Having captured the imaginations of online gamers and virtual world residents grid-wide, it appears as if there will be a announcement next Monday, Dec 19, regarding the opening of Space Resort & Club NEVERDIE, the $100,000 virtual space station purchased in late October by Miami-based, independent filmmaker (and still possible developer employee) Jon Jacobs (see my previous posts: Link1 and Link2). As indicated in earlier interviews, there’s also a Hotel NEVERDIE in the works in which players of the Project Entropia MMORPG can store their virtual goods while making use of the space station’s amenities. Apparently there’s also to be reserved suites in this virtual hotel for the real-life musicians and DJ’s being recruited to advertise/perform their music at live streaming-audio shows. I look forward to hearing which acts they book (and how they behave themselves in those hotel rooms).

The above images show early views of the virtual resort; taken from an article in the French magazine Libération (available as PDF files here: Link1 and Link2). The top image is a section of the space port itself. The bottom image is one of the space station’s biodomes where players will be able to hunt game and listen to live music.

I have to admit, I wonder if Jacobs has contacted Sony; he could be handing out Sony-branded listening devices that permitted visitors to listen (I’m not sure if that’s possible, but Sony can use all the good PR it can get right now… unless of course it backfires and they go off and secretly install some DRM code on those virtual devices).

{Image Copyright © 2005 Libération}