One of the issues that came out of the recent Virtual Worlds Forum in London is, rather sensibly -- how to categorize virtual worlds? It's clear there are a lot of players in the space, and not all of them are "true" virtual worlds -- in other words, 3D environments with an avatar. At her Wonderland blog, Alice Taylor muses on the different classifications that are emerging in the space, in the hopes of defining "camps" into which the broad offering at present can be currently defined.

She correctly notes that 2 and 2.5-dimensional worlds are one of the most populous categories -- some of the largest, thriving and most widely known virtual worlds (Habbo, Club Penguin, BarbieGirls) fall into this category.

Then, there are the realism-focused, 3D worlds, where as Alice says the avatars are "almost humanoid" -- In this camp we've got Second Life, HiPiHi, Kaneva, There.com and others. 3D worlds for business purposes are another camp, and finally, MMOs, which are less represented in the space because they've got a foot in the video game world, too.

Other key facts Alice gleaned from the event: as Lord Puttnam pointed out, the issue of marketing to kids in virtual worlds will continue to be a tricky one, and both There and Second Life have said that the 50+ audience comprises their biggest users -- who'd have thought?

[Via Wonderland]

On the heels of the CSI:NY and Second Life episode tie-in -- which generated a lot of buzz, but not so much quantifiable gains for Second Life, Raph Koster wonders if virtual worlds are becoming "mainstream." He cites the folks from Metaversed, who like Alice, agree there really aren't that many "true" virtual worlds, though their definition is based in different factors: "A Social Virtual World has game-like immersion and social media functionality without narrative driven goals. At its core is a sense of presence with others at the same time and place." Metaversed's list includes Second Life, Kaneva, vSide, Entropia, Ogoglio City, There.com and MTV's worlds.(*)

Raph correctly observes that even though this list doesn't represent the largest segment of the virtual worlds space, it's the one driving the "mainstreaming" trend. Raph points also out that, as concerns the CSI example, most people were logging in "to play a game," and makes this salient conclusion:

The bottom line is something that has been known for a very long time. Chat is never enough. Try to find a real-world business built on social interaction without something to do, and what you will find is that successful social (or “third”) places generally rely on a shared activity: drinks at the bar serving as a lubricant, bingo at the church, bowling at the lanes, a movie to ignore, and so on.

So, is there hope for mainstreaming for non-entertainment apps? Absolutely. But in my opinion, it’s not going to come from pure social virtual worlds. Entertainment is going to continue being the key driver.

[*CORRECTION: The article originally attributed the list of "true" virtual worlds and their definitions to Raph Koster, when in fact they were Metaversed's.]

[Via Raph's Website]

NHN USA ’s ijji.com, U.S. subsidiary of South Korean internet company NHN, has announced the open beta launch for Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu on the ijji portal. It's billed as a "political and economic MMORPG," aiming to simulate a real-world society.

Players can choose to become either an artisan, a warrior or a politician -- their goal is to "rise through the ranks of the people and strive to become the leader of the community." Items created by artisans can be used to slay the land's monsters, or they can be sold in the market to build a player's economic power. Wealth and influence enable players to buy stock, lease buildings or employ a work force. Popular players can run for office in residential elections, the reward being the future of the server.

The execution of the idea remains to be seen, of course, but it's a sharp concept, proposing that "virtual society" can be about a bit more than dance parties.

One more weigh-in from the Virtual Worlds Forum -- over at GigaOM, Wagner James Au gives his own "promising" top three from the event, all of them European worlds that we may have to wait a bit to see on our shores.

One of his picks is one we really liked when we first heard about it at Virtual Worlds Fall earlier this month -- the mobile virtual world, MoiPal, which tasks you with the care of a Tamagotchi-type creature.

Au also joins us in appreciating Avaloop's Papermint, and MindCandy (of Perplex City renown)'s Moshi Monsters, the so-ugly-they're-cute cell phone creatures with a tie-in virtual world and social networking elements.

Good picks, all three united by a sort of off-beat, artistic theme. One thing Au points out that I think is critical about these three is that their stylistic elements enable them to appeal to a much broader age group -- they're neither distinctly childish nor distinctly adult. Think the huge popularity of Nintendo's Pokémon games, which have a broad fan base among 7-10 year old kids -- the primary audience -- as well as among teens and adults in the video gaming audience.

[Via GigaOM]

Makena Technologies, parent of There.com, has announced a collaboration with the Humane Society of the United States, kicking off with a live in-world event on October 29th. A virtual storefront in There will offer users both virtual and real-world Humane Society merchandise, and all proceeds will be donated to the Humane Society by the charitable Maya foundation, a nonprofit, education-focused organization founded by Makena CEO Michael Wilson.

The partnership is an effort to highlight and combat animal cruelty, and There.com says it will continue to work alongside the Humane Society to promote its in-world activities. Said Humane Society president and CEO Wayne Pacelle, "There.com’s community has already shown a desire to support the humane treatment of animals, and helping animals in the virtual world can translate to meaningful gains for animals in the real world.”

Added Wilson, "There.com is very supportive of the work that The Humane Society of the United States does to protect animals and end animal cruelty. The virtual dogs that we offer in There.com are incredibly popular, and it’s clear that we have a large number of members who are animal lovers. We believe there's a huge synergy between The HSUS and There.com's community, and we're really excited about bringing them together."

Apparently, the ongoing legal feud between MGame and CDC, revolving around tech support issues, license payments and piracy protection for Yulgang is cooling off, with both parties agreeing to negotiate on the issues.

Reuters reports that CDC has stated it will negotiate with MGame to resolve the dispute, but no details have emerged on any permanent resolution or potential settlement agreements.

Raph Koster recently asked whether virtual worlds are mainstreaming. There's an article about online worlds in the New York Post (with the tacky headline "Unreality Bytes") -- does that answer the question?

According to the article, some entrepreneurs are suing a Queens man with IP counterfeiting in Second Life. Manifold have been the discussions about how much of an issue intellectual property rights will become in virtual worlds, and this is doubtless the first of many small fires that will have to be doused with increasing frequency.

The defendant in the suit, Thomas "Rase Kenzo" Simon, allegedly stole various designs from the online stores of the six plaintiffs -- furniture and sex plugins, mostly -- and sold them in Second Life. One has to wonder how the court judge will react when he's hearing a case brought by "Munchflower Zaius" and "Stroker Serpentine."

Silly names or not, it's Simon's reported reaction to the suit that raises eyebrows. "They can say whatever they want; it's only a video game," quotes the Post. "I didn't know you could sue anyone over it."

[Via New York Post]

Over at the Guardian, the always-on-point Aleks Krotoski has pegged one of the bigger trends to come out of the recent slate of virtual worlds events lately -- universal accessibility. Real item tie-ins may be useful tools for marketing to kids, but as shown with the popular cell phone Moshi Monsters, having a real object as a touchstone for virtual play might have broader relevance beyond the children's space.

Mobile access is also a big one. Mobile virtual worlds, or components of virtual worlds that are portable, will likely continue to see increasing relevance. On one end of the spectrum, large-scope virtual worlds can be time-consuming, and the idea of being able to do a small portion of gameplay -- like checking auctions or developing MMO character levels -- on the go is appealing to many people, a concept Christian Müller told us was on his mind for the upcoming Empire of Sports MMO. On the smaller side, there are ideas like Ironstar's MoiPal, where a virtual pet can be played with either on the cell phone or online.

As Krotoski points out, the big message that's emerging is that developers are getting creative with the concept of user engagement, offering multiple avenues for accessibility as game-like concepts permeate our real lives more and more.

[The Game Of (MMO) Life - UK Guardian]

At Worlds in Motion sister site GamesOnDeck, which focuses on mobile gaming, an editorial by Gamevil USA president Kyu C. Lee examines how the broadening microtransactions trend is becoming part of the mobile gaming industry, examining how companies like Gamevil, Nexon Mobile, and Com2us are leading the market trend with mobile games that feature microtransactions.

Microtransactions were a successful trend in the Asian PC gaming market before they ever spread to other platforms and regional markets. But as Lee explains, rampant piracy soon became a problem in Korea, sending the clear message the users were becoming less willing to pay for PC games. Lee illustrates how this crisis quickly became an opportunity for the microtransactions business model:

"Because of this, PC games did not sell well at retail in Korea and companies were not able to make as much money off of this. One of the solutions to this problem was creating online PC games that have a Client-Server Model, which would verify if the user was a subscriber. This became popular for hardcore gamers but didn't effectively target the casual gamers due to the high subscription fee that the people had to pay every month.

This model was extremely successful and online game companies started giving out the games for free. As these free games became popular in Korea, microtransactions of special items and additional features in games became popular. The users were playing for free, but were also paying consumers."

But how does this apply to mobile gaming? Microtransactions have proved a viable model on that platform as well, and in the full Games On Deck editorial feature, Lee provides in-depth examples and projections on the present and future of this developing trend (no reg. required, please feel free to link to this feature from other websites).

Officials from in-game advertising network IGA Worldwide have announced a new “multi-faceted agreement” with NBC Universal Digital Media. As a result the NBC Universal sales team will be able to sell a portion of IGA’s premium in-game advertising inventory and create customized packages for clients on the IGA network.

GE/NBC Universal’s Peacock Equity fund was one of the major participants in IGA’s $25 million Series B investment round in July.

IGA’s proprietary ad serving network already allows advertisers to target video game players, with major clients in the industry, but in this most recent announcement, Nick Johnson, VP of digital media ad sales for NBC Universal, also brought virtual worlds under the umbrella.

“The virtual world and gaming space is one of the fastest growing mediums around," Johnson said. "Working with IGA, the global independent leader in in-game advertising solutions, we will now, in addition to TV, web and Mobile, be able to offer marketers a whole new opportunity to reach a highly engaged and ever-growing audience."

“We couldn’t be more proud to partner with NBC Universal Digital Media, the leading advertising sales force in the industry, to offer strategic, innovative placements for both their current and future clients, said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide. “The partnership is validation that in-game advertising is an important part of the media mix for advertisers of all sizes as well as the publishers in our network.”

Disney Online has announced that its Pirates of the Caribbean Online game, an MMO based on the successful film franchise, las launched for both PC and Mac platforms. The pirate-themed world offers quests and adventures, customizable pirate avatars, treasure hunts, and lets players captain their own ship and crew with the aim of becoming the most legendary pirate.

Players can also combat with weapons and voodoo magic and recruit each other for pirate crews. The way they describe pirate notoriety, earned by swordfighting and card playing, sounds a bit like Puzzle Pirates.

Along the way, players will interact with characters made popular by the films, like Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, as well as new characters and enemies unique to the game -- another example of popular media receiving a virtual world extension.

Paul Yanover, EVP and managing Director, Disney Online, said, “The launch of Pirates of the Caribbean Online opens up an entirely new world of pirate adventures to thousands of fans who can now play alongside their favorite characters in a fully-immersive environment that builds on and goes beyond the epic stories created in the films.We believe the game’s focus on action and adventure, combined with many customization options will appeal to a broad audience of both gamers and fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as they set out on their own course to live the legend.”

MTV Networks has announced it's teaming up its virtual worlds with independent video entertainment site Metacafe to create "MTV's Virtual Worlds Virtual Music Video Contest," a competition that lest fans direct and film their own music videos in one of MTV's seven virtual worlds (which include The Hills, Laguna Beach and Pimp My Ride, to name a few) for the chance to win a Sony Vegas Pro 8 professional video/audio editing and DVD creation software package. In addition to submitting music videos, fans can go to the MTV's Virtual Worlds channel on Metacafe to check out and vote for their favorites.

Tapping into the participatory content boom, an MTV Virtual World channel will be designated on Metacafe where fans can view the entries and submit votes for their favorites.

MTV and Metacafe will provide the audio tracks for contestants to use; Saves the Day's "Can't Stay the Same," A Cursive Memory's "Everything," Dannel Vonn Dillon's "Worn and of Plastic," Dr. Manhattan's "Big Chomper" and Grayskul's "Us" are the options. Contest submissions can be uploaded to Metacafe until December 4, 2007, and the top 10 finalists selected by viewers will be evaluated by a panel of MTV judges on creativity and originality, technical execution and overall impression. In addition to the grand-prize winner, two first-place winners will receive $2,000 virtual MTV bucks.

Matt Bostwick, SVP of franchise development for MTV Networks Music & Logo Group said, "Virtual Worlds serve as an untapped incubator for young talent who love music and technology, and their desire to combine those two passions into a professionally developed final product. Music plays an integral part in our virtual worlds, and we can't think of a better platform than Metacafe to give fans the chance to launch a career based on their virtual life that could one day cross-over to their real life."

Added Metacafe CEO Erick Hachenburg, "Providing music fans with a fun and easy way to make and distribute their own virtual music video is a great example of the power of online video entertainment. Metacafe is an exceptionally interactive environment, and we're pleased to team with MTV to enable aspiring video creators to bring their vision to life and reach a large and global audience."

Great write-up over at Computerworld about Tip Slater of Analysis Modeling Simulation Experimentation, part of The Boeing Company's Integrated Defense Systems group of which he's director. From the article:

Can you describe what your job entails?

I belong to an organization called Analysis Modeling Simulation Experimentation. Our job is to create an environment in which we can test out concepts and ideas for our customers, the majority of which are military. If a customer wants to try a wartime scenario, he can't afford to fly or move all the military [equipment] that he wants, and you can't afford to blow it up either. So, we provide an environment where we bring in live, simulated and computer-generated entities.

Our job is to pull together this synthetic environment so that we can test out a concept or a hypothesis. For example, we can actually take an F-16 flying over the desert in southern California, and the pilot will see on his radar scope all of the virtual and computer-generated entities that we have in the environment. So, we've got a real plane that gets the signatures in his cockpit that state that there are other entities working around him, when in fact those entities are digital [creations]. And that allows us to put the assets into an environment and test them out. So it gets to be a very complicated environment.

It's an in-depth story about the advanced application of virtual models for test scenarios, and very worth reading!

[Via Computerworld]

Numedeon, creator of Whyville, has announced that Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak has become one of its investors. According to the company, Sajak’s investment makes him a significant shareholder in the corporation.

In addition to Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak is involved in a number of businesses, including Internet-based PatSajakGames.com, BoJak Records, Sajak Music (a music publishing company), P.A.T. Productions (a television production company in association with Columbia Television), and Sajak Broadcasting (which owns two Maryland radio stations). He is also a partial owner of the Golden Baseball League (an independent minor league operating in California, Arizona and Utah) and Eagle Publishing (a Washington, DC book publishing company).

“As someone deeply involved in traditional broadcast media, I am aware of the challenges and opportunities provided by interactive media,” says Sajak. “I believe that Numedeon, a pioneer in virtual world technology, is strategically placed to transform the way children and adults interact digitally. ”

Dr. Jim Bower, founder and CEO of Numedeon, adds, “We are very pleased to have such a highly regarded entertainer in the television industry as a significant investor in Numedeon. Not only does Mr. Sajak have a world-wide media reputation, and a long standing interest in education, but he is also a sophisticated, experienced, and successful businessman. His strategic involvement in Numedeon will pave the way for several new Numedeon virtual worlds set to launch in the next two quarters.”

Casual games publisher PlayFirst claims over 200 million downloads of restaurant-rush casual game Diner Dash, and the company says it's generated more than $35 million in consumer spending across all platforms. Recently, the company expanded on its business model by adding microtransactions, social networking and personalization elements into its latest title in the franchise, Diner Dash: Hometown Hero.

Following a growing trend in online gaming and virtual worlds, Diner Dash: Hometown Hero enables players to purchase game items and standalone restaurants, customize their own characters and diners, and share their designs with others -- and the company says the endeavor has been a huge success.

According to PlayFirst, in its first month, the full version of Diner Dash: Hometown Hero has out-sold any other PlayFirst game’s first month of web sales, indicating consumers’ continued demand for Diner Dash games. Moreover, 45 percent of all Hometown Hero customers are first-time PlayFirst purchasers, the company adds.

24 percent of these new purchases were for new expansion restaurant level packs, which add 10 new gameplay levels, and 12 percent of purchases were for avatar clothing, accessories and decor items, says PlayFirst. Finally, Diner Dash: Hometown Hero customers have, on average, bought 50 percent more game offerings than those who bought games that do not offer micro-transactions or level packs.

PlayFirst CEO John Welch said, “The goal of Diner Dash: Hometown Hero is to offer a deeper, shared experience around a lasting, original brand such as Diner Dash, which would transform the casual game industry. We’re happy to give the Diner Dash community more of what they want: a fresh combination of story-driven gameplay, the ability to customize and accessorize, access to multiplayer, and the personalization and sharing features that PlayFirst introduced for the first time to casual games.”

Crime in virtual worlds is ever an emerging topic, and an interesting article in the UK List talked to some key players in persistent worlds, including EVE Online's Hilmar Pétursson and Linden Lab's Marcel Kay about the fine line they're now having to tread between policing user behavior and protecting its virtual society and economy. When a user breaks the rules -- counterfeiting items, buying black-market goods or gold -- it's a clear-cut case, but what if user crime is committed within the concept of the world's rules?

In the article, Pétursson told the List about how EVE handled that gray area:

Space piracy is an intrinsic part of Eve Online. But a recent coup and a series of high level assassinations by the Guiding Hand Social Club rocked the world of Eve, with literally billions of in game credits changing hands or being destroyed. Several users petitioned for CCP to effectively hit ‘reset’, but they stuck by their guns. "It was a simple decision but not necessarily an easy one as there were hundreds of people hurt by this action," says Pétursson. "By not doing anything, in this case, it opened people’s eyes to the fact they were really living in a virtual world where anything could happen and it’s left up to the citizens of that world to deal with the negatives and positives."

Interesting story -- crime and economic disruptions, along with the idea of financial power in the hands of a few, are concepts that are part of the real world, so it follows that they will happen in virtual spaces too, as they evolve. It begs the question -- are virtual worlds a game, where companies should preserve their userbase's fun factor at the expense of realism? Or do people want them to behave like a lifelike society?

[Via The List]

Here's an interesting gadget: Sandio Technology is offering a 3D mouse, with a little thumbstick that allows the user to move along the X, Y and Z axes, designed for the navigation of 3D spaces and the modeling of 3D objects.

It works with modeling applications such as 3DsMax and Maya, virtual worlds and MMOs, Virtual Earth, Second Life and Sketchup, to name a few. Sign of the times!

[Via Tech Universe]

Recently, IBM and Linden Lab announced a joint effort to develop new technologies and methods aimed at developing open standards for virtual worlds. The end goal? Interoperability and expanded possibilities for the web and online worlds, via a set of standards that would enable, among other things, universal avatars, objects that are portable from one world to the next, and universal protocols for transactions.

Amid a hail of marijuana leaves, boxes and a falling house thanks to griefers, Zero Linden held a conference in Second Life, covered extensively by the Second Life News Network, to discuss the collaboration and to clarify standards, announcing the formation of the new Architecture Working Group, or AWG, which invites residents to collaborate on the work at the group's wiki, which the group plans to update continually.

Explained Zero, “Interoperability means making a Second Life that can have regions run outside of Linden Lab with separate implementations and it means having agent domains that are run outside of Linden Lab with separate implementations. As far as scalability, the grid itself must scale to the number of agents, regions and online that I’ve outlined," he said.

He also clarified that IBM would not be providing any tech support or restructuring to Second Life's code, assuring residents that there would be no "swooping in of IBM engineers at the Linden Lab HQs."

"The AWG is on the one hand a much less ambitious effort, and on the other, the biggest thing that could happen in SL. It is less ambitious in that it is tackling only one view of what will be an Internet-wide Metaverse: take SL and make it work with 60 million regions, most run by non-LL entities. On the other hand, it is a much more concrete objective than other groups may be contemplating at this time,” Zero stated.

[Via Second Life News Network]

Activeworlds has made available its "Active Worlds 3D Avatar and World Explorer" app, built on the Facebook platform. Using Version 1.0 of the company's Embedded Virtual World Control, it uses the functionality of Internet Explorer and Microsoft's ActiveX to enable companies and developers to build virtual world apps on Facebook's platform.

The company says the tool uses existing standards to let developers build virtual world experiences on their sites without giving up any control of their own servers and economy. The use of ActiveX allows elements of the platform to be distributed across websites and social network pages.

The company also says IBM is already using the embed with Facebook, and that IBM has developed an Activeworlds-powered "intraverse" that sits behind its firewall, aiming to create a confidential channel for employee and customer networking.

Said Activeworlds chairman JP McCormick, "Since our Active Worlds technology continues to be standards-driven, we feel this release sets a new milestone on 3D Internet implementation," said JP McCormick. The push is on for interoperability and a set of standards which will drive Virtual World technology into the future. We believe that many of these already exist. By continuing to enhance our already standards driven application we greatly increase our value to e- commerce, education, entertainment, and social networking sites, as well as our core business with Fortune 500 companies."

Caveat -- it only works with IE.

MasterPieces Puzzle Company has taken the plunge by bringing Hidden City Games' horse-themed Bella Sara trading cards into a virtual world for girls, part of a multi-pronged extension for the brand, which features pictures of horses and positive messages for girls on trading cards.

Now, each card adds a code to unlock a virtual version of the pictured horse at the Bella Sara website, and kids can also play minigames, read info and look at pictures of the Bella Sara horses and unicorns. The company explains that Bella Sara was developed by Danish social worker Gitte Odder Braendgaard to encourage young girls to express their feelings and build self-esteem.

MasterPieces CEO David Rolls said, "The positive themes and eye-catching imagery featured throughout Bella Sara trading cards and online world for girls are a perfect fit with MasterPieces' commitment to create products that enhance children's lives, and Bella Sara provides an appealing opportunity for us to move seamlessly into the girls' craft activity market with an established brand. MasterPieces is passionate about the message and obligation we have to little girls. It is exciting to see we have retail partners who feel the same way."

During its fiscal third quarter financial results call, Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman talked about the media empire's current positioning in the virtual world and online entertainment space:

"As I discussed during our last call, we're continuing to expand our leadership in the area of virtual worlds and casual online gaming, creating new homes for growing communities of avid fans and loyal consumers. Our virtual worlds, and we have ten of them today, are focused on particular interests, such as our Nickelodeon brands on Nicktropolis, or the lifestyles of our cast found in Virtual Newport Harbor," Dauman said.

He continued, "On the gaming side, we're tapping into very robust growth opportunities. As of August, 45% of all Internet users worldwide accessed some gaming content online. If you look at our sites on an aggregated basis, categorized by comScore’s gaming information on online gaming, our sites collectively have grown faster than each of the top five gaming destinations and we ranked number two in the world in terms of unique visitors."

Dauman also said Nicktropolis earned nearly 50 million game plays in August, a double-digit increase over the previous month. "We're looking forward to expanding Nick's franchise to incorporate a multiplayer focus and more self-published games," he added.

He also provided details on the development of the company's business model for online content, commenting, "As our online audience base grows, we are developing subscription-based services as yet another way to monetize our content. We have already launched MyNoggin.com, a personalized, premium subscription service for preschoolers and their parents, that features curriculum-based learning through game play. We also introduced a paid item business on Neopets. Consumers can pay for virtual items through PayPal or purchase prepaid cards at Target. Game Nation 2008, which is scheduled to launch on Nicktropolis in the first quarter, will also be a premium subscription service."