[In a pointed analysis piece, Joe Ludwig, producer at Pirates Of The Burning Sea developer Flying Lab Software, examines the barriers that make creating console MMOs more difficult than PC MMOs, from platform holders through certification and control devices and beyond.]

A few weeks ago, Dan Rubenfield posted this (as part of a larger rant putting all MMO developers on notice):

"If you continue to refuse to acknowledge consoles as the de-facto standard for AAA gaming, you will go out of business.

Quit making PC games. It’s a waste of time and money."

(NPD respectfully disagrees with the waste of money part.)

I for one would love to build a console MMO. It's not that MMO developers don't acknowledge consoles as dominant, it's that there are many barriers to building a console MMO that don't exist on the PC. I mentioned a couple of those in my comment to the post above, but wanted to expand on them here.

Barrier #1: Platform Holders Demand a Share

Assuming a moderate success, MMOs are almost unique in their ability to give game developers a revenue stream. Most studios live from milestone payment to milestone payment and rarely see royalties off the game after it ships. If they're smart, they make a little extra on each milestone and can build a buffer to help them tough it out between projects, but often failing to sign with a publisher for the next project drives the developer out of business. With a few very successful exceptions, just about all studios live on this edge.

Following its promise to offer competitive subscription pricing to its BarbieGirls.com virtual world, toy company Mattel has launched Barbie Girls V.I.P., a subscription-based version of its 'tween-targeted MMO.

Originally intended as a vehicle to sell Mattel's Barbie Girl MP3 Player and promote the Barbie brand through other cross-marketing opportunities, BarbieGirls.com has been running on a free-to-play, pay-for-goods model. According to Mattel, its MMO has collected nearly 13 million registered users.

Barbie Girls V.I.P. boasts a world four times larger than its original size with new locations, games, and experiences. Users can access the service with a $5.99 monthly membership. Users who choose to not to pay the membership cost will still be able to play with the basic version of BarbieGirls.com.

Said Mattel Brands' Girls Division general manager and senior vice president Chuck Scothon: "The success of Barbie Girls – particularly among older girls, with 85 percent of our registered users over age eight – demonstrates that girls are looking for a new way to play with the brand they love and grew up with, just in a new format relevant to today’s tech-savvy girls. With the launch of Barbie Girls V.I.P. we’re giving girls more content than ever before, including the best fashion, beauty and social play, as well as many new games and an expanded Barbie Girls world. Online content is simply just a new toy, and we believe our quality content is well-valued with this new version of Barbie Girls V.I.P.”

Shanghai-based online game operator The9 Limited has appointed former Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu senior auditor George Lai as its new Chief Financial Officer, effective July 3rd, 2008. Lai will take over current CFO Tony Tse's position as he resigns due to personal and family reasons.

Lai served in several positions at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu's Hong Kong, New York, and Beijing offices since he began working at the company in 2000, including audit manager and senior audit manager. Lai played key roles in numerous IPO projects in the United States and China.

The9 manages the operation and distribution for several popular MMORPG titles, including Ragnarok Online 2 and World of Warcraft and its expansions, in mainland China. Most recently, the company invested $38 million in G10 Entertainment, the Korean developer behind Audition 2, an MMO dancing game which The9 plans to operate in China.

Said The9 CEO and chairman Jun Zhu, "Although we are sorry to see Tony's departure due to personal and family reasons, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to his hard work during his serving period at The9, especially his contribution to the company's Form 20-F filing process."

Zhu continued: "In addition, we are very pleased to welcome George on board as our new Chief Financial Officer. George has extensive knowledge in US GAAP and solid background in dealing with public company issues, especially in the fast booming internet industries, and we believe he will fully utilize these knowledge and skill-sets to perform the important managerial role of Chief Financial Officer at The9."

Chicago-based publiser Interzone Futebol, a PC MMOG scheduled to release in Q4 2008. The game will first release in Portuguese for the Brazilian market before, closely followed by international versions for an eventual worldwide release.

In Interzone Futebol, every customizable character on the field will be controlled by a different player, including goalkeepers. During matches, players can improve skills, as well as unlock new skills and moves. Players can improve personal rankings and team rankings, earn money through salary or sponsorship, and buy virtual items from Interzone’s online store.

Interzone Futebol will feature a social space for players to explore, socialize in, and find other people to play with. The MMO will also have an invitation system allowing players to invite friends into matches and to try the game.

Said Interzone Entertainment Marty Brickey on Interzone Futebol's Latin America priority: “Of 17 World Cup championships, 11 have been won by South American nations, with Brazil winning a record five World Cup titles. Soccer is a passion in Brazil, with perhaps 15 million players, a very high percentage of whom are in the 18-34 demographic, making it an ideal initial market for our game. We decided first to create Interzone Futebol in Portuguese so it will have the broadest appeal to this very large Portuguese speaking market in Brazil.”

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

We're looking at There this week, a social MMO from Makena Technologies. Generally considered to be one a competitor of Second Life, there has a similar mix of shopping, exploration, play and socialization, with a lot of the world shaped by users creating their own homes and objects.

Name: There

Company: Makena Technologies

Established: October 2003

How it Works: There requires the download and installation of a 94mb client. Navigation and gameplay are accomplished via mouse and keyboard input.

Overview: There is an online virtual world with a 3D client. Similar to Second Life, the world consists of several islands upon which users can explore and socialize. Users can create items using several provided tools (StyleMaker, Painter ToolKit and Builder ToolKit) though it takes time and costs money to have these placed in the world (through a submissions process) though from that point on users are able to sell these items freely to other players, receiving "Therebucks" in return -- which can be exchanged for US dollars in the world's banks.

Payment Method: There is free to play, though there are premium memberships on offer for one-time fees of $9.95. The world generally earns revenue through microtransactions (users can purchase Therebucks, and must pay to create items), and licensing.

Key Features:
- Large "Second Life" style world
- User generated objects to purchase and interact with

Useful Links:
ThereCare (official info site)
There Fun Times (official blog)
The Voice of There (news site)

Think Services has announced the launch of GamerBytes, a new weblog specifically providing information, interviews and analysis for digital downloaded console games - from Xbox Live Arcade through PlayStation Network to WiiWare.

Why? With the swift rise of digital downloaded content for the major consoles, there's a major hole in centrally located information for shortplay, innovative independently-developed titles - such as Penny Arcade Adventures, N+ and LostWinds. GamerBytes plans to offer daily updated news on the state of gaming for the three major console services - each of which has its own section on the site.

Editor Ryan Langley has folded his popular XBLAH.net site into GamerBytes, and will now collate breaking news, rating information, low-profile publicity on all three consoles. He will also ramp up the exclusive content - such as his recent quizzing of XBLA developers on the delisting changes.

GamerBytes will also include the latest jobs from the market-leading Gamasutra Jobs network, with a site-specific feed available soon, and will cross-pollinate information with relevant sister sites such as Think Services' IndieGames.com blog, as well as related events such as the Independent Games Summit at GDC.

The GamerBytes site is now officially open, and there's a full-feed RSS available for those interested in subscribing to the news feed.

Virtual worlds ad agency Millions of Us has announced the launch of a new company, Virtual Greats, to take advantage of the growing virtual goods market, according to a report by Hollywood trade magazine Variety.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, Virtual Greats seeks to sell hair styles, catchphrases, dance moves, clothing lines and other merchandise associated with aspirational characters and entertainment franchises over multiple virtual world and social media platforms.

With its debut, Virtual Greats also has announced distribution rights for virtual goods associated with Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley, Tila Tequila, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Raven Symone, and The Incredible Hulk, across multiple media platforms. The company has also entered its first major venture with virtual world Gaia Online. Virtual Greats hopes to connect Gaia’s 5+ million users with its virtual goods.

Virtual Greats' entrance follows recent estimates from Charles River Ventures analyst Susan Wu predicting a virtual goods market growing in worth to $1.5 billion, based on Gartner Inc.'s research showing that 80% of internet users will have avatars by 2012.

Said Millions of Us CEO Reuben Steiger: The inspiration for Virtual Greats came when I realized that this was a $1.5 billion market without any high-value copyrighted material. Defining the market and acquiring these rights and distribution has been enormously rewarding.”

Venture capital firm Lightspeed has posted Average Revenue Per User (or per avatar in some cases) statistics on popular MMOGs based on previously reported data. The firm found that popular virtual worlds were able to generate an average $1.25 per monthly user per month:

Club Penguin: $1.62/monthly user/month
Habbo Hotel: $1.30/monthly user/month
Runescape: $0.84/monthly user/month

These estimates were created by dividing each virtual world's reported revenue by the amount of active users on the virtual world.

Lightspeed went on to note that Second Life is monetizing at 5x higher than other casual MMOGs, taking into account revenue from land maintenance fees. The firm estimates that the virtual world averages around $9.30 per account per month, in line with "some of the more hardcore free-to-play MMOGs that companies such as Acclaim, Aeria, OutSpark, K2 Networks and IGG are importing."

Voice communication service company Vivox has announced that MMO developer CyberSports, Ltd. has chosen the company's voice chat suits for its forthcoming online soccer title Football Superstars.

Originally announcing a summer release for the free-to-play PC MMOG, Cybersports later revised its schedule to release Football SuperStars in late 2008. Vivox says the game covers both on- and off-field interactions with other players in its virtual world, and the company plans to expand the series to other sports.

The game will use Vivox chat for what it refers to as "strategy, taunts, and heated exchanges" of sports play, and will "manage the voice application to ensure operational scale and stability and to eliminate game server impact" with "3D voice chat, players have access to voice fonts, buddy lists, presence alerts, voice mail, SMS, and user management tools."

Said CyberSports CEO Malcolm Clark, “Our design goals and user experience requirements for Football Superstars demanded the most stable, scalable and user friendly voice technology available. Vivox was the obvious choice based on their proven performance and operations experience."

[The preceding article originally appeared on Worlds in Motion sister site Gamasutra.]

In an announcement at the International Licensing Expo predicting a record $30+ billion in global retail sales for fiscal 2008, Disney revealed that its virtual world based on the Cars franchise will be available next year.

In addition to forecasting $2.7 billion in merchandising sales for its 'tween franchises, Disney expects its DCP (Disney Consumer Products) girls franchises to reach the $5 billion mark, aided by DisneyFairies.com, which claims nearly 6 million user-created fairy avatars, as well as upcoming virtual world Pixie Hollow and Nintendo DS Dgamer title Disney Fairies: Tinker Bell.

Disney and Pixar's Cars franchise is on track to generate a projected $2.5 billion in global retail sales of licensed merchandise. The Cars virtual world will offer players a chance to create their own car avatar and interact with Lightning McQueen and other characters from the film.

Said Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney "It’s the Disney difference that accounts for this unprecedented growth fueled by unmatched content and rich franchises nurtured across The Walt Disney Company. In just five years, retail sales of Disney products have doubled and we have diversified our portfolio of brands with smash hits like High School Musical, evergreens like Disney Princess, and expanding franchises in Disney and Pixar’s Cars and Disney Fairies. Our product offerings now reach all ages. Simply put, there is no better time to be aligned with Disney.”

San Francisco-based developer Vivaty has rolled out its first public release for its Vivaty Scenes embeddable 3D spaces product, a mini-application module for AOL Instant Messenger's 6.8 update.

Currently in closed beta, Vivaty Scenes utilizes Vivaty's 3D spaces platform, offering a Facebook application for delivering 3D virtual spaces through web browsers. Users can customize their characters and space, adding online media, such as YouTube videos or Flickr feeds. They can then send the space's URL to invite a friend into the browser-based world.

Users can try out the mini-application by downloading the latest AOL Instant Messenger update and clicking the "Get More" link in the client'sPlug-In Manager. Vivaty's module is available under the "Featured Developers" section.

Said Vivaty's CEO, co-founder, and president Keith McCurdy: "The experience in AIM really gets us closer to our goal: more visually rich, engaging, immersive, and highly personalized experiences on the distributed web. We are not trying to re-invent the social graph, asking users to import their friends’ addresses again and again. Instead we want to embed Vivaty where web users already have friends, then make those experiences with friends more engaging and fun."

Weblin isn't exactly a virtual world. It's a personal avatar system that allows what Weblin have dubbed "social browsing" -- Users can see other users as they browse the web, and can interact with them by chatting or other expression.

A lite version was recently launched to allow uses to "quickly help users understand and appreciate Weblin" and we talk to GM of Weblin USA Marc Theermann about the system, including privacy issues, monetization and future interaction with virtual worlds.

Where did the concept of Weblin originate?

Marc Theermann: In 1996, Dr. Heiner Wolf, Weblin’s founder led a European Union research project. The aim of the project was to bring scientists from all over the world together, who work on the same subjects. His idea was based on a scene in a library: people who meet in the same row are mostly looking for the same topics. They can see each other and therefore they can communicate with each other. He projected this scenario to the Internet, and came to the conclusion that people who visit the same websites are mostly interested in the same topics and therefore they should see each other. Several years later he developed the avatar approach, which laid the foundation for the current company.

With the recent launch of our new Worlds In Motion Job Board as a standalone board complete, complete with its own RSS feed and unique URL, every week, we will be higlighting the latest posted jobs relevant to our readership of professionals creating online worlds.

The listings cover a wide range of companies and open positions, so everyone seeking jobs in the MMO/online/virtual world industry should find the board useful.

- ArenaNet (Bellevue, WA)
Community Manager
("ArenaNet, located in Bellevue, WA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCsoft Corporation and is the creator of the block-buster RPG, Guild Wars. ArenaNet has built a state-of-the-art, interactive game network and develops premier multiplayer online games for dedicated game players.")

- Disney VR Studio (North Hollywood, CA)
Quest Designer/Writer)
("The VR Studio is Disney's Center of Excellence in real-time graphics and interactive entertainment. The studio is currently focused on the continued development of Toontown Online as well as development of their new MMP, Pirates of the Caribbean.")

- ProductCore, Inc. (San Francisco, CA)
Quest Designer/Writer)
("ProductCore is a San Francisco-based, venture-funded stealth startup building a next-generation MMO for kids. We are seeking a creative writer with game design experience to help shape the backstory and quest designs for our forthcoming service.")

- Realtime Worlds Ltd. (Boulder, CO)
Director of Development, Marketing Manager, Vice President of Online Operations
("We are developing revolutionary new software technology, which will have widespread applications throughout many industries. As avid game players, we believe the future of video games lies in massively multiplayer on-line gaming. Constantly evolving worlds with real players and communities offer an unrivalled experience that many players have yet to enjoy. We have an innovative concept and unique technology that will deliver new possibilities to massively multiplayer on-line gaming.")

- Spin Master Ltd. (Los Angeles, CA)
Art Director
("Reporting to the Executive Producer, the Art Director will supervise the art team mid-project and lead the project to completion by managing team goals, setting priorities and providing day-to-day support. ")

As a reminder, once you've paid to post your job on Gamasutra, it's absolutely free to cross-post that job to any of Gamasutra's sister sites - including WorldsInMotion.biz!

Worlds In Motion will continue to highlight the online worlds-related jobs posted at our new standalone Worlds In Motion Job Board, every week.

According to organizers, September 16-17, 2008 will mark the return of the Think Services-created Worlds in Motion Summit, taking place at the Austin Game Developers Conference in the Austin Convention Center.

The event, which saw its successful debut at the Game Developers Conference 2008 in San Francisco this past spring, will map the broadening of the worldwide business market through the expansive and growing social game networking space.

The Worlds in Motion Summit, presented by Gamasutra sister weblog WorldsinMotion.biz, is of particular value to those looking to successfully leverage their content and brands into interactive online worlds.

For the first confirmed keynote, Stephen Andrade, Senior Vice President, Digital Development and General Manager, NBC.com will be joined by Rajat Paharia, Founder and CEO of Bunchball in a first-of-its-kind presentation, titled “Dunder Mifflin Infinity: A Case Study in Using Game Mechanics to Drive Community Behavior.”

Participants will hear how Bunchball’s Nitro meta-gaming platform is being used to drive user behavior and increase engagement on Dunder Mifflin Infinity, a social networking and user-generated content site for fans of NBC’s hit TV show, The Office.

Additional confirmed speakers for the upcoming Worlds in Motion Summit include:

- James M. Bower - Founder of Whyville parent company Numedeon.

- Teemu Huuhtanen - President, North America of Sulake Inc, creators of popular online world Habbo.

- Jonathan Epstein - CEO of in-game ad firm Double Fusion, who will be presenting alongside Huuhtanen on placing ads in Habbo.

The conference will examine the results that both independent start-ups and established Fortune 500 companies can derive from actively participating in the virtual world space. The Worlds in Motion Summit will map the intersection of games, business and entertainment in virtual worlds, and provide a look into where these virtual worlds are headed.

Beyond traditional notions of linear gameplay experiences, the Worlds in Motion Summit will delve into the increasing socialization of games and online worlds, and the integration of personalization and player-generated content into gameplay.

Additional information on the event and confirmed speakers can be found at Austin GDC's Worlds in Motion Summit page.

Officials from massively multiplayer online (MMO) games developer Turbine have confirmed that the company is currently developing one or more console titles.

Speaking initially to website MMORPG.com, Turbine president and CEO Jim Crowley confirmed that the company is currently “investigating” the creation of cross-platform games, despite the company remaining dedicated to the PC platform.

A subsequent clarification of the company’s position came in a short statement to consumer weblog Kotaku, to whom Turbine communications director Adam Mersky confirmed that the company is “actively developing a title for console”.

"We've hired over 60 people since the beginning of the year," said Mersky. "The people that invested in us, Time Warner... one of the media giants, getting into the MMO fold, and that's obviously a big deal. They also have a huge distribution network... that may bear fruit for us."

As recently reported, venture capital firm GGV Capital and media giant Time Warner invested $40 million in the company, with the latter making reference to “opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP."

The lack of prominent MMOs on consoles has been increasingly commented on by analysts and industry experts in recent months, including an analysis of the problems involved by Pirates of the Burning Sea developer Joe Ludwig for Gamasutra.

Seattle-based publisher Hidden City has announced the Bella Sara Magical Friends set, a 123-card expansion for its Bella Sara virtual world and trading card series.

The Bella Sara Magical Friends set marks the sixth release for the online horse stable's collectible card series. Bella Sara claims to have amassed more than 2.5 million registered users and offers games, puzzles, coloring pages, storybooks, and customizable cottages at its site.

As with Bella Sara's previous cards, players can buy card packs and activate Magical Friends cards for new horses, nurturing them at Bella Sara's virtual world. Card packs contains 7 different cards each and can be bought at retailers such as Blockbuster, Target, Toys ‘R’ Us and Wal-Mart.

Said Hidden City Games CEO Peter D. Adkison: “Bella Sara Magical Friends celebrates the powerful connections of friendship by pairing each new horse with a whimsical, lifelong companion. We invite Bella Sara fans and kids everywhere to meet these new characters and explore the rich and growing fantasy land of North of North."

MMOABC, an MMO social network and New Gen Media property, has partnered with online game developer Gameforge to offer Gameforge's free-to-play MMO browser games through MMOABC's portal.

Based in Germany (with a recently opened office in San Francisco), Gameforge claims more than 52 million registered users and over nine million active players for its browser- and client-based games. So far, the studio has announced that it will bring BattleKnight, Bitefight, DarkPirates, Gladiatus, Ikariam, OGame, and WarpFire to MMOABC's platform.

MMOABC provides game portal hosting services and online game publishing for developers in the MMO market. In addition to its hosted online games, MMOABC offers social networking, guild hosting, and other community features.

Said MMOABC co-founder and CEO Andy Tong: “MMOABC is very excited to partner with Gameforge to offer free high quality MMO browser games to our rapidly growing gaming audience. Offering proven games with over 50 million registered members to our gaming community is another step in empowering our gamers.”

Having just come out of stealth mode last April, developer KingIsle entertainment has launched the closed beta for its teen and 'tween-targeted, magic-themed virtual world, Wizard101.

Wizard101 allows users to customize outfits and accessories for their wizard characters, play puzzles and mini-games, adopt magical pets, and learn from seven different schools of magic. Players will also be able to engage in collect cards and engage in card duels alongside and against other players.

Testers who've signed up for the beta at Wizard101's official site and who've been selected for the beta are invited to play the game and provide feedback in advance of its official release in Q3 2008.

To create their Wizard101 characters, players take a quiz to determine which of Ravenwood's seven schools of magic best suits their personality. Afterwards, players will be able to adventure through the 3D game's environments and scenarios, upgrading their costume and accessories, adopting magical pets, solving puzzles, and making friends.

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

We're sure There fans would hate us for the comparison, but There is a social MMO from Makena Technologies that is easiest to understand if you compare it to Second Life, as it's a social world with shopping, exploration and play that features user-generated content. We take a look in-depth after the jump.

The Walt Disney Internet Group has revealed that it intends to hire a team by August to manage its Club Penguin operations in Sydney in response to the kid-targeted virtual world's popularity in Australia, according to a report from Australian news site News.com.au.

Though Club Penguin hasn't yet been incorporated to Disney's gaming site for Australia, user numbers on Disney.com.au have doubled to 800,000 since traditional online games based on Disney animated movies and characters were added last year. The company expects that Club Penguin's popularity in Australia, even without Disney.com.au's backing, will continue to surge.

Said Duncan Orrell-Jones, head of the Walt Disney Internet Group for Asia Pacific: "Gaming is a very important aspect of our audience's experience online and in Australia the game activity online is quite strong. In short, what we have is an entertainment destination... and within that we'll be distributing the sort of deeper, richer experiences of virtual worlds."

Puma has partnered with CyberSports to incorporate its sportswear products and branding into upcoming soccer MMOG Football Superstars, according to a report from UK advertising news site Brand Republic.

Due for late 2008, Football Superstars is a virtual world for football fans seeking to live a "top footballer's lifestyle." Football SuperStars enables players to recreate themselves as persistent footballer avatars and play matches in 3, 5, 7, and 11-man teams. All players on the pitch, with the exception of goalkeepers, are controlled by humans, giving both teams freedom to develop their own strategies and play styles.

With the deal, players in the MMO will be able to explore a virtual version of Puma's Carnaby Street concept store in London to purchase branded clothes and buy Puma's v.108 Speed Boot for their avatars.

Football Superstars will also have a branded virtual training academy where players can train their characters. In addition to featuring Puma footballs, Puma pitch side advertising hoardings, a Puma pitch logo, and a video wall, both the Academy's trainer and the players will be wearing Puma uniforms.

Said Cybersports business development head Andy Law: "We are delighted to be working with a globally recognised football brand such as Puma. They are leading the way by providing footballers with everything they need to succeed on the pitch and now they will be doing the same on the virtual pitches of Football Superstars. With a brand like Puma interactively involved we further blur the divide between reality and our virtual world."

Organizers for the Visual Web Convention, a two-day London conference (July 9 - 10) encompassing four industry and entertainment-related events, have announced that VastPark CEO Bruce Joy will deliver a keynote at the convention's Virtual Worlds & MMOs summit.

Based in Australia, VastPark is a developer of virtual world platforms, offering tools for creating virtual worlds which can be shared, monetized, and remixed by users, developers, and corporates. Joy will lead a discussion on the opportunity and direction of virtual worlds and the visual web for the next 6-12 months.

Other speakers scheduled for the convention include Lord David Puttnam and representatives from developers, such as CCP Games, Codemasters and Avaloop, as well as representatives from leading media developers and brand agencies.

Space trading and combat-based PC MMO EVE Online has just passed its fifth anniversary, with that rarest of things for an online subscription game, year on year growth - with 220,000 active subscribers as of the end of 2007.

The game's Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson joined developer CCP in 2004 when they were "were just about 30 people in Reykjavik" – the studio now has 350 people, with additional offices in Atlanta and Shanghai, and 50 more people expected to be added by the end of 2008.

In this wide-ranging interview with Worlds In Motion, Richardsson looks at EVE's progress to date, gameplay comparisons with starkly different market leader World Of Warcraft, the lack of female players in the game, and much more.

What is it that makes EVE Online specifically different from your average MMO?

Nathan Richardsson: We believe that EVE has some fundamental foundations that differentiate it from other games. First and foremost is the single-shard world where everyone is part of the same universe. This enables a player-driven economy because we achieve the world scale required to make it effective.

In turn, the economy is the foundation for all interaction -- well, mostly for conflict -- but let’s call it interaction. You need players to gather and defend resources, to process them and manufacture ships and weapons out of them which are in high demand on the market since it’s so costly to defend the resources.

With such a large world, very large player organizations can flourish -- EVE has as many as 3,000 pilots in some organizations working towards common goals against other organizations of the same scale.

There's an intense political atmosphere and social networks are an important part of the game -- EVE is free-form, you set your own goals and it’s “class”-less too.

Interactive and creative production studio Animax Entertainment has announced that it has appointed Sabri Sansoy, former vice president of interactive entertainment technology at Game Show Network (GSN), as its Chief Technology Officer.

In addition to managing original game development and publishing at Animax, Sansory will lead the company’s development of next-generation MMOs and virtual worlds. Animax cites Sansoy’s background in designing, developing, deploying, and maintaining convergent media experiences as important points for his position.

At GSN, Sansoy led a cross-functional team of domestic and offshore employees in the research and development of innovative technologies to support multiplatform initiatives. During his tenure, his team was nominated four times for an Emmy for their work in interactive television. Prior to GSN, Sansoy served as CTO of Icebox.com, an internet company that created original animated online programming.

Based in Van Nuys, Animax's previous MMO experience includes TyGirlz.com, a virtual world targeted and girls at launched to accompany Ty Inc.'s line of Ty Girlz plush dolls.

Said Sansoy, "Animax is a leader in building cutting edge interactive applications with a robust portfolio of innovation, exceptional talent, and exciting business opportunities in the pipeline. I am very honored and excited to contribute to the growth and success of this company."

Icarus Studios has announced several key additions aimed at providing more social features with its platform for creating virtual worlds, MMOGs, and serious games.

Based in Cary, North Carolina, the middleware developer's technology platform on industry standards to accelerate time to market, reduce development and running costs, and enable new revenue streams through 3D, Web, Flash, and mobile user experiences. Icarus Studios' MMOG and virtual worlds solution includes design and content production, monetization, customer support, hosting, and an integrated technology platform.

In addition to receiving game engine improvements, the platform now supports a mail system with a cash on delivery option, an auction system, a guild/club system, and raids.

Said Icarus Studios CEO Jim Hettinger: “After several months of refinements and testing, the Icarus Studios platform now offers a new layer of powerful technical features and system enhancements.”

With the 2008 Austin Game Developers Conference coming this September 15-17 and registrations now open for the Austin, Texas event - which includes both 'Online Gaming' tracks and a special Worlds In Motion Summit for businesspeople and brands looking to get into virtual worlds, it's time to continue highlighting a few of the already-announced lectures:

- Playfish CEO Kristian Segerstrale will be sharing 10 Key Ingredients for a Successful Social Game with her session's attendees, using data and design examples from Facebook hit Who Has The Biggest Brain? Casual game developers with an interests in social games will appreciate her insights on structuring a social games team and avoiding development process problems.

- SOE Austin senior community manager Em Stock, Flying Lab Software director Troy Hewitt, and EA Bioware community manager Sean Dalberg will hold an intriguing discussion on The Psychology of The MMO Gamer. Joined by University of Texas's Department of Psychology staff, including professor Dr. Samuel Gosling and department head and chairman Dr. James Pennebaker, the group will share proven practices for better interpreting and dealing with online communities behaviors, behaviors and feedback which should be dismissed or examined, and tips for not letting player behaviors affect and manipulate developers emotionally.

- Drakeford & Kane LLC attorney Sean Kane will deliver an informative lecture for our Business & Marketing track titled Managing Copyright Issues in Videogames and Virtual Worlds. The presentation will discuss the various forms of work subject to copyright protection as they relate to video game and virtual world environments. Kane will also cover the differing treatment of the interplay of player and developer rights as have been decided by the US & Asian courts.

For more information, including a number of other key already debuted lectures that we'll be highlighting weekly here on WorldsInMotion.biz, alongside further new Worlds In Motion Summit/online keynote specifics as they happen, check out the official Austin GDC 2008 website.

[Each day, Worlds in Motion will be taking a closer look at individual virtual worlds. We'll start with a nuts-and-bolts overview, then move on to an in-depth tour, to be followed up with a conclusion-- all with the aim of bringing you all the essential info and details on each world in the rapidly-developing virtual landscape. You can view Part 1 of our investigation here, and Part 2 here.]

There has been around since 2003, and as a result the social MMO has seen many trends in the industry come and go without disappearing itself. But does it deserve to have a long life ahead of it? We conclude our findings after the jump.

At the ongoing Social Gaming Summit in San Francisco, a panel of virtual world execs representing companies like NeoPets, K2, and Nexon got to the heart of why casual virtual worlds were blooming, how developers can make money off of free to play games, and what percentage of players might actually pay.

Virtual World News editor and moderator Joey Seiler asked the panel why the casual MMO trend was happening now. Responded K2 marketing VP Patrick Ford, "As a consumer, I have a bookshelf full of $40-60 games that were cracked open once or twice and maybe put back and I didn't get a good experience from it... but when my son asks me for $5 for a premium package [in an online game], I know it's money well spent."

Added NeoPets senior VP Kyra Reppen: "We obsessively follow what our consumers are doing, and it is just so apparent to us that gaming is the entertainment experience across the board, but particularly in the youth space."

"The term is still funky," she added. "I think the big revolution is that gaming is entertainment for this generation and focusing on all of the aspects and iterations of it is important."

Said Nexon marketing VP Min Kim: "Most of the market that we target has been completely under-served. When you talk about MMORPGs, most of them are subscription models. Teens are the most social animals out there, but they have no access to the money you need to do that... they're desperate for that type of [free to play] content."