Here’s the metaverse mystery of the week: This strange new private island with a very familiar name recently emerged on the server grid of virtual world Second Life. Spotted yesterday by Second Life blogger Tateru Nino (and confirmed when I checked the world’s dynamic map today), we have to assume it’s an official Nintendo property. When someone buys a virtual island from Linden Lab, they also get to name it. Given Linden’s DMCA enforcement policy, it’s unlikely they’d let just anyone dub an island “Nintendo.”
But that just adds to the puzzle. Unlike console competitors Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo has few properties directly tied to the PC market, and last February, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said they had no interest in adding an MMO to its Wii system. Nintendo’s U.S. president, Reggie Fils-Aime, said they wanted the Wii to appeal to crossover demographics “very much like the Second Life audience,” so maybe it’s just a virtual marketing site, like Microsoft’s Xbox island.
Here’s a more tantalizing possibility: A German firm has created a Wii-to-SL interface for the treadmill, and developers with Japan’s Softbank have created a Wii-like accelerometer game in Second Life, so maybe Nintendo is cooking up some interesting new product feature. Neither Linden Lab nor Nintendo’s PR firm replied to our queries by publication time, however, and the island’s off-limits to outsiders. For all we know, the Hanso Foundation is involved.
17 comments so far
2:32 PM PT
[...] GigaOM [...]
12:11 AM PT
[...] Read the rest of this post Print all_things_di220:http://voices.allthingsd.com/20080502/whats-nintendo-doing-in-second-life/ Sphere Comment Tagged: Wagner James Au, Tateru Nino, GigaOm, Linden Lab, Second Life, Voices | permalink [...]
7:41 AM PT
[...] Wii? Nintendo in SL? What’s Nintendo Doing in Second Life? - GigaOM [...]
8:20 AM PT
And Nintendo also claimed there was no new handheld coming out a couple of weeks before they announced the DS. Never trust what they say, they’re a tricky bunch.
8:32 AM PT
big corporations are only to experiment with marketing and PR there, IBM is rather huge exception there (pardon my rather unintended pun)
until this overly-slippery world gives some traction, i.e. so far it _is_ all about water and oil (Immersionism vs Augmentationism http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/03/09/immersionism-and-augmentationism-revisited/ ) - until then corps will come and go as this island
and Nintendo is most probably to follow common rule ;)
8:39 AM PT
Nintendo and the Dharma Initiative…I KNEW IT!
10:39 AM PT
It may be for corporate comms. They could hold virtual meetings there for global staff. Wouldn’t immediately jump to console-related conclusions.
12:07 PM PT
who cares its second life, one of the worst games ever made
3:08 PM PT
SecondLife isn’t a “game”. It’s a 3D virtual world.
5:00 PM PT
[...] What’s Nintendo Doing in Second Life? [image]Here’s the metaverse mystery of the week: This strange new private island with a very familiar name [...] [...]
10:20 PM PT
It’s likely something for Camp Hyrule.
10:36 PM PT
I think I can answer this one.
Nintendo went to Second Life and made their own island named Nintendo. This way they can control it and not some schmuck who thought it would be cool to name their island Nintendo. Nintendo is basically controlling their own name.
3:21 PM PT
Who cares, Second Life sucks. Get a First Life, its much better.
7:04 PM PT
[...] It looks like, though there’s no official confirmation, that Nintendo is heading in to Second Life. More info. [...]
3:38 AM PT
It’s easy to say get a first life. But if you are a young father staying home seven days a week to take care of your children, SL is a real alternative to socialize.
12:01 AM PT
[...] GigaOM [...]
10:13 AM PT
@Bluerain: Well said.
And as I often like to say: http://torley.com/second-life-simple-answers-to-curious-remarks
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