has 1.8 million members in North America, which is the area covered by the deal. It will be a long time before virtual merchandise licensing comes close to matching the revenues from real-world licensing (typically, each item costs less than $1), but for Paramount the money is almost a secondary consideration. As teenagers pass these things around on Habbo, it is great marketing for the films. They are giving the movies their own personal stamp of approval, and expressing their identity through the characters and virtual objects from the films.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Start-Up to Create Market For Trade of Virtual Goods

(* Source: Nick Wingfield *)

Sounds like eBay all over again, only this time... all the goods are virtual and with the estimates and predictions that 80% of the online population will gave a virtual self by the year 2010, I guess this is the new limitless legal marketplace that all gamers were looking for. Welcome eBay2.0.

Nick says...

A start-up plans to help game companies get a grip on the booming illicit market for virtual goods, including everything from currencies to magical swords that help players advance in online games.

Live Gamer Inc. is developing an online marketplace where players of Internet games will be able to safely trade in virtual goods, a business that is often plagued by fraud. In the biggest departure from current methods of trading in virtual goods, Live Gamer says it will only allow trading of items with the blessing of game publishers. Live Gamer is working with Sony Corp.'s Sony Online Entertainment division, Funcom GmbH, Ping0 Interactive Ltd. and other online-game operators to integrate its trading system with their titles.

Live Gamer, based in New York, is attempting to tap into the thriving economies that have emerged around online games, often without the consent of publishers. Within fantasy games like Vivendi SA's "World of Warcraft" and Sony's "Everquest II," players can achieve status and advancement for their in-game characters by acquiring powerful weapons, armor and game currency. But many people prefer to purchase those virtual assets with real money instead of putting in the long hours of game playing required to earn them.

More here

Posted by brian tiong at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nike Star Athletes Await Your Company on Zwinky

(* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

We haven’t seen Nike get too heavily involved with online virtual “avatar hubs”, but its latest campaign gets pretty wrapped up in Zwinky, taking a few star athletes along for the ride. A new challenge launched by IAC’s Zwinky and Nike invites users to engage in the site in order to get their chance to meet a star athlete, a la Zwinky avatar.

The Field Reporter challenge requires the user to know a thing or two about a particular star athlete, which includes Maria Sharpova, Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, LeBron James and Abbey Wambach. If you pass the first round of questions, then you’ll still need to solve the clues that will lead you to your star athlete. Find them, and then cart them off to a virtual press release in your stretch Hummer, where you’ll also get the opportunity to ask them a question. It looks like you only get one shot to ask something of your star athlete, so make it good. You’ll also get some Nike gear to take home.

Seeing virtual events or brand marketing inside virtual worlds is nothing new–the trend grew quite rampant earlier this year with th sudden growth of Second Life. What often differs in these smaller, temporary campaigns, is the level of integration for the users. Depending on the brand, the type of campaign, and the long-term goals for that brand, we’ll see different levels of integration into the virtual world. The Nike campaign doesn’t seem to be looking for a virtual way to market its products for long-term use on Zwinky, though this wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Coca Cola’s most recent campaign, however, involved the creation of an entire island on There.com, which will be promoting all sorts of products, and feature branded materials for a longer-lasting effect. Several social tools also use the lure of a celebrity to get a boost of their own, as IAC companies, including Scripps, seem to be increasing efforts since the umbrella company broke off into smaller entities.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cruxy Launches Virtual World Widget

(* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

Cruxy, the marketplace for independent artists to sell their own content, is releasing a Virtual World Widget today.

The Cruxy Virtual World Widget will work inside virtual world games such as Second Life, There.com and World of Warcraft. For you Second Life fans out there, you know that there is a lot of stuff you can do to create your own presence and turn a decent profit as well. Cruxy is banking on that drive. Their Second Life player looks like an mp3 player and can be worn by your avatar wherever they go, so you can listen to music. They’re hoping that musicians will use this as further promotion for themselves, leaving them in public Second Life places for others to take, or distributing them to only those avatars that show up at your Second Life concert. Going along with true Second Life nature, the player is fully customizable.

Cruxy’s other new releases include a multi-format social player to present audio, video or image content, a purchase-enabled widget for consumers to buy a download without leaving their current web page, and a Play this Page feature, allowing a browse view or search to be dynamically loaded into the player. A user can take that player’s code with the newly loaded playlist directly from your MySpace page. Cruxy has topped it all off with a new API that includes every component Cruxy has to offer.

Admittedly, Cruxy has come a long way since their initial launch last September. Their Virtual World widget is niche, but a good move considering the typical marketing economy within Second Life and the inevitable shift to systems such as Second Life for the future of social networking. Whether or not their other new tools will help with marketing back on the regular Web is yet to be seen, but we like that they’re advancing the promotional value of their service and extending it to users.

Posted by brian tiong at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sony Buys Into Virtual Movie Theaters; Invests in Gaia

(* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

Gaia, the avatar-filled virtual world, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from Sony Pictures. You may be wondering why. It appears to be, in part, for building out Gaia theaters, where users can congregate in virtual rooms for the purpose of viewing video clips.

This was really brought to the forefront of Gaia’s feature set when it launched a VJ tool for users to create their own theaters and feature video clips from around the web. This concept has now been expanded to include content from Sony and Warner, who will be streaming films and television shows inside the virtual theaters found in Gaia. Some content will be pay-per-view while other content will be ad-supported.

This seems to be somewhat of an extension for centralized viewing options that broadcast companies like NBC have taken advantage of for streaming events such as concerts in virtual worlds like Second Life. What’s interesting is that we’re seeing these centralized streaming options pop up in multiple virtual worlds, not just one. It speaks to the importance of virtual worlds, and even moves attention away from the idea that companies don’t need to focus on certain avatar spaces for realistic quality alone.

As Sony has indicated its interest in finding more ways to distribute its content as a way to rival iTunes, this could be considered another way beyond Crackle and its other offerings, for Sony to do so. Gaia has a pretty large following, and while I don’t think television shows and pay-per-view films will make a major dent in Apple’s market share, I do like the idea of streaming content through more interactive and social places, like Gaia.

On the music front, Sony and Warner are in fact the two major labels that have not offered up DRM-free music downloads, which was highlighted in a recent announcement of Pepsi’s deal with Amazon for a promotion that will run beginning next year, during the Superbowl. As advertising and content owners look for more creative ways in which to insert marketing material and content into interactive and social areas of the web, perhaps the integration with Gaia will be a good way for Sony to test out more advertising options for its content.

[via paid content]

Posted by brian tiong at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There.com Gets a Curvy Coca Cola Island

(* Source: Kristen Nicole *)

Coca Cola has apparently found it useful to market itself in virtual worlds. Having made its claim in Second Life through various promotions, the beverages company has moved on to There.com. CC Metro is the island Coke has created in this virtual world, where avatars can hang out. There’s a virtual movie theater for viewing short films (this seems to be very popular in virtual worlds), a diner, and shopping stores where you can use your Coke Rewards points to redeem items for your avatar to don on themselves or in their homes.

The island, shaped like a Coke bottle, is one example of a more integrated marketing solution for a brand within a virtual world. It also highlights the usability of other virtual worlds outside of the dominating Second Life. What stands out for this particular marketing campaign is the attempt at subtlety, which greatly differs from Coke’s Second Life promotion which invited users to design a vending machine. Cosmo is another brand that’s found There.com to be a viable virtual world for targeting teens.

But is there anything in particular that makes one virtual world better than another, and will these brands eventually launch larger campaigns that can reach across several virtual worlds at once? Cruxy has created one tool that will work in multiple virtual worlds, making it easier for distribution purposes to have an offering in more than one community.

And as I mentioned before, showing movies in virtual worlds is becoming more popular–this is a far easier format to offer across virtual worlds and Sony has even bought into it, as it’s invested in Gaia. It doesn’t seem like virtual worlds are dying off anytime soon, with Wells Fargo even launching its own, so we’re sure to see more creative implementations of advertising on this front.

[image via nytimes]

Posted by brian tiong at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Avatars: Virtually Mainstream

(* Source : Nextgreattthing *)

David says :

Target’s avatar fashion show in New York’s Grand Central this week

In September, we reported on how labels like Prada and H&M are getting involved in anime movies like Appleseed: Ex Machina and shows like the Sims 2 Fashion Runway Showcase. This week, Target joined the “in” crowd, sponsoring “the world’s first model-less fashion show”—a holographic experience in which virtual clothes ruled the catwalk, sans the beautiful ladies and gents who usually sport them. The two-day, multi-hour event took place at Grand Central Station, with clothes dancing to the music across a Target-themed stage. Commuters and others passing by stopped for a quick peek, with the occasional few taking out their cell-phone cameras to capture the event.

Target’s show was anything but revolutionary—no one seemed overly impressed. But it’s a perfect example of how avatars are going mainstream, filtering into various forms of entertainment from fashion to facebook pages to film. The latest issue of Wired reports that 3D movies are making a fast comeback: this month, Angelina Jolie’s Beowulf will debut in 1,000 3D theaters across the country; next year, James Cameron’s $190 million movie Avatar will premiere—a film the producer says will be “Titanic in space.” Avatars are also becoming lead characters on tech-less shows like Law & Order–even delivering news reports on the Fox Business Network.

With virtual entertainment increasingly in regularity, it’s only a matter of time before our avatars on AIM start getting together and planning events of their own. My spiked-hair, tight-jeaned avatar, for instance, is really set on seeing the next U2 concert in Second Life. If you’re down, have your avatar talk to mine and we’ll make it happen.

Posted by brian tiong at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Habbo Hotel Wants to Sell You Music

(* Source : Virtual World News *)

Habbo Hotel launched the Traxmaxhine back in June to bring music to the virtual world. Right now they act as basic jukeboxes for user-created tunes, but Habbo wants to use them as stores for existing artists as well. While record sales are falling and artists are looking for alternative distribution methods, labels are apparently dragging their feet over compensation and digital rights management issues before getting into the virtual world.

"Habbo users want the ability to support and identify themselves with their favorite bands or recording artists inside our virtual community,” Teemu Huuhtanen, President N. A. and EVP for Habbo business at Sulake told Digital Media Wire. “We are continuing to work with the major record labels on the issue of digital rights and compensation to provide our user base what they are asking for – a way to purchase in Habbo songs and digital goods licensed by label artists."

There.com has a partnership with Capital Music Group, which allows users to purchase CDs from interactive kiosks, but not digital tracks. Likewise, MTV has made big moves in virtual worlds, and Vside has always had a strong music theme with ties to both Interscope and Downtown Records. And plenty of people allow you to upload content, but it seems like nobody has made it easy to buy mainstream digital music and integrate it with your virtual world experience. Or are we missing someone?

[via Digital Media Wire]

Posted by brian tiong at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

MMORPG TOOLBOX: 30+ Free MMORPGs

(* Source: Sean P. Aune *)

We usually talk about things to help you with your work, now we’re going to help you relax! Actually, scratch that: if you get hooked to any of the games on this list, you might actually lose your job. Listed below are 30+ free MMORPGs for you to enjoy.

Don’t forget to check out our post where you can suggest future toolbox topics! (This list, for example, came from one of the suggestions.)

Anarchy-Online.com - A 3D game set in the far future; it features multiple expansions, and is a winner of many awards.

ConquerOnline.com - An MMORPG mixing elements of kung fu with magic.

Cronous.com - A 3D fantasy MMORPG that supports zoom-in and zoom-out graphics effects.

DarkEden.com - Who can resist playing as one of the creatures of the night, a vampire.

Deicide - A3D fantasy game with a skill system divided in to close, ranged, white magic and dark magic. As with most “free” games, it’s free until you try to get the really good equipment.

Dofus.com - A manga inspired, strategy based game with over 3.5 million players. Free for basic play, costs for extra content.

Drift City - Get ready to jump in your car and drift race around the city. Has a very anime inspired vibe to the artwork.

DungeonRunners.com - Choose from fighters, mages, or rangers, and explore a fantasy game where some dungeons can take as little as 15-minutes if you’re strained for time.

Fishing Champ - Proving that any thing can be turned in to an MMORPG, now you can wile away the hours fishing for virtual fish.

Flyff - Short for “Fly For Fun”, Flyff is a highly rated, and popular MMORPG set in a fantasy environment.

Hero - Set in a land filled with ancient Chinese myths, it’s a martial arts take on a MMORPG.

Heroes in the Sky - Takes to the skies of the World War II Pacific theater, and over the skies of Normandy.

KalOnline - A MMORPG set in a medieval world with a large amount of advancements.

KnightOnlineWorld.com - A 3D medieval game that heavily encourages partying up with other players.

Martial Heroes - A 3D game set in the world of martial arts fantasy fighting.

MythWarOnline.com - Goes for the classic 2D, painted backgrounds feel.

Ran Online - Set in a fantasy version of Asia where somef orm of evil has come from the sky; it’s up to you to figure out what the hell is going on.

Rappelz - A fantasy game set in a 3D world where you can party up and kill monsters.

RF-OnlineGame.com - Set in a far off galaxy, it’s an immersive sci-fi game with three warring factions.

Risk Your Life Part 2 - Another 3D fantasy environment.

Scions Of Fate - A 3D game based on a comic of the same name.

SecondLife.com - With appearances on CSI: New York and the American version of The Office, this game gets bigger by the day. While the game can be free to play, don’t be surprised when you start spending tons of money to buy yourself an island.

Sherwood Dungeon - From MaidMarian.com; no registration is needed, just enter a name and hit enter.

Shot Online - Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and wish you could go golfing? Well, now you can! Yes, it is a golfing MMORPG.

SilkRoadOnline.net - A fantasy game set around the real life Silk Road trading route.

Space Cowboy - Mixing traditional MMORPG with FPS style action, you’re a fighter pilot on a distant planet. The game is free to play… until you want new parts for your fighter.

Tatsumaki: Land At War - Set in 16th century Japan, before the introduction of firearms, you can play as part of the Shogunate or the rebel factions. Currently in beta, they are looking for more testers.

TricksterOnline.com - Cute characters based on animals, fighting isn’t necessary, and free to play until you start buying yourself a home and more.

TurfBattles.com - A 3D fantasy MMORPG that’s free at the beginning, and you have to pay to advance.

Upshift StrikeRacer - Jump in your car, race around Triumph City… shoot up some other drivers. Free to play, some upgrades can be purchased with your reputation.

VoyageCenturyOnline.com - A nautical based MMORPG where everyone captains their own ship.

WarRock.net - Free FPS style fighting across land, sea, and air. Free to play, upgraded weapons is where you can start spending the big bucks.

Posted by brian tiong at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Who's Who in Mobile Worlds: 10 Plays to Watch

(* Source : Virtual World News *)

Obviously mobile tie ins for virtual worlds are a big deal. From a marketer's perspective, the best things about virtual worlds--their immersive, tight communities--suddenly become all pervasive. From a user's stand point, well, it's pretty much the same. While the Yankee Group's recent study has had its math called into question, its argument that Anywhere Consumers will drive the future is still a compelling one. "Companies that provide remote access—through mobile devices or other means—to their web experience will have a greater impact than pc-centric companies," said Senior Analyst Christopher Collins. With companies from Sony and Microsoft to third-party hackers in Second Life looking at ways to give users another screen to head into the world on, it looks like consumers will have plenty of options. We present a round up of the major plays being made.

1. Sony's Playstation3 Home: Although it's been delayed until Spring 2008, this console-based virtual world has a lot of people--both hardcore gamers and worldophiles--excited. Sony is working on tie ins to its games, portable devices, and marketing partners for business, but it wants to take all of those connections mobile. Executive Vice President Phil Harrison said ,"We have the Home client now running on a mobile phone. The touchpoints and community experience of home are expanding to the mobile environment." At the very least, users should be able to upload and download content like pictures from their phone to their Home.

2. Microsoft: No one knows what Microsoft's virtual world play will be, but at the Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo, Daniel Schiappa, Microsot's General Manager for the Strategy Entertainment and Devices Division, set out some plans for the future: "If a year from now we don’t have anything, then we probably won’t have anything." While Microsoft already has outlets in the Xbox 360 and PC, Schiappa said the company's goals would be to include all of its devices, including mobile.

3. Second Life: Linden Lab isn't doing anything official for a mobile client--at least that they've announced--but there's a flurry of activity out there for third parties to fill the gap. The ngi group's 3Di.jp released its Web-based application, Movable Life, earlier this month, which is also accessible through mobile applications. Comverse Technologies, though, was working on its mobile client back in February, and there's plenty more out there.

4. Habbo Hotel: Earlier this month, we reported that Sulake had 110,000 users on its experimental mobile client. At Virtual Worlds Fall, CEO Timo Soininen told us that the world had 120,000 users, and Sulake had plans: "It's just been a research project up until now. We wanted to have a proof of concept to show it could be done. We're currently using the Nokia Symbian platform, so you need a Nokia phone. But it is exciting. We're discussing with various parties how to take it to a new height. Because it's clearly proven that there's demand. For Habbo we've had the basic technology for almost two and a half years, but the operating costs for data has been preventitively expensive up until now, especially with the young demo. And the technology reach for the young demo has been low, up until about a year ago. So it might go for a slightly older audience."

5. Disney: Disney's had its fingers in virtual worlds for a while, but it made a gigantic leap in August with its acquisition of Club Penguin. Tucked away in the press release for the sale was this tidbit: "Strategically, Disney plans to develop a Disney-branded connected entertainment network that allows users to access Disney-branded content, including virtual worlds and Disney.com games and videos, any time and anywhere, as well as communicate with each other across platforms, through a Web-based hub connected with PCs and mobile devices such as cell phones and game platforms." Disney already has firm plans to create a sort of metaverse network for its Nintendo DS games with DGamer, which will allow users to "chat, create personal avatars and trade game-themed items, across the room or anywhere in the world with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection."

6. Cyworld: In June the Cyworld US offices explained that they had plans to go mobile for the US market in the first quarter of 2008. Cyworld's parent company SK Telecom has a relationship with Sprint (via Helio) and T-Mobile USA’s parent company in Germany, so the corporate infrastructure shouldn't be too hard to put into place. In Korea, the mobile application has brought Cyworld 2.5 million users, so it's an understandable desire. “We’ve been dragging our feet on this, because we want to get it right," Cyworld USA Vice President of Marketing and Sales Michael Streefland told GigaOM . "We commissioned a research report to figure out what Cyworld Mobile would be in the U.S., and we’re still figuring that out.”

7. There.com: There doesn't seem to be any rush to go mobile, but when we spoke with CEO Michael Wilson in July he remarked that "We believe in extending the platform to as many devices as possible and to more light-weight devices. We’ll be making an announcement next month about lighter weight devices. The problem is that the just doesn’t have a good network. If we were in Asia it would be easier." We haven't heard that announcement yet, though, and There.com says there's nothing to report at this time.

8. Trion: When Trion received $30M in funding in July, CEO Lars Buttler said that the company is pursuing a technology that "essentially build games that are more real time and dynamic, so we can deliver storylines on a daily basis." The game will feature multiple channel-like components across multiple platforms, allowing users to access their information from PCs and mobile devices."

9. Moshi Monsters: These upcoming toys from MindCandy, I don't think, engage directly through a cell phone interface, but they do work with your ring tone. The Guardian reports, in Aleks Krotoski's take on mobile worlds, that the release asks users to "Clip your moshi monster to your bag or jacket, then relax and do whatever you want to do! When your mobile rings your MoPod magically springs to life!"

10. Everybody Else: Because no day is complete without a little rumor mongering, let's not forget that Google is supposedly working on a virtual world, and it's set to make an announcement about its (separate?) mobile platform within a matter of weeks.

More seriously, mobile is booming as its own separate channel for entertainment, marketing, and engagement. In June Forrester reported that 3 of the 15 largest interactive agencies in the U.S. see virtual worlds as having one of the greatest impacts on their design practices. But 12 of 15 see the mobile channel as significant. If virtual worlds want to go mainstream, there's not a much simpler direction than mobile. And as more virtual worlds place a premium on casual elements, it seems like a sure thing.

Did we forget someone? Maybe. Do you know of more happening in mobile virtual worlds? Hopefully. Let us know.

Posted by brian tiong at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Humane Society Taps There.com To Reach Gen-Y

(* Source : Tameka Kee *)

THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE United States (HSUS) has partnered with Makena Technologies to launch an interactive campaign at There.com. HSUS will use branded virtual and real world merchandise, as well as live events to raise awareness and funds in the fight against animal cruelty.

The effort is a departure from HSUS' typical marketing campaigns, which are geared toward the 50+ demographic. By establishing a presence in There.com, the organization is aiming squarely at the 20- to-30-year-old market.

There.com members can purchase HSUS merchandise for their avatars--and even acquire the corresponding real-life version at the HSUS storefront, connecting real merchandise to virtual sales.

"We are always looking for new ways to celebrate animals and confront cruelty; and working with There.com to take animal protection into the virtual world reaches a new audience with a message of compassion," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.

Posted by brian tiong at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CNN Goes Virtual

(* Source : Mike Shields *)

As news organizations slash budgets and scale back bureaus, CNN is expanding—except not in real life.

In the week of Nov. 5, the news giant is set to open a news-gathering outpost in Second Life. And unlike news service Reuters, which embedded a real reporter in the online virtual world last year, CNN will rely on Second Life "residents" to do all the legwork.

In the space, the network will create a variation of its i-Reports, the real-world vehicle through which average citizens contribute eyewitness reports. CNN will equip Second Life denizens with kits enabling them to transmit copy and photos. Visitors to Second Life will be able to get the latest news via kiosks scattered throughout the virtual community.

And the network will act as a sort of journalism school, offering guidance to avatar citizen journalists via weekly "news meetings" directed by CNN.com staffers. And top CNN personalities including Larry King will conduct virtual training sessions for budding cyber journalists.

Given that Second Life users tend to be highly passionate about the virtual space, CNN execs believe the community will embrace user-generated journalism—more than they would embrace simply repurposed content.

"We looked at what are people doing [in Second Life] that is meaningful to what we do," said Susan Grant, executive vp of CNN News Services. "I love that we don't have to take things from the real world and force them in."

As for whether the world of Second Life will generate news events worthy of reporting, i-Report producer Lila King is not concerned. After all, visitors to the online world include news-making personalities like Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House who most recently had the public guessing whether he'd jump into the presidential race (he hasn't).

CNN's association with Second Life comes at a time when the digital phenomenon is awash in media hype but still far from cracking the mainstream. Its unique user base has hovered between 400,000 and 700,000 per month over the last year, according to Nielsen Online, and has twice fallen below the research firm's minimum reporting threshold.

More here

Posted by brian tiong at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

WSJ: Advertisers Should Look to Other Virtual Worlds

(* Source : Virtual World News *)

"People have been ignoring the fact that there are 12 other virtual worlds out there that have hundreds of thousands of visitors," says Jonathan Nelson, special adviser to Omnicom CEO John Wren. "My bet is this stuff is here to stay." Omnicom recently took a significant stake in Millions of Us, and the Wall Street Journal story gives a fair amount of time to Millions of Us projects. The main point, and one that developers like Millions of Us have been touting for a while now, is that virtual worlds are prime for advertising, but Second Life isn't the only or even the best option out there. Based on Comscore figures for the month of September, Second Life ranked at the bottom of 12 worlds in numbers of unique visitors. And, yes, the number (235,000 for last month) is drawn from users accessing the software for the world, not just visiting the website. Even the rapidly declining Millsberry.com--down 17% from last year, but still at #5--saw 2.5 million unique users. Webkinz led the pack with 6 million unique users. [via WSJ.com]

Posted by brian tiong at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Advertising in Virtual Worlds?

(* Source: Dan Neumann *)

Creating a successful advertising model for virtual worlds should be easy. There are more potential ad forms, but, until recently, the market was not diverse enough to encourage the adoption of meaningful standards. Once ROI standards have been established, media buyers, marketers, and brand managers will have more persuasive arguments for continued or increased brand involvement in the medium.

One of the great promises of virtual worlds is contextual ad delivery. In most virtual worlds, advertisers will have access to almost every detail about your avatar and have the ability to scrape and save chat data. Since most people’s avatars are well removed from their true identities, privacy concerns are reduced. An obvious example of this would be to serve ads for virtual goods based on keywords in your chat. Another might be to serve ads based on one’s in-world physical interactions and activates. Ad models for real-world goods are still being worked out, but even these lines are becoming blurred.

The potential for contextual ad delivery in virtual worlds is huge, but there are still many unanswered questions. How should ads in Virtual Worlds be sold? How should ad value be measured? The CPM model works well in 2D, but in 3D its accuracy is diminished. Some interesting ideas under discussion are CPA (cost per action) and duration of engagement models. These models better reflect the nature of avatar-based interaction. It makes sense that the amount of time an avatar spends engaging a brand is a good reflection of ROI.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

15 virtual worlds currently in development

(* Source: Dan Taylor *)

Thanks Dan for the great work on finding these new 15 after he listed the 50.

Following on from my previous round-up of 50 virtual worlds, below are fifteen virtual worlds currently in development.

	Adventure Rock bbc.co.uk/cbbc/adventurerock/ Larian Studios / BBC Virtual world for children ETA: Fall 2007
	Flowplay http://www.flowplay.com/ Flowplay Casual gaming community ETA: Fall 2007
	Meet-Me http://www.co-core.com/ Co-core Virtual rendering of Tokyo ETA: Fall 2007
	Novoking http://www.novoking.com/ Novoking Chinese 3D avatar environment ETA: Fall 2007
	Pirates of the Caribbean Online http://apps.pirates.go.com/pirates/ Disney MMOG based on Disney IP ETA: Fall 2007
	Planet Cazmo http://www.planetcazmo.com/ Pileated Pictures Browser-based teen world ETA: Fall 2007
	Twinity http://www.twinity.com/ Metaversum Virtual/real life mashup ETA: Fall 2007
	Whirled www.threerings.net/whirled/ Three Rings Design Casual gaming community ETA: Fall 2007
	Zoodaloo http://www.zoodaloo.com/ Zoodaloo Virtual world for kids ETA: Fall 2007
	PlayStation Home http://www.homebetatrial.com/ Sony PlayStation virtual community ETA: Spring 2008
	Spore http://www.spore.com/ Maxis / Electronic Arts Will Wright's god game ETA: Spring 2008
	Uworld http://www.uonenet.com/ UOneNet Chinese virtual community ETA: Spring 2008
	Lego Universe http://universe.lego.com/ NetDevil / Lego MMOG utilising Lego IP ETA: Fall 2008
	Infinity: The Quest for Earth http://www.fl-tw.com/Infinity/ Flavien Brebion Space-based MMORPG ETA: 2008
	Adellion http://www.adellion.com/ HonourBound Ltd. Medieval MMORPG ETA: Unknown

Posted by brian tiong at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Round Up of 50 Virtual Worlds

(* Source: Dan Taylor *)

A great round up by Dan...

If you relied solely on the mainstream media for your knowledge of online trends (more fool you), you'd be forgiven for thinking there was only one virtual world. Second Life has hoovered up huge swathes of column inches and airtime over the past 12 months (see earlier post on the Second Life media frenzy) with only the occasional nod to World of Warcraft or Habbo Hotel.

However, there's much more to virtual worlds than Second Life. Immersive online environments are a huge growth area, as demonstrated by the below round-up of 50 virtual worlds, ranked by approximate user numbers (with a few, for which I couldn't source viable user data, tacked on the end). It's worth stating that the approximate user figures are just that: approximate. Gleaned from a wide range of different sources, they are mostly self-reported and cover a multitude of differing definitions. I've tried to reconcile the figures wherever possible to try and reflect number of active users rather than number of avatars or visitors to the website, although many will still be way off base.

In terms of trends, the kids market appears to be a significant growth area and that's without including avatar chat sites (e.g. IMVU, Zwinktopia) or the growing legion of pet/doll sites (e.g. NeoPets, GoPets, MyePets, Be-Bratz, Stardoll).

	World of Warcraft http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ Blizzard Entertainment Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 9m
	Habbo Hotel http://www.habbo.com/ Sulake Launched: 2000 Approximate no. of users: 7.5m
	Nicktropolis http://www.nick.com/nicktropolis/ Nickelodeon Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 5.1m
	Runescape http://www.runescape.com/ Jagex Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 5m
	Club Penguin http://www.clubpenguin.com/ New Horizon Interactive / Disney Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Knight Online http://www.knightonlineworld.com/ MGame Corporation / Noah System Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Barbie Girls http://www.barbiegirls.com/ Mattel Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Coke Studios http://www.mycoke.com/ Studiocom / The Coca-Cola Company Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: 4m
	Gaia Online http://www.gaiaonline.com/ Gaia Interactive Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 3.5m
	MapleStory http://www.maplestory.com/ Wizet / Nexon Launched: 1999 Approximate no. of users: 3m
	Dofus http://www.dofus.com/ Ankama Games Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 3m
	Guild Wars http://www.guildwars.com/ NCsoft Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 2m
	Whyville http://www.whyville.net/ Numedeon Launched: 1999 Approximate no. of users: 1.7m
	Second Life http://secondlife.com/ Linden Lab Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 1.5m
	Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom http://vmk.disney.go.com/ Sulake Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 1.4m
	Disney's Toontown http://play.toontown.com/ Disney Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 1.2m
	Mokitown http://www.mobile-kids.net/ Neue Digitale / Daimler Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 1.1m
	Lineage / Lineage II http://www.lineage.com/ NCsoft Launched: 1998 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	There http://www.there.com/ Makena Technologies Launched: 1998 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	BOTS http://bots.acclaim.com/ Acclaim Games Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	Webkinz World http://www.webkinz.com/ Ganz Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 1m
	AlphaWorld http://www.activeworlds.com/ Active Worlds Launched: 1997 Approximate no. of users: 900,000
	Entropia Universe http://www.entropiauniverse.com/ MindArk Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 600,000
	Virtual MTV http://www.vmtv.com/ Makena Technologies Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 600,000
	Virtual World of Kaneva http://www.kaneva.com/ Kaneva Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 600,000
	Final Fantasy XI: Online http://www.playonline.com/ff11eu/ Square Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	EverQuest / EverQuest II http://everquest.station.sony.com/ Sony Online Entertainment Launched: 1999 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Faketown http://www.faketown.com/ Identity Play Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Dubit http://www.dubitchat.com/ Dubit Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Cybertown http://www.cybertown.com/ Integrated Virtual Networks Launched: 1995 Approximate no. of users: 500,000
	Playdo http://beta.playdo.com/ Playdo Launched: 2000 Approximate no. of users: 400,000
	Eve Online http://www.eve-online.com/ CCP Games Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates http://www.puzzlepirates.com/ Three Rings Design / Ubisoft Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar http://www.lotro.com/ Turbine, Inc. Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	Star Wars Galaxies http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/ LucasArts Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: 200,000
	City of Heroes / City of Villains http://uk.cityofheroes.com/ Cryptic Studios / NCsoft Launched: 2004 Approximate no. of users: 180,000
	vSide http://www.vside.com/ Doppelganger Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: 150,000
	Ultima Online http://www.uo.com/ Electronic Arts Launched: 1997 Approximate no. of users: 135,000
	Dark Age of Camelot http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/ Mythic Entertainment / Electronic Arts Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: 125,000
	The Sims Online http://www.ea.com/official/thesims/thesimsonline/ Maxis / Electronic Arts Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: 100,000
	Xivio http://www.xivio.com/ Xivio Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 22,000
	citypixel http://www.citypixel.com/ citypixel Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: 20,000
	Teen Second Life http://teen.secondlife.com/ Linden Lab Launched: 2005 Approximate no. of users: 5,000
	Westward Journey II / Fantasy Westward Journey http://corp.163.com/eng/games/westward_journey.html NetEase Launched: 2002 / 2004 Approximate no. of users: ??
	Scions of Fate (Yulgang) http://fate.netgame.com/ KRGsoft Launched: 2006 Approximate no. of users: ??
	Legend of Mir II / Legend of Mir III http://www.legendofmir.net/ WeMade Entertainment / ActozSoft Launched: 2001 Approximate no. of users: ??
	MU Online http://globalmuonline.com/ Webzen / K2 Network Launched: 2003 Approximate no. of users: ??
	HiPiHi http://www.hipihi.com/index_english.html HiPiHi Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: ??
	GalaXseeds http://www.galaxseeds.com/ Frima Studios / Corus Entertainment Launched: 2007 Approximate no. of users: ??
	Virtual Ibiza http://www.virtualibiza.com/ Lightmaker Launched: 2002 Approximate no. of users: ??

Posted by brian tiong at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New App Merges Facebook and Second Life

(* Source : Sean P. Aune *)

Second Life logo

A new application for Facebook is merging the social network with that other king of time killing, Second Life.

Called Second Life Link, the new app allows you to display your avatar on your profile, and also indicate when you’re on and off line in the virtual world. If your friends also have the app installed, you’ll be able to see each other’s avatars. The new application also allows you to share your favorite locations in the popular virtual world. This will allow them to teleport to your location easily when you’re online, or allow them to see your home, even when you’re not there.

With the popular CBS show, CSI:New York, having an episode revolve around a murder in Second Life this week, and encouraging viewers to check out the virtual murder, there are sure to be lots of new players this week. Seems like a perfect time for a Facebook app to me with so many new people getting introduced to the online world through mainstream media.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Warner Bros. launches ‘I Am Legend: Survival’ game playable in Second Life

(* Source : Dennis Bouchand *)

Warner Bros. Pictures unveiled an original, online, multiplayer first-person shooter/RPG game playable in Second Life. The largest and most expansive Second Life game ever launched in support of a film release, I Am Legend: Survival transports players into an eerie replica of over 60 acres of New York City set in the chaotic year preceding the movie. The future of mankind hangs in the balance as players choose to play in either of two rival factions, uninfected and infected. Uninfected characters must fight to survive as they desperately seek the cure for the terrible virus that is destroying mankind. Infected characters have only one objective: to stop uninfected characters at all costs.

The game features player-customizable avatars loosely based on characters in the film and New York City-based environments that change and expand over time, and supports both voice and text chat for in-game multiplayer communication. The game is available as a free download.

I Am Legend: Survival is inspired by the upcoming feature film “I Am Legend,” starring Will Smith as Robert Neville.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Virtual Worlds, Real Ad Dollars

(* Source : Emarketer *)

Kids and marketers enter pixellated space.

Ad spending is likely to increase substantially as more kids and teens spend time in virtual worlds and as more marketers create campaigns for those environments.

Parks Associates estimated in June 2007 that $15 million was spent advertising in virtual worlds in the United States in 2006 and projected that it would rise tenfold to $150 million in 2012. The figures did not include marketer-branded virtual worlds. They also did not include other revenue sources, such as micro-transactions or subscription fees.

"Second Life has received the most attention from marketers, but traffic levels there are dwarfed by those at virtual worlds that are specifically aimed at children and teenagers," said Debbie Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.

Parks includes virtual worlds in its video game ad spending estimates. It estimated that marketers spent $370 million in the US on video game advertising of all types in 2006, making virtual worlds about 4% of the total market.

Another perspective on virtual world ad spending can be gained by looking at revenues for MMOG games, such as World of Warcraft.

According to Screen Digest, the total market for MMOG games in North America and Europe reached $1 billion in 2006, with 87% of revenues coming from subscription fees and the remainder from e-commerce and advertising. In North America and Europe, subscription revenues were $875 million in 2006.

Factoring out subscription revenue, it amounts to $125 million in e-commerce and ad revenue for MMOG games in the two continents.

The growth of virtual world ad spending will be tied closely to the growth of video game spending and social network spending.

eMarketer estimates that marketers will spend $1 billion worldwide in 2007 on advertising within video games, including static, dynamic and rich media ads, product placement and advergames. The figure excludes mobile games.

"In the short term, the high development costs of creating an advertising presence in virtual worlds will weed out those who want to dip in and out with simple ads such as banners," Ms. Williamson said.

"Much of the current revenue at social network sites comes from this kind of advertising, which is far easier to buy and does not require extensive development work," she said.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Avatars Everywhere: 27 of the Best Avatar Makers

(* Source : Jordan Chark *)

Avatar creator Meez is back in the news this week, but there are dozens more avatar creation tools gunning for this market. Today we attempt an overview of that market: please add more suggestions in the comment section.

Weblin- Create an avatar and use it as your virtual self within web pages in real-time, interacting with other Weblin users who share the same interests.

Meez.com- Create a 3D animated avatar for export directly to most web profiles, blogs, etc.

Second Life- Use this extremely popular virtual world to do just about anything, but first, you have to create your avatar. Here, avatars can be customized almost entirely, with plenty of room to create a most accurate likeness of yourself.

Mypictr- Use any image and resize, crop, customize, and export it to many other web 2.0 social networking sites and profiles, like Facebook, and Digg.

Gizmoz- Create, animate, and share photorealistic, great looking avatars, and even video clips featuring them. The animation and overall look of the avatar is sourced from a real picture, actually ending up almost like a personal CGI generator.

Mii Editor- Create your own “Mii”, the avatars characteristic of the Nintendo Wii.

Simpsons Avatar Maker- “Simpsonize yourself” by creating an avatar in the classic style of the Simpsons.

Gickr- Instantaneously create an animate gif file by either uploading your own pictures, or sourcing from Flickr.

Gravatar- Create an 80×80 pixel avatar by uploading an image which is then associated with your email address, appearing on Gravatar enabled websites and blogs without additional effort.

IMVU- Create and dress up your personal avatar which can then be used in their virtual chat-rooms or with their visual messenger client.

fix8- Create, animate, and dress up your avatar primarily through interfacing with your webcam in order to capture real movement and look.

Zwinky- Customize your personal cartoon avatar and share it across the web.

Digibody’s Caricature Maker- Use the components of a caricature to create your unique caricature avatar.

Faketown- A pixel-art, avatar based, MMORPG, similar to second life, but much less realistically.

DoppelMe- Simply assemble an apparently “hand drawn” avatar image for use anywhere.

SitePal- A pay-based 3D, animated avatar creation service aimed towards business looking to create a personal presence on their website.

Gaia- Another avatar-based MMORPG, this one, anime-styled.

imbee- The social network for young people includes an avatar creator featuring images of animals from the National Geographic Kids library.

Myrl- A social network based on avatars in the “metaverse”, supposedly using avatars to connect with the web by virtue of collaboration. Close to it’s beta launch, this definitely looks like something to keep an eye out for.

Kaneva- Yet another avatar-based virtual world, Kaneva looks like a valid Second Life alternative.

Blogscoped- Chat with others in this virtual, visual, chatroom, which makes efficient use of user avatars. While it may not appear to be that “web 2.0″ it uses PHP, MySQL, Ajax, and the Google API, which effectively categorize it as so.

MojiKan- A somewhat odd MMORPG for customizable 3D pet avatars.

Frenzoo- Customize and use one of their well-designed avatars in chats as well as a variety of other environments.

Clickbeurs (Dutch)- Create an avatar and apply for a job through virtually chatting with potential employers, a somewhat odd idea.

Mr. Picassohead- Create stunning, Picasso-like paintings which are easily transformed into avatars.

Whyrobbierocks- Create a “stereotypical” avatar for use on various social networking sites, IMs, etc.

Weeworld- Interact with some quite uniquely designed avatars in a virtual world primarily based on chats and mini-games.

Voki- Create an avatar, record your voice, and share. A possible alternative to something like Sitepal, but geared more towards a less-business-oriented audience.

Honorable Mention

While all of the sites (except for a couple, added for their significantly customizable avatars and creation engines) above are primarily based upon the principle of avatar creation and customization, I’d like to quickly mention the importance of your “avatar”, or probably more aptly named character in many popular MMORPGs. The likes of which are probably most easily recognized in games like World of Warcraft.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

fix8 Lands $3M for Webcam Avatars

(* Source : Kristen Nicole *)

Webcam avatar community fix8 has raised $3 million in a series a round of funding from Vickers Venture Group, which is a Singapore-based private equity firm. We first covered fix8 here.

You may remember that fix8 lets you create animated avatars with your webcam by reading your expressions and gestures. There are loads of tools that you can play around with, including fix8’s wide selection of avatars, and other accessories like voice manipulation, graphics and editing tools. These clips can then be embedded in your website or social networking profile, or use it for your instant messaging client like AOL, MSN, Skype or Yahoo Messenger.

fix8 has recently teamed up with Pringo for distribution purposes, Stickam , also Shanghai Media Group to create AuditionsTV, which makes interactive tv audiences able to participate during live or taped programs. Coming up, fix8 will be offering a mobile solution, which will surely extend the ways in which its avatar creation tool can be used for communicative purposes. See here for more avatar creation sites.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

China plans virtual world for commerce

(* Source : Rachel Konrad *)

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Your favorite pants are fraying? You may soon be able to order replacements directly from the factory where they were made, according to the chief scientist of an ambitious Chinese Internet project.

China's government is building a vast virtual world dubbed Beijing Cyber Recreation District, which founders say will help the manufacturing superpower evolve into an e-commerce juggernaut.

Some supply-chain experts say the project is impossibly grandiose in its goal to provide direct links between tens of thousands of Chinese manufacturers and millions of individual customers around the world. But every "Made in China" label eventually could include a Web site where customers could order more — and Chinese factories would produce custom-made goods and send them directly to consumers' homes, mused Chi Tau Robert Lai, chief scientist of the virtual world.

The 3D world is supposed to be the online counterpart to the China Recreation District, a theme park, mall and playground being built in a former steel plant in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.

Some Chinese-language Web sites of the CRD are already up, but most of it — including the first direct links to manufacturers — won't come until the second half of next year at the earliest, Lai said.

In addition to connecting factories with people outside China, the project will allow businesses outside China to tap the nation's burgeoning middle class, he said.

"This makes you have to think of China in a different way," Lai said Thursday evening at the Virtual Worlds Conference & Expo in San Jose. "We are stepping back and trying to blend the human and the computer to touch everything associated with people's lives."

More here

Posted by brian tiong at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"CSI" gets a Second Life with integrated episodes

(* Source : Reuters *)

David Ward says :

Reuters Photo: Anthony Zuiker

SAN JOSE, California (Hollywood Reporter) - "CSI" creator Anthony Zuiker dropped some clues to an upcoming Second Life integration with his CBS series in his address here Wednesday at the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo.

Zuiker was part of a Hollywood contingent at the event, signaling the mainstream entertainment business' growing investments in the space.

In his keynote speech, he declared that the future of television "will be TV, online, mobile and games."

Zuiker appeared more than willing to be a pioneer in bringing Hollywood to virtual worlds, announcing that a two-part "CSI: NY" -- the first installment airing October 24 and the second February 6 -- will have Gary Sinise's character go into Second Life to chase a killer's avatar.

"And here's the great thing," he added. "CBS is willing to commit to two 30-second spots that night to tell 16 million people that we're having a 'CSI: NY' virtual world . . . that will be up forever."

Zuiker stressed that the "CSI: NY" virtual world in Second Life will be geared for the "CSI" fan rather than the early adopter, with shorter download times and an avatar of Zuiker to walk visitors through the virtual Manhattan.

In addition to casual games for beginners like "Facial Reconstruction," there also will be content for advanced visitors, including the blog game "Murder by Zuiker," where Zuiker will evaluate entries by people trying to solve a crime based on the evidence found in a crime scene in Second Life.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Posted by brian tiong at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Virtual Worlds Conference: Demographics And Numbers

(* Source : Worldsinmotion.com *)

Posted by Leigh Alexander :

A panel at the 2007 Virtual Worlds Conference titled, 'Demographics and Numbers: Where Things Are and Where They're Headed' brought together Michael Cai, director of Broadband and Gaming at Parks Associates, Mary Ellen Gordon, owner of Market Truths Limited, and K Zero managing director Nic Mitham to parse out the demographics in the virtual worlds space.

Looking at market penetration, Mitham opined, "I think it’s pretty fair to say that virtual growth to date has been heavily based on word of mouth and viral marketing.” Moreover, Mitham expects the trend to continue, calling on the example of companies like BMW opening Second Life islands to widespread media coverage as a driver of Second Life population growth.

Finding New Markets, Developing Existing Ones

One can't rely purely on PR for advertising, Mitham added, stating that he hopes to see traditional marketing to start happening. "We’re seeing children actively adopting Club Penguin, Whyville, Habbo... as they eventually grow out of it, they will be looking for new worlds to grow into. There’s a huge market already there, waiting to happen."

The market is developing globally, too, Mitham said, noting that European countries are also actively embracing virtual worlds. Though typically Russia and South America are slower to adapt, Mitham noted, these are large growth areas that will begin adopting virtual worlds more in the future.

"We don't see much for 'silver surfers,'" Mitham added, noting that older users are also a prime growth area. Similarly, he expects corporate adoption to broaden, as companies like IBM encourage their employees to move into virtual worlds for corporate uses, and educational institutes are using virtual worlds in the classroom for the set aged 8 to 15.

Engaging New Users

It's a matter of product development, he said -- developing new products for marketplaces that already exist. Mitham also noted that better user interfaces and new user orientation will assist in driving more widespread adoption, as will other avenues of access like web-based remote viewers.

Diversification is the other key avenue, Mitham noted -- bringing new products into untapped markets, as with category-centric "vertical worlds". One example Mitham raised is Football Superstars, a virtual world currently in development for people who play football and soccer. Half the world is for playing football, the other half is for living the life of a footballer.

Beyond this, there are platform-centric virtual worlds, such as Sony's upcoming PlayStation Home, which will be used as a convergence tool for gamers. "The reason for going in isn’t the new technology; people are going in for a specific reason,," Mitham said.

Additionally, Mitham said that avatars that can cross worlds -- the interoperability work IBM is currently involved in -- will be "a really good driving factor for getting more people engaged in virtual worlds."

Mitham offered some projections on growth in virtual worlds he believes will take place between the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. He anticipates growth of registered accounts in Second Life to increase from 10 million to 20 million, 1 million to 7 million for There, .6 to 3 million for Kaneva, from zero to 10 million for the Chinese virtual world HiPiHi, an increase from 3 million to 10 million for Whyville, and from 15 million to 30 million for Club Penguin.

Chris Woodard contributed to this report.

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Virtual Worlds Conference: Ironstar's Joakim Achren Talks Mobile Virtual Worlds

(* Source : Worldsinmotion *)

It seems that mobile connectivity to virtual worlds is right on the horizon. But what about a virtual world actually self-contained in a mobile phone? At the 2007 Virtual Worlds Conference, Ironstar Helsinki CEO Joakim Achren demonstrated and discussed MoiPal, his company's mobile virtual world that works on basic Java handsets.

"The idea was like, your friend in the phone," Achren said. "It’s an avatar that lives in your cellphone." The mobile pal is controlled like a Sim, or a Tamagotchi. Achren explained that he got the idea from thinking of how adults have facebook and kids and 'tweens have Club Penguin -- but what about teens?

"They are usually not at home, but they always have a mobile phone with them," Achren noted. "And they usually have the best phones. It is a means of self-expression, like ringtones. But self expression should be more than just ringtones."

Achren did say that, as it happens only during idle time, gaming and social networking on a mobile platform still have to integrate with a website, especially since mobile phones have such restrictive memory. "Concentrate on using the mobile to do something simple and realistic," he advised. "You can’t just take Second Life and put it on a mobile -- except for Japan, maybe,” he joked.

“It has to be a personality extension... and it has to be free,” Achren continued, noting it's not generally a good idea to aim a subscription-based service to kids, since they probably won't even try it. Incentivizing free content is a much better method, he said.

Moreover, there are a lot of possibilities for the mobile platform. Achren highlights simple 2 or 3-dimensional content items that can be created on a phone without challenging the memory restrictions. There's also social networking. "You’ve seen Facebook on a mobile. It works pretty well," Achren said.

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Google’s New Social Network = Google Maps

(* Source : Adam Ostrow *)

Google Earth has integrated YouTube, allowing you to view videos from specified locations around the world. A new “YouTube” button in Google Earth places icons on a map to show you where the videos are located. Upon zooming in, you will see more videos for the location of interest. The YouTube videos are plotted according to geotags that YouTube users have placed on their content.

This is a really clever integration between Google products. Versus the Street View feature of Google Maps where the company is sending camera crews around the globe, all of the content here is user-generated. In other Google Maps developments, the company has also added community maps to find things like places to eat, events, and activities, also submitted by users.

Could Google Maps be turning into one of the major social initiatives at Google? Between integrating YouTube videos, user-generated local maps, and potential presence features from the recently acquired Jaiku, it seems like there might be something brewing here.

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Youth-Targeted Virtual Worlds Encourage Toy Buying

(* Source : Marketing Vox.com *)

MyePets: So cute it's sickening

Tween marketing has undergone a bit of a golden age online in 2007, thanks to sites like Club Penguin and Webkinz which rely heavily on interactivity to keep kids coming back.

According to Advertising Age, interactive tween sites are now taking a page out of the Webkinz handbook, whereby kids purchase an offline item to either join or enhance the online experience.

To proliferate its virtual world, Webkinz relied on word-of-mouth to get youngsters buying stuffed animals that came with codes that "activated" a virtual pet online.

Mattel's Barbie Girls site will soon offer 5.5 million users the option of buying an MP3-player/flash drive that unlocks additional features on the site, where girls spend an average of 30 minutes a session.

Meanwhile, MGA Entertainment introduced Be-Bratz, a line of dolls "sold with a pet pink mouse and flash drive" that hooks users up to a virtual world online.

MyePets.com, another MGA project, has a business model slightly closer in type to Webkinz, where kids "rescue" homeless pets from the store (a la Pound Puppies, a series of despondent stuffed animals from the '80s) in exchange for access to the site.

Though it may seem the market for tween-focused virtual worlds is getting overcrowded, interactive sites now largely come stock alongside major toy launches.

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VCs sweet on kids' virtual worlds

(* Source : Stefanie Olsen *)

SAN JOSE, Calif.--Venture capitalists have sweetened on 3D playgrounds for kids online since Disney bought the virtual world Club Penguin for $350 million earlier this year.

Just ask Jim Bower, CEO of Numedeon, which runs an 8-year-old virtual world for the 8-to-14-year-old set called Whyville.net. Here at the Virtual World conference, Bower, who's also a professor of computational neuroscience at Caltech, said his life has changed a bit since that acquisition.

"We certainly get a lot of calls from VCs now," Bower said, adding that he has turned down at least one buyout offer from an investor.

It's no wonder VCs are salivating. Recent research points to vast expected growth in the market. Within four years, more than half of kids online--age 3 to 17--are expected to belong to a virtual world, doubling the membership in 2007, according to a study from eMarketer.

Anecdotally, adult-oriented virtual worlds also tout a rising population of tweens and teens. An executive from There.com, for example, said at the conference that the site's fastest-growing age group is 13-year-olds and up.

Bower said his business has grown by 300 percent this year, thanks to more children joining the world and more marketers spending money to reach this demographic. Whyville.net has an educational bent, so the company only accepts marketing that will teach the kids something about the world, according to Bowers.

For example, Whyville recently opened a bank sponsored by Bankinter, the fifth largest bank in Spain, so that kids can deposit and earn interest on their "clams." Since it's been opened, one in four clams circulating in the virtual world has been deposited in the bank, Bowers said.

No doubt, that's the kind of return on investment VCs like.

Proving their interest, a group of venture capitalists will be speaking here on a panel late Wednesday. Executives from Charles River Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Scale Venture Partners will be talking about trends and business opportunities in virtual worlds.

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There.com Gets CosmoGIRL for Virtual Parties & Shopping

(* Source : Kristen Nicole *)

There.com has partnered with CosmoGIRL to bring its brand into the virtual world. This will be a “physical” virtual location where users can come to a dance party, fashion shows, spa makeovers, play in photo booths, shop for clothing and accessories, and visit live events held by CosmoGIRL. The extension of branding in this way is a good format for the publication to use, considering the growing popularity of web-based virtual worlds and the niche audience of teen girls that are found on There.com.

This could prove to be a better alternative for branding than Second Life, which has a broader user base. It could also prove to be a good distribution channel for other brands looking to market to teen girls in a virtual manner, as they can offer digital goods to be doled out via CosmoGIRL without the necessity of launching a full-fledged virtual marketing effort on their own. It will be interesting to see if a virtual venue of this nature could do better than an online network like Flip, which hasn’t met company expectations for growth. CosmoGIRL’s virtual playland opens up at There.com on November 20, 2007.

In other virtual world news, SceneCaster has recently signed on Turbo Squid for the provision of 3D objects to be used in its graphic creations, and Multiverse has signed a similar deal with Google 3D Warehouse.

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Second Life and IBM in open borders for virtual worlds

(* Source : Scott Hillis *)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Linden Labs, the operator of the Second Life virtual world, said on Tuesday they will work on ways to eventually let people use the a single online persona in different online services.

Interoperability is emerging as a key goal of the nascent virtual world industry, which attracting hundreds of millions of dollars in investment on the hopes that video-game graphics and rich 3-D environments will supplant flat Web pages.

Currently, people who create a character, or avatar, in one virtual world cannot take that identity into another service.

Designing a detailed avatar can take well over an hour, so a closed system discourages customers from abandoning that investment. But it is also a barrier to growth since few people bother to start the process anew in multiple virtual worlds.

An open system would let people create one avatar that would keep the same basic appearance and customer data no matter where it was in cyberspace.

"It is going to happen anyway," said Colin Parris, IBM vice president of digital convergence. "If you think you are walled and secure, somebody will create something that's open and then people will drain themselves away as fast as possible."

Linden Labs, whose Second Life is one of the market leaders with about half a million active users, is betting that an open system will reward interesting worlds with more customers and punishes dull ones with an exodus of users.

But such a virtual passport system may be years away, if it doesn't first fall prey to the kind of conflicting interests that occasionally bog down efforts to draw up standards in the fast-changing technology industry.

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Virtual Worlds News Interview: GoPets' Erik Bethke and Erin Hoffman

(* Source : Virtual World News *)

Last week we spoke to Areae President Raph Koster about his plans for Metaplace, the difference (or lack thereof) between virtual worlds and MMOGs, and his take on microtransactions. After watching him on a panel with GoPets CEO Erik Bethke, both fervently arguing for non-subscription-based revenue streams, we thought it'd be nice to follow up with Bethke. We're lucky this time to present a twofer, an informal email Q&A with both Bethke and Erin Hoffman, who, according to Bethke, "works on blurred areas between game design and online marketing and points in between at GoPets." Both share their take on virtual worlds growth, community, and casual online worlds. "We're a hybrid between a social networking service, an online games portal, and a virtual pet game," said Bethke. "We have all the features that a Facebook or a Myspace might have, but on top of that we're really the best virtual pet simulation on the market, because our pets are actually alive, responsive, mobile, and full of their own initiatives."

irtual Worlds News: I'd like to talk about the Avatar Bill of Rights and why you've decided to move in that direction.

Erik Bethke: As I said in my talk at Casual Connect, I really think that the virtual world space is currently limited by its attitude toward user rights. And I'm not alone in reaching that conclusion -- there's actually a virtual worlds bill of rights that predates my separate theory. A lot of what we're doing with GoPets is looking forward into the future of technology and how people interact online, and this is another big step in that direction, really just being realistic about what's happened in the past and what people naturally do when they become invested in a space, whether that's virtual or physical. If we can be aware of those desires and user motivations, we can do better business and make people happier at the same time.

VWN: You've been an outspoken proponent of real-money transactions. Based on your conversation from the AGDC, could you explain why?

Erin Hoffman: This year at GDC I talked to a roundtable of developers about item-based transactions and specifically real-money transactions. The item-based economy roundtables are always full to overflowing, but almost all the casual games groups were opposed to the idea of being realistic about currency with players. But I think in terms of a virtual world, and with women especially, being up front about real-life currency actually establishes trust with the player. Daniel James brought up a great point that iTunes is an item-based economy and deals in real-money transactions, yet is hugely popular, and you're still basically just getting ones and zeroes.

VWN: On a different note, could you talk about partnering with Windows Live Messenger. That's a really interesting way to look at distributing the virtual world, and I'd love to hear more about how users are taking to it.

EB: The users are really supportive and excited about this new opportunity we have to reach a much wider audience. One of the best things about GoPets is the welcoming, friendly community that's grown up around the service, something that's been able to grow during our years of quiet development, and they're excited about making that community even bigger and more wide-reaching. Because we're a social network as well as a virtual pet service, the MSN partnership is a great fit, since users now chatting online via Messenger can get the visual reward of their own little piece of the virtual world, and their pet, which connects to the person they're chatting with.

Continue reading "Virtual Worlds News Interview: GoPets' Erik Bethke and Erin Hoffman" »

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Google tools to power virtual worlds

(* Source : Daniel Terdiman *)

Google tools to power virtual worlds

Get ready for online games set in your favorite Google Earth locations.

Virtual-worlds platform developer Multiverse Network is set to announce a partnership Tuesday that will allow anyone to create a new online interactive 3D environment with just about any model from Google's online repository of 3D models, its 3D Warehouse, as well as terrain from Google Earth.

The idea is simple: Multiverse's technology--which gives game developers tools to design custom virtual worlds--will let those designers pick and choose from most of the millions of 3D models created using Google's 3D software tool SketchUp, and to import pieces of terrain, as defined by entering specific longitude and latitude data, from Google Earth.

If you want to build a virtual world centered on, say, downtown San Francisco, you could use the new technology to create the area itself and populate it with the digital versions of real-world buildings that have been created and uploaded to the 3D Warehouse.

"The goal is to grab things from the 3D Warehouse when looking at things in Google Earth and then make an instant multiverse world," said Multiverse co-founder Corey Bridges. "What we've done is provide a more streamlined interface for using (Google's technology) as a virtual-world production tool."

Until now, incorporating this kind of information from Google has mostly been the province of fantasy. For some time, Multiverse has made it possible to upload some SketchUp models into a virtual world created using its platform. But the technology the company plans to announce Tuesday, informally called "Architectural Wonders," brings the concept to much more well-rounded fruition, and answers what some people have been crying out for as obvious and necessary technology integration.

"Google's mission statement is to make all the world's information universally available and useful," said Jerry Paffendorf, co-author of the Metaverse Roadmap and co-founder of a stealth start-up called Wello Horld. "So I would say this (is about) making all the world universally available and useful, and that's why this is so fascinating."

For Paffendorf, one of the most vocal proponents of a 3D massively multiplayer environment based on Google Earth and SketchUp information, Multiverse's innovation is nothing short of groundbreaking.

He said he's particularly excited and hopeful that the Architectural Wonders project will allow virtual-world designers to incorporate not just models and terrain from Google Earth, but also much of the metadata that makes it so powerful: the personal notations and photographs that millions of users have added to it.

Of course, Multiverse's project is not the only one that has sprung up to make use of this data. Google is rumored to be working on a prototype virtual world, a beta test of which may or may not be under way at Arizona State University.

Another project is SceneCaster, a new technology unveiled at last week's Demo conference that allows anyone to make 3D "scenes" incorporating models from the 3D Warehouse that can then be attached to blogs or Facebook pages or even to Flickr.

Both SceneCaster and Multiverse's Architectural Wonders projects will be shown at the Virtual Worlds conference, which starts Wednesday in San Jose, Calif.

But because not much is known about Google's stealth project and since SceneCaster does not appear to be a massively multiplayer experience, Multiverse's Architectural Wonders efforts may well prove to be the first publicly available attempt to bring vast amounts of data and models Google is making freely accessible into a working virtual world.

More here

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Virtual Universes Landscape

(* Source : Fred Cavazza *)

Virtual universes are hype, that’s a sure bet. With very strong media coverage for universes like Second Life or World of Warcraft, announcers and users are discovering new spaces for playing, communicating, entertaining and even working which are in complete rupture with 2D spaces they already know.

Complete rupture? No, not exactly since most of these universes are evolution from existing services (chats, social networks, maps…). All these virtual universes bring some oxygen to sometimes unappealing concepts by providing new possibilities. But with new opportunities comes a lot of covetousness and build a very competitive environment inside which the most media covered are not the most interesting.

Did you know it?

There are more than 150 millions of Neopets‘ users which have already created more than 217 millions of accounts (you can count again, that’s more than MySpace)
KartRider and QQ are social platforms which generated nearly $100M in quarterly earnings (it’s quarterly earnings, not annual turnover)
There was $1 Billion Invested in Virtual Worlds in the Last Year (again, it’s $1 billion, not $1 million)

Do these figures astonish you? Well… so they did to me! But they are real.

Four main fields

Comparing all these universes won’t make any sense. First of all because they are very different and then because they target very different audience. But if you REALLY need a comparison, then you can have a look at these two (partial) comparison charts: Virtual Worlds Comparison Chart, Casual Immersive Worlds and Virtual Worlds Platforms and User Numbers.

Let me introduce you to these universes by using a map where I positioned most of them. All of these are not vast virtual world like Second Life, but they all share common characteristics: avatars, virtual currency and virtual places where avatars can meet, chat, play and interact.

This map is divided in 4 main fields:

Social, with universe revolving around community building
Games, with universes relying on online games
Entertainment, where music, videos and films related content
Business, where selling or exchanging goods is the main motivator for users and with enterprise applications (virtual training, serious games…)

Please not that these fields overlap themselves:

A wide typology of uages

You can find on this map various groups which are related to specific usage:

2.5 & 3D Chats, which are an evolution to instant messaging services but with a much stronger immersion (IMVU, Taatu, Citypixel, Faketown…)
Avatar-centric, where avatars are at the center of interactions and functionalities (Neopets, Club Penguin, Stardoll, Virtual MTV…)
Social Platforms, universes which inherits from social networks and sharing platforms while adding some avatar management and online games (Habbo, Cyworld, QQ, Gaia, Playdo…)
Branded Universes, which propose a total immersion inside the brand’s graphical universe and products range (Barbie Girls, Pepsi Town, MyCoke, ToonTown, T-Works, Home…)
Virtual Worlds, where users experience nearly total freedom of action (Second Life, HiPiHi, There, Entropia Universe…)
MOG, online gaming platforms relying on casual games for developing sociabilization (KartRider, PuzzlePirates, MapleStory…)
MMORPG, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games which requires a stronger social involvement (World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Dofus, RuneScape, Lineage II…)
Online Sport Games, based on collective or individual sports (Football Superstars, Online Soccer Manager, Fishing Champ, Ultimate Baseball Online…)
Adult Games, money games targeted at adults (PKR, Cameo Casino…)
Virtual Sex, 3D dating spaces (Red Light Center, Virtual Ibiza, Naughty America…)
Virtual City Guides, which are natural evolutions of local and mapping services (Google Earth, UpNext…)
Serious Games, which are deploy inside enterprise to build 3D collaborative spaces, virtual training classes and augmented meeting rooms (Innov8, MPK20, Quaq…)
World Generators, which allows 3D world creation (Active Worlds, Multiverse, Metaplace…)

Obviously, all these universes are not at the same maturity level: some are approaching the final stage of their life cycle (like Everquest), some others are crossing a turbulence area (Yankee Group Says Hype of Second Life Far Outweighs Its Ability to Impact Mainstream Interactivity), others are growing very fast (Gaia Online) and some are repositioning themselves (like IMVU which is morphing into a social network and Entropia Universe which will try to compete with video games).

A nearly saturated market?

With more than 150 active or soon-to-be-launched virtual universes, accept some numerous take over and disappearances. In this profusion, which universe is the right one? Its’ a hard guess since only two audience niches are sharply targeted: teen and adults (Virtual Worlds Are Trendy Spot for Kids and Teens).

It took 10 years to structure the internet media landscape and provide announcers with reliable communication tools (adwords, adsens…) and measure tools. How long will it takes with the virtual universes media landscape? Who will master advertising inside these new territories / markets? Is co-creation a reality? So many questions… which will find answers in the next months. Stay tuned.

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SceneCaster Officially Launches on Facebook

( Press Release via Virtual World News *)

TORONTO , ON – October 7, 2007 – SceneCaster today announced the release of the first immersive 3D Web application for Facebook - where anyone can create, transform and explore interactive 3D scenes and share them with their friends – all within Facebook. The application is available at: http://apps.facebook.com/scenecaster.

SceneCaster extends the rich visual experience of 3D on the Web to all Facebook users including consumers, creative professionals, and social media enthusiasts. Bridging the gap between the virtual and real worlds, SceneCaster also connects the Facebook 3D experience to eCommerce sites such as eBay and Amazon, product catalogs from leading manufacturers and retailers and to other rich media social networks such as Flickr.

SceneCaster is breaking new ground in 3D Web applications as the first 3D immersive experience that is built to leverage the "social graph" of Facebook. The Facebook economy is growing every day that could see it achieve 200 million users next year up from over 40 million today. SceneCaster delivers new conversation opportunities to all Facebook users while also providing an innovative revenue model simultaneously with each Facebook profile.

"Facebook facilitates better communication and an easier way to share & discover meaningful content," said Rodney Rumford, Editor of FaceReviews.com, a leading Facebook application review, rating and consulting service based in Solana Beach, CA. "SceneCaster in Facebook makes communications with my real world friends much richer and efficient. SceneCaster's great 3D immersive experience is revolutionary in concept and execution to sharing and discovering the 3D Web." Rodney's review of the SceneCaster Facebook app can be found at http://facereviews.com/2007/10 /04/facebook-3d-rooms-with-scenecaster

SceneCaster was first beta launched on September 25 th at DEMOfall '07, the technology industry's leading conference for innovative and disruptive technologies. Industry media and pundits have praised SceneCaster's debut with over 250,000 pages of reviews and comments residing on the Web today.

"SceneCaster's mission is to mainstream the 3D Web by lowering the barriers to adoption for the largest possible audience," said Mark Zohar, SceneCaster founder. "We've built it from the ground up by combining the very best the Web has to offer today – search, eCommerce and Facebook – with a rich, immersive 3D experience that is accessible within a standard Web browser."

About SceneCaster

SceneCaster is a 3D Web community where anyone can visualize their ideas, share them, and make them real. SceneCaster bridges the gap between the virtual and real worlds by connecting the 3D Web experience to online storefronts, product catalogs from leading brands and retailers, social networks, and consumers' dreams. SceneCaster is a brand initiative of View22 Technology Inc., a leading provider of 3D Web commerce and media solutions used by Global 2000 companies. For more information please visit www.scenecaster.com.

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Why Virtual Worlds Are Overtaking the Game Industry

(* Source : Virtual World News *)

CVSherman says :

The bar for online gaming has been raised, with community becoming as important as gameplay. Virtual worlds and Web 2.0 habits are driving users to worlds that support socializing instead of questing and user-created content instead of magic. World of Warcraft may have nine million subscribers, but Habbo Hotel has 7.5 million users per month, and it's growing. BarbieGirls.com grew at over 40,000 new members per day to reach four million registered users after only three months of its public beta. Gartner Research predicts that 80 percent of the online population will be involved in non-gaming virtual worlds by 2011.

"The game industry may have created the idea of online entertainment, but the days of orcs and elves ruling the online space is drawing to a close," said Christopher Sherman, Executive director of the upcoming Virtual Worlds Fall Conference and Expo taking place October 10-11 at the San Jose Convention Center. The show is attracting big wigs from across the entertainment industry.

"There will always be a place for platforms that just want to allow users to play a game together, but now interaction is key. Community is key," said Sherman who jumped from the game industry to the virtual worlds industry late last year. "The content revolves around and facilitates the community. Treating the online environment like less of a game and more of community or virtual world is key. Major media companies are now looking at anything they do as online entertainment - with a virtual world tied to it."

Case in point: Raph Koster, the former Chief Creative Officer of Sony Online Entertainment, recently took the wraps off of his stealth startup Areae with the announcement of Metaplace. Metaplace is designed to provide an easy-to-use interface allowing users to create virtual worlds that can run anywhere and do anything.

Said Sherman of the announcement, "Whether or not Metaplace is successful, the wake-up call for the game industry has been issued."

Virtual worlds like Kaneva strive to provide activities for their users, including games. Developers like Trilogy Studios, who created a Virtual MTV environment, have a background in next-generation console games like Medal of Honor and The Chronicles of Riddick. It shows in their products. MTV's Virtual Pimp My Ride lets users build experience points while socializing.

More here

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Branding in Tween Worlds

(* Source : PSFK *)

Alisson Mooney says :

Kids are consumers (virtually)! That was the message on the “New School” panel at the YPulse Tween Mashup on Friday. Speakers from Stardoll, WhyVille, and Cartoon Doll Emporium all recounted that young users of their virtual worlds wanted brands brought into their online environments.

Mattias Mikshe, CEO of Stardoll, said that users were begging for real world brands (“everything from Gap to Gucci.”) This is what led them to create “StarPlaza,” an in-world mall stocked with virtual brands (they now have 9). LVMH-owned Sephora and DKNY just became the first real world brand to set up shop there (featuring the same items as the stores). Cartoon Doll Emporium, a similar “paper doll” site, is also working with offline brands.

The virtual world meets social network WhyVille has 3,000 different lines of clothing—by 3,000 different girls. CEO Jim Bower says they want to have a Whyville store with the designs from 12 year olds. But kids in WhyVille aren’t immune to brand fever: one group of kids actually created M&Ms costumes for their avatars. Over in WeeWorld, users “consistently asking for brands to better express themselves,” says Marketing and Editorial Director, Maura Welch. “By choosing to wear the assets,” she says “the users are endorsing the brands to their friends.” According to the site’s latest food and drink survey, users’ WeeMees (avatars) were jonesing for some Sprite, Gatorade and Cheerios. As it is, they can already pimp themselves out in Armani sunglasses while they pop Skittles.

According to Mikshe, the kids can “distinguish between being marketed to and adding value.” Or maybe the marketing has just done its job. The demand is there for the brand names, creating a pull rather than a push scenario. And now that these brands can provide utility online, they are becoming more and more integrated into the lives of young consumers.

Ypulse Tween Mashup

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Turner Partners With Kaneva On Virtual World Extensions

(* Source : MediaPost.com *)

Laurie Petersen says :

TURNER BROADCASTING SYSTEM, INC.'S NEW Products Group has signed a one-year deal with Kaneva to build and test virtual world extensions of its entertainment properties.

Each Turner Web community and corresponding virtual space inside Kaneva will contain video players for video streaming of select Turner network content.

"Our exploration with Kaneva of virtual worlds is yet another example of Turner staying at the forefront of consumer technology trends," said Blake Lewin, vice president for TBS Inc.'s New Products Group. "Through this opportunity, we hope to leverage the Kaneva platform to explore how users interact with our brands in a virtual world."

The agreement will grant Turner access to Kaneva's technology and tools to create and use Web communities and Virtual Spaces on the Kaneva Web site and in the virtual world of Kaneva.

"Turner is an ideal flagship media partner for Kaneva," said Christopher Klaus, founder and CEO of Kaneva. "Turner's high-quality programming and credibility is synergistic with our unique focus on delivering entertainment to the masses inside a virtual world. As a result of this partnership, we will provide entirely new ways for audiences to watch, participate and interact around their favorite TV programming."

Kaneva, which is Latin for "canvas," is a virtual entertainment world that unifies the 2D Web with a 3D experience. It integrates social networking, shared media and collaborative online communities into a modern-day, immersive 3D virtual world. Kaneva enables its members to hang out with their friends online and in 3D, share entertainment, express creativity and passions, and establish meaningful connections with others.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Brave New World for TV? Virtually

(* Source : New York Times *)

David Itzkoff says :

Sundance Channel

Visitors to the Sundance Channel area of the Web site Second Life can watch full-length feature films in a virtual screening room

IF you can find him, Vincent Tibbett is precisely the sort of well-connected cultural liaison any emerging filmmaker should want to know. An employee of the Sundance Channel, he is as easily recognizable for his shaggy haircut and assertively casual attire as he is for the crowds of aspiring artists who follow him around, hoping to chat him up about cinematic trends, get him to evaluate their movies or simply score his e-mail address.

Vincent Tibbett and Maya Palmer work for the Sundance Channel, but they’re not exactly real.

But if Mr. Tibbett seems a bit harder to pin down for a lunch date than the average in-demand tastemaker, that’s because he doesn’t exist on our plane of reality. He is an electronic avatar found only in Second Life, the popular online virtual community.

Just six months old, Mr. Tibbett is one experiment in the Sundance Channel’s larger exploration of Internet-based virtual reality, a sort of canary down the mine shaft of a new technology that may or may not take hold among mainstream audiences.

And he is not alone. In the last year broadcast networks, cable channels and television content providers have all set up camp in virtual communities, where they hope that viewers who have forsaken television for computer screens might rediscover their programming online. Some outlets, like Showtime and Sundance, are establishing themselves in existing worlds; others, like MTV, are creating their own. Either way, if the wildest dreams of some very excited technology developers come true, virtual reality might finally be the medium that unites the passive experience of watching television with the interactive potential of the Web.

If that happens, the television industry — which has not been particularly speedy in adapting to the Internet revolution — sees an opportunity not only to recover lost ground from online competitors but also to take a lead, and in so doing create an entirely new environment in which to influence and sell to its audience.

“You want to be in this because you know, as a content provider, that this is where the future is going,” said Quincy Smith, the president of CBS Interactive. “I don’t look at it as science fiction. I look at it as the future of communication.”

For decades ambitious programmers and designers have sought to establish virtual worlds like the one put forth in Neal Stephenson’s influential 1992 novel, “Snow Crash,” which imagines computer users interacting in a simulated three-dimensional world called the Metaverse. But only in recent years, as graphics-accelerator cards and broadband Internet connections have grown more affordable and ubiquitous, has it become possible even to approximate such an experience.

IN Second Life (secondlife.com), visitors to the Sundance Channel area can watch full-length feature films in a three-dimensional screening room or take part in an environmental forum; fans of Showtime’s drama “The L Word” can meet the avatars of the show’s stars and design their own floats for a virtual gay pride parade. In MTV’s Virtual Laguna Beach (at vmtv.com) inhabitants can shop at digital versions of Emporio Optic and Laguna Surf and Sport or, at the click of a mouse, arrive in a virtual version of “The Hills,” where they can then join the party at an electronic replica of the Los Angeles nightclub Area.

More here

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Q&A: eMarketer's Debra Aho Williamson Talks Kids and Virtual Worlds

(* Source : Worldsinmotion *)

Earlier this week, we took a look at a research report published by market researcher eMarketer about kids, teens, 'tweens and virtual worlds that found that 34.3 million US child and teen Internet users will visit virtual worlds once a month in 2007 -- and eMarketer expects that number to rise to 34 percent in 2008, and to 53 percent by 2011.

Worlds in Motion spoke to eMarketer's Debra Aho Williamson about her findings. "I think what’s attractive about virtual worlds for kids and teens is that they exist at a 'sweet spot' between online games, which are very popular with younger kids, 'tweens and boys, and social networks, which are very popular with teens, particularly girls," she explains. "I think that virtual worlds combine aspects of both of those things."

Zeroing in on major factors in online social worlds, she elaborated. "There are a lot of games, there's the opportunity to meet friends, interact socially, learn about other people and express your interests. So I think those are the two driving factors." Real-time interaction also plays a big role, she says. "[It's a] very immersive experience. You don’t just 'poke' somebody like on Facebook -- you can actually, physically, poke somebody. What that means is that there’s that much more real-time interaction, no latency, no making a post on someone’s wall and waiting for them to respond. It’s all occurring in real time."

More here

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Japan to open G-rated virtual world

(* Source : AP *)

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Orderly, pornography-free and safe for children, "meet-me," an online interactive virtual Tokyo, is Japan's answer to "Second Life." Or so its creators hope.

In "meet-me," players' avatars are rounder and softer than the angular and realistic avatars of "Second Life."

Kunimasa Hamaoka, who oversees "meet-me" at digital marketing company Transcosmos Inc., is banking on the cultural differences between Japanese and Americans to compete against the world's top virtual community.

Japanese are so well-behaved and conformist, he says, they would prefer a more predictable and secure virtual environment over the free-spirited anything-goes of "Second Life," created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab.

In "meet-me," players' avatars, or computer-generated alter-egos, are rounder and softer, more like the cuddly characters of "Pokemon" than the angular and relatively realistic avatars of "Second Life."

The sun rises and sets in "meet-me" on Tokyo time. And avatars must ride trains or other vehicles or walk or run to get around a city whose streets and buildings look much like real Tokyo's; they can't jump from place to place as they can in "Second Life."

More here

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Xivio Launches Democratic Content Rating

(* Source : Virtual World News.com *)

CVSherman says :

Xivio, a Flash-based virtual world with a Web-based social network, announced that it had introduced a content rating system based on user votes on the TV-MA rating system. When photos, music, videos and journals are uploaded, they are immediately rated TV-MA until the staff or community votes them into a lower rating. "We've tested it out in house, and it works very well," said President/CEO David Wisotzky. "After hearing a lot of the stuff going on with Myspace, you know protecting the kids and how other programs don't allow kids to upload content, we figured that it's the digital age and someone should make that safe to do. It seemed like nobody had been stepping up."

"Being safe is a very important thing," Wisotzky continued. "We launched around a year ago, and we've been slowly getting more and more users. As we start enhancing our social networking features, we want to give parents some peace of mind. Unless they're sitting over their kids constantly, there's no peace of mind. For this, a parent could go in for a seven-year-old and disable all social networking features totally. Or you could allow your 15-year-old to go in and have a video conference."

Xivio, which launched in April 2006 as a Flash-driven virtual chat room for teens, now offers completely modifiable avatars, personal rooms, and profile-based home pages for users of all ages.

More here

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Virtual Worlds Platforms and User Numbers

(* Source: www.VirtualWorldsNews.com *)

Here's a quick and dirty summary of some of the major virtual worlds platforms and their users.

company	world name	Users
Activeworlds	alphaworld	70,000 registered, 1,000,000 hits to the universe server per day (August 2007)
MindArk PE AB	Entropia Universe	634K registered users, September 2007
Google, Inc.	Google Earth	200M downloads by June 2007
HiPiHi	HiPiHi	13K Users in Beta (August 2007)
imvu	imvu	More than 1M (August 2007)
Kaneva	Kaneva	"Close to 600,000" registered users (August 2007)
Microsoft Virtual Earth	Microsoft Virtual Earth
Yoick	Project Outback
ProtonMedia	ProtoSphere
Qwaq	Qwaq Forums
Linden Lab	Second Life	8.5M registrations, 88,797 premium subscribers, 556,643 Active Avatars
Sony PlayStation Home	PlayStation Home	In closed beta
Timeless Cities		In stealth mode
Cisco Systems	unknown
IBM	IBM Quick Innovate Internal Metaverse Project	In development
Makena Technologies, Inc.	There.com	1M Members (July 2007)
Three Rings	Whirled	In development
3B International	3B
Metaversum	Twinity	Will go into private beta in q3 2007
Journeys	Journeys	In stealth mode
UoneNet	Uworld	Begins Alpha testing December 2007
Co-core	Meet-me	In development due in December 2007

TEENS and TWEENS
Linden Lab	Teen Second Life	4,842 Avatars (July 2007)
Doppelganger	vside	150,000 registered users (July 2007)
Flowplay	unknown	In development
Dubit Ltd.	Dubit	509,975 Active Members (Sept 2007)
Disney	Club Penguin	700K current subcribers, 12M activated accounts (August 2007), 2.9 million unique visitors Jan 2007
MTV / Viacom	Virtual Laguna Beach	600K Registrations (March 2007)
MTV / Viacom	Virtual MTV Video Music Awards
MTV / Viacom	Virtual Newport Harbor
MTV / Viacom	Virtual Pimp My Ride
MTV / Viacom	Virtual The Real World
MTV / Viacom	The Virtual Hills
Stardoll AB	Stardoll	10M registrations, 6M monthly unique users (August 2007)
Cyworld, Inc.	Cyworld	US: 250,000 members, 1M monthly uniques (June 2007), Global: 20M monthly uniques (March 2007)
Sulake Corporation	Habbo	7.5M uniques globally (Sept. 2007)
Gaia Interactive, Inc.	Gaia Online	2.5M Monthly Users (September 2007)
Circle 1 Limited	Idea Seeker Universe	800K Users (Sept 2007 from company)
IAC	Zwinktopia	9.5 million registered users, 4.6 million active users per month (September 2007)
Xivio	Xivio	22k registered users (Sept. 2007)

KID WORLDS
Disney	ToonTown	1.165 million users May 2007
Ty Inc	Ty Girlz	under development
LEGO Group	Lego Universe
Mattel	Barbie Girls	4 Million Users (August 2007)
Viacom	Nicktropolis	1.4 million unique users May 2007
Corus Entertainment	multiple worlds
Viacom	Neopets	4.8M Unique visitors (June 2007)
Disney	Virtual Magic Kingdom	1 million player characters (Feb 2006)
Ganz	Webkinz World	1.9 million uniques, December 2006
Numedeon	Whyville	1.7M registered citizens (Sept 2007)
gopets	gopets	744,431 registered users (from site September 2007)
Ragdoll Worldwide (by Nice Tech)	Tronji
FakeTown	FakeTown	35K Uniques/month (June 2007)
MGA Entertainment	MyePets.com
MGA Entertainment	Be-Bratz.com

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Study: Second Life Overhyped

(* Source : Kris Graft *)

A new study from Yankee Group finds that the hype surrounding Second Life is considerably bigger than the virtual world's real-life relevance.

Boston-based research firm Yankee Group's note, "Wither Second Life?" states that the virtual world Second Life is stagnating, with the user growth rate reaching its peak in October 2006.

According to the study, users visit Second Life for only 12 minutes on average--per month.

Yankee Group said that the lack of growth may be attributed to the fact that people are opting to go mobile instead of sitting in front of a PC.

"Despite near-continuous coverage in the popular and business press, metaverses like Second Life are experiencing slowing growth and limited impact because of the tethered nature of their virtual world experience," Yankee Group said.

Meanwhile, sites such as Facebook and MySpace are enjoying steady growth. According to the study, Facebook's average time spent per user increased 24 percent to 186 minutes over six months.

San Francisco-based Second Life developer Linden Lab didn't reply to requests for comment as of press time.

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MellaniuM Puts Second Life In Skype

(* Source : Caleb Booker *)

Today I met with Joe Rigby, co-owner of a very young startup called MellaniuM. His company is in the process of experimenting with two things: video streaming from 3D environments, and finding new ways to use custom virtual worlds for business applications. He's already had some impressive successes.

We started off in Skype voice chat, but then he met me in Second Life at the same time. Using tools his company haven't even named yet, he was able to broadcast video of our avatars meeting through Skype. (Click the picture for full-size.) They still consider it technology in the pre-alpha stage, and won't feel like it's ready for consumers until they have it running in much higher detail. Even at the low resolution, being "in" Second Life through Skype and, in addition, seeing myself through multiple camera angles at once was a pretty impressive experience.

This was, of course, just the beginning. He switched from Second Life to a custom environment they had built with the Unreal 2 engine and again, streamed it right through Skype. The great part about using an engine like this one was that they were able to import high-detail AutoCAD files and make them look extremely realistic. Soon I was watching a high-quality alien avatar from Mars Attacks! exploring the environment in real-time. Below is a video of the world he had walked me through that they apparently built over the course of a few days.

Recently Rigby showcased the technology at the Copper/Cobre Conference. All of the other presenters went up and showed PowerPoint presentations. Rather than show a series of AutoCAD sketches, he plugged his laptop into the projector and walked the crowd through a 3D rendering. A copper smelter in the U.S. retained him to create a "virtual furnace" that not only showed the schematics in high resolution, but had walls lined with photographs of how everything is supposed to look as you assemble the machine. Not only that, but you can actually enter the furnace itself and (through color coding) see how everything is supposed to fit together.

Even though his company has already been retained by a few engineering firms for more work, Rigby sees more applications for high-resolution custom worlds. He's currently in touch with several galleries in London to create scale models of the buildings with high resolution art renderings inside. People could download them for a token fee (maybe five dollars) and collect them over time as the gallery updates itself with new exhibits. Also, since "Unreal 2" is a server-based platform, you could walk around these little worlds with your friends.

MellaniuM has only been experimenting with the possibilities since September of last year and has already shown some great innovations. If they keep up this pace they'll be the ones to watch in the future.

See Video

Posted by brian tiong at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Chinese Developer UOneNet set to release a new virtual world, uWorld in, in 1Q 2008

(* Source : Virtual World News *)

Beijing-based virtual worlds developer UOneNet plans to launch a new virtual world called “uWorld in” 1Q 2008, according to redlinechina.com. uWorld is a 3D virtual community that allows users to live, interact, and conduct business together. Users of uWorld will be able to purchase virtual real estate, start businesses, create social circles, and make and sell virtual items. Alpha testing for uWorld will begin in December 2007, says the article. The founder of UOneNet, Eric Ye, was a former software architect at IBM and has a masters degree in engineering from the University of Southern California (USC). The company has been focusing on building a reliable backend, including its own proprietary technology called UniG, which is being used to build uWorld, the article says. UOneNet plans to design the virtual world to appeal to Chinese users by adding more in-game tutorials and content creation tools. Currently, UOneNet is operating with a mixture of angel and venture funding and has 60 employees total, according to redlinechina.com.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EA Launches The Sims on Stage Beta

(* Source : Leigh Alexander *)

Launches The Sims on Stage Beta

Electronic Arts has announced the beta launch of The Sims On Stage, a free interactive online webiste-based toolset that lets users record, watch and share karaoke songs, stories, comedy routines and other creative projects.

The Sims on Stage is based on the SingShot Media karaoke community, which EA acquired earlier this year. EA says "thousands of well-known rock, pop and country songs" will be available at launch; For the members not vocally inclined, The Sims on Stage also offers "Open-Mic Recordings," for spoken-word and comedy performances.

In addition to karaoke, The Sims On Stage will also feature a "Movie Mashup" that will allow members to create original movies featuring The Sims content, some of which will include assets made available only to members of The Sims On Stage community. Recordings can be kept private or publicly shared, and can also be uploaded to blogs and social networking sites.

The announcement continues EA's commitment to The Sims as one of its chief and most important brands - in the recent re-organization of the company, it has been elevated to one of the four main company 'labels' alongside EA Sports, Casual, and EA Games, the only single franchise to be given that honor.

“The Sims has long had one of the largest, friendliest and most creative communities in the world. With the release of The Sims On Stage we welcome a new kind of customer to our way of having fun,” said Rod Humble, studio head of The Sims label. He continued: “The world of interactive entertainment is now broader than ever thanks to new web-based technologies, and we are thrilled to give you a new way of having fun with The Sims On Stage.”

The Sims On Stage is now available in a beta version at its official website.

[The preceding announcement ran previously on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

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To Teleport or Not to Teleport: Travelling in Virtual Worlds

(* Digital Urban Blogspot.com *)

Smithee says :

Methods of travel within virtual worlds differ according to distance and the rules imposed by the system. The most common method to move large distances is the teleport - allowing new locations to be reached according to a Cartesian co-ordinate system. Teleports are common place within environments such as Second Life and ActiveWorlds with teleportation achieved through either selecting a location on a map or clicking on an object which has been setup with a teleportation script.

As an example, in the panoramic sphere below the small red triangle is a teleport object taking the user back to the main section of our work on Second Nature Island within Second Life.

The same is true of ActiveWorlds with teleports being a key feature of the ability to jump between servers and chosen locations. However, the ability to teleport was not always part of the original ActiveWorlds systems which evolved through the influence of Neal Stephenson's seminal science fiction novel Snow Crash.

In Snow Crash, the ability to teleport was blocked:

You can't just materialise anywhere in the Metaverse... this would be confusing and irritating to the people around you. It would break the metaphor (Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, 1996, page 42).

Pressure from users resulted in teleportation stations being introduced at select points around the central section of ActiveWorlds original environment known as AlphaWorld, but it caused concern amoung the developers. The New World Times, a virtual newspaper, reported in 1998 that 'there is still some concern that teleportation will ruin the simulation of reality in AlphaWorld'.

Teleportation was subsequently introduced throughout the ActiveWorlds system and it is now central to the majority of virtual environments. Indeed within Second Life teleportation is integral to moving around the world. Pictured below is a map of teleports in our own ActiveWorld circa 1999 (click for a larger version):

In 1998 the developers of ActiveWorlds were worried that teleporting would ruin the simulation, by 2007 the expanse of virtual environments has meant that teleportation is the only option.

In Second Life you can materialise anywhere in the Metaverse, it is not confusing or irritating to the people around you and indeed perhaps even enhances the metaphor...

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Club Marian Launches

(* Source : Worlds in Motion *)

When we reviewed Gene Endrody's Sherwood Dungeon for our Online Worlds Atlas, we were impressed by the solid simplicity of Endrody's completely free, Google ad-supported MMO. Nonetheless, it's a game for those who like stat management, combat and level-grinding. Now, though, it looks like Endrody's Maid Marian has launched a more temperate solution: Club Marian, a "massive multiplayer social hangout where users from around the world can chat, dance, drive and create music in a fun 3d environment," as the site says.

There are apparently three islands to explore, a music maker, emotes, customizable avatars and even a sports car to drive -- and everyone gets one!

The interface resembles Sherwood Dungeon a bit, only with a hipper look to the avatars and a few stylish updates (guess the medieval look isn't in fashion in Club Marian), and instead of inventory management and armaments, users can chat, dance, or take their car for a spin. Though the range of customization isn't particularly wide, it's broader than Sherwood Dungeon's, and users can choose from an entire color palette for each clothing and hair option, and for the car, too.

It's still completely free and runs in the browser on Shockwave. Neat work, Gene.

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Koinup Launches Social Networking For Virtual Life

(* Source : Worlds in Motion *)

Brescia, Italy-based Koinup has announced the launch of its eponymous social network, "entirely dedicated to your virtual life." Whereas MySpace, Facebook and their ilk are a social network for one's real life, it seems that Koinup is going for meta -- a social network to share, document and keep tabs on the life of your avatar and its friends in the virtual space.

Users can create profiles, write journals and stories, publish pictures and share machinima videos all based on their world of choice. Koinup promises almost unlimited free storage space for uploads, too, all with the aim of aggregating and enabling ease of access for multiplayer game and virtual world-focused content.

"Virtual worlds, MMORPGs and Metaverses are the new frontiers of internet entertainment and creativity," Koinup says in its press release. "Each day milions of people spend their time in virtual environments and use these innovative spaces to express themselves and to create art, photos and videos."

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Neopets Announces Massive Retail Toy Initiative

(* Source : Leigh Alexander *)

eopets Announces Massive Retail Toy Initiative

Jakks Pacific and Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products announced that they have executed a domestic-based master toy licensing agreement to produce a variety of products based on the Neopets virtual world, by which Jakks will create a full line of toys and merchandise to capitalize on Neopets and its characters. The Neopets world lets kids adopt virtual pets, accumulate points for virtual goods, and play minigames.

According to comScore, Neopets drew 5.9 million visitors in the month of August, making it Neopets' strongest month yet and marking a 50 percent increase over the same period last year. The company says 'tween users spend an average of 2 hours and 33 minutes on the site.

The Jakks toy line will focus on plush Neopets toys, but the aggreement also covers action figures, accessories, playsets and plug-and-play interactive toys, as well as role-play products, vehicles, youth electronics, water toys, novelties, stationery products, kites, and craft activity toys. Jakks’ Neopets collectible plush products are expected to begin to hit retail shelves in early spring 2008, with figures, playsets and other Neopets products shipping to retailers nationwide for fall.

Additionally, the plush toys and other upcoming Neopets consumer products will tie into a new multiplayer “Neopets Key Quest” in the game. The toys will contain codes that allow kids to unlock virtual extensions of the toys to use as part of the Neopets Key Quest game, with virtual versions of the toys represented in the users' Neopets profile.

"We plan to add engaging real world components to the already hugely popular virtual world of Neopia," says Jakks CEO Stephen Berman, "and maximize the deep online connection kids have with Neopets through a collectible roll-out strategy, which is one of Jakks’ core strengths. Neopets has all the makings of a great toy property.”

More here

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Twinity

(* Source : Matthias Weber *)

Twinity is a 3D Online World currently in production by Metaversum Berlin. Apparently there is not too much information about Twinity available at the moment. Instead of creating a fantasy world Twinity will be more a replication of the real world with avatars as a look-a-like of real life people. A team of more than 60 is working on the closed beta. Twinity will include a virtual asset and economy system aswell as in game advertisement. As soon as more details are available we'll update the post!

Imagine a virtual world that brings the dream of “virtual reality” back to life – a place bursting with real people and real experiences. Twinity is not an exercise in digital escapism. Instead, think of it as the virtual extension of your life. Even your avatar will look pretty familiar…

http://www.twinity.de

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Google Prepping A Second Life Competitor?

(* Source : Duncan Riley *)

Rumors of a Google powered virtual world based on Google Earth surfaced in January; today there is word that Google may be testing their virtual world at Arizona State University (ASU).

According to Google Operating System, ASU students have the opportunity to test a new product “that will be publicly launched later this year” by “a major Internet company” that is related to social networking, 3D modeling and video games. The questionnaire attached to the application process asks would be testers if they have a Gmail account, and if not would they be willing to get one. The product’s name is shown as “My World.”

Google’s Sketchup service already provides the tech to do 3D modeling and could also be used to create avatars.

We know for certain now that Google has big plans for social networking, from SocialStream to Google’s planned November 5 launch of the mother of all open social networking platforms. Whether the planned service will be a true Second Life competitor is still to be seen, however I suspect that if Google is prepping a virtual world it will be closer to IBM’s Virtual World chat platform than Second Life. To deliver a full UGC world is a not an easy step where a basic 3D world which builds on Google Earth, SketchUp, and existing Google social networking platforms including Orkut would seem more likely.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Donna Karan, Sephora to sell in Stardoll Web world

(* Source : Reuters *)

Michele Gershberg says :

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Young girls waiting to grow into full-time fashionistas will get a chance to experiment with couture as designer Donna Karan and cosmetics chain Sephora open shop in the virtual play-dress world of Stardoll.

Donna Karan's DKNY label and Sephora, both owned by French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, will begin on Wednesday to offer virtual clothing and makeup to Stardoll members in specially designated online stores.

Stardoll's rapidly growing Web site has a large audience of teen girls who create Internet personas of themselves and spend hours dressing them up in fantasy costumes and socializing.

It is one of several popular online clubs for childish play -- such as Club Penguin and Gaia Online -- as well as the adult world's Second Life, that have drawn the interest of marketers for their audiences of devoted fans.

For Stardoll, however, the entry of two global brands could mark the start of a new advertising business on the site, which has grown to 6 million unique monthly visitors since being created in 2004. Until now, members could choose from eight fictional clothing labels created by the company's in-house designers.

"Our users have been craving for real brands on the site," Mattias Miksche, chief executive of privately held Stardoll, told Reuters. "We've been getting mail from our users from day one."

The company has compiled a list of the 100 brands most popular among its 10 million registered users, and is in talks with several companies on the list about building similar virtual shops on its site, he said.

Stardoll is also in talks with advertisers beyond the fashion and cosmetics industries who are also keen on reaching a concentrated audience of preteen and teenage girls.

"Our business model is selling virtual items for real money ... we have 26 different exchange rates," Miksche said. But if the site's virtual stores take off, creating links to real clothing purchases may not be far behind, he said.

While DKNY fashions are pricier in real life, dressing up an Internet alter-ego also costs real money. Members pay $1 in U.S. currency for 10 "star dollars" to spend on the site, and a virtual DKNY outfit of cargo pants, sequined tank top and pair of booties would cost 31 star dollars.

Stardoll is backed by venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures.

Posted by brian tiong at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Armani looking good in Second Life

(* Source : Michael Estrin *)

Now that fashion designer Giorgio Armani has opened a store in Second Life, there really is no excuse for a poorly dressed avatar.

According to a Reuters report, Armani's Second Life store will allow residents to purchase virtual clothing using the site's Linden Dollar currency. Second Life residents also can purchase real clothing with U.S. dollars by going from Armani's virtual store to his website.

Armani, who will attend his store's virtual opening by sending a well-dressed avatar, joins a slew of companies that have embraced Second Life as a marketing tool. Most recently IBM opened up a customer service center in the virtual world, while HBO has mined the site for content by optioning a Second Life film.

With growing interest in virtual worlds coming from brands, Google has taken notice. Early this week, rumors surfaced that Google may be working on its on virtual world to rival Second Life.

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Kids, Teens and Virtual Worlds

(* Source : Emarketer.com *)

It's a virtual, virtual world after all.

The Walt Disney Company's $350 million purchase of Club Penguin signals a new focus of attention for marketers and media companies targeting kids and teens online.

Virtual worlds are becoming more frequent destinations as the percentage of children and teens who use the Internet increases.

"For marketers trying reach kids and teens on social networking sites, there is a new game in town: virtual worlds," said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Kids and Teens: Virtual Worlds Open New Universe.

"Of course, virtual worlds are not new, but the level of development activity, venture capital investment and consumer interest in virtual worlds is unprecedented," she said.

Club Penguin is one of the fastest growing virtual worlds for young children. As of August 2007, it had 12 million registered users and 700,000 paid subscribers, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

According to eMarketer estimates, 41.5% of children ages 3 to 11 will use the Internet at least once a month in 2007. In total, 14.9 million children will go online in 2007, rising to an estimated 16.6 million in 2011.

Among teens, eMarketer estimates 76.4% will go online at least once a month in 2007, rising to 87.1% by 2011.

Overall, children and teens make up 18.2% of all US Internet users.

"eMarketer estimates that 24% of the 34.3 million child and teen Internet users in the US will use virtual worlds at least once a month this year," Ms. Williamson said. "And by 2011, 53% of them will be going virtual."

As more kids and teens start to use virtual worlds, their viewpoint on the Web changes, too.

"They are growing up not only with social networking but also with the ability to interact with people, shop, learn and play in a graphic environment," Ms. Williamson said. "Flat Web pages with clickable links and banner ads may pale in comparison."

Younger kids are getting used to a graphical representation of a social network, Jonathan Collins, executive producer of virtual worlds for MTV, said in an interview with eMarketer.

"They're going to feel a social network that doesn't have [that] element is missing something," Mr. Collins said.

eMarketer expects that virtual worlds — particularly those for kids and teens — will see an increased level of interest from marketers in the next few years.

"The intense activity in virtual worlds for kids and teens is only a microcosm of the larger development work being done in virtual worlds," says Ms. Williamson. "Many believe that the graphically rich environment of virtual worlds will transform how consumers shop, communicate and browse the Internet."

Posted by brian tiong at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hasbro's LITTLEST PET SHOP Jumps into the Digital Plush Arena with Virtual Interactive Pets

(* Source : Press release Hasbro*)

Fastest Growing Girl Toy Brand Launches "The Cuddliest Pets on the Net"

PAWTUCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS - News), announces the launch of LITTLEST PET SHOP VIPs (Virtual Interactive Pets), a line of five cuddly, plush pets that bear secret codes on their collars to unlock a virtual world where tween girls can interact with the digital counterparts of their plush pals and explore a fun online VIPs destination jam packed with exciting games, activities, and community events. LITTLEST PET SHOP VIPs will be unleashed in the New York Metro market and online in mid-October 2007 followed by a global retail launch in early 2008. Each LITTLEST PET SHOP VIPs plush pet will carry an approximate retail price of $14.99 and includes exclusive access to the VIPs virtual world which will continuously evolve with new and exciting elements.

The initial LITTLEST PET SHOP VIPs line will include a dog, cat, turtle, penguin and panda. Upon getting home with their new cuddly plush pet, girls with parental permission will plug in the secret code found on the collar at www.littlestpetshop.com, receive a VIPs Adoption Certificate and watch their pet come to life online. The fun really begins as they begin to customize their pets and environments, earn "Kibble" points to keep pets happy and healthy, play mini-games and engage in fun individual or community based activities.

"This is a very exciting time for the LITTLEST PET SHOP brand," said Valerie Jurries, vice president of marketing for Hasbro's girls brands. "We wanted to take this incredibly popular property and do something truly spectacular for the millions of girls who have come to adore the LITTLEST PET SHOP line over the years. Creating an engaging and meaningful online connection between girls and their LITTLEST PET SHOP pets was an instinctive next step. VIPs delivers a rich, immersive online world where girls and their pets can have endless hours of fun exploring, playing and bonding."

Blending Traditional LITTLEST PET SHOP Play with Online Fun

Just as they do with their real world LITTLEST PET SHOP pets, VIPs will allow girls to customize homes for their pets as well as personalize the pets with the latest apparel and accessories purchased at virtual stores and boutiques with VIPs currency called Kibble. Kibble points are earned based on keeping pets happy and healthy by completing activities such as going for a check-up at the "Get Better Center", going to the playground for some exercise and fun, playing mini-games or simply exploring the environment for hidden surprises.

More here

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Utherverse's Worlds: Moving from Sex in the RedLightCenter to Music in Virtual Vancouver

(* Source: Virtual News.com *)

CVSherman says :

Sex in Second Life is always a hook. Whether marketers are warning brands away from getting identified with a virtual Red Light District or the mainstream media is twittering away about the absurdity of it all, people like to talk about sex. But only a portion of Second Life is actually marked as adult content. All of Utherverse's RedLightCenter is. "We are an adults only community," said CEO Brian Shuster. "That's not to say that we're focused just on sex, though that is a large part of human interaction. Kids like to play games, and adults generally don't want to deal with that." Now Utherverse is getting a little bit larger—and less sexual.

This week Utherverse announced that it would be opening a currency exchange system for its Rays to be bought and sold by users. It's also moving toward the October opening of Virtual Vancouver, a more music-oriented virtual world. With 650,000 registered users, 155,000 active users, and a growth rate of over 10,000 users per day—all in the year-long alpha—Shuster paints Utherverse and RedLightCenter as "direct competitors" to Second Life. And, of course, there's the sex, which Shuster calls the most advanced in the industry.

All the animations, including all the adult animations, are either done through motion capture or professional animators," said Shuster. "It's all very life-like and realistic."

He's quick to point out, though, that the world isn't necessarily non-family friendly—or, really, any more adult than the rest of the worlds, virtual or otherwise.

More here

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Kaneva Brings Dance Competitions to Its Clubs, Pre-Paid Cards to Target

(* Source : Virtual World News *)

CVSherman says :

When we spoke with Kaneva CEO Christopher Klaus back in August, he hinted that the game-oriented virtual world would be rolling out a series of casual games in its fourth quarter. The first, Dance Party 3D, launches tomorrow with prepaid cards for access and bonus items, in $10 and $25 varieties, appearing in Target by October 1. What sets Dance Party apart from a business point is that it's being marketed as a standalone game instead of just a value-add for existing Kaneva users. "There are lot of people who want to go into virtual worlds, but there are a lot of people who don't understand the concept, but they want to go dancing," said Klaus. "Instead of saying, 'There's a world and we have a dance game,' we want to go out and say, 'Imagine the world is our theatre, and here's the movie we just produced.' We want to make this a packaged game similar to traditional games and talk about it that way, and then say, 'By the way, one of the major features is that you end up in a virtual world.'"

"It's kind of flip-flopping it for the virtual world industry. While I think virtual worlds are important, to go out there and reach a broader segment, say people who are into music or the club scene or dance games, you just say, 'Here's a full-on game for you.' I think we're going to find members who join the game just to play the game. I think we'll also find members who join for the game and then realize that they can decorate their homes. As we add more games, it becomes like a themepark where you can run around to all the different rides. You advertise the new rides, not just the theme park."

Klaus does say the virtual world creates a different atmosphere than a standard dance game would. For one thing, it draws on the fact that Kaneva already encourages its users to stream media into the world and create their own spaces. Every club can have all of YouTube's library as its DJ's archive, letting users dance along to any video they can find.

Maybe more importantly, Dance Party 3D is still meant to be a social game. If you play Dance Dance Revolution against two or three other users, you're there to compete in the game. If you're dancing in a club with 50 other people and then happen to start a competition, you're already tied into the social experience.

More here

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Virtual worlds opened up to all

(* Source : BBC News *)

Jonathan Fieldes says :

The tool could be embedded in blogs as well as used in gaming

Metaplace demo

A free tool that allows anyone to create a virtual world has been launched.

Users of Metaplace, as it is known, can build 3D online worlds for PCs or even a mobile phone without any knowledge of complex computer languages.

The web-based program is the brainchild of Raph Koster, one of the developers of massively multiplayer online games such as Ultima Online.

Users make the virtual spaces from simple building blocks.

The results, which could be used for gaming, socialising or e-commerce, can be embedded in a webpage, facebook profile or blog.

"We are out to democratise virtual worlds and bring them to absolutely anybody," said Mr Koster, founder of Areae, the company behind Metaplace.

"You can come to the site, press a button and have a functioning virtual world that supports multiple users in about 30 seconds."

Web puzzle

Second Life is one of the most popular virtual worlds

There are already a number of popular virtual worlds such as Second Life, There and Entropia Universe. In addition there are games worlds such as World of Warcraft (WOW).

Most of these require a person to download specialist software or buy a game and there are no links between the different universes.

"They're all walled gardens," said Mr Koster.

In contrast, Metaplace is entirely web based and connections can be made between all of the different worlds.

"We modelled this on the web," said Mr Koster. "You can think about each world being a webpage and every object within in it is a link."

Users can create the worlds using different methods.

People with no programming background can use the graphical interface and choose worlds from a number of templates, such as a shop or a puzzle game.

They can also clone worlds developed by other Metaplace users.

More competent visitors to the site can build a world from scratch using the tool's own programming language known as metamarkup.

The language is "platform agnostic", according to Mr Koster, which means that it can be used to create worlds which can run on anything from a powerful PC to a mobile handset.

User control

We want to see 10,000 virtual worlds so that lots of wild and crazy stuff gets made because that is the only way it will advance as a medium

Raph Koster, founder, Areae

Mr Koster believes the tool will be used to create a wide variety of different virtual worlds including chatrooms, games similar to WOW, or teaching environments.

"Others may want to make a book club that is integrated with Amazon where people can get together and chat every Thursday night about a book but they can actually see the pictures of the books on the wall, click on them and buy them," said Mr Koster.

"The applications are pretty open."

When complete, each world is given its own page on the Metaplace website.

More here

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Plenty of Material Girls in the Virtual World

(* Source : Nextgreatthing.com*)

Sherrie Hui says :

Imagine how much you would shop if you could pick a perfect body. With the advent of computer graphic simulation, playing dress-up has taken on exciting, previously unattainable possibilities. Just about everything looks good on your idealized avatar, right? Virtual costumes play into today’s love of customization, allowing men and women to more fully realize an online or gaming identity, and savvy businesses are taking the first steps to brand fantasy fashion.

Miuccia Prada’s creations, often dubbed “cerebral” or “highly editorial”, translated perfectly into the high-gloss CGI world of Shinji Aramaki’s anime film Appleseed: Ex Machina. The designer’s costumes have added a touch of luxury to the virtual world of anime—possibly the only other facet of Japanese pop culture that generates a Prada-sized tsunami of consumer fanaticism. Design influences have always flowed between worlds both physical and imagined. Prada’s Appleseed outfits informed her fall 2006 Metropolitan Arrmor collection, and Vogue’s new darling, Rodarte, drew inspiration from Hayao Miyazake’s Spirited Away for spring 2008. The trend that’s truly grabbing everyone’s attention is virtual retail.

A costume from Appleseed: Ex Machina

Fashion brands are transitioning from the real world to simulated environments, like The Sims and Second Life, with increasing fluidity. H&M has partnered with The Sims and Yahoo to give consumers the ability to do everything from dressing an avatar in H&M to creating personal designs and assembling an online runway show. From the virtual designs submitted to The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Runway Showcase, H&M will choose one design to manufacture and sell in stores.

H&M in The Sims 2; Aimee Weber on Second Life

While simulated sex is still the most profitable Second Life industry, fashion is growing fast enough to garner investments from American Apparel and Adidas, which have both opened virtual stores selling styles that imitate the ones they carry in their brick-and-mortar establishments. (Second Life avatars deal in Linden Dollars, which can be exchanged for actual currency.) Avatar fashion has even spawned Second Life critics and commentators, like Janine Hawkins (alias: Iris Ophelia) of the popular fashion magazine Second Style. Hawkins earns a Linden Dollar salary from arranging fashion shoots, writing about trends, and interviewing designers in the virtual world.

For those still anchored to their first life, gaming offers another entrée into avatar fashion. Even retail-allergic men enjoy customizing the outfits on their wrestlers for Xbox 360’s WWE Smackdown vs. Raw, and players can earn “style points” for their outfits on Def Jam: Icon, a street-fighting game with hip-hop elements. Video game developers can earn product placement dollars by branding items found in games, like Vans sneakers in Tony Hawk’s Project 8. Gamers who fall in the love with the Vans on their avatars can seek them out in real life.

Life gets easier in the avatar world. If you want to design your own wedding dress, just create a virtual model on iVillage and piece together design templates for a personalized gown. You don’t need to draw, sew, or get out of a chair. Despite the obvious limitations of an avatar stand-in, virtual fashion allows consumers to explore creative arenas that seem intimidating in everyday life.

Posted by brian tiong at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

PlaySpan Takes $6.5m Series A, Founder In Grade 6

(* Source : Duncan Riley *)

Virtual world goods seller PlaySpan has received $6.5 million Series A in a round led by Easton Capital, Menlo Ventures, STIC and Novel TMT Ventures.

PlaySpan hasn’t launched yet, but is promising a product that will attempt to be an official commerce provider for multiple MMOGs. According to PlaySpan, the company has already signed up seven MMOG partners

The interesting side of PlaySpan is with the background story: PlaySpan was founded by Arjun Mehta (pictured) , a 6th grader from Silicon Valley who founded the company from money earned selling online game items won from quests he fought while attending 5th grade at Challenger School in San Jose.

No word on when PlaySpan will be launching.

(via Metaversed)

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Sony delays launch of virtual universe for PS3

(* Source: AFP *)

MAKUHARI, Japan (AFP) - Sony said Thursday it was delaying until next year the launch of an online virtual universe for the PlayStation 3 where users will be able to socialise, shop and even go to the movies.

Sony had planned to launch "Home" this year but PS3 owners will now have to wait until early 2008, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, Kazuo Hirai, revealed at the Tokyo Game Show.

The delay is another setback to Sony, which has much riding on the success of the PS3 but faces fierce competition from Microsoft's XBox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

Sony said in March the free service would allow PS3 users to set up an apartment for life-like virtual characters, or avatars, which can invite friends over, share pictures and videos, and play online games.

Users can personalise their virtual home with furniture, art and other items and chat through audio or video links.

The service is seen as a cross between social community website MySpace and Linden Lab's Second Life, which allows "residents" to build homes, create vehicles, nightclubs and stores, and to communicate with instant messaging.

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Meez Parent Company Raises $500,000

(* Source : Adam Ostrow *)

Donnerwood Media, the parent company of the Meez virtual avatar service, has raised $500,000 from Battery Ventures. Meez allows users to create custom avatars that can then be shared in IM and on most social networks.

Earlier this week the company announced a partnership with Vringo to create avatar ringtones. Meez previously raised $4.3 million, and we profiled the company last August.

[via]

meez

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Entertainment for All Ages

(* Source: Duncan Riley *)

FlowPlay

FlowPlay is a virtual world community built around browser-based casual games. Users play casual games as their own created anime-like avatar, earning virtual goods for their character including clothing, refrigerators and other virtual store items. The site wants to provide the option to play casual games or interact with people in the virtual world (or both).

Animation virtual world product, anime style 2.5D visuals

strong privacy features to protect the kiddies

similar to Hobbo Hotel, Cyworld, Club Penguin, but with casual games emphasis.

Pitched a girls…well it appears to be, you can win dresses and stuff.

Unfortunately the time was used to show a demo video, not the best use of their time on stage. Will appeal to kids.

Metaplace

Areae’s Metaplace platform aims to revolutionize the virtual worlds space with a platform that will provide an open, easy-to-use interface which will allow users to create virtual worlds that can run anywhere. Metaplace-created virtual worlds will allow user to play games, socialize, create content and conduct commerce. Metaplace-created virtual worlds can be embedded into external sites, including Facebook, MySpace or a blog. Virtual worlds in the Metaplace network can be easily linked together.

Virtual world product, market still growing.

Virtual worlds are like AOL in 94, walled gardens etc, not a good thing according to them.

Has Facebook, MySpace widget, blog widgets, 30k embed.

Generic virtual world platform, can have Sim’s style games, shooters, even an Amazon store front.

Virtual world can also import XML: content, services etc can be imported.

Users can set up their own world from scratch, each world communicates with each other.

“virtual worlds for everyone”

Woome

WooMe brings speed dating online and extends it to let users meet new people live in speed sessions that are “fast, fun and free.” WooMe doesn’t require long forms or lengthy profile descriptions, users simply find a session that interests them and meet five people in five minutes. Users can also create their own session based on their interests and can invite people they want to get a know or friends.

Speed dating product.

Good presentation, talk to people quickly via webcam, both parties must agree to hookup

Zivity

Zivity offers a social networking platform focused on “sexy models and beautiful photography.” With a $10 subscription, members receive five votes that they can cast for models and photography they find appealing, with 80c out of every $1 vote cast being distributed to the model and photographer. There is no limit on the amount of money that a photographer or model can make; as long as a photo remains popular, models and photographers will share in ongoing royalties whilst retaining full ownership of the pictures.

Lots of warnings prior to this demo about it including porn…so far all we have is clothed model…false advertising perhaps?

User gen content makers aren’t making money, Zivity wants to change this…well at least for “sexy pics.”

Demo has PG rating…seriously, complete with the PG on the screen.

Ahhh…breasts. PG obviously different in the US to Australia

Kaltura

Kaltura is a collaborative Media startup that allows groups of users to do with video, audio, and animation what wiki platforms enable them to do with text. Think of it as YouTube meets Wikipedia. See our full post here.

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Koinup Launches Social Network for Your Virtual Life

(*Source : Adam Ostrow *)

Too many social networks for your real life? Koinup is launching the first social network designed for your virtual one. The site features the ability to create profiles, share multimedia, and publish stories relating to your experience in Second Life, World of Warcraft, IMVU, The Sims 2, and other virtual worlds.

Aside from its unique focus, Koinup offers a fairly standard set of social networking features. All content is tagged, allowing you to browse photos, videos, and story boards relating to your virtual world of choice. There is also the ability to comment on user profiles and content, as well as a friends feature for connecting with others.

With millions of people now participating in virtual worlds and expressing themselves through avatars and other creations, a social network that aggregates that content and provides a way to share it makes some sense.

Koinup is based in Italy and founded Pierluigi Casolari (CEO) and Edoardo Turelli (CTO).

koinup screen shot

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Zwinky Cashes in On Virtual Economy

(* Source : Techcrunch *)

Nick Gonzales says :

b - s i d e : observers of the new world we explore the cultural behaviour on how people create, consume & share media across the globe & how these social media content, communities & conversations are transforming the marketing and media world today _uacct = "UA-933481-1"; urchinTracker();

January 06, 2010

Gowalla Plays Around With Virtual Product Placements

May 25, 2009

Real Kids in Virtual Worlds

Whe-e-e-ere are you?

March 25, 2009

Study: In-Game Video Advertising Trumps TV Advertising In Effectiveness

March 23, 2009

Sparkle: The iPhone Gets Its First Virtual World

February 16, 2009

The Death Of “Web 2.0″

October 15, 2008

We Are The Creators Of Worlds

October 06, 2008

Trends in gaming

Video Games Myths Revisited: New Pew Study Tells Us About Games and Youth

October 01, 2008

Tootsville Launches a New Virtual World for Children and Tweens

September 22, 2008

Japanese Girl Sensation: Virtual Boyfriends

July 14, 2008

Who’s winning the War of the Virtual Worlds?

July 11, 2008

Virtual Worlds: Tools for Creating 3D Graphics and Environments

Free 3D Tools

Environments

Commercial 3D Tools

June 04, 2008

Be Funky

April 21, 2008

WeeWorld: South Park Style Avatars Designed By Girls And Big Business

April 15, 2008

A Second Look at Virtual Worlds

It's all about engagement.

February 20, 2008

Blue Mars Looks Pretty Sweet

January 30, 2008

Movie Licensing Goes Virtual With Habbo-Paramount Deal

December 19, 2007

Start-Up to Create Market For Trade of Virtual Goods

December 14, 2007

Nike Star Athletes Await Your Company on Zwinky

December 10, 2007

Cruxy Launches Virtual World Widget

Sony Buys Into Virtual Movie Theaters; Invests in Gaia

There.com Gets a Curvy Coca Cola Island

November 09, 2007

Avatars: Virtually Mainstream

November 07, 2007

Habbo Hotel Wants to Sell You Music

November 06, 2007

MMORPG TOOLBOX: 30+ Free MMORPGs

October 31, 2007

Who's Who in Mobile Worlds: 10 Plays to Watch

Humane Society Taps There.com To Reach Gen-Y

October 30, 2007

CNN Goes Virtual

October 24, 2007

WSJ: Advertisers Should Look to Other Virtual Worlds

October 23, 2007

Advertising in Virtual Worlds?

15 virtual worlds currently in development

A Round Up of 50 Virtual Worlds

October 22, 2007

New App Merges Facebook and Second Life

Warner Bros. launches ‘I Am Legend: Survival’ game playable in Second Life

Virtual Worlds, Real Ad Dollars

Kids and marketers enter pixellated space.

October 16, 2007

Avatars Everywhere: 27 of the Best Avatar Makers

Honorable Mention

fix8 Lands $3M for Webcam Avatars

China plans virtual world for commerce

"CSI" gets a Second Life with integrated episodes

October 12, 2007

Virtual Worlds Conference: Demographics And Numbers

Virtual Worlds Conference: Ironstar's Joakim Achren Talks Mobile Virtual Worlds

Google’s New Social Network = Google Maps

Youth-Targeted Virtual Worlds Encourage Toy Buying

b - s i d e : observers of the new world
we explore the cultural behaviour on how people create, consume & share media across the globe & how these social media content, communities & conversations are transforming the marketing and media world today