Posts in the "Virtual Worlds" Category

• The Concept of Freemium

  Business
  

  In 2002, an online roleplaying game was launched which would revolutionise the internet, and create one of the most valuable and important assets of what we now define as being “Web 2.0″. It was a game that was built on the principles of social interaction and creation of objects and places. The online environment had [...]

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• Frenzoo, Unity Viewer and the Mobile Market

  Virtual Worlds
  

  I was recently unfair to the guys at Frenzoo.com when I accused them of feeding off the death of There.com, which was particularly bad of me because I’ve only had a limited experience with Frenzoo. That is to say, I’ve had no experience other than accidently landing on their website once. Usually, that would be [...]

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• Just What Is Evony’s Game?

  MMOs
  

  Shopping Cart Disco busted Evony’s latest faux pas, showcasing their complete disregard for copyright in using Harper Beresford’s snapshot in their advertising campaign. But just who are Evony, and why do they carry such a bad rep? In 2009, Evony launched an online advertising campaign which was particularly noticable for its use of racy images [...]

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• Cloud Computing: Blue Mars Find Their Saving Grace

  Blue Mars
  

  There’s been a lot of hype about OnLive – a gaming platform which is promising to revolutionise the gaming industry in much the same way as Spotify has done for music. The technology behind it is pretty fascinating, so excuse my while I put my geek hat on and try not to drool too much. [...]

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• News Corp. In Possible Linden Lab Takeover Deal

  Business
  

  Edit: Yes – this entry was an April Fool’s Hoax, and I’m surprised at how many people got caught out! Well done to those who spotted it, and remember to never trust anything on April 1st! It came as something of a surprise when Linden Lab rolled out Viewer 2 so soon after releasing it [...]

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• Firings and Hirings

  Business
  

  Just a day after Pathfinder Linden, one of the ever-dying out “oldbies” still at Linden Lab announced his job had become obsolete and he was leaving as there was no alternative position for him there, the Lab post this on Facebook: Tact. The Lab have none.

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• Vultures Who Feed on the Death of a Metaverse

  Metaverses
  

  Yesterday I wrote about the closure of metaverse There.com, which announced it was closing its doors after running out of money. Reactions in the comments was somewhat mixed, but what I found interesting was the idea that Second Life should appeal to the users of There.com and encourage them to join SL. Although I haven’t [...]

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• Another One Bites The Dust: There.com to Close Down

  Virtual Worlds
  

  Yet another virtual world closes down as the people behind There.com shut their virtual doors on March 9th. Yet another victim of the economic recession, the virtual platform simply didn’t have enough customers who were putting money into their coffers. You got to feel for the There.com team, who put a lot of effort into [...]

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• Second Life Sweatshop: A Pool of Cheap Labour?

  Business
  

  Are Second Life residents easily exploitable? An entrepreneur from London recently chanced upon Second Life after reading an article about it on BBC News. Reading up on the Second Life economy, he saw a niche which would save him thousands of dollars: Paying SL residents much less to do the same job, in return for [...]

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• Is Emerald Viewer Anti-Privacy?

  Musings
  

  Emerald Viewer began a crusade against privacy rights of Second Life users last week with the launch of its latest version. The rather harmless previous features which included bouncing breasts have been eclipsed by this latest version which allows users to see who has allowed map rights, and crucially, who has denied the right to see [...]

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