Tag Archives: #metaverse

Virtual Careers and “Cyber-Accesorising”

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Within the gaming community the concept of a well-known competitive game player cutting deals with sponsors isn’t new. Organizations like the Cyberathlete Professional League and names like Kornelia (the “Queen of Quake”) are already well-embedded in how many of us think of the videogame industry – it’s not just for teenagers anymore (which statistical research has already confirmed). So when BusinessWeek online starts off an article talking about how some videogame player is raking in the dough, the question running through my mind isn’t “What’s the big deal?”, it’s “When will it cease being a big deal?”

To their credit, BusinessWeek doesn’t dwell on that morsel, which to me means the word is finally getting out. That then gets us to the meat of the story: “cyber-accesorising”[sic]. From BusinessWeek’s article:

Kart Rider’s online store offers more than 100 digital items such as special $1 paint jobs and tools like 40¢ balloons that can protect a player’s car by lifting it above the track when an opponent launches a missile (90¢). The most expensive car will set you back $9.80 (it handles a bit better than one costing $1.50).

“Most of my classmates play Kart Rider, and I want to look cool in the game,” says 9-year-old Park Kun Hee, who recently bought an avatar costing $2.50, a car for $3.50, goggles for $2.50 (to see through smoke thrown off by opponents), and more. His father cut him off after he spent $150 on the digital stuff.

In case anyone isn’t following this, we’re talking volume; the very thing that made Wal*Mart the world’s 800-lb retail gorilla. So while BusinessWeek might be reporting on a company doing this today, it’d be really simple for an individual to do it in the very near future (and some already are) – especially with Sony and Microsoft building the virtual stores. Considering the volumes, I’m predicting we’ll be reading about some instant millionaire soon. Very soon.

(Does anyone remember the stories about kids running up phone bills when phone sex hit the scene? And the more recent stories about kids running up cell phone bills? Get ready for the news stories.)

Once More Into The Breach

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I’ve been following a post by Cory Ondrejka over on Terra Nova (a monster thread) which might interest a few (perhaps a very few) of you. It’s basically a re-engagement of the “Text Worlds vs 3D Worlds” … *ahem* … discussion. It’s pretty low-level stuff which, to be honest, gives me a headache; but if you have an interest – and some extra aspirin – head on over for some gnarly virtual world theoretical banter.

Tracking Johnny

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Clickable Culture points to and has an entry on an AdAge article (registration req’d) discussing the marketing power inherent in Microsoft’s new XBox 360 console. From their post:

Unlike any other in-game marketing network, the new Xbox Live could offer marketers data on every player’s move through the Xbox Live system, every gaming and lifestyle preference, and every purchase.

Not news, but as expected, this new capability is moving into the mainstream discourse. When AdAge or another publication explains how vectors work and how it’s possible to “sense” what a player is doing in the game (e.g. looking at their billboard for 12.93252 seconds), then let’s see how excited they all really get… beyond the obvious numbers. One guy, Jamie Berger from IGN, has some good advice to all the drooling hawkers out there though:

Marketers need to tailor their approach and make it special and unique to the platform “not just an ad, but a brand experience,?” Mr. Berger said. “They need to use the medium in a way that adds value to the consumer and show that they’re embracing the gaming culture.”

(Edit: there’s also another article on AdAge titled “AdAge.com’s Advergame Chronicles – Tracking the Rise of a New Marketing Venue“, but that’s paid content, sorry. I’m cheap.)

There’s Blood On The SLine

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SLSalon virtual audience

Sometimes the bleeding edge gets a little bloody. Such was the case last night with Accelerating Change’s monthly virtual conference held inside Second Life, a commercially-run virtual world. This Future Salon meeting was only the second in what will be a continuing series, and as such it’s setting some precedents… at least within the Second Life simulation. For this meeting, two new services were being introduced/ tested/ attempted: VoIP within the Second Life world, and streaming video to the web from within the simulation.

Unfortunately there were problems and the event went into the kind of chaotic spiral one might expect with so many twitchy-finger avatars in one place. Due to those difficulties the first speaker, Clark Aldrich, was unable to properly present as the delays cut into his time (hopefully he’ll be back). It did finally get back on track in time for Dr. Julian Lombardi to give a pseudo-talk/Q&A on Croquet, the open-source cyberspace project (I owe that to both the circumstances and to people not doing their homework before asking questions easily answered by a quick review of the project website). However, Betsy Book finished off the event with a brief but interesting talk on virtual brands. I’ve been planning on writing a piece on the subject so the additional information was of particular interest (and I believe her talk will be available online in the near future).

The highlight of the night, however, might have been when the video stream first aired as my mother called to say she saw the video; after which I stood up so she could see “me”. What some of us think nothing of, the majority of people in the real world find almost beyond comprehension. Not so long ago, this would have been called witchcraft.

The New Media World

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nwnfuturist101

This should come as no surprise, but many of my entries are less direct feeds of net news and more indirect mash-ups of stuff I assimilate, even if the additive is seemingly minor. Getting mixed in with the MSM articles I consume – aside from other articles – are things I read on blogs, conversations in which I engage on net forums, personal emails, and increasingly the experiences I have within the Second Life (SL) virtual simulation.

Last night my little virtual plot played host to a “pre-SL Future Salon” meet-up in preparation for an in-world (and hopefully web-streamed) mini-conference – the first in a series of virtual conferences intended to bring people like myself together to discuss and collaborate on any number of projects. For a “pre-meet” it was surprisingly well-attended. And those in attendance ranged from social anthropologists studying players to casual SL passers-by who were probably being studied. We had an SL journalist and real-world (RL) columnist among us. A RL reality show producer in Los Angeles and a leading member of the cutting edge machinima community in New York (if I recall correctly). Not to be left out, there were SL designers to mirror my real-world design credentials. And of course coders and more.

When that many people with varying talents and expertise and connections come together, it’s difficult to not be aware of the potential for collaboration and cross-pollinization. Last night during the meet, I knew I’d be posting an entry on our virtual get together, and while I wanted to raise that particular point, I wasn’t sure my entry today would be more than just posting a link to some other blog entry (namely the organizer’s, which is here, or the SL journalist’s, which is here). However, having just read two articles something clicked.

The first article, “Teenagers Struggle With Privacy, Security Issues“, over on the SecurityFocus website (linked from Wired), included this bit:

I think it is hard for the parents and educators because we are moving at a different pace than they are… no offense,” said Elizabeth. “It feels like we are done and on to the next thing by the time other people are aware of it.

The second article is an excellent piece over on BusinessWeek online, “Blogs Will Change Your Business“. I highly recommend people read it.

What struck me was that while reading the BW article, I found myself thinking about Elizabeth and her comment – a nice reminder of what most have us have known for years: kids are often more comfortable with new technologies than parents. Taken together with what I witnessed last night, I can only wonder when virtual spaces will get a similar write-up on BW, since so many of the early blogs I recall reading were written by teens. I do suspect it’s sooner rather than later. Why? Here’s a few reasons:

1) Recent news in broadband circles is that DSL is starting to decouple from regular phone services in the U.S. which should reduce service fees and make broadband more accessible. And of course, high-speed connections are exploding in Asia. Add in more efficient compression algorithms and you get content moving around very quickly. One way or another, immersive worlds will find their way into homes.

2) The spin-off of There into a new company with a fresh infusion of capital (and doubtlessly able to benefit from the former parent company’s military work), reinvigorates the competitive game. Without There, non-MMORPG sims would lose a prime motivator. With There, we – as consumers/users – can expect better and more capable simulations from all developers.

3) The continued upgrading of Second Life (including streaming video and external links to webpages) and the reportedly rapid growth in subscribers over the last few months (with the current goal of reaching 1M by 2007 reportedly on track); coupled also with an 1100% growth in the virtual GDP according to CEO Philip Linden (meaning players currently purchase goods from other players at the rate of $80 US per month).

4) My personal observation that many SLer’s are of a demographic that would be very attractive, and surprising, to some companies (especially low-tech commodity manufacturers who rely less on “fashion” than, for example, cell phone manufacturers – although Motorola could easily market inside SL).

5) Advances in videogame technology that filter into regular VR sims either through code or through the hardware requirements many new games force upon their users (no doubt a significant number of PC owners upgraded for Doom3 or Half-Life 2, and those bleeding edge players are the best advertising money can buy).

6) Linden Labs recent opening of a “teen grid” for younger users – in at least some recognition that their future subscribers are currently underage and not able to “play” Second Life on the main grid.

7) The increased appearance of “farm workers” in Second Life (after apparently having become common in most MMORPGs). Whether or not “bosses” want their “players” to learn savvy capitalist techniques in a virtual world (and potentially gain too much knowledge) and continue to expand into non-game sims is a different issue. If they pull their farmers for that reason, I expect they’ll realize they could be making “real” money in other ways. Having worked with Chinese companies, I’ve found them to be very opportunistic!

8) And of course, the recent legitimization of virtual economics by both Microsoft and Sony.

No predictions, but don’t be surprised if things move faster than expected. After all, it’s not like VR hasn’t been a topic for years – including apparently being Timothy Leary’s future drug of choice in the mid-90’s. It’s just been dormant. Waiting for the world’s connectivity to catch up. I’d say we’re almost there.