Here's a bit of machinima from the premiere of Coke's new CGI commercial 'The Happiness Factory'. The actual commercial is embedded within the machinima, which concerns itself with the red carpet premiere of the commercial in SL. Now, interestingly, the video claims that this event was attended by Avril Lavigne, but since this is a professionally-produced machinima by Rivers Run Red, it's doubtful that this represents reality. Is there any footage of the real event?

Regardless, it's a slick piece, and the actual commercial is fun. But, wait ... didn't Coke decide to pull out of SL?

(Thanks, Fizik!)

While I'm not personally familiar with Sky News, the British television entity has announced itself the first tv news channel to take up permanent residence in SL with an outstandingly detailed replica of its studios created by Rivers Run Red. Their article offers a great deal of activities for the interested party and seems pretty excited about the whole thing.

There's a short video on the referring page that features a clip of their launch event, including a brief talk with Second Lives author Tim Guest.

(Via news.sky.com)

William Gibson could arguably be called the Godfather of the Metaverse. While he didn't invent it, his first book Neuromancer doubtless inspired geeks worldwide to create a future that would bring his vision to life. SL's certainly right up there, as far as that goes, and now Mr. Gibson will be coming to SL to promote and read from his latest novel 'Spook Country'.

Not only that, but you could participate in one or both of two contests sponsored by Penguin, more info after the jump.

Reebok, in collaboration with Scarlett Johansson, recently released a new line of real-life clothing, named "Scarlett <3s RBK." The line is characterized by a heart with a lowercase cursive "s" next to it plastered on the outfits. It will be carried in high-end retail stores and the prices of the clothing are not for the faint.

In Second Life, however, Rivers Run Red is bringing the same outfits to residents for much less. For example, the track jacket that I'm wearing, pictured in Aztec Navy, retails for $90 USD, but in-world, it's only 90L! I feel so comfortable in this adorable jacket in SL, that I may have to splurge on the real thing, though.

There's plenty to choose from, including distance leggings, track jackets, racer tanks, homerun tees, and team hooded tunics. If you're running low on L, there's also a goodie bag available, with jewelry featuring the signature heart. You can check it out on the Reebok sim.

I have had about as much success dating as I have skydiving without a parachute, but a new build from Talpa Digital, in conjunction with Rivers Run Red, is looking fix all that. Their four sim build, they are calling DropZone, seems to have something for everyone. The build will have skydiving, an amphitheater, a dance club, and other interesting features sponsored by various companies.

The dance club is named after dutch dating site Mundo, and will feature private areas where members can meet in private. There will be billboards for social site Skopes, in which residents will be able to post pictures from around Second Life. Also, one of the early sponsors is Red Bull, the energy drink maker, which will be streaming extreme sporting events into Second Life on the DropZone build.

If there is one thing I like better than Pirated Tunes, its Ninja Tunes. The UK record label has plans to launch its on music video channel within Second Life. The channel is going to be part of the Virtual Life TV network being created by Rivers Run Red. Will Ninja Tunes station, to be called Ninja TV, be the virtual world version of MTV (or at least MTV when it played music videos)? Well considering the list of artist provided by Digital Media New for Europe I am leaning towards no. With a line up consisting of Roots Manuva, Coldcut, Spank Rock, Cinematic Orchestra, Pop Levi, and Mr Scruff, I am not sure how compelled people will be to tune in. Of course, I am not an expert on the UK Music scene. If you know more about these artists please let us know in the comments.

On a more interesting note this led Mac World UK to wonder, if Second Life is the new MySpace. The article doesn't delve into this question at all, but I found it quite provocative. I believe the question stems from MySpace's roots as a place where indie bands could showcase their music and create a place for their fans to congregate. Is Second Life a good place for an indie band to make a name for themselves? Maybe so. It certainly is a great place for self expression and meeting friends in an anonymous and safe feeling environment, and many of the social networking aspects of MySpace are already prevalent in Second Life.

There's a new player in town, brushing up against Metaverse Development Companies like Electric Sheep Company and Rivers Run Red: Metaversatility! I'll let the press release speak for itself:

San Antonio, Texas, December 11, 2006 – As virtual worlds receive more and more serious media attention, it has become apparent that development and service companies are needed to build virtual spaces and brands. Metaversatility, Inc. was formed to meet this need. With five founding shareholders, Metaversatility brings a unique blend of skills and experience to the virtual world development sphere.

Metaversatility founders Adrienne Haik (known as Adri Saarinen in Second Life), Dr. Aaron Delwiche, Peter Haik (known as Peter Newell in Second Life), Dr. John Plevyak, and Matt Daly represent a combination of creativity, experience, and academic credentials. Other team members include Rebecca Small (known in Second Life as Haver Cole) as client liaison, Brian Hayes as sales and business development, and Inga Munsinger Cotton as general counsel. They are well prepared to serve the needs of both traditional and exclusively-virtual clients.

Metaversatility offers a full range of metaverse services that spans multiple virtual worlds. Equipped to work in Second Life, There.com, Multiverse, and Open Croquet, Metaversatility also keeps a close watch on developments in other virtual worlds as they emerge. Metaversatility specializes in promotions, branding, and application development as well as metaverse orientation and business strategy consulting. Recent clients include Creative Commons, PopSci.com, the Metaverse Messenger, ICANN, SL Bank, and Dublin in SL.

While excited about the possibilities of the broadening metaverse, the Metaversatility team is also concerned with the social and cultural implications of this expansion. As long-time metaverse residents, they feel it is vitally important to maintain the freedom of imagination and intellectual development virtual spaces often represent.

Metaversatility Inc. is incorporated and headquartered in the state of Texas. For more information about Metaversatility, the team, services offered, and a portfolio of work, visit http://www.metaversatility.com.

Congratulations, Adri and Peter! This couldn't have happened to nicer folks, and I look forward to seeing what you bring to SL!

I wasn't able to make the Town Hall, so now I'm reading the transcript, available on the Official Linden Blog here. So far, one section stands out:

"The idea of pricing differently for 'corporate' users doesn't make sense for several reasons. First, it is discrimination, which we don't think makes sense - everyone should pay the same for things regardless of who they are. Second, it will be impossible to establish a guideline for who is 'corporate'... would Anshe Chung pay the rate, for example? How about Nephilaine Protagonist, the clothing designer? What is the difference between a nightclub on an island run by Jenna Fairplay versus the Hard Rock Cafe? I think that the best solution is they should all pay the same price."

Well, Philip, let me give you a hint. When a company's employees all have the same last name as the organization they work for, they're corporate. Witness Rivers Run Red, as just one example. The main difference here is that a corporation has a budget to use to promote their services, which they do in RL, unlike Anshe or Nephilaine. The big deal is that these corporations come into SL specifically to make money from it, whereas Anshe, Nephilaine, Jenna, etc. began in SL, and learned to make money organically. I see no problem with charging a corporation slightly more for an island, given that any publicity they generate will likely bring more eyes to SL by sheer dint of the fact that they operate in RL as well as SL.

I'll have more comments as I read farther along in the transcript. As always, we welcome your comments!

[UPDATE: Changed 'Millions of Us' to 'Rivers Run Red' -- I've been told that the members of Millions of Us were all residents before they formed the company, making my using them as an example a poor choice. Mea culpa, and thanks, Adri!]

This news story announces that Rivers Run Red is partnering with 10 content companies, including the Sci-Fi Channel, to bring broadband television into SL. The details are in the article, but here are some thoughts:

You're already sitting in front of a monitor for hours on end; do you want to add a second, smaller monitor to that?
There's something meta about the recursive nature of you watching your avatar watch tv
Advertising is mentioned; if there's already an uproar over in-world RL companies advertising, who's going to want to sit through more of it?
The possibility of Machinima on your broadband tv is nice, but again, why would you watch it even smaller than you would on your PC?
Why? Why are they doing this?

Is the point of SL to emulate as closely as possible RL? Why not build some broadband movie theaters? Netflix in SL?

(Via MediaGuardian.co.uk)

Mark Wallace at 3pointD.com reports that footwear maker Adidas has developed an in-world store with the help of Rivers Run Red, a PR agency supporting virtual worlds. Adidas' first virtual product is the a3 Microride, a shoe that gives "the ultimate blend of bounce and flexibility with minimum weight."

What's even better, though, is that the SL version of the shoes actually bounces your avatar around with each step. This is a lot more fun and whimsical an idea than a simple virtual version of the RL shoe could ever be; it's not known whether this idea sprang from Adidas itself or from Rivers Run Red. Regardless, it's this sort of innovation in thought and practice that RL companies need to display more often. I mean, c'mon! It's a world with its own physics! Where's my jetcar, Honda? Where's my in-world listening station, Virgin Records? Where's my virtual PSP, Sony?

When I blogged about the Channel 4 film yesterday, I hadn't realised that it was a Rivers Run Red (henceforth RRR) project. Proving that our readership extends far and wide on the SL map, Fizik Baskerville from RRR, IM'd me this morning to let me know about an event which is being run on Monday on Avalon, to coincide with the release of this series of films.

The event is at 8pm GMT, 12 SLT, the films will be shown, and there will be a question-and-answer session with the film makers and some of the subjects of the series of films.

Put it in your diary. Nice to see some events running at Euro-friendly times, too!

My return to SL last Monday, after a break for a bad back, allowed me to catch up with old friend Falk Bergman. Falk, maker of extraordinary in-world books, tells me that later this month Play Money , by Julian Dibbell, will launch in SL when it goes on sale in the real world and Amazon. The Amazon page and details about the book are already up, but the strapline (Or, how I quit my day job and made millions trading virtual loot) really says it all. You can see that he may be on to a winner, lol.

Unlike the previous books which Falk has designed and produced for commercial authors in SL, which incudes the award-winning, beloved-by-Hamlet Au author Cory Doctorow, this one will be for sale, and will have a launch party organised by Rivers Run Red, the ad agency notorious for its alliance with one business girl Anshe Chung.Com.

Rivers Run Red organised the recent Radio One Weekend promotion in SL, although many of their launches seem to be much lower-key. The X-Men launch was gone before I realised it was on, for example, even though I try to keep up-to-date with the forums.

Falk usually organises a book signing in SL, with secret technology embedded in book and lectern to allow the author to "sign" the copy of the book in SL, and a chance to hurl questions (or insults, telephone numbers, reviews) at the author. I will keep watching the forums, and update when the launch date is confirmed. It goes without saying he is a great scripter, and affordable too.