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Thursday, August 09, 2007
Virtual worlds in the New York Times
I'm still convinced that the journalists of the New York Times have a competition going on into how many different sections of their newspaper they can fit news about virtual worlds. After sports, arts, and travel, their latest virtual world article, about Second Life, is in the Home & Garden part of the style section. Because, you see, in Second Life you can have a virtual home, including garden.
Another article in the NYT is in the business section, about the BarbieGirls.com (I tend to call it Barbie Online) virtual world. Which in fact isn't so much different from Second Life, spouting 4 million registered users, while forgetting to mention that these users didn't pay anything, and nobody knows how long they are staying, and whether they ever come back. But Mattel, wise in the ways on how to extract money out of the parents of Barbie-loving girls, has a plan. They are selling them the "Barbie Girl Device" for $60. That is basically a USB stick / MP3 player, but it comes with data on it that unlock content in the BarbieGirls.com virtual world. So you are buying both something real (a doll-shaped MP3 player) and a bunch of virtual items with one purchase.
I couldn't help thinking of the scene in the South Park episode "Make Love not Warcraft", in which the Sword of a Thousand Truths is revealed to reside on a USB stick. I wonder when the first items for MMORPGs will be sold by the game companies on USB sticks in toy shops. Or maybe just game time. In any case, selling such stuff on USB sticks nicely gets around the problem of how the kid can persuade his grandmother to buy him something virtual.
- posted by Tobold @ 4:10 PM Permanent Link
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To quote the article:
"It costs about 55,000 Linden dollars, or Lindens, the equivalent of $200, to buy the rights to a piece of land on Jalisco from Ms. Beach, and then the equivalent of something like $25 to $40 a month in Second Life’s version of maintenance fees, which help Ms. Beach pay her dues on the land to Linden Lab."
Exactly why Second Life is not a game, merely a fashion statement.
"It costs about 55,000 Linden dollars, or Lindens, the equivalent of $200, to buy the rights to a piece of land on Jalisco from Ms. Beach, and then the equivalent of something like $25 to $40 a month in Second Life’s version of maintenance fees, which help Ms. Beach pay her dues on the land to Linden Lab."
Exactly why Second Life is not a game, merely a fashion statement.
# posted by 
: 9/8/07 17:37
: 9/8/07 17:37
The Times is just trying to reel in a younger demographic.
And SOE just announced a new mmo based on Indian mythology. A partnership with Virgin comics.
It seems that SOE is trying every trick in the book to snag a new hit property except what needs to be done, which is to bring in fresh talent and start work on an new ip.
And anyone with a fileplanet account can automatically get into the Tabula Rasa beta and no one seems to care, which would have been unheard of even 5 years ago.
And SOE just announced a new mmo based on Indian mythology. A partnership with Virgin comics.
It seems that SOE is trying every trick in the book to snag a new hit property except what needs to be done, which is to bring in fresh talent and start work on an new ip.
And anyone with a fileplanet account can automatically get into the Tabula Rasa beta and no one seems to care, which would have been unheard of even 5 years ago.
# posted by : 9/8/07 22:10
: 9/8/07 22:10
(Quote Tobold)
"I wonder when the first items for MMORPGs will be sold by the game companies on USB sticks in toy shops."
Doesn't Blizzard already do this with the card game and the "Prize" cards?
"I wonder when the first items for MMORPGs will be sold by the game companies on USB sticks in toy shops."
Doesn't Blizzard already do this with the card game and the "Prize" cards?
# posted by : 10/8/07 05:07
: 10/8/07 05:07
Yes, the loot cards in the WoW trading card game are certainly comparable to that. Although you are mainly buying a booster of trading card games, with a small chance of an in-game item. I was more wondering about using USB sticks or scratch cards to sell *guaranteed* items. Buy the Sword of the Thousand Truths for only $29.99!
Wall Street Journal has an article on Second Life today as well. About the overlap of virtual and real lives.
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# posted by : 11/8/07 00:30
: 11/8/07 00:30<< Home
