I always enjoy Regina Lynn’s column over on Wired. But today’s article, “Coming Soon: Online Sex Games“, has me wondering if she’s been in There or Second Life. The closest she gets to either, as far as I can tell, is when she uses the catch-all MMPORG. Does anyone know? Because this specific distinction of creating “games” has me as confused as when I asked why anyone would bother with Virtual Eve. Maybe someone just needs to create a “game” inside Second Life.
reBang
I have been in Second Life; I know of There, but haven’t joined. The difference is that Second Life is not marketed or designed specifically as “a sex game,” whereas the games I mentioned are going for the AO rating and marketing themselves as places to have cybersex. Both are also reaching out to women — Spend The Night’s CEO says all marketing dollars are spent on attracting women, the men will follow — which Second Life doesn’t do. I think SL appeals equally to men and women, but it doesn’t seem to market itself in “women’s” media.
Thanks for the clarification. That’s an interesting point. Considering the seemingly meandering path Linden Lab’s public relations journey has sometimes taken (they now actively encourage “resident” suggestions on their Second Life forum: “Please use this forum to post PR story suggestions.“), perhaps that’s exactly what they should be doing: marketing SL in “women’s” media. In fact, that’s so far afield from the traditional marketing effort, it might better align with all the possibilities in Second Life that they continue to emphasize.
Interestingly enough, marketing for women is a pretty risky endeavor. The “pinking” of games seems to split the market right down the middle. I’ve been here at the Women’s Games Conference this week and the panels seemed split right down the middle on the matter. Remember, aiming for women means you’re aiming for *some* women. A virtual world has the option of aiming for ALL women, assuming the UI is easy enough to use.
Also: MMOrgy is a new site on the NP network dedicated to covering sex in VWs and MMOs… http://www.mmorgy.com
“MMORGY”. Hmmmm. I wonder if now is a good time to say that “reBang” isn’t referring to that second special visit in the night.