[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Today we start with an overview of Club Penguin, the kid-friendly sensation from New Horizon Interactive.

With the first ever Virtual Goods Summit going on last week, we talked a lot about virtual property and virtual cash. Now, in a virtual discussion with Linden Lab (Second Life) CEO Philip Rosedale, Jonathan Fanton, President of the MacArthur foundation, announced the foundation will award 550,000 very real dollars to the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California , to explore the role of virtual worlds in philanthropy.

The Foundation has some specifics planned, as announced on its website, including:

• Conversations in virtual worlds about pressing issues and how a foundation can help address community needs;

• Virtual world simulcasts of face-to-face conversations on issues that impact real and virtual worlds, such as migration, education, and global and civic engagement; and

• Over time, MacArthur funding for philanthropy-related projects in virtual worlds, awarded on a competitive basis

The exploratory grant is the latest show of interest in the arena from the MacArthur Foundation; they work with GameLab Institute of Play and New Visions for Public Schools to use virtual worlds and games for education and civic awareness in New York City schools, and the Foundation also maintains a blog dedicated to discussing the issues surrounding digital media and learning.

"When we first considered working in virtual worlds, we were tempted to build a replica of our historic foundation building, located in Chicago, in the virtual world," Said Fanton on the Foundation's blog. "We now believe that the best way to start is to participate in the virtual world by engaging in discussions of serious social issues, working with others to act on their philanthropic impulses, and encouraging innovation and new ideas through grant awards."

Healthy virtual economies won't evade the government's watchful eye much longer. Congress is set to deliver a report on the taxation of virtual goods-- according to Dan Miller, senior economist with the Congress' Joint Economic Committee, who told CNET's News.com we can expect an update as soon as next month's Congressional recess.

It's still unclear exactly what the report will say, or what the decision will be, but, as Miller said in December:

"Given growth rates of 10 to 15 percent a month, the question is when, not if, Congress and IRS start paying attention to these issues. So it is incumbent on us to set the terms and the debate so we have a shaped tax policy toward virtual worlds and virtual economies in a favorable way."

If Congress decides to levy taxes against in-world economies, it could complicate issues for current and future publishers in the virtual world space, as they'll have to wrangle systems by which all trading can be tracked and reported-- though it'd be surprising if savants of the longer-standing virtual empires have failed to pre-emptively consider the issue. And even if Congress decides against a virtual goods tax, it's likely only to delay matters until another government intervenes.

[Via Slashdot]

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Today we explore a little further into the world of Club Penguin, the kid-friendly sensation from New Horizon Interactive.

Here's a cool little news item that takes a look at the application of the "3D internet" for business conferencing, product demos and marketing. Virtual 3D Marketing, or V3M, is a Fishers, Indiana-based startup developing custom virtual business environments in which its clients can hold conferences, hold trade shows, and demo products online.

The startup is the brainchild of California-based software developer Expo3D Corp's marketing arm, and offers interactive exhibit areas with products on display, online automation, tech sessions and workshops using live, pre-recorded or archived learning tools. During virtual seminars, a "proximity chat" function even allows the presenting avatar to hear other participants' conversations if he's close enough in the virtual conference room.

The technology will be used for the webcast of next month's Leonardo Energy technology show webcast next month. "They never found a practical way to hold this show before in the physical world," said Tony Evans, vice president of marketing for Expo3D. "But the virtual world will allow them to do this." Pretty neat!

[Via Indystar.com]

Two research teams-- one from the Graz University of Technology in Austria, and the other from University College London (UCL), have converged to create a virtual world that can be explored solely using the imagination.

Sounds mind-boggling, but there's logic here-- the Graz folks specialize in measuring brain signals through electrodes or implants, and the UCL team focuses on building realistic virtual environments. The two teams converged through the PRESENCCIA consortium, to combine the latest in brainwave technology with virtual world exploration. Basically, the research subject sits in a room with electrodes attached to their scalp, and stereo video of the virtual environment projected onto the walls. Glasses help reinforce the illusion of 3D, while the person is essentially able to issue commands to an avatar using only their mind.

The goal is to create a virtual reality experience to help rehabilitate people with serious physical or physiological injury by allowing them to "move" in the virtual world. A man paralyzed from the neck down was asked to test the system, and was able to successfully walk up to other avatars and receive their greetings about 90% of the time.

The virtual environments are ideal for rehabilitation training, because they provide brain stimulation without requiring the patient to actually move. "A system such as this could be very motivational for a patient to use for training," says Jessica Bayliss at Rochester Institute of Technology, in New York, US, who also specializes in brain-computer interfaces and virtual reality. "It reminds me of how people with various handicaps are playing World of Warcraft, because they are able to do things in the virtual world that they can't do in the real world."

[Game|Life via NewScientistTech]

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Over the past couple of days, we spent plenty of time in the snowy playground of New Horizon Interactive's Club Penguin, playing minigames, saving up to buy Puffles, and being handily trounced at multiplayer sledding. So what's the big picture here?

Funcom (Age of Conan) announced that six years after launch, the sci-fi MMO Anarchy Online is evolving its business model to include virtual item sales. The point-based system, through which players can buy items, new content and services, will function as an adjunct to the existing system, and the new items won't affect gameplay balance.

The program will launch this summer with the introduction of jetbikes and hover boards, as well as previously released equipment, clothing and pets. The system will also let players use points to purchase new and previous expansion packs, and services like in-game name changes, or moving to another server.

Points can be purchased in packages of 10 and 20 USD/EUR-- a new jet pack comes out to about 3 dollars, while a complete bike set would be about 10. Paying AO subscribers will get a set of monthly points included in the subscription price, with more points for longer-term pricing plans. As a payment incentive, Funcom will credit the player's account with points upon receipt of subscription dues.

"Selling virtual items and smaller content upgrades is now a prevalent MMO business model in Asia. This has yet to be fully explored in the West, but we believe that the time is now right to test a limited version of such a model," said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom.

Perhaps it's no coincidence that this announcement comes at the same time as Funcom's secured $30 million in funding from an unnamed investor?

Entropia Universe announced in recent weeks that it was teaming up with CRD, an offshoot of the Beijing municipality, to build a virtual universe able to handle 7 million users at any given time. At the time, David Liu, chief executive of CRD, estimated that virtual worlds could conceivably generate some 10,000 jobs in China.

Even Second Life, with its claimed userbase of 7 million, rarely has more than 40,000 users active at one time-- which means that the population of this Chinese venture, if successful, would rival the world's largest nations. Bill Ives of Social Computing Magazine recently took up coverage of the venture, pointing out that virtual economies allow residents to "keep the intellectual property rights to their own creations, and [allow] anyone qualified to create their own open source applications to work within the virtual world.These conditions offer great support [for] economic growth in the new world."

[Via Social Computing Magazine]

Iceland-based CCP Games (World of Darkness), creators of sci-fi MMORPG EVE Online, announced that they're appointing Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson to the role of in-world economist for EVE, making them the first to commission a real-world pro to work in-world on such a level.

Dr. Guðmundsson will publish quarterly reports on the state of the EVE Online economy, coordinate research initiatives with academic institutions, and perform ongoing analysis of economic indicators like inflation, economic growth and price trends. Not only is his research intended to inform players' strategic decisions, but it's geared to impact EVE Online's future development. His research is designed to provide players with information necessary to make strategic decisions, but is also expected to have an impact on future development of the game.

"EVE Online may be set in the future, but the skills needed to play are rooted in the real world of today," said Hilmar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games. "Players operate vast corporations whose shares are traded in-game among players so economic strength and agility is key to their success. Just as entrepreneurs and executives rely on real-world economic indicators, EVE Online players need timely information and analysis of the in-game economy."

Dr. Guðmundsson's already gotten started exploring the EVE Online world and getting to know the community, and he's started a blog on the site to share more info about his background and continue integrating with the locals. No word yet on how to pronounce his name, though!

[Via MPOGD.com]

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Let's take a glance today at Habbo, the teen-targeted virtual community by Sulake.

MTV's lineup of virtual worlds based around their programming (Laguna Beach, The Hills) is getting a new set of wheels. Trilogy Studios (Daybreakers) is rolling out a fully realized virtual world for MTV's hyperbolic car-customizing show, Pimp My Ride. There's already an (abysmally rated) Pimp My Ride game by Activision for the Playstation Portable, but Trilogy's newest is a free downloadable. Users can enter Van Nuys, California and build custom cars, engage in drag racing contests, and meet other fans.

"Why co-mingle a brand like the NBA in a virtual world like Second Life when you can create your own virtual NBA world?" asked Michael Pole, Trilogy Chairman and CEO. "We think we can attract 10 to 20 million mainstream consumers to a focused virtual world site and deliver a full brand experience."

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape.]

Today we look a little deeper into Habbo Hotel, the virtual teen scene from Sulake.

Capital Music Group (CMG, owned by EMI), is rolling out the red carpet at The Tower, its new virtual nightclub setting up shop in There.com, where users can listen to its artists' music, see virtual performances, and meet the artists themselves. The long-term aim is to actually sell music through kiosks in the nightclub that link to online stores.

CMG will start by promoting five artists on There.com: The Beastie Boys, Korn,Yellowcard, Lily Allen and Mims-- the latter will give the first concert in The Tower on July 10th.

"It's an opportunity to see if this is a really good opportunity for merchandise to be sold," said Syd Schwartz, Senior VP of digital strategy at CMG. "Like anywhere on the Web, you have to make it one click away. If you have the Beastie Boys in chat, why wouldn't you have [their album] one click away?"

While There.com, which also runs MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach, only claims about 1 million registered users as opposed to Second Life's 7 million, it was attractive to CMG because of prime positioning-- users will receive info and announcements about The Tower when logging on, and well-positioned real estate will make it easy to find.

Schwartz wouldn't estimate how many people they expected to have at the Tower's first concert, but said: "If you have several hundred or several thousand people, you've got a successful event. When's the last party you went to that had several hundred people that sucked?"

[via AdWeek]

According to a story on our sister site Gamasutra, research firm Parks Associates has predicted in a new report that spending on game advertising will grow 33 percent over the next five years to more than $2 billion by 2012.

The 33 percent compound annual growth rate that game ads' $370 million is forecasted to experience by 2012 is noted by the firm as being much greater than that of other major advertising media, including television, radio, print, and the internet-- with the greatest area of growth being in-game advertising. Spending on in-game ads is expected to jump from $55 million in 2006 to more than $800 million in 2012.

Says the article:

This growth mirrors, more conservatively, other similar predictions of potential revenue generated by in-game ads, with eMarketer recently reporting that such ads could generate as much as $969 million by 2011.

According to the firm, dynamic in-game ads, which represented 27 percent of game advertisement expenses in 2006, are predicted to make up the majority of all game advertising in 2012, accounting for 84 percent of advertising spending. Much of this growth, according to the firm, is pinned on the industry's ability to address "several looming challenges" such as "lack of economy, lack of industry standards, and media fragmentation."

"Advertising in electronic games had an average monthly household expenditure of less than 50 cents in 2006, while broadcast TV was at $37, meaning advertisers are not using the gaming medium to its full potential," said Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, director of broadband and gaming, Parks Associates.

"If executed correctly, game advertising can provide a win-win solution for advertisers, developers and publishers, console manufacturers, game portals, and gamers," he added.

[Via Gamasutra]

London's Game Domain International Ltd. (GDI) announced an ongoing partnership to bring its new games on demand service, AWOMO (A World of My Own) to the users of Bebo, a UK social networking site. AWOMO is its own 3D virtual world set in an island paradise, where users can play games by navigating the landscape, across a broadband connection without individual downloads.

The partnership kicks off with a promo-- all Bebo users who participate in beta testing are eligible to win a "Golden Ticket" to free AWOMO gaming for life.

According to GDI, Bebo users can choose from more than 50 PC games to play for free during the beta, and they'll also gain the special identification of "Island Elder", with an associated virtual item, in the Bebo community. The first users to register for the beta test will gain additional virtual goods and special designations, and AWOMO will offer as prizes various subscriptions and introductory offers for the service when it goes live. Users may even be selected to join the GDI test team.