Comments on: Atari Gets Into the User-Created Online World Game

By: SuezanneC

SuezanneC — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:29:45 +0000

I was just about to ask about the Atari world and comment on Areae when I saw that I had already posted the same thought in August of 2007, do I'll just paste in a quote:

I don’t see how technologists could speak of Second Life and Croquet and Areae in the same breath - SL and Croquet exist, Areae doesn’t.

That, however, is not why I am posting here.

I was just wondering if anyone has any further word on an Atari virtual world or was that just a bunch of useless noise?

By: SuezanneC Baskerville

SuezanneC Baskerville — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 02:24:25 +0000

I don't see how technologists could speak of Second Life and Croquet and Areae in the same breath - SL and Croquet exist, Areae doesn't.

That, however, is not why I am posting here.

I was just wondering if anyone has any further word on an Atari virtual world or was that just a bunch of useless noise?

By: GigaOM Has World of Warcraft (Finally) Hit a Plateau? «

GigaOM Has World of Warcraft (Finally) Hit a Plateau? « — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 14:31:30 +0000

[...] they otherwise would.) It’s one fundamental reason why MMOs which foster user-created content are generating so much interest: without a regular stream of new material, a popular MMO just breeds its own [...]

By: GigaOM » Virtual World Revenues, $6 Billion by 2012

GigaOM » Virtual World Revenues, $6 Billion by 2012 — Thu, 03 May 2007 13:40:54 +0000

[...] to online games, with some ambiguity on how to count revenue from the numerous virtual worlds on the market or about to be launched; many are social hangouts or user-created collaborative spaces, and not games in the strict sense [...]

By: GigaGamez » Archive Move over MySpace, Gaia Online is here «

GigaGamez » Archive Move over MySpace, Gaia Online is here « — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 17:08:16 +0000

[...] in the dark: it’s primarily designed for teens. But with online worlds all sizes and styles poised for an explosion, you’ll almost certainly hear a lot more about it [...]

By: GigaOM » Move over MySpace, Gaia Online is here

GigaOM » Move over MySpace, Gaia Online is here — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 21:00:55 +0000

[...] in the dark: it’s primarily designed for teens. But with online worlds all sizes and styles poised for an explosion, you’ll almost certainly hear a lot more about it [...]

By: Trevor F. Smith

Trevor F. Smith — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:46:20 +0000

Perhaps I'm too close to the projects referenced, but I just don't see a common story between (for example) Croquet and Whirled in either user created content or 3D. The Croquet project is not going to create a private currency any time soon while Whirled probably will offer one at launch. Croquet's P2P simulations are experientially different than Whirled's page based worldlets.

We are headed for a collapse of business models and technologies, so let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

By: Wagner James Au

Wagner James Au — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 10:53:34 +0000

i think its the trend in interactivity,

That, and some form of user-created content in a 3D space. Believe me, among technologists, Croquet is spoken in the same breath as Second Life, as is Areae. The different intents and business models (or lack thereof) are less important than the similarity of medium. I only fudge a bit by including Home and the Viacom world, since the creators of each have cited SL as an influence, though it's pretty clear neither will have much in common.

By: Jackson Fish Market

Jackson Fish Market — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:00:00 +0000

[...] “With the market so crowded, nearly all of these projects are almost certainly doomed to fail,... Posted on April 16th, 2007 in Interesting [...]

By: mark stephen meadows / pighed

mark stephen meadows / pighed — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:28:47 +0000

i think its the trend in interactivity, not the similarities of features that are being illustrated here (maybe james?).

yeah, there's confusion around the recipes, and yeah its a mess and yeah wallets will bleed. certainly. but what's common is that these efforts are (mostly) 3D spaces tending towards a (mostly) metaverse goal.

so maybe console games (like splinter cell) gave us a preview of what online games (like WoW) became, visually and in terms of many gameplay mechanics. online games, meanwhile, developed the formulae for the social architecture that social media (like MySpace) then rips off. ...

and what's cool to watch is how consoles are now picking up behing the social media trends. wii gives you a lot of the capabilities that you get on MySpace. for example.

that's the basic trend that i see as gluing these together - interface / mechanics / social gaming.

(1) console games build interface --> (2) online games adopt it, make it social --> (3) social media then throw out the interface and adopt the social architecture, spinning it one step higher. (1b) console games integrate social architecture.