I caught this on Next Generation earlier (Link) and I see it’s also over on C|Net (Link): Nielsen has some statistics on videogames and you can bet people will be looking them over and trying to figure out where this market is headed. There’ll be plenty of debate, especially between the console crowd and the PC people, there’ll be some long blog posts covering this report (and I’ll read some of it), but I figure this one is easy: if the women are online, the guys (at 2-to-1) will be chasing them*. Case closed.

I’ve caught mention of former Shiny operative Dave Perry off doing something for Acclaim, but hadn’t really paid too much attention other than reading about it on Blue’s News. Turns out what he’s doing is kind of interesting. From the Wired article “In-Game Ads Burrow Deeper” (Link):

Acclaim is about to take product placement to another level with its free, ad-supported massively multiplayer online games next year. Game industry veteran Dave Perry, who’s directing 2Moons for Acclaim and creating several additional MMO games, wants to open up the door for corporate-sponsored micro transactions.

“When you buy a virtual item, we’re going to do a search to see if any advertiser in real-time is willing to pick up the cost of that item,” said Perry. “If you want this sword, it would put up a message and ask if you would like Coca-Cola to buy this item for you.”

Perry said this business model makes the customer happy because they get the item for free and the corporate sponsor is happy because they’ve had a positive exchange with the consumer.

Less than an advergame; more than an in-game ad. And better than mere sponsorship. Clever. Slimey, but clever.

When I first read about Beck’s do-it-yourself CD art for his latest effort, The Information, in an article on Wired (Link), there was something about it that seemed off to me; something a little too… slick. Now, after simply seeing the image at the top of an entry on Design Observer (Link – I’ve not even read the post below it yet) showing the guts of the DIY insert, I realize what bothers me – and it’s no small thing.

Just so you’re aware, I like Beck’s music. I was one of those in the early 90’s playing the stuff that other designers in the office thought was “weird”. Stuff like Radio Head’s first CD. Cuts from sampler CD’s I’d get through magazine’s like Industrial Nation. And Beck struck a lot of the right chords with me. But I don’t know if I feel that way anymore; not after seeing what feels to me more like a gimmick than anything else.
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Second Life users have been itching for the expected seamless integration of the 2D internet with their 3D virtual world, but I’d venture it’s taking much longer than many expected. So far there has been discussion by Linden Lab (see earlier post on the uBrowser – reLink) and some interesting hacks (the most recent example of which I’m aware is the one by Amazonian Jeff Barr – Link), but nothing of what people really want: full, seamless, built-in, easy integration.

That said, 3pointD is reporting (Link) that Linden Lab is preparing to integrate webpages into user profiles. I have to admit feeling a little let down by this. It’s not like I look at profiles very much to start with, so this feels more like peering into someone’s private life than anything else. I don’t want to feel like an HP Chairman of the Board, y’know?

I think Mark Wallace may be correct in commenting that its biggest advantage might be to bloggers (like myself). There might be other advantages and I’m sure those will surface. We’ll just have to see how people integrate this new feature.

The only question I had was if links would work, and according to a comment on the Linden blog entry announcing this feature (Link), the answer to that is provided. “Yes, they will.”. That’s good. But in the meantime, I’m still waiting for the elusive web-on-a-prim.

Well here’s something I intend to take a closer look at when some of my current work eases off (hopefully today). C|Net is reporting (Link) on a virtual “Burning Man Earth” project which intends to create a virtual version of the annual event using Google Earth as the platform. From the article:

“We’ll be creating a map of the constellation of (each) year’s (Burning Man),” said Larry Harvey, Burning Man’s founder and director. “It doesn’t simply provide you with a vicarious spectacle, but rather a blueprint of the community itself in its most active manifestation.”

Wish I had time to dig a bit deeper and give out some details, but for anyone who wants to take a look for themselves, head over to the project website (Link) and download the goods.

{Image Copyright © 1989-2004 black rock city, llc – yep, it’s both incorporated and copyrighted. Weird, huh? So much for the whole hippie, counter-culture sensibility. That appears to have mostly gone up in smoke as documented by this especially disillusioned participant – Link}