GigaOM

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.

Apple Store To Go Virtual? That’s the theory of MacNN, at least, citing an Apple patent application published on the US government site last Thursday, somewhat obscurely entitled “Enhancing Online Shopping Atmosphere”.

The patent application’s stated goal is to create an online shopping experience that doesn’t feel “sterile and isolating” like a traditional retail website, and includes a diagram depicting stick figures walking around in a retail store with an Electronics, Books, and Music section, underneath a sun– i.e., MacNN speculates, in a virtual world like Second Life. “[V]isitors are represented by avatars selected by those visitors,” the application notes, “rather than a more generic or uniform icon.”

Continue »

GamerDNA is one of many social network for gamers. But now, thanks to Boston-based Flybridge Capital Partners, the company behind it has $3 million of Series A funding to make it stand out from the pack.

Formerly known as GuildCafe.com, a community site for fans of Guild Wars and other PC-centric MMORPGs, GamerDNA Inc. will use the funding to expand that audience base to include console players and others who fit into the broader hardcore gamer category. Or as CEO Jon Radoff describes them, people who enjoy “games that create memories.” I spoke with Radoff and Jon Karlen, general partner of Flybridge, late yesterday, and my main question was: With so many gamer social networks out there already, what makes this one special?

Continue »

If you’re anything like me, you’re following the Democratic primaries with one hand over your eyes, shouting “Oh my gawd, don’t say that!” at pretty much every news item. Now all it takes is a webcam and Fix8.com’s Candidate Avatar Pack to be part of the impending car wreck it’s become.

Simply download the installation, sit in front of your webcam, and speak through the puppet-like avatar of Clinton, Obama or CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (McCain and Huckabee avatars are also available, for Republican support or mockery). It’s supposed to be compatible with video chat for AIM, MSN and Skype, so you can use it to debate or berate your friends in various channels. Here’s a YouTube video of the avatars in action, and it’s more than a bit bizarre. Then again, slightly less odd than bickering about bitter religious gun owners as the national economy melts down.

Ubisoft said this week that it’s expanding into India. The French multinational, one of the top game publishers (it counts the hits Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia among its large, diverse library), is purchasing a game development studio in Pune (near Mumbai) with stated plans to build it up into a staff of 200 by next year — and more than twice that in the coming years.

Given India’s burgeoning middle class and ever-expanding pool of skilled tech workers, the move was understandable. Perhaps recognizing that fact, Electronic Arts and Microsoft joined with several Indian firms to form the Indian Games Industry and Trade Association back in 2006; it’s no surprise other major Western publishers are following suit.

What kind of games will Ubisoft develop in India? Well, the studio Ubisoft acquired was a division of Gameloft, which specializes in games for handheld consoles and mobiles, recently unveiled plans to port their titles to the Wii, and expects to release 15 games for the iPhone by the end of 2008. Assuming Ubisoft retains that focus when it takes over from Gameloft (and there’s no reason to doubt that), I’d expect to see more of the same on a vastly increased output level. Only made in India.

Pop music keeps getting more virtual! Today there’s news that ’80s metal stars Mötley Crüe are releasing a new single via Xbox 360/PS3 download to Rock Band, the epic bestselling multiplayer rhythm game. And it’s just the latest development in what’s fast becoming a larger trend.

Last month, the game got its own iTunes-like download service, an inevitable move as it and its predecessor, Guitar Hero, instantly attracted millions of download sales. It’s a smart move on the Crüe’s part, and for the embattled record labels, a move that’s probably the best (last?) chance to recover their revenue in the post-Gnutella era: They license their back catalog and new hits to game music publishers; publishers turn their songs into fun interactive experiences; gamers who might otherwise download pirated MP3s or ignore them altogether happily pay to play them on their console.

The amazing thing is how much of this enthusiasm is driven by the gaming experience, as opposed to the actual bands. After all, many of their songs only show up on Guitar Hero/Rock Band as covers and almost as often, the bands were famous well before most gamers were even born. In coming years, I fully expect to see Guitar Hero-like MMOs, where fans jam as avatars with their favorite rock stars (who log in from the comfort of their studio, as opposed to touring in person.) Why stop there? Next up: Popstars who only exist as avatars.

Image credit: www.motley.com.

While Second Life is frequently described as a 3D web browser, there’s a chance it may be remembered as the (late and lamented) Netscape Navigator of metaverse browsers.

That thought occurred to me as I was attending the “Open Source Virtual Worlds” panel at last week’s Virtual Worlds 2008 conference in New York. Like Netscape, Linden Lab last year open-sourced its viewer code, which led to a number of unofficial versions, some of which have been reverse engineered to run on non-Linden servers. And at least one of them already looks significantly better in some respects than Linden’s official viewer.

While IBM showed off its contributions to the open-source 3D Internet on the showroom floor, two of the SL spinoffs were featured at the panel, along with two unrelated platforms — one from a startup and another from Sun Microsystems. Here’s a look under their BSD-friendly hoods: Continue »

I’m still in Manhattan recuperating from last week’s Virtual Worlds 2008 conference; here are some news and trends that I’ve observed:

Barbie Rising: Subscription option announced for girls’ virtual world with 2.3 million unique users.

Since launching last spring, Mattel’s Barbie Girls has amassed a jaw-dropping 11.2 million signups; of those, a company publicist told me last week, they’re attracting well over 2 million monthly active users. Up to now an entirely free world, in May they’ll launch a subscription-based “VIP” membership, conferring on their users (86 percent of whom are girls over the age of 8) the right to wear a virtual tiara, among other premium content. I’d bet on huge upgrade rates with this model — and for other companies in the growing virtual worlds-for-kids space to follow suit.

Continue »