View22's SceneCaster was unveiled not too long ago at this year's DemoFALL conference in San Diego, and we heard precious few details except the words "3D Web community". Now, the Toronto-based company has announced SceneCaster's official release -- and it calls itself a "3D Web app" for Facebook.

Not quite as interesting as the press release makes it sound. Like any other Facebook app, users add it to their page to use it, and then invite their friends to participate. To use the app, you install an additional plugin and then can create your own 3D pictures, or mess with those of your friends. You can also whirl the camera around to look at the scenes and objects from different angles. It uses Google's 3D objects and models, and then the images you create can be embedded in Facebook.

"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 have 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."

From the Philippine Inquirer, some more details about the BBC's Adventure Rock. Notably, it will be free to play without advertising, comparable, says the article, to Club Penguin's model -- no pay-for-goods, and therefore there would probably be a small subscription fee to access premium content.

"Club Penguin has taken a firm stand and will not include any advertising or subtle cross-marketing opportunities," Club Penguin communications director Kate Mason said in an interview with MIPCOM News. "There's a coffee shop begging to be a Starbucks, but that will never happen," she added.

Adventure Rock, still in beta and slated for an end-of-year launch, will let children play in a virtual landscape, and the dance routines they invent could end up being danced or sung live by a group in a BBC studio. It's the broadcaster's effort to integrate virtual worlds with its children's programming, Nicktropolis-style.

[Via Philippine Inquirer]

Via Terra Nova comes word that work on Edward Castronova's Arden, a Shakespearean world, is winding down as alpha testing wraps up -- but according to Castronova, there's still a long road ahead. He's continuing work on the project, but with "an uncertain time frame."

Castronova had written at length about how the works of the Bard lent themselves naturally to virtuality:

In As You Like It , folks escape to the Forest of Arden to change their social status, their names, even their sex, prompting the forest-philosopher Jacques to note that “all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Meanwhile, after The Tempest drops off some real-world folk on a mysterious isle where everything is different and magic is king, its owner declares that everything is an image, indeed, that “we are such stuff as dreams are made on” (emphasis added)... All of these constructions make me think of avatars. That “real-guy-in-a-play” thing is the essence of the online experience. Going online makes everybody a Hamlet: it's not that we suddenly see the virtual world as so real, it's that we suddenly see the real world as so virtual, and the distinction vanishes. Voilà: immersion.

Although Castronova's ideas were solid and highly defensible, the process of building a virtual world may have been more challenging than he expected, even with the MacArthur Foundation aid that the project received in its first year. "It's been a bumpy road. We've learned lots of lessons, mostly that this is very hard to do, and especially hard to do in an academic context. I have new layers of respect for the world-builders out there," he says.

Still, he says, he will continue working with the project, "but there's no telling when there'll be anything to report." Castronova also indicated it might be appropriate to reduce expectations, theorizing more of a "small Dungeons & Dragons world with a Shakespeare layer," and not so much "World of Warcraft, but with Hamlet."

Definitely disheartening news for those who count themselves Shakespeare fans! Ah, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

[Via Terra Nova]

[This mini-feature, written by Game Developer's publisher Simon Carless, takes a personal look at navigating and spending money in Sulake Labs' Habbo Hotel, and was originally published on the CMP Game Group's alternative weblog Game Set Watch.]

So, it turns out that online worlds may be pretty important to the future of the video game industry - we've been asking about just that on Gamasutra recently, with our 'Question Of The Week' on Habbo Hotel and World Of Warcraft, and of course, we have the entire Worlds In Motion weblog on this subject.

But browsing round major U.S. retailer Target a couple of weeks back, we spotted prepaid cards for Habbo Hotel, and thought - what would it be like if we had to spend $10 on setting ourselves up in Sulake Labs' (largely kids/teen-centric) Web browser-based online world? What do you get for your money? This, GSW friends, is what happened:

Thanks to the success of WorldsInMotion.biz as a website, we've been looking for new ways to bring our readers more information and insight about online worlds in alternative - and even face-to-face - ways.

Therefore, we're delighted to announce that we'll be hosting the first-ever Worlds In Motion Summit, to be held on Monday, February 18th 2008, as part of the 2008 Game Developers Conference - about which initial information has just been released. The one-day summit will focus on the intersection of online worlds and games, and there's an overview for the event on the GDC 2008 Summits page:

"The Worlds in Motion Summit is a definitive event tailored for the growing number of industry professionals and Fortune 500 companies developing interactive online spaces for both entertainment and commercial purposes. Discussion forums will delve into online worlds, social gaming and media and player created activity.

These will provide insight for developers of all backgrounds into how the game industry is collectively building socialization into games and integrating personalization and player-generated content into gameplay—while widely accessible Web and networking tools are looking to the game industry for their way forward. The summit, which is accessible via several different GDC 2008 passes, will also debate the future of gaming, which may lie in the convergence of these new frontiers."

Expect lots more information about the Summit, which is being programmed by WorldsInMotion.biz editor Leigh Alexander, in the near future - including speakers, keynotes, and panel specifics. We're confident that the event will be a smart, hype-free place to explore what online worlds mean to the game industry, the tech industry, and the Internet era. Please consider joining us?

CNet is reporting that Multiverse Network will soon announce a partnership, to be called "Architectural Wonders," that will enable users to design custom virtual worlds using Google's SketchUp 3D models, drawing on Google Earth terrain.

Multiverse unveiled version 1.0 of its MMO and virtual world network earlier this year with its Worlds in Progress initiative, a collection of early prototype games and worlds built on its platform, with the aim of providing consumer access to the network. Four worlds have been launched, and all of them are accessible via Multiverse World Browser, a free downloadable that enables consumer access to any game on the network.

Now, though, users will apparently be able to use the Google tools to get specific, creating real-world locations based on Google Earth and populating them with 3D models. "The goal is to grab things from the 3D Warehouse when looking at things in Google Earth and then make an instant multiverse world," Multiverse founder Corey Bridges explained in the article. "What we've done is provide a more streamlined interface for using [Google's technology] as a virtual-world production tool."

Multiverse users have been able to use some of the SketchUp models for some time, but now it seems they will have a broader range of options. This is good news, and a long time in coming, to all of those eager to experiment with the possibilities of Google technology for the virtual worlds space.

[Via CNet]

MMO firm Gala-Net (Flyff, Upshift Strikeracer) has announced that the firm will provide in-game item exchange for upcoming titles through an agreement with PlaySpan, the recently launched "first publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network".

According to an official statement from Gala-Net, which runs the GPotato.com online portal and was founded in August 2004 as a subsidiary of large Japanese online community firm Gala:

"The PlaySpan partnership provides Gala-Net’s extensive community of gamers with a secure and interactive marketplace for buying and selling items. The partnership will cover multiple, yet to be announced titles, and will help greatly alleviate concerns about improper transactions and predatory traders."

However, the concept of RMT (real-money transactions) within games has continued to be a controversial one, given that MMOs have historically discouraged the practice for gameplay-related reasons - and this solution effectively allows an open economy in games.

Therefore, Gamasutra sat down with John Young, corporate vice president at Gala-Net, to discuss the new deal and why it makes sense for his company's games:

Is this PlaySpan deal the only way you can buy and sell items in Gala-Net's products? Can you also buy in the interface of the game directly from Gala-Net?

John Young: PlaySpan supplements what Gala-Net’s games already do, and expand the player offerings in exciting new directions. Imagine a country where one dictator owns all the factories and the central bank and can regulate every transaction in the economy. I’m the dictator now.

No matter how enlightened I am, central planning just cannot foresee everything the players will want to do. I might price things incorrectly, for example, and never know. Like most publishers, we currently ban players that trade virtual assets outside of the defined ways we allow.

However, by having an open economy, a tremendous amount of activity and creativity is generated. What we’re saying is that we want to be a dynamic trading nation like America or Singapore or Hong Kong. And we want to harness this info to make better games.

Every Gala-Net game is different, but typically a player can buy items both in game or via the gpotato.com website, and can usually trade them to a willing buyer face-to-face in game. Our games are 100% microtransaction-based, meaning that we have an in-game currency and a cash currency, and each buys different things.

Game design ensures that the Sword of Eternal Brilliance only drops off a boss dragon, while a wedding dress is a cash-shop only item, for example. What is new now is that players can trade via a rich range of auctions either in-game or via a web interface, and we are verifying the transactional integrity of it every step of the way, and actively encouraging players to trade their license to use virtual items.

Will Gala-Net and PlaySpan have any measures in place to try to ensure that the products are not bought and sold separately from their own system?

We have an anti-fraud team and Game Masters actively looking for players trading in unauthorized ways and warning or banning them as always. One of the biggest reasons we are offering this service is that we can finally ensure gamers that their transaction is real and they will get what they pay for.

The reality of a lot of unlicensed trading today is that they end up like drug deals gone bad – players purchase one thing and then don’t get it, so they charge back, which hurts their credit rating. We want to give players a safe and secure way to do what we all know is economically popular.

What is the big advantage to consumers of using this method to buy and sell items?

Trading is fundamentally fun. We believe that a properly designed game that captures the thrill of the market will be a more fun game than one that ignores the desire to trade.

Having said this, we have to approach the power of trade carefully. The real world is replete with examples of a botched transition to a market economy. Hyperinflation or burst asset bubbles are not fun, and game design has a critical role to ensure that all this trading serves the ultimate goal of a fun and engaging virtual world.

But by actively taking a customer perspective on things, it’s clear that the future of games involves trading virtual items. The choice before developers and publishers today is whether to try to shove it under the carpet and pretend it’s not happening, or to harness the reason people want to trade and incorporate that into the fun.

Why don't all games have systems like this set up? Are there any practical reasons for not doing it?

It’s actually a lot trickier to execute than it looks. Gala-Net has a wealth of experience about integrating virtual items with real-world money, which is foreign stuff to many game publishers. The reliability in the tech has not been easily available until now.

There are a lot of legal and accounting issues that are really not well defined. It takes a lot of effort to ensure that trading does not allow rich players unfair (that is, “un-fun”) advantages. And it’s scary when you are the dictator voluntarily giving some power to the people. But the advantages outweigh the risks.

Are there any age limits or other restrictions with the system?

We’ll be rolling out specific details of how this will all work, and which games we will be applying this to, in the coming months!

[This interview originally appeared on Worlds In Motion sister website Gamasutra.com.]

At the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose, SceneCaster announced an agreement with 2D and 3D content creators Turbo Squid to enable Turbo Squid's artists and modelers to offer free and premium pay-per-use content to SceneCaster and Facebook users.

SceneCaster already integrates with Google's SketchUp 3D objects, and the relationship with Turbo Squid represents an expansion on the 3D assets available for use. The program, which saw its official launch earlier this week, uses a simple drag-and-drop interface for users who want to make 3D scenes for their Facebook pages. SceneCaster also connects with eCommerce sites such as eBay and Amazon, product catalogs from manufacturers and retailers, and to other rich media social networks such as Flickr.

"SceneCaster is a compelling community for talented 3D artists who wish to extend the reach and value of their cutting-edge digital content to the mass market," said Matthew Wisdom, CEO of Turbo Squid. "We are proud to offer members of the 3D professional community a unique channel to reach a mainstream market of Facebook users and numerous consumers who are discovering 3D Web applications through SceneCaster."

"Our mission is to provide new monetization opportunities for 3D asset aggregators and modelers by instantly connecting them to a burgeoning community of consumers and social media enthusiasts," said Mark Zohar, Founder of SceneCaster. "Turbo Squid represents our premium 3D content offering to those who want to take their 3D experience on SceneCaster to another level."

The Multiverse Network, who builds MMOs as well as the networks on which they run, had suggested earlier this week that it was about to unveil a new product. At the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose, the the company unveiled a virtual world for business collaboration built on its network by Accelerate Technology.

It's called NECO, which stands for New Employee Company Orientation. It can be customized to resemble any corporate campus, so that new employees can take an in-depth virtual tour of their new company before starting work. The application also facilitates all the usual new hire tasks, like HR paperwork, policy and procedure education, and meeting new teammates. The world also incorporates streaming video and an "in-world PDA-like tool" that facilitates chat, email, web content and a navigation mini-map.

It's part of a whole suite of apps Accelerate says it's working on, including NEON (New Employee On-Boarding) which features specialized tools related to specific corporate initiatives; CHIP (College Hire Integration Program), NESI (New Employee Sales Immersion), and NETI (New Employee Technical Immersion).

The descriptions indicate a pretty sensible use of corporate virtual worlds; the new hire process, at least, can be pretty arduous and tedious, and tools aimed at making the process more engaging, connected and consistent have the potential to be quite solidly useful.

"Accelerate's industry-leading work is indicative of the growing acceptance of using virtual worlds to support traditional business tasks," said Corey Bridges, executive producer, Multiverse. "We expect these types of applications, and those still in the concept phase, to contribute significantly to the growth and popularity of this new medium."

Makena Technologies has announced a partnership with the CosmoGirl magazine to extend the U.S. teen publication into its There virtual world, creating the CosmoGirl Village set to open on November 20th.

It will be located along a coastal area in There.com, where members will be able to enjoy dance parties, fashion shows, spa makeovers, photo booths, live events, rich media and shopping for virtual and real-world clothing and accessories. Extending a teen magazine into an online world makes sense, considering recent reports like eMarketer's, which found that, of 34.3 million kid and teen Internet users in the U.S., 24 percent will use virtual worlds at least once a month this year, a number eMarketer expects to rise to 53 percent by 2011.

“CosmoGIRL! is an ideal fit with There.com’s user demographics, since teen girls are an important segment of our members,” said Michael Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies. “There.com is all about fashion, socialization and shared activities, which aligns perfectly with the main interests of CosmoGIRL!’s readers.”

Entropia Universe has unveiled some spiff-ups for its in-world avatars, aiming to make them look more real through a series of graphical enhancements. MindArk recently announced that Entropia would be upgrading to the high-end CryEngine 2 graphics engine from Crytek in 2008, but it looks like the made-over avatars are getting a jump on things.

Improvements to the look include the addition of reflective and glossy surfaces, as well as new clothing and armor design that showcases them -- a big plus in the space-age world of Calypso. The detail tech's been upgraded, too, so that the frame rate stays adequate even with a lot of avatars in one area. Finally, advancements in shading allows realistic-looking combinations of leather and colored clothes.
Reflective and Glossy Surfaces

Entropia's had big things going on over the past several months, getting set to expand into China and expanding its payment options. In the company's press release, MindArk PE AB's Chief Marketing Officer Carl Uggla explained the company is striving for "cinematic quality" in the Entropia experience, in the hopes of making it appealing to the film and fashion industries who could employ the world as a "convergence point" for content delivery and special events.

When we toured Entropia, we found the panoramic views, interesting camera angles and surreal skyscapes lent themselves well already to a distinct cinematic feel, so it will be interesting to see the world evolve with the new graphical upgrades.

MindArk's Chief Information Officer and Community Director Marco Behrmann adds, "Our global community has reacted extremely well to the previews we've released for this upgrade. As in any social situation, an avatar's appearance in Entropia Universe is just as important as a person's appearance is in the real world. Our participants spend millions of dollars every year on clothing and beauty services. Owning a great looking avatar is a pop culture status symbol and we are proud to now offer the best free-to-use avatar creation process online."

There are some new screenshots that show off the updated avatar look currently on Entropia's wesbite.

Talking in an in-depth interview published on Gamasutra today, Habbo Hotel lead designer Sulka Haro has been discussing the communication problems inherent in making games, calling for better definitions of gameplay-related terminology.

As part of a discussion on the subject of 'game grammar' brought up by Raph Koster at the Austin GDC event last month, Sulake Corporation's Haro suggested:

"I do subscribe to the idea of actually having a many dialects for communicating between people. That's kind of defined in the sense that they can actually communicate the idea. Especially if you have a problem in the design -- you can point to the exact point in the design that you think is flawed and causes the game to be not fun."

Haro continued, referencing some of the other lectures he attended at Austin GDC:

"As I was saying earlier, there was this long talk [at AGDC] on four different projects where people say that a game is not fun, but they actually can't say what's causing the game to be not fun. It could be the tiniest little detail, for example the user not getting adequate feedback for his actions. That might be immediately obvious and a designer could actually communicate that."

Finally, discussing the lack of definitional words and paradigms around the issue of creating a playable game, Haro suggested:

"But especially if you're talking with someone who is not a designer -- it's real hard for these people to analyze these designs and be able to communicate exactly what their meaning would be, in the issues that they're trying to bring up. At least, if the grammar can be made simple enough so that even the non-designers could actually use it, it would be really beneficial for the industry, and I guess even for people outside the industry."

The full interview with Haro regarding succesful online world/play space Habbo Hotel is now available on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra, including comments on the very nature of play and what defines a game, and Sulake's successes with implementing the Scrum production method.

IBM and Linden Lab have announced that they will collaborate jointly on new technologies and methods based on open standards for virtual worlds. Together, the companies say they'll be exploring the the interoperability of virtual world platforms and technologies in a series of industry-wide efforts aimed at expanding the possibilities in online worlds and the 3D Web.

IBM and Linden Lab plan to work together on a series of issues relating to integrating virtual worlds with the current Web, driving security-rich transactions of virtual goods and services, working on interoperability among worlds, and building stability and service into virtual world platforms. All of these initiatives, the companies say, will help make virtual worlds more accessible for enterprise.

The companies released a list of specific projects, outlining the initiatives on which they'll collaborate: "Universal" Avatars, which aims to allow users to transport the same avatar and all its attributes among multiple worlds; creating requirements for standards-based software to facilitate secure asset transactions in online worlds, and improving platform stability and ease of use to accelerate user adoption and enable high-volume business use.

Other initiatives include the formation of open standards for interoperability with the current Web, including open source development of interoperable formats and protocols. In other words, IBM and Linden aim to develop standards to allow users to travel persistently among virtual worlds, the way we navigate from one web page to another on the Internet today.

Colin Parris, vice president of Digital Convergence at IBM said, "As the 3D Internet becomes more integrated with the current Web, we see users demanding more from these environments and desiring virtual worlds that are fit for business. IBM and Linden Lab's working together can help accelerate the use and further development of common standards and tools that will contribute to this new environment."

Added Linden Lab's vice president of Business Affairs Ginsu Yoon, "We have built the Second Life Grid as part of the evolution of the Internet. Linden and IBM shares a vision that interoperability is key to the continued expansion of the 3D Internet, and that this tighter integration will benefit the entire industry. Our open source development of interoperable formats and protocols will accelerate the growth and adoption of all virtual worlds."

At the Virtual Worlds Conference and Expo in San Jose today, CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker gave an intriguing, if 'abstract' keynote speech discussing how the popular U.S. TV show is intending to integrate online worlds - specifically Second Life - into its storyline, and how he sees the future of entertainment as increasingly spanning web-based and offline spaces simultaneously.

Starting out his talk, Zuiker told of a childhood in Vegas as the son of a twenty-one dealer, who himself worked as a casino employee until he got the idea for CSI, a franchise which encompasses multiple cities and, Zuiker says, has come to be worth $6 billion.

The power of television helped Zuiker to support his parents' retirement, and it's a power that continues growing in the current generation, as he explained how music videos and regular communication have been replaced by user-customized content, digital music and social networking sites like Facebook.

Now, Zuiker says he's looking to a new future -- stating that connected online and mobile experiences are the future of TV. "The future will be a web-native program, not television," he says, foreseeing mobile alerts for a show's narrative as part of a participatory experience.

Further illustrating the strength of the relationship between TV and Web, Zuiker recalled a time that the models of softcore pin-up site SuicideGirls were on CSI, and the show mentioned the Web address specifically. Despite resistance from NBC, Zuiker went ahead with the reference, and found that visits to the SuicideGirls site increased 50 percent during the airing of the show. "What that told me was that while people are watching television, they were also online at the same time," Zuiker said.

He then had the idea to use the mobile platform to create an interactive experience around the show. It's called CSI Q, and a question asked partway through the CSI show -- like the crime motive, or who the killer is -- can be answered via cell phone for a dollar. At first, there would be about 40,000 respondents. Then, Zuiker made the question easier, and saw that the number of respondents rose to about 75,000. "People want to be right for their dollar," he observed.

Now, Zuiker's team is partnering with virtual architecture company and conference lead sponsor Electric Sheep to welcome CSI viewers who may not understand virtual worlds. He announced that on Wednesday, October 24th, a CSI:NY episode will feature actor Gary Sinise's character chasing a killer in Second Life, leading up to a cliffhanger ending with an online conclusion.

Zuiker also noted that Second Life is suffering a backlash because of what users and investors expect to see in exchange for the large amount of money being invested in virtual items, storefronts and branding opportunities. He proposed that rewarding the users for interacting with product placement can add value to the experience both for users and for brand identities.

He concluded with a plea to investors to continue consider virtual worlds, stating that combining televison, online, and mobile entertainment is the way of the future. Worlds In Motion will have further coverage from the Virtual Worlds Conference in the near future.

[Chris Woodard contributed to this report.]

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.

Parks Associates' Michael Cai took the stage. "I’m still trying to formulate my analysis for the industry," he said, explaining that Parks Associates will be launching a new gamer study in the next 3 to 6 months.

The Demographics of User Retention

Cai said that about 6 percent of broadband users visit a virtual world on a weekly basis; 18 percent of them have tried at least once. So, he said, about one third who try a virtual world stay there, though he didn't quantify how many return visits or what frequency of regular use quantifies "staying." Cai says that Second Life is still number 1 in terms of user retention.

He noted that 71 percent of users are aged 18 to 24, numbering more visitors to social networks than virtual worlds "by a large margin." This is mostly because of ease of use, he says, adding that more females use social networks contrasted with more males who use virtual worlds. "People use these things for hooking up, so male to female ratio is important for growth," he added.

Some other interesting numbers -- for teens who play games in general, including but not specifically virtual worlds, 76 percent play with other people, 19 percent play alone, and 42 play with their moms, Cai said.

Promoting Brand Images in Virtual Worlds: Pros and Cons

“So what are the business implications of virtual worlds?” Marketing and advertising is very promising for the virtual world," Cai said. He noted that 500 out of 1000 internet users in a questionnaire were Second Life users, and the same questionaire found that 60 percent of them watched less television. "Advertising needs to migrate to virtual worlds as opposed to in-game advertising," Cai explained.

While Cai noted that the large majority of Second Life users consider the world a good forum to promote brand images, he noted some pros and cons. As a positive, filling Second Life with brand messages creates an accurate real-world replica. It can leverage avatar interaction and viral marketing, thereby not requiring the player's full attention the way an MMORPG does. And virtual world involvement generates a lot of real world buzz.

On the downside, though, virtual worlds presently have a small base of active and concurrent players. Also, they may not be appropriate for traditional in-game ad formats due to low collective traffic in most areas; Cai cited cases where marketers spend 300,000 to make an island, and a month later, there's no one there. Another con is that properties set up by brands in virtual worlds require active management and maintenance. According to Cai, the best results for virtual world marketing are currently delivered through organized events -- however, technical limitations can keep the scale of such events limited.

Making a Good Impression

Mary Ellen Gordon is the owner of Market Truths Limited, who performs market research analysis in both the real and virtual worlds, mainly Second Life. In the company's first quarter 2007 survey of Second Life, Gordon says 40 percent of users had positive impressions of real-life brands in Second Life -- and in the second quarter survey, that number increased to 60 percent. She attributes the increased positive results to making Second Life more realistic and bringing in assets, in addition to population increases in the world.

She suggested marketers broaden their focus in terms of virtual world tactics by doing things like giving away virtual versions of real-life products, sponsoring events and then customizing or co-creating real-life products to reflect in-world events. Still, she noted, most tactics are perceived more positively when undertaken by brands for which pre-existing attitudes are positive.

She concluded the panel by predicting future diversification of the types of brands that are present in virtual worlds.

[Chris Woodard contributed to this report.]

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.

“Mobile gaming is here to stay, so why not think of mobile when it comes to virtual worlds?” He added.

Successful apps have to be client apps. For Western countries the handsets really allow for just text, but Java handsets can be adopted by just about all phones. Achren noted that Flash is becoming more prevalent on handsets, so it may be handy in the future, but for now, "Java is the way to go," especially since Java code translates easily between a mobile phone and a PC.

It also needs to use very little wireless data -- less than 1 megabyte, according to Achren. "It can't be a 100 dollar phone bill every month," he noted.

Achren described his company's own experience. In 2005, they had developed their own mobile game engine, and they wanted to do something special with it. The pet aspect was a good fit, because it was simple -- you feed the avatar and play games with it, without the need for a network connection. Users can stream their stats to the server, but it's not required. There are also elements of adventure gaming involved. "That’s how we thought of the world, a world with a lot of things to do, not just standing around and talking.” So MoiPal incorporated missions, pre-scripted events, and a narrative.

Most notably, MoiPal is persistent. "Even when you’re sleeping, your pal is doing something," Achren says. The avatar can travel on its own to a virtual city, and upon returning will report to the user about its adventures. "When you wake up in the morning, on the bus you can see what your pal has done and send him or her to do something else while you’re at school," Achren explains.

The website acts as an extension of the world. "It gives you a godlike view of what's happening," Achren explains. Through the website, users can see what others are doing with their pals, their decorations, clothing choices and other game elements. There's even a version of the mobile game available on the website in a pop-up window, for those users who can't play the game on their phones.

The content is monetized directly, through virtual goods that can be obtained through a variety of payment options like SMS, PayPal or a credit card. Users can buy gaming extensions, decorative items and other content bonuses that provide better equipment and resources. There are also indirect monetization models, like sponsorships, advertising and product placement.

"Ringtones and wallpapers are old news," Achren says. "Having brands give items and missions is a better incentive."

When we talked to Nexon America's Min Kim, he told us what a big part holiday events play in user engagement for the MapleStory world. The company has just announced its slate of special events for Halloween, including a variety of new contents and expansions.

The MapleStory continent of Masteria will expand to add a new area, the Phantom Forest, and a new haunted house, The Prendergast Mansion. Several new content debuts are in, too -- a new pet, the game’s first user-inspired weapon, the Flame Tongue, new Halloween items, several themed events and a new boss.

Advanced players will get a chance to hunt down and fight the Headless Horseman, hidden somewhere in the Phantom Forest. At the Prendergast Mansion, users can take part in a linear story while fighting previously unseen monsters, and finding a variety of new items. Players looking for a new pet will be pleasantly surprised to meet the Jr. Reaper, a creepy Halloween-themed buddy, and also in line with the Halloween theme, players can collect candles in the game world to be traded for a Pumpkin Basket. There will also be other special events whereby players will have the opportunity to earn Nexon Cash, and holiday-themed items will be on sale in the Cash Shop -- notably, a name change item will let players actually change the name of their character, something they can't ordinarily do.

CCP has announced an upcoming expansion of its EVE Online MMO. Titled 'Trinity', it will incorporate a new graphics engine, CCP's efforts to angle EVE for a market leadership position as its competition also ramps up; just one day previously, Entropia Universe also announced a graphical update.

The new graphics engine uses Shader Model 3.0 technology, and the visual changes include remodeled and retextured ships, stations and stargates. Also new with the upgrade are environmental effects, such as shadows and nebula-based lighting models, tying graphical assets into the different solar systems of EVE Online.

In addition to the graphical tune-up, the Trinity expansion also adds a variety of new content and gameplay modification, including advancements in combat tactics and battlefield management, additional capabilities for the pilot experience and multiple new Tech II class ships. Other combat add-ons include heat damage attenuation and repair while in space, improved drone management capabilities, and the ability to deploy bombs mid-flight along forward trajectories, among others. EVE has also added content for its PvE gameplay, including new kill missions and the re-introduction of mining missions.

“CCP has been on a continuous quest to offer cutting-edge virtual world experiences to engage the most advanced users on the Internet,” said Halldor Guðjónsson, chief technology officer of CCP. “With the launch of our next-generation graphics engine and gameplay improvements, we aim not only to enhance the in-world experience of our dedicated EVE players, but also to capture the interest of new gamers. While EVE Online has been arguably one of the most visually appealing MMOGs, the quality of the images enabled by our advanced graphics engine sets a precedent for visuals that blurs the line between a computer game and a movie.”

Free-to-play Chinese MMO company CDC Corporation announced an expansion of its business partnership with Sonokong, a Korean toy and game entertainment company. The expanded partnership includes the licensing in China of a new game called Dragonsky, as well as Sonokong’s commitment to continue support of content updates for Shaiya Online. Additionally, the companies will partner to distribute Shaiya in Taiwan through local publisher MacroWell.

The agreement gives CDC exclusive distribution rights in China for Dragonsky currently in development in Korea by Sonov with support from Sonokong, and anticipated for a commercial launch in the second quarter of 2008. Dragonsky is a Chinese martial arts-themed MMORPG set in medieval times. CDC's OPTIC division, which currently operates Shaiya, will operate the game in China.

Dragonsky is part of CDC's lineup of anticipated 2008 online games planned for development or distribution, also including The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, Stone Age 2, ChaosGem, Come on Baby, Gemfighter and Red Blood.

CCP and Sonokong recently partnered, along with other Chinese developers, to form the Online Games Alliance Against Piracy (OGAAP), which intends to establish a platform for industry participants and stakeholders to develop standards and enact legislation to prevent piracy of copyrighted online games and game content.

“We are very happy to expand our already productive and successful partnership with CDC Games,” said Dr. Choi Shinkyu, chairman of Sonokong. “Working with CDC Games, we have established a trusted relationship based on mutual benefit. Our expertise in entertainment and games design and development, and the expertise of CDC Games in marketing, distribution and operations are highly complementary and we look forward to a continued productive relationship. Additionally, we are proud to participate in the OGAAP initiative alongside CDC Games and the other founding members to actively fight and prevent piracy in our industry.”

“Based on the current popularity of Shaiya Online in Korea and China, we expect to achieve similar results in Taiwan,” said Calvin Lin, chief executive officer of MacroWell. “We are very pleased to initiate our distribution partnership with Sonokong and CDC Games in Taiwan and look forward to achieving great success together now and in the future.”

Just launching in beta is IGS.com, a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) service provider for MMORPG users. It's a "player-driven marketplace" that lets players bypass MMO currency retailers to trade virtual goods and items for a variety of MMO titles directly amongst themselves. Currently, it looks more than a bit like eBay for game items.

IGS lets its customers compare offerings and sort sellers by prices, lead-times or feedback ratings. Buyers can set their own prices and lead-times, aiming to create a competitive environment where sellers can thrive and buyers can benefit from comparison shopping. It also provides customer support to sellers for order and payment processing, to ensure quality of service for sellers, and to allow sellers to focus on communication and delivery.

It's true that historically, these types of transactions have been somewhat of a fraud risk, as unscrupulous types can conduct unmonitored transactions at best, and in a worst-case scenario, steal information from buyers. IGS aims to institute a secure transaction system under its monitoring.

Says IGS in its press release: "IGS is developed by a team consisting of veteran MMO gamers, RMT industry professionals and C2C trading specialists. The team is aiming to create the next generation of virtual currency trading by utilizing a combination unique skills, knowledge, and expertise. IGS will continue to innovate within the RMT industry and is already developing plans for further additions and improvements to IGS.com."

After OnNet USA's first beta run of its World War II flight combat MMO Heroes in the Sky, the company has announced the second wave of beta testing, currently running from October 10th to October 17th. As part of the testing, there will be a "Dog Fighting Bug Report" event.

Any gamer who submits a bug report to the Heroes in the Sky team will be eligible to win 1,000 campus cash points. Each submission provides a new chance to win the prize, and there is no limit to the number of submissions that may be submitted by any one player. Winners will be randomly chosen at the end of the second beta test.

Heroes in the Sky team manager Chris Keswani says that response to the game thus far has been encouraging. "Our gamers were asking us allow them to play “Heroes in the Sky” although we are still in the process of enhancing the game. We are happy that we are able to accommodate them by starting the second beta today."

Multiverse, who builds networks for MMOs and online worlds, has been up to big things recently. Earlier this year, they officially launched version 1.0 of their platform, with four worlds as part of its "Worlds in Progress" initiative, a collection of early prototype games and worlds built on its platform, with the aim of providing consumer access to the network. Just recently, Accelerate Technology unveiled a business-purposed virtual world built on the network. At the Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose, Multiverse founder Corey Bridges and co-founder and CTO Rafhael Cedeno gave attendees a peek under the hood.

"Multiverse is a company founded by early days Netscape guys. We’ve been building technology our whole careers, so we really approached this from a platform development point of view," Bridges said. He highlighted some features that set Multiverse apart: it's a complete MMO technology solution -- a "world browser," with a built-in server client, tools, starter assets and sample worlds. It's got open standards-based technology with rapid prototyping, and users can develop and deploy it for free with no up-front costs, skipping the publisher and sharing 10 percent of revenues with the company. "Our success depends on your success," Bridges said.

Multiverse Network offers ready consumer access via the client world browser, and all games and worlds launch in the network. "You never pay us a dime until you start charging consumers," Bridges added. “You also keep all intellectual property rights.” Large companies may pay licensing fees instead.

"We do think virtual worlds are a new medium... there’s a whole wide array of uses," Bridges explained. Not simply for games, or exclusively for business, Multiverse aims their network at multipurpose uses. "We want anyone to be able to use it.”

Cedeno demonstrated the game engine, turning shadows on and off to show off the high dynamic range lighting. "You can make your game look as high end as you want,” Cedeno promised. "We support both OpenGL and DirectX.” Bridges added that clients examine the machine that the product is installed on, and degrades the quality as needed for performance.

Noting the importance of streaming video and audio to the virtual worlds space, Cedeno explained that the world browser doesn't limit the amount of video or audio streams. True HD videos are downloaded onto the system, and can even become texture on objects.

"This technology itself is developed from [Microsoft multimedia framework/API] DirectShow," Cedeno explained. "Almost everyone has [video compression standard] h264, which is like the YouTube codec. We’ve developed streaming technology so you don’t need the media on the user machine to start watching it.”

Next, Cedeno and Bridges demonstrated one of the business trainer apps recently announced from Accelerate, created in about five weeks with the help of multiverse text support. As explained in the initial announcement, the user interface looks like a PDA, and includes texting, an embedded web browser, and a GPS. There are quests, like obtaining one's employee security badge -- and if the user has a camera on his PC, their photo can be sent to the actual security desk via the virtual world, and the user's real-world security badge can be issued next day.

"We have something called the master server, and that’s really the only server we run," Cedeno explained. And since the master server maintains the user's login info, only one login is needed for all the worlds. The network allows friends that are in different worlds to chat with each other, since all user servers are connected to the master server. "We do have premier hosting services we can suggest, but we are not in the hosting business," Cedeno elaborated.

Some tech specs on the Multiverse World Browser: it has a 3D rendering engine based on OGRE/Axiom; it runs on Windows XP or Vista using DirectX, and it's written in C# and scriptable in Python. As concerns the Multiverse servers, they consist of distributed plug in architecture, are written in Java (including server plug-ins) and scriptable in Python, and it has a standard JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) back end. It also has a multiverse-agnostic rule set (MARS), an open source library of plug-ins for mobs, combat, inventory and such.

Multiverse's tools are comprised of a world editor, terrain generator, and model viewer, along with conversion tools for 3Ds, Maya, Blender and other apps. "Though we don’t have in-engine editing tools, that doesn’t mean our users can’t import one," Bridges added, citing SketchUp as an example. The server system is based on a plug-in design, Cedeno explained, allowing for the use of third-party plug-ins.

"Something people take for granted is that building a UI is easy," said Cedeno, touching on the user interface for conclusion. Multiverse made sure to make a completely customizable and easy to use UI system, containing pre-coded customizable UI components and examples, like minimaps, chat windows and help windows.

At the 2007 Virtual Worlds Conference, Christian Renaud, chief architect of Networked Virtual Environments at Cisco's technology center, gave the Thursday keynote to address a big question: What's next for virtual worlds?

"It'd be easy for people from the outside to come in [to this industry] and say, 'okay we got it figured out...' but this is not the first attempt at making virtual worlds, virtual communities, a business tool or a mainstream tool," Renaud cautioned.

Renaud wants to focus on the industry's next step. "We’re at the beginning of something that could be really great -- and I say could not will." After all, Renaud noted, quoting Mark Twain: "History may repeat itself, but it sure doesn’t rhyme."

Virtual worlds are good business tools, Renaud said, citing the example of a friend who would play World of Warcraft with coworkers across six different time zones, and yet struggle to coordinate a conference among them. According to Renaud, networked virtual environments are the "age of the avatar,"and Cisco is the "incubator group" that takes potential and turns it into profit.

Renaud says that of about 6.6 people on the planet Earth, 2.3 billion have mobile versions of themselves -- there are about 3 million SIM cards out there, he adds, and about 1.2 billion with internet connectivity. "That's great penetration," he says. Of some 50 virtual worlds, he estimates that there are about 465 million clients, or the population of North America. Essentially, he says, a boutique number, relative to what it could be. "My personal goal is to make this mainstream enough that I don’t have to explain what I do to the guy next to me on the plane," he says.

He likens it to the early days of ISPs like CompuServe, AOL, The Well, e-World, Prodigy and others -- the ones that survived are the ones that adopted e-mail over proprietary instant messaging. "We're at that inflection point where we decide, are we going the IM route? Do we want to be the Beta of the industry, or the VHS? The e-mail?

Moreover, Renaud stressed, that decision time is now. "If we wait for market rationalization, starvation will set in, and worse -- cannibalism.” It needs to be about the content, not the platform. Secondly, users of virtual worlds must not feel disconnected from the rest of the internet while using them. "If you could only get e-mail while sitting at your desk, it would not have such widespread usage," he pointed out.

Lest the audience get the impression that Renaud is going for "the strip mall of virtual worlds," he clarified. "I want to take all the fun stuff, and bring it to work... it commands your attention. Attention is really the only currency that is left." Renaud remembers a colleague from IBM telling him, "What if we could get people as addicted to work as they are to these games?" The current formats associated with work are not as much fun, Renaud says. "Spreadsheets are visually-induced narcolepsy," he adds. "There's no reason that has to happen. We can mark work a lot more fun that it currently is... it doesn’t have to be this big Jonathan Swift drudgery factory.”

Renaud also advised against stereotyping virtual worlds and their users. "There is no common measurement of success," he said. "The market tends to make these magical distinctions between groups of people that really have a lot of overlap... There are people who are hardcore and casual, or just hardcore... there is to much overlap to say ‘it’s only this and this’. My recommendation as an industry? Think about the good of the industry and everyone’s slice of pie will be bigger.”

Another important step in the future, according to Renaud, is open ID for the Internet. "So I don't have to have an ID for Amazon, an ID for eBay..." He also says that interoperable IDs will make it possible to conduct job interviews in virtual worlds, because a person's identity can be accurately and easily verified. There are times, however, when you want separate IDs -- Renaud foresees a situation where a new eBay user can establish trust with his customers by letting them reference the good feedback already on his long-standing Amazon account.

"We don’t have to be as good as a physical interaction... but we often look past what we can do better than." Rather than using virtual worlds to replicate business meetings as they are in the real world, for example, Renaud advises using the possibilities of virtual worlds to actually enhance them.

Another issue Renaud says the industry needs to examine moving forward is metrics. "Advertisers are sticklers for numbers," he points out. "Outside business wants to know real metrics. As an industry, we should step forward and put forth unified metrics." Doing so, Renaud insists, would decrease the perception of risk inherent in virtual worlds.

So, the main things? Interoperability among diverse platforms, a common and portable identity, and really examining steps taken to ensure they move the industry forward are key, Renaud concluded.

[Chris Woodard contributed to this report.]

At the 2007 Virtual Worlds Conference in San Jose, a panel called Community Management in 2D and 3D Spaces brought together directors and managers of community relations and development from major online spaces. Makena Technologies' Jodi Turton, Cartoon Network's Rich Weil and Linden Lab's Jeska Dzwigalski discussed experiences and tactics for managing large communities in this session, moderated by Outspark marketing coordinator Ryan Olson.

"We have meetings inside our virtual world, so we have face time," Turton said, talking about community management in There.com, where she stresses leading by example, promotion of programs, brands and sponsors, and bonding with community. "When [staff] gets involved with the community they have fun, and it lets the members know they are important to us.” Turton requests and encourages community feedback, and then discusses it in a weekly advisory meeting. The bottom line? "Happy community members come back,” she says.

Olson asked the panel about the difference in community management in virtual worlds versus online games. "Having done community relations in the virtual world and gaming spaces... gaming is easier," Weil offered. "In gaming your audience is directed, it’s a very shared experience... it’s like the experience is on a track. It’s easier to know your audience. But in a virtual world, the experiences tend to be so diffuse, you deal with a lot of unique experiences." Weil recalls that his first time in the beta test of Kaneva, someone ran up to his avatar and asked, "How do I get into the beta?" "Uh... you are in the beta," he replied. "What struck me is that this audience didn’t know things that are standard for the MMO audience."

"One thing I like to say is that Second Life is not a game," added Dzwigalski. "But we do use a lot of the same language." She continued, "We like to let people make themselves happy... giving them the tools to do so. I don’t go to concerts in World of Warcraft, I do it in Second Life. It’s a different activity.”

"Communication is always going to be the bottom line," said Turton, saying it's important to make sure users have the tools, and have fun using them.

Forums are a very big part of some sites. Olson called them "as user-gen as it gets." On that topic, Dzwigalski recalled her first task was to moderate the forum. "That was fun," she said, with heavy sarcasm. At the time, she knew everyone online, but as the community grew, that level of personal communication became impossible to maintain. So she moved on to a mass-media format for information distribution, like blogs and bug trackers. Now, they use press briefings, evolving from one-on-one. "You can’t have a one on one conversation with thousands of people," she says.

"We do get some good feedback from the forum,” adds Turton. Her team looks at fansites a lot, and they incorporate blogs and in-world events for feedback, looking at the community as viral marketers.

"We started from the ground floor, and over the course of time that I was [with Kaneva] it grew quite a bit," Weil remembers. It started with the forums, and then moved into blog posting. "At Cartoon Network we labor under a lot different restrictions,” he says; the products are for kids, meaning he always needs to be attentive to how they communicate.

Asked about the evolution of audience from alpha to beta to mass market, Turton said, "Along all lines, community management is always going to be the biggest focus regardless of stages."

"Their motivations are going to change," noted Dzwigalski. "People’s motivation, from alpha to beta, will change a lot.” And that change, she said, continues into mass release. "You need to be aware of what their motivations are."

"Hardcore alpha testers are probably going to be done by the end of beta," added Weil. "I don’t think there’s a need to break it down further than four stages: pre-alpha, what I call 'arguing with the developers' stage, then alpha, beta and live."

What about volunteer programs? Weil is "100 percent absolutely against the idea," citing the class action lawsuits by volunteers of AOL and Ultima Online. He recalls when volunteers were used to do work that other people were being paid to do. He called the settlement of those suits "the worst thing that could happen," because there was no court ruling on the actual legality of volunteer programs.

"Second Life gave tools for volunteers who helped with UI issues," recalls Dzwigalski, remembering giving out T-shirts. "And they reacted like it was Christmas”. Some of the legality restrictions are the inability to set schedule or deadlines -- the same laws as any volunteer program. Still, Dzwigalski finds the programs useful: "They’ll be able to see a lot of the things you won’t be able to see, so it is really valuable," she says.

"Bottom line, you have to remember that there is a person behind that avatar. They are not a number they are a community member," Adds Turton.

[Chris Woodard contributed to this report.]

Multiplayer online games were a thriving industry in Asia before the idea of virtual worlds had ever taken widespread root here in the U.S, and they have years of experience on us in the microtransactions arena. With the aim of examining what we can learn from the Asian market, a panel at the 2007 Virtual Worlds Conference brought together Metabirds CEO Naoyoshi Shimaya, Agency of Change international coordinator Yuki Saeki, virtual worlds writer Wagner James Au, and Jeffrey Pope, who is the senior manager for the Far East region for Sun's Project Darkstar. The Centric Agency of Change's International Strategies director Ken Brady moderated the discussion.

What Works?

"The sheer size of the Asian market has everyone standing up and paying attention... Arguably they will drive the most innovation," Brady began. He asked the panel what's worked in Asian virtual worlds -- and what has failed?

"It's hard to track failures," Pope replied, citing the newness of virtual worlds in Japan. For eample, MySpace in Japan has nowhere near the userbase it enjoys in the West. "But I just don’t see virtual worlds failing this early," he added. "There has to be a market, and people need to test the waters, so to speak."

Shimaya noted that, since his company works mostly with other Japanese companies, he doesn't have the opportunity to see the cultural differences in such a clear way. Sometimes, when doing work in Second Life, he’s worried about the different tendencies specific to the Japanese audience, and has to consider the difference in communities, and even the differences in individuals. The accumulation of those personal differences is what makes a culture, he says.

"Second Life hasn’t been so prevalent in Asia yet," Saeki said. "Like Jeff said, it’s still in the early stage, so you can’t say it’s failed.” A virtual world can itself be considered a different nation, so there can be difficulty communicating with a community in a virtual world even if you speak the same language, Saeki added. “You have to know what kind of needs they have in virtual worlds.”

Lost In Translation

"You get to see how cultures are different based on how they play," adds Au. He recalled the addition of Richard Garriott as Lord British in the Americanized version of the Asian MMORPG Lineage. "And they released it, and nothing happened. It had, like, 10,000 subscribers.” The conclusion was that this was due to simply different gameplay. In Lineage, the game was based around a blood pledge. It was a more collective gameplay, and it just seemed to rub Americans the same way, Au explained. Psyworld was another of Au's examples; some 90 percent of users under 30 have an account in South Korea -- and yet it didn't take off in the U.S. or Japan. Au also said the Japanese enjoy Second Life, but the South Koreans don’t really seem to. "The retention rate of Second Life [in the West] is about 1 in 10," Au says. in Japan, though, it’s about 1/3rd..

Brady noted that the fact that Second Life hasn't received much coverage in the Korean press, as opposed to the coverage it's gotten in Japan, might be a factor. "We’re playing in the same spaces, but not the same page," he said. Is there really one Asia?

"Being in business development for a while, one of the most common mistakes businesses do is they come up with a model and it works in Canada, it works in the U.K, so they just use it in Japan, and it never works." Pope said, saying these businesses don’t examine the Japanese mentality.

According to Shimaya, "Asia" is only one way of categorizing the region. The Japanese, Thai and Korean markets, for example, are also separate. Stressing that it's important to understand the needs of the individual market chosen, he suggests partnering with companies already based in those regions.

"I think you can categorize that region as Asian... Since I’m half Taiwanese and half Japanese, I sometimes am Japanese and sometimes Taiwanese,” countered Saeki, adding that in the future, differences will be more individual, though there will still be cultural differences. Saeki pointed out that the widespread "Mac versus PC" ads failed in Japan, because the Japanese don't respond well to a company attacking another company in advertising.

Innovation And Refinement

"Innovation is the key to avoiding stagnation," Brady pointed out, and asked the panel what they identify as the key innovations coming from Asia right now.

"For every virtual world being produced that we hear about, there’s probably three or four we haven’t heard about,” Pope said, noting that he just learned of a virtual world being developed in India. "Some of the technology coming out of Asia... there’s a lot of creativity coming out of the smaller companies, in what they create for second life. [It’s] more artistic, creative things."

Shimaya said that people need to understand that there are ongoing innovations going on that aren't being done in just one country. To make the best use of tech, people need to pay attention to research going on worldwide, he advised.

"What Asian people are really good at is copying from something else and making it more sophisticated and refined," Saeki pointed out. "It may not be innovative, but the quality is of such high quality that people call it innovative."

Au added that the Japanese industry is jumping into metaverses more enthusiastically that the West, recalling Japanese game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi was recently hired to create a virtual Tokyo and highlighting Japanese game companies as the ones to watch, and that tech work being outsourced to Asia is inevitable.

[Chris Woodard contributed to this report.]

Warner Bros. Pictures has unveiled an original, online, multiplayer first-person shooter/RPG game playable in Second Life, built by The Electric Sheep Company. Launched in support of an upcoming film starring Will Smith, I Am Legend: Survival transports players into a replica of over 60 acres of New York City set in the chaotic year preceding the movie. Players can pick either of two rival factions, uninfected and infected, and play as either dogs or humans who battle for the future of mankind. 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 evolve and expand over time, mirroring the changes that occur in the film environment. It supports both voice and text chat for in-game multiplayer communication. The game is available as a free download from http://iamlegendsurvival.com/ on October 12, 2007.

I Am Legend: