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Cinemassively: Lost in There Quest Commercial
VirtualVikki made this video, Lost in There Quest Commercial, for ThereCon last year. Taking place in July 2007, it was a week of science fiction events and activities in the virtual world, There. In order to motivate the viewers, she created this parody of Lost in Space.There is an interesting platform for machinima. They have a limited range of motions and customization, but they do have lip-synching ability built in to their voice system. The result is a bit more cartoony than Second Life, so it appeals more to the teen demographic. Many companies are doing interesting things in the platform, though, so we'll keeping our eye on it!If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Cinemassively: Global Kids Kofi Annan Simulcast to four different virtual worlds
Global Kids has been quite busy with their activities this year! They recently streamed Kofi Annan receiving the MacArthur Foundation's first International Justice Award. Not only was this event special and meaningful in the first place, but it was also fairly unique in how far it reached. The award ceremony was broadcast to the web, Second Life on both the main grid and the teen grid, There, and Whyville! Could this be a glimpse of the future of event outreach? For more information, check out their site, Holy Meatballs!If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Does it get any better?
Take an advertising/marketing operation and mix it with a virtual world, and what do you get? No, not There -- well, maybe them, but that's not who we mean. The answer is Riplounge. Browser-based and 2.5D (2D sprites in a pseudo 3D environment), Riplounge is for ... umm. Well, actually we're not quite sure. We think it is aimed largely at the wannabe-hip, under-25, knows-about-the-same-about-computers-as-your-granny demographic. Or maybe the I-wish-I-was-15-again demographic.
Visions of Global Justice
This coming Wednesday, 19 March, the USC Network Culture Project will feature the work of thirteen talented virtual world artists on the theme of justice, all specifically created for this event to celebrate the International Criminal Court. The artists involved are a talented set indeed from visual, audio and performance fields: Tuna Oddfellow, AM Radio, Pavig Lok, Tooter Claxton, Juria Yoshikawa, Dancoyote Antonelli, Filthy Fluno, elros Tuominen, Chance Abattoir, Adam Ramona, Josina Burgess, Velazquez Bonetto, and Junivers Stockholm.
GDC08: Building brands in virtual worlds
We've seen a lot of interesting things at the Worlds in Motion Summit which took place at GDC earlier this week, we found this post-mortum of Scion's virtual campaign in There.com fascinating. While we tune out commercials and skim over print advertisements as much as anyone, but well thought-out interactive advertisements in virtual worlds still feel novel and interesting. (Well, okay, some of them aren't.) So what made Scion's campaign stand out? Read on for an analysis.%Gallery-16584%
Dr. Phil comes off as pro-MMO
Over at the games blog Game|Life they pointed out a somewhat rare event: a sudden outbreak of common sense. Well-known psychologist for the masses 'Dr. Phil' recently stuck up for virtual worlds on national television. More specifically, he pointed out that there was nothing inherently wrong with them. On a episode devoted to teen behavior, Dr. Phil confronted a young woman who apparently spent too much time in the There virtual space. While Phil apparently couldn't understand the appeal of online friendships, he did take pains to clarify there was nothing wrong with the service or the activity - just her choice to over-indulge. Addressing Michael Wilson, CEO of There, the good doctor explained that there were "a tremendous number of safeguards" in place at There, saying "Your intention is not to consume kids from their real life. Like many MMOs, There is free to play but charges for in-game items like cars and furniture. According to Wilson, if someone is overspending, There will contact the account holder and ask them if they're aware of how much they've spent on the game. If a parent calls with concerns, There will shut off their kid's account. In other words, said Dr. Phil to his guests, "The problem is not the game, the problem is the use of it."Now if only Phil could communicate that to most of America ...
Dr. Phil tries to help teen with MMO addiction
You can say a lot about Dr. Phil, mock him, distrust him, even make a short film about a planet populated only by him and his progeny, but the one thing you can't say is that he isn't hip to MMOs. Because he totally is. He recently used his acumen with the genre to help 13-year-old Lexie break her addiction to There. (Hey, is it an MMO if you're the only one still playing it?)Watch here as the doctor explains online microtransactions in the game. "You pay this money with a credit card, and then you get credit, and then you can use that to buy things to furnish your house," Dr. Phil observes. "The stuff that you're buying, you don't really have anything. You just have a picture or something on your computer." Do you see? Do you see how he cuts to the quick of it? Read all of his sage advice right here.
