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Virtual Worlds Weekly - Volume 1, Issue 4
March 9, 2007
http://www.VirtualWorldsWeekly.com
Feel free to distribute if left whole.
Gaia Raises
$12.01 Million From Benchmark and Redpoint
Newly Formed Avatar Reality Announces Mars Virtual World Project, Licenses
CryENGINE 2
A Look At Sun's New
Virtual Worlds Experiment - Virtual Workplace
Sony
Announces "Home", a PlayStation 3-based Virtual World
LEGO Taps NetDevil To
Create MMOG Virtual World
Study Looks at TV's
Integration of Emerging Media
A look at
Subscriber Numbers - Nicktropolis, Second Life to Casual Game Services
MTV
Networks Hires Comcast Exec to Focus on Virtual Worlds
Simutronics, Total
Immersion Select DiamondWare
Three MTV and Nickelodeon Execs to Keynote Virtual Worlds Conference
Who's New in Second Life
Philips' amBX brings Second Life virtual world to the real world
Weather Channel Blows into
Second Life
RatePoint To Launch Avatar Behavor Rating Service in Second Life
Virtual Worlds Weekly Contact Information
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Gaia Interactive Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based virtual space "hangout" geared towards young people, has raised $12.01 million in Series B funding, according to a regulatory filing, reports pehub.com. DAG Ventures was joined by return backers Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures.
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Recently founded online community firm Avatar Reality has announced that it will create a Mars Virtual World. Set in Terraformed Mars, Avatar Reality's Massively Multiplayer Virtual World (MMVW) will allow players to live their fantasy lives by creating personalized avatars. Honolulu based Avatar was founded by a number of industry veterans including Blue Lava founder Henk Rogers, former Square Enix and EA chief technical officer Kazuyuki Hashimoto, Tetris creator Alexy Pajitnov and former Nintendo America president Minoru Arakawa. Avatar has licensed CryENGINE 2 from German developer Crytek for use in its forthcoming massively multiplayer virtual world project, reports Gamesindustry.biz.
Sun has developed a mini Virtual World - a Virtual Workplace really - designed for enterprise use as a collaborative environment. It's based on it's Project Darkstar online game platform (which just went open source). Jonathan Kaplan, member of the tech staff, and Jeff Kesselman, Darkstar Architect, showed Virtual Worlds Conference director Christopher Sherman a demo of the Sun Virtual Workspace at the Game Developers Conference. The demo, which is considered an open source experiment, showcased three interesting elements 1) spacial audio, 2) a virtual PC desktop - actual PC applications (world docs, spreadsheets, etc) are displayed in real time on virtual world wall screens, creating a collaborative work environment allowing one or more individuals to work in real time on applications, 3) in world streaming live video conferencing.
Sony Announces "Home", a PlayStation 3-based Virtual World
Sony announced a PlayStation 3 accessible virtual world dubbed "Home". Home a free 3D online space where you’ll be able to customize your avatar and your own private home, hang out with other users there and in various common spaces, stream your media into your virtual pad (as in Kaneva), and chat via voice, emotes, short pre-loaded phrases or with a USB keyboard, as well as hook up with other people and follow them into PS3 games, reports 3PointD.com. Phil Harrison’s presentation (where home was introduced) named Maya and Grouper as partners of choice for 3D design tools and user created content respectively, reports Mobil Avenue. While currently running as a closed beta PlayStation Home goes open beta in April and launches in the Fall. 3PointD.com goes on to say that home beta testing starts April 2007, there will be virtual real-estate sales, will have game-dev style building tools, will have in-world interactive games, will have Havok physics, will have in-world HD video, will have dynamic lighting, customizable avatars, VoIP, downloadable furniture and objects for purchase and be free to PS3 owners. the 3PointD post already generated some interesting commentary. One feature of home will tie into other PS3 games. Players will be able to collect trophies and other objects from their various console games and add them to the Home world. 3PointD also has a Home video clip there from GameTrailers.com. Clickable Culture also has an interesting post on home as well.
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The LEGO Group today announced it has commenced a working relationship with NetDevil to develop a massively multiplayer online gaming experience to further engage its dedicated and active community. "As children around the world continue to spend more time online we are developing new and engaging ways for them to interact with our brand," said Lisbeth Valther Pallesen, Executive Vice President, Community, Education and Direct Division LEGO Group. read more
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Viacom's Nicktropolis is on track to have a million registered users after only about six weeks, according to Viacom President Phillippe Dauman in a Broadcasting and Cable article. This compares to Second Life which is reporting 4,378,297 Total Residents as of today - see stats page. (A Resident is defined as a uniquely named avatar with the right to log into Second Life, trade Linden Dollars and visit the Community pages). To put this in perspective over 6 million gamers are members of the XBOX Live service, spending a cumulative 2.3 billion hours online since the network's launch back in 2002, according to Clickable Culture. Three Rings puzzlepirates income = $100K per month from subs. and $250K from microtransactions, according to the Wonderlandblog. No word on number of Puzzlepirates subscribers. Wonderland goes on to say that Club Pogo has 1.4 million paying subscribers. We'll be looking at trends and numbers in more detail at the Virtual Worlds Conference, taking place March 28-29, 2007 in NYC.
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Comcast's senior director of interactive products Ty Ahmad-Taylor quietly joined MTV Networks in January as VP of product development for MTVN's music group and Logo, reports Cable World. He’s helping expand MTVN's virtual world franchise that kicked off in September with Virtual Laguna Beach and was followed by Virtual Hills. For the spring, Ahmad-Taylor is developing the next virtual online communities around MTV’s brands. First up: VMTV (or MusicWorld — the name is still being finalized), a 3-D animated music-based cyberspace environment where users choose avatars to visit virtual clubs, interact and enjoy musical acts, videos and other virtual experiences. more here
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DiamondWare, a provider of high-definition 3D voice, will provide 3D voice technology for RealWorld, Total Immersion Software’s ultra-realistic, mission rehearsal and training simulator. Separately, DiamondWare and Simutronics announced today the availability of DiamondWare’s high-definition 3D positional voice technology with Simutronics’ HeroEngine to bring real-life communications to massively multiplayer online games by combining 3D positioning with high-definition audio. RealWorld, developed by Total Immersion Software under contract to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), delivers an intelligent tool suite providing drag and drop ease in creating simulators so real that it can be used to train teams of professionals to handle complex situations such as military missions, rescue operations, and natural disasters.
Three MTV and Nickelodeon Execs to Keynote Virtual Worlds Conference
Virtual Worlds Management (publishers of this newsletter) announced three senior executives from Viacom’s MTV Networks will keynote at the inaugural Virtual Worlds Conference taking place March 28-29, 2007 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City . Delivering the address will be: Matt Bostwick, SVP, Franchise Development, MTV Networks Music/Logo Group; Jeffrey B. Yapp, Executive Vice President, MTV Networks; and Steve Youngwood, Executive Vice President, Digital Media, Nickelodeon and MTVN Kids and Family Group. The Virtual Worlds Conference is the leading event for Fortune 500 executives seeking to understand and maximize marketing, entertainment, and business strategies within virtual worlds. "MTV Networks is innovating in the virtual world space by combining television, 2D web and 3D virtual communities in one integrated system,” said Christopher Sherman, Executive Director of Virtual Worlds Conference 2007. “From MTV Networks’ Virtual Laguna Beach and Virtual Hills to Nickelodeon’s Nicktropolis, Viacom is helping define the next-generation media platforms that deliver deep, engaging experiences. Virtual worlds allow media and entertainment innovators unprecedented ways to engage consumers with the franchises they’ve enjoyed in front of their television screens."
Who's New in Second Life this Week
Philips' amBX brings Second Life virtual world to the real world
Philip has announced the arrival of its ambient experiences technology known as amBX, in Second Life. This will offer Seconds Life users the opportunity to experience their virtual world through real world amBX experiences such as light, rumble and air movement. The amBX platform comprises a scripting language, software engine and architecture and has been designed to empower interactive entertainment developers and providers with a palette to use light, color, heat, sound and even air flow in the real world during interactive entertainment. The press release has the details as well as Techshout.com
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Weather Channel Blows into Second Life
The Weather Channel purchased five sims, four of which are void, as a promotional strategy for it's new program, Epic Conditions. The show premiered on television Sunday March 4, and features athletes partaking in their sport in challenging conditions, reports Second Life News Network. Boston-based content developer Infinite Vision Media was chosen to create an immersive environment where residents can surf, cross country bike, ski and learn at the same time.
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RatePoint To Launch Avatar Behavor Rating Service in Second Life
RatePoint Inc, startup billing itself as the Better Business Bureau for virtual worlds wants to provide a rating system for avatars in 'Second Life.' RatePoint Inc. plans to release a beta version of the free downloadable program Monday. RatePoint users will fill out a short online form to identify their avatars and begin rating others'. The software prevents one avatar from ranking another over and over to game the system. Rankings will appear prominently above avatars' heads. Associated Press has the article. 'Unfortunately there are people who do bad things on `Second Life,'' said Chris Bailey, CEO and co-founder of RatePoint.
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Virtual Worlds Weekly Contact Information
Editorial: News Tips send news to weekly @ virtualworlds2007 . com
Editor: Christopher V. Sherman
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