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  • Laguna Beach today, tomorrow the virtual world

    by 
    Kevin Kelly
    Kevin Kelly
    09.18.2006

    The New York Times reports that MTV will roll out their Virtual Laguna Beach online service this week, which fulfills the promise that people "can not only watch TV, but now you can actually live it." Notable features include the groundbreaking ability to "have fun!" Insert virtual forehead smack here. What remains unclear is how MTV will actually simulate their version of Laguna Beach, CA, which on screen follows the lives of several spoiled teenagers as they deal with the trials and tribulations of being a spoiled teenager in Laguna Beach instead of Beverly Hills. Users will be able to create their own bedecked and bespangled teenage avatars to roam around the town, visiting several of the hotspots made popular by the show, but what will give it that Laguna Beach, The Real OC feeling? Will characters from the show visit the town? Will mommy and daddy avatars give you cars and bling?Although you can kiss in the game, it will be more like kissing your brother or sister. According to Matt Bostwick, an MTV senior vice president, "The worst thing they can do is kiss -- and it's Catholic school kissing. The lips touch, but the bodies don't."How much fun does that sound? How much fun does that sound? There's more body touching on an episode of TRL than here.