[*NEW*: Want new players, revenue for your online game? Check out our Game Advertising Online network - 2 billion ads per month at inexpensive CPC rates!]

« Best Of Worlds In Motion Jobs - Week Of July 7th | Main | K2, Namco Vet Joins MMO Publisher True Games »

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Online World Atlas: Barbie Girls -- Pt. 2, In-Depth

[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.]

2008_07_09_barbie.jpg

Barbie Girls is a browser based MMO that Mattel original developed to accompany a range of physical MP3 player devices aimed at pre-teen girls, but which has since added a subscription V.I.P. service. We take a look at its free-to-play experience after the jump.

I never thought in my life I'd have a reason to sign up for a Barbie MMO -- or indeed, have any reason to have anything to do with the Barbie brand in general. It's obvious that Mattel don't expect any male journalists in their mid-twenties to be signing up for Barbie Girls, as their site is exclusively designed for girls: there are no male characters, it drips with pink, and also sent me an e-mail to let me know that "my daughter" had signed up.

Like many child-orientated worlds the site has several pages of information for parents, and it also quite cleverly includes a "Parent's Place" login, allowing parents to update their daughter’s account settings, including chat level, at any point. Chat levels are important, as like Build-a-Bearville, chat is possible on several levels of freedom. B Chat allows users to select from a list of phrases, Secret B Chat is free chat specifically for girls who own the MP3 devices who are "best friends", and Super B Chat is free chat for players with their parent's permission.

All "free" chat checks words against an internal dictionary and will block any "rude" words.

2008_07_09_barbie1.jpg

This is a fairly stringent system, too, as when I began to set up my character, I became confused when it seemed to think that my chosen screen name (GermaineGreer; I was being ironic) was "rude". I guess picking the name of a feminist icon in a Barbie game is kind of rude, but then I discovered it was actually taking issue with the answer to my secret password recovery question -- "Kilmarnock". I'm not sure what is rude about Kilmarnock though. The production of Jonnie Walker?

Anyway, GermaineGreer materialized in Barbie Girls' world as a cute redhead on a blue and yellow dress, thanks to the avatar creator, which has an okay level of customization. It's the first place you notice that V.I.P. members have a much better deal (more hair, clothes and facial options) but I'm sure most players would expect their starting character to be a bit basic.

2008_07_09_barbie2.jpg

After that you can set up your room from a few options. The room can serve as a space for private chats between friends, and you can also purchase and place furniture here.

Something interesting comes up quite quickly after you've started playing Barbie Girls however -- and that is that only players who have a V.I.P. membership can purchase anything with their "B Bucks". So while people playing for free can earn currency, they can't spend it (!) so from this point I was stuck with what I began the game with.

That's no reason not to play the games which earn B Bucks, of course. The games include a very cute version of Pipe Dreams featuring hamsters and the usual word searches and match-3 games.

2008_07_09_barbie3.jpg

The world itself is very much the usual sort of thing. I don't want to make too many opinion calls in this look (I prefer to wait for the conclusion) so I'll just try and state ambivalently that movement is on a "block-by-block" basis, there isn't a huge deal of animation, and there are a limited amount of locations that are not especially interactive (especially if you can't buy anything.)

There is a cinema, which is kind of interesting (it plays trailers for Barbie movies and short Barbie "webisodes") and the world is actually very busy, with most locations full of players. I didn't find an especially talkative world, however -- perhaps because I managed to make it crash every time I tried to use B Chat. But I'll broach that subject in the conclusion.

[]
Posted by mathewk on July 9, 2008 2:30 PM |

Comments

why do we have to pay real money why can we can just pay virtual money I love play barbie girl but the real money thing is keeping away from my fave website.The last been on it sence last month.

i wish i had a free barbie vip!

Esse blog é uma merda noon me ajudou em nada isso é uma porquera

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i have been good my mom said i could have vip but she said no i was good too so please only one day f free vip

hello my name is dalya and seand me a barbiegirls vip and here is my e-mail; dalya.lulu@hotmail.com

hey give my plz a username and password fo a barbiegirls vip

ug6yg9hiuioknby

Post a comment


If you enjoy reading GameSetWatch.com, you might also want to check out these CMP Game Group sites:

Gamasutra (the 'art and business of games'.)

Game Career Guide (for student game developers.)

Indie Games (for independent game players/developers.)

Finger Gaming (news, reviews, and analysis on iPhone and iPod Touch games.)

GamerBytes (for the latest console digital download news.)

Worlds In Motion (discussing the business of online worlds.)

Weekly Archive

WorldsInMotion.biz [Twitter / RSS feed] discusses the business of connected games - from social gaming through free to play games to core MMOs and beyond - and is created by the folks behind:



The next WiM-affiliated event is the major new conference:


...the must-attend event for social, online, MMO, and connected gaming -- Austin, TX, October 5th-8th, 2010.

Copyright © UBM TechWeb