Posted in Robotic Pets on Jun 30th, 2007
Sega Toys is launching an advanced robotic dog called Mio Pup in Japan on October 6th. We came across it in a writeup on Tokyomango and followed it back to the Sega site.
Posted in Business, Virtual Communities on Jun 30th, 2007
Back on 15 May 2007, Lauren Moores wrote a nice piece, Kids Toy Crazes Go Virtual, on Compete using data from the 2 million plus users of their toolbar to estimate total U.S. traffic levels over the past year at Neopets, Webkinz, and Clubpenguin. They indicate about a tie of 2.75 million unique individuals visiting […]
Posted in Business on Jun 29th, 2007
On 13 June 2007, a Sparter press release announced the public beta release of their Gamer to Gamer (G2G) site for trading virtual currencies. Several currencies were listed, but we noticed Linden was not on the list. The site includes several features to create “a safe and efficient trading environment” per the press release.
Posted in Business, Virtual Communities on Jun 29th, 2007
The buzz surrounding selling virtual items for real dollars is getting hotter. On 20 June 2007 Neopets (purchased by Viacom for $160 million in June 2005) announced it will begin selling virtual items including ruby slippers for pets, wings of flame, and tiaras on June 28th in its NC Mall. They can be purchased using […]
Posted in Business, History, Keychain Pets, Tamagotchi on Jun 29th, 2007
I just recalled, this Thanksgiving will be the 10th Anniversary of the release of Virtual Pet Secrets magazine back in 1997. I edited it for H&S Media. The first (and only) issue covered keychain virtual pets in depth with articles on collecting, displaying some of the larger collections, trends and developments, FAQ and tips, the […]
Posted in Business, Virtual Communities on Jun 29th, 2007
With the industry abuzz about virtual communities, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) leaped in with a 7 March 2007 press release announcing a 3D online community for the Playstation 3 called “Home“. The new game was demonstrated at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco on the same date. PS3 users will be able to […]
Posted in Business, Virtual Communities on Jun 29th, 2007
Electronic Arts and Endemol announced a creative partnership on 16 April 2007 to build an online community called Virtual Me. VM will debut in Endemol’s TV show, Big Brother. Participants can compete in virtual versions of Endemol’s television talent shows and other Endemol TV offerings using “cutting edge avatars.”
Posted in Business, Virtual Communities on Jun 29th, 2007
A one day conference titled, Virtual Goods Summit 2007, was held at Stanford on 22 June 2007 devoted to Virtual Goods. Topics included virtual goods and currencies, users, nurturing virtual economies, impact on social networking and more. Susan Wu, a co-producer of the conference, wrote a nice guest post on Tech Crunch titled Virtual Goods: […]
Posted in Instructional, People, Virtual Communities on Jun 28th, 2007
On 4 April 2007, David de Rothschild of Adventure Ecology, a London based environmental group, and a National Geographic Society emerging explorer, in coordination with several other territory owners raised water levels in Second Life to simulate global warming. Ogilvy, a London ad agency, and Anshe Chung, the largest real estate developer in Second Life, […]
Posted in History, People, Virtual Communities on Jun 28th, 2007
The Telegraph, a United Kingdom daily paper, reports on deviant behaviors surfacing in Second Life and other virtual communities, in its 2 June 2007 article, Trouble in Online Paradise . Problems include players posing as minors to sell virtual sex, gather in virtual riots, virtually assault one another, human avatars having sex with virtual animals, […]
