Posted by When was the last time you thought about the online virtual world, Second Life? Most of our attention shifted out of Second Life over to Twitter and FriendFeed.
It turns out virtual worlds are not dead.
According to this news item from Virtual World Management, $148.5 Million Invested In 12 Virtual Worlds-Related Companies in Q3 2008, things are still rocking and rolling in the virtual worlds:
"Virtual Worlds Management, the leading virtual worlds trade media company, has announced findings from a comprehensive study of accountable transactions showing that venture capital and media firms have invested more than $148.5 million dollars in 12 virtual worlds-related companies during the third quarter of 2008 with participation from many more VC firms and angel investors. The total investment in the virtual worlds space for 2008 is now over $493 million… The bulk of the investment is in the entertainment space, with all but $22.4 million going to developers of worlds with strong gameplay elements, ties to media brands, or the youth sector."
By the sounds of this, someone, somewhere is drawing lines of distinction between pure-play games and virtual worlds.
This begs the questions: is Club Penguin a game or a virtual world? What about Webkinz?
One of the main differentiations of Second Life was the fact that it was, indeed, not a game. It was a place to socialize and virtualize a new life. By all counts, this was the main driving force behind why businesses and brands dove on in. Otherwise, the dollars would have been allocated via their in-game ad spends (if they even had one).
If virtual worlds want to go from the gaming side to the business side, these distinctions are going to have to be made much clearer. After reading this news item, I’m a little confused.
Do you think businesses are going to jump on in or are brands looking for something more?
Is the next iteration of virtual worlds really just a sub-category of the gaming industry?
Never another podcast episode or article 
Second Life, Club Penguin, Webkinz are all virtual worlds. After that it comes down to if it’s more video game centric like Club Penguin or not. Second Life and The Sims are virtual worlds that don’t have a heavy gaming aspect to them. It’s not about gaining achievements and killing other people. Virtual worlds are just a sub-category of the gaming industry.
Brands and advertisers can play in both playgrounds but making sure their ads are relevant and are in context will be key to their success in the end.
I think brands and money are rushing into virtual worlds in case they do become more than another hype. They want to be one of the first movers in what may just be the next big communication platform.
Nortel is building a virtual world for businesses to conduct conferences and seminars without members travelling. Sony is finishing up its PlayStation Home. Lot of adult niche worlds coming up.
There was a lot of talk a year ago that Second Life was just the first draft, that virtual worlds will become intensely immersive and inviting. And maybe all those Club Penguin kids will indeed want to remain virtual denizens as they grow older, and seek more adult alternatives.
These VCs may be on to something.
Mitch, oh what a treat you’ve mentioned this!
I thought about Second Life today because I work for Linden Lab.
There are a lot of generic, reactionary, lame-linkbait titles on “news stories” which come from uninformed reporters… who hear things from another party, and then parrot them in a horrible manifestation of ideaological incest. It’s like an echoed echo chamber, pardon the redundancy, and a brokedown version of ye olde telephone game.
To the point: let’s recall when the web was treated with the same scorn, oh, iron horses, er, horseless carriages were.
Just like the map is not the destination, names and labels help identify and locate, but are NOT the actual presence being referred to. By the time you answer some questions, it’s like Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.
There’ll be games, but just as the gaming industry is serious, multi-billion-dollar bizness, there’ll be work AND play involved.
Humans will pay a good deal for their pleasures and vices.
Let’s not forget teaching people how to use, how to market, etc. and make the BEST use of virtual worlds is SO very important. I frown whenever Second Life shops don’t use click actions, and here’s why:
HELP each other… AWESOME AWARE!
Virtual worlds have always been a sub-category of the gaming industry, but also a sub-category of the internet.
As the importance of online games increases, they will no longer just be a sub-category, but rather THE category.
I would like to present a different perspective on “virtual worlds.” While most people look at virtual worlds as completely, immersive 3D worlds, another category that is emerging is the virtual show/trade show arena – similar to what Roberto mentioned. These tend to be virtual environments that include 3D-like elements without “full” immersion like Second Life.
My company provides such a platform for creating these virtual shows. Because the intent of these shows is for business, one cannot categorize them under the gaming industry. Rather, the differentiation will be based on intent: consumer-focused applications for gaming and personal socialization or business-focused applications.
Get clear on your own wants and needs, not on others. He states that ‘only after
ploughing a massive amount of time into free online games such as War Craft and CS, can we begin to address both the good
and bad points to the online gaming’s captivating
worlds. The first is by talking and expressing your feelings to a trusted friend,
spouse, therapist, or coach.
This may not sound like a valuable commodity since its a game,
but in a game where gold and gear can only be earned in online play, players are at a loss because they must invest their time to get this gold and gear.
Memories of Stray Wolves, a twenty-minute featurette serves
as a retrospective of the Fatal Fury series, with Terry narrating
the events of the games to Rock. When programs are hacked
or jailbroken, they will run on i – Phone or i – Pad devoid
of the license fron Apple.
Pinball machines have a great deal of parts which move, and include electronics.
If you need a good laugh, they provide tons in both the movie clips,
and with characters talking during the game play itself.
If you still insist on trying this game out, rent it.
The Kindle Fire HD by Amazon and the i – Phone 5C from Apple are
just two of the deals featured in a new Black Friday
2013 ad leaked online. And last but not least, Tough – Case also features technology that
enhances the GPS signal of your phone. My friend further said that as long as there are smart phones and tablets, the demand of mobile apps would be
the same or head towards the north.
I am heading to select mine up immediately simply because I can consider there will probably be extra selections in comparison to soon after the start.
To complement this, it’s anticipated the i – Phone 5S uses ARM’s big.
Therefore, I question whether I need a faster chip or fingerprint
recognition.
If none of these simple first steps worked, it’s
time to dig a little deeper into specific issues that may be occurring depending on the specific
combination of i – Phone and Bluetooth device you are using.
For now, it is Apples answer to NFC, but the company can still
add it to its devices if it is ensured as a fail-safe technology.
Google Nexus, i – Pad and more: Black Friday tablet deals.
Android SDK provides great tools and APIs essential to start building applications on Android using Java language.
Besides it, there are several improved mobile applications, people app
and calendar app, each with a variety of improved features.
Spiderman has been a beloved comic book character for many years
now.
In fact, as in the 64-bit processor, A7, and a coprocessor movement M7 great future.
But today, it wants to attract customers only by the changing color and upgrading hardware, will it continue to be
hot. So far as the functioning schemes themselves are concerned, both
phones are exceedingly distinct.
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Description of IPS (Intrusion
Prevention System) and deployment considerations,
description of IPS technologies, configuration of Cisco IOS IPS
using CCP. However, they are unsure about post 2020 era,
and have no clue about what would replace mobile apps, as it has always been the trend that a better technology replaces and existing technology.
‘ Tell them the password and they’ll be able to connect.
Get clear on your own wants and needs, not on others.
People are so occupied with work because that is how they earn their living.
This question came to me early one morning, struggling to sleep here after – I found my
self wandering into his room, taking stead of the WOW posters, playing cards and memorabilia which surround
him while he sleeps, from his WOW pillow case to his WOW figurines.
But before you do any of that, you need to know the basic skills to do so.
If you don’t profit from copying, then you’re safe.
Research on Top 10 download in Apple App store or Google
Android Play shows that the most downloaded items are Mobile Games.
You need to make an effort to make the clients learn more about you
and it will be best for you to know that plastic cards will be the best one because it is durable.
Ask friends, family, and professionals such as realtors for
referrals 2. In the context that you are actually making use of the seal coating that
is to be used in asphalt, it is important for you to actually prevent many
major repairs from happening.
Remember that you are buying second-hand i – Phones
for practical reasons and knowing which model suits your daily needs best is
a smart tactic. One of the major upgrades to the new i
– Phone is the fingerprint scanner. When everything
is working correctly you can easily connect your i – Phone to a
Bluetooth device.
” Maltby notes, “When it pulls up, I literally feel the joy draining out of my body.
On the previous operating system, you would have to
close out of the racing app to read and answer the text. Streets and roads by the house have more
traffic today, and a trip across town to the local park is often a
very dangerous proposition.