Linden Lab put on a party at a trendy hot spot in down town San Francisco during the Game Developers Conference. I wasn't invited, but I knew some people who were, so I tagged along. After slipping security a couple L$s they let me behind the felt ropes and I was able to partake of the open bar and top shelf appetizers. The picture above is of the in world DJ being projected on the wall over the bar tenders.
I must say I had a great time, but I was sad that I didn't run into any of my old Second Life friends who used to hang out with at these conferences. I was forced to socialize and make new friends. I guess everyone switch over to the SXSW conference moo has been covering, or possibly Virtual Worlds 2007 coming up next week.
Home certainly monopolized the mind share from the Sony Keynote at GDC. With everyone pondering what Home meant to the Second Life crowd, mostly coming to the conclusion that user created content trumped everything they were doing with super slick graphics, they somehow over looked the super cute style of LittleBigPlanet. LittleBigPlanet from Media Molecule, the company behind Rag Doll Kung Fu, is proof that Sony understands the power of user created content but just isn't ready to jump on the band wagon just yet.
LittleBigPlanet looks very fun, and it has controls that make me think about the Second Life Dynamic Puppeteering Linden Labs announced at SIGGRAPH last year. It also has some very simple looking tools for creating your own content. To me this is just a test of what can be in Home. While it does not appear that user created content is going to be part of the initial release of Home, it is only one downloadable update away.
At the Game Developers Conference I got a card from a guy that was made out of 3 pieces of Lego. The card didn't have a name, it only said http://www.lego.com/GDC on it. As a Lego nut, I had this card out on my desk and had put the 3 pieces into every imaginable configuration before I thought, "Maybe I should check the link." To my surprise the link was to a press release from Lego saying they have contracted NetDevil to create a Lego based MMOG.
NetDevil is probably best known for their Mad Max like MMOG, Auto Assault. While the game may not have been the best selling MMOG ever, it did provide a compelling and different driving based MMOG experience in the ever growing field of WoW clones. So, a company that thinks outside the box about MMOGs is teaming up with the ultimate in player created content experiences. Could anything be more exciting?
I recently made a trip to Sweden. I would like to attribute the trip to being lured by call of the Swedish Virtual Embassy, but it was nothing quite as interesting, just a work related trip. I was actually surprised by the fact that very few people that I spoke to, including at a game development school, had any idea what Second Life was. Much less than I expected, given Sweden's forward looking view of the virtual world.
However, interesting little references to Second Life were everywhere. For instance I took the above image in the town of Skovde. The image is of a women's clothing store called the Lindex. These seem to be pretty popular, as I saw three of them over the week I was in Sweden. Maybe Linden Lab should talk to them about an advertising deal and finally break into that elusive Swedish Market.
AOL Pointe continues its streak of interesting events. Today they are hosting a Latin themed dance party. So, get your maracas, and your salsa attire and dance your way over to AOL Pointe around 5PM SLT. The event is occurring in Club AOL.
At the same time, they are apparently replaying the My Chemical Romance concert. So, if you were kicking yourself for missing it, you have another chance to catch it. This is also starting at 5PM in the AOL Amphitheater.
McMaster University's Faculty of Engineering have posted a video tour of their Cafe Fireball build. It goes a bit farther than the standard recreation of a real campus providing a cafe, a radio station, a global view map, and many other amenities most colleges over look.
McMaster's ability to go the extra mile with their build is probably due to the fact that their engineering department built it. Many University builds are set up through marketing or less tech savvy departments. While this might be unfair to some of the great builds out their from other departments, a strong engineering and programming background can't hurt.
Ross Miller wrote this up on our parent site Joystiq. Apparently some zany Russians have found a way to network their drinking games. A special USB powered shot glass is used, which can track how much the user has consumed (or poured out) over time. It then passes that data into a chat room for all to see. Obviously the perfect solution to keep the party going while you're in those long boring college courses.
I don't know how easy this would be to hook up to Second Life, but it could be great. The first RL/SL drinking game where you drink every time someone questions the usage stats, griefs Anshe (don't do that), the grid goes down, or you stumble upon a sex shop while trying to show SL to your boss.
Today on AOL Pointe you can catch a walking tour of the island from 2-3PM SLT. Meet the group out in front of the AOL Pointe Store. If you get there early you can grab yourself a free skateboard while your at it.
After the tour, stick around and check out Ciara at the AOL Amphitheater. Kicking off at 5PM SLT with Goodies and wrapping up with I'm Just Me at 7:15 the virtual concert should be a lot of fun. If you don't know already, Ciara is the Grammy Award winning Hip-Hop R&B artist, who has released two top selling CDs and collaborated with other greats like Missy Elliot and Ludacris.
GalaXseeds is a new MMOG based on growing plants in space, designed for children, from Corus Entertainment. The game looks a lot like Habbo Hotel, with the 2.5D Isometric view, and the ability to customize your characters clothing. The player takes on the role of a Seedizen who grows a garden in order to sell exotic plants for Botanickels. Botanickels are the GalaXseed equivalent to Lindens, which you can use to buy new clothes, seeds, furniture, etc.
Corus Entertainment is a Canadian media giant that runs television, radio stations, as well as other media properties. Their The Big Rip brand is launching GalaXseeds as their first of many MMOGs. This looks like a great starter MMOG for the Tween crowd. It Provides a bit more interaction than Club Penguin, and less sex than Second Life. Even better, it is absolutely free.
[Thanks: freeleeto]
Update 1: I changed the title to say Corus Entertainment, from Chorus Entertainment, as it is the name of the company. Sorry for any confusion that may have caused.
Last night I took some time to really explore AOL Pointe. To my surprise I came upon a My Chemical Romance concert streaming in the AOL Amphitheater. (Check out the screen shot above.) If you haven't taken the time to check out the Island for yourself, you should plan a trip.
Today you can watch The Who from 5:00PM SLT to 7:30PM SLT. The planned play list is as follows:
2/21, 5:00pm; The Who: My Generation
2/21, 5:15pm; The Who: Mirror Door
2/21, 5:30pm; The Who: The Seeker
2/21, 5:45pm; The Who: We Got a Hit
2/21, 6:00pm; The Who: You Better Bet
2/21, 6:15pm; The Who: Who are You
2/21, 6:30pm; The Who: Fragments
2/21, 6:45pm; The Who: Baba O'Riley
2/21, 7:00pm; The Who: Endless Wire
While you're there you can take the quiz in the Quiz Time Lounge and earn double value on the prizes.
Mercedes-Benz Island is now live in Second Life. The multisim build does the standard test track thing that other car companies have already pioneered. The main sim, located in the center of the island, features a small concert area located outside of a virtual dealership, an interactive tour, and a couple of freebies thrown in for good measure. (I got my free Mercedes Racing outfit. Did you?) .
The most interesting item in the dealership is a cloaked new C-Class with a sign indicating that it will be revealed on March 16Th. Hopefully once it is unveiled, we can all get one to drive. If not, I say we all bring some Scions over to the island and try out the test track.
Comverse Technology is the first to shoehorn the Second Life Client* onto a java enabled cell phone. While the solution requires a PC running a specialized server, this is a huge step towards a fully integrated and portable Metaverse. The cell phone based client not only provides most of the functionality of the standard client, it also allows SMS messaging, instant messaging, and even mobile video streaming into Second Life.
Interestingly, the major part of the development was done before the client was released open source. While it is obvious that having the source to the client will help Comverse optimize the experience, it is a great engineering feat that is ready launch right now.
The new Mazda Hakaze concept car is going to become a reality (or should I say virtual reality?) in Second Life. The new car will be available on Mazda's Nagare Island. Nagare Island is named after Mazda's new design concept spearheaded by their global design director Lauren van den Acker. Nagare is a design language that injects expression and beauty into the final design.
DueMotori.com is quoting Lauren van den Acker as saying, "Nagare is about expressing motion, energy, and beauty, in ways that people connect with, and Second Life is one of the internet's best interactive venues. Of course we love the idea of giving people the chance to connect with and drive our latest concept - virtually rather than in reality, of course." From the pictures I have seen the car looks like the Joker's equivalent to the Bat Mobile, but that might just be me. Decide for yourself after the jump.
Hot on the heels of Barack Obama's my.barackobama.com, his own mySpace like social networking site, John Edwards has thrown down the gauntlet and taken his campaign into the Virtual World. Soon the virtual streets of Second Life will run red and blue with the campaign signs from every camp.
While the RL Edwards Campaign is fully aware of the Second Life efforts, it is truly a grass roots endeavor by Jerimee Richir, AKA Jose Rote. According to Steve O'Hear at ZDNet, the Second Life campaign head quarters will be rolled into the fold of the official campaign sometime next month.
The Art Institute Online is launching a student community in Second Life. The Island will double as both a meeting area for their diverse student body to collaborate and socialize, and as a class room for their actual online courses. Currently only one class is planned for the virtual campus is a new Business Communications course. If this class is successful, look for more Second Life based content from the Institute.
While using Second Life for teaching a class is not uncommon these days, using it for a primarily online institution is an especially appropriate match for the Virtual World. I have taken my share of web based distance learning courses and something is always lost in the translation from the classroom to the web slide show. Adding in the embodiment and collaboration provided by the virtual world, and we may have found Second Life's killer ap.
.gif){kind=logo}
