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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land A few weeks ago, Bonnie Ruberg wrote about a few gripes with Google Lively‘s user interface and chat system; Mark Young, the user experience designer for Lively, quickly got back regarding the complaints and the two shared an interesting little Q&A on future plans for making Lively more user friendly. On the topic of what bits of the interface are still being tweaked, Young had this to say:
We mentioned Arden, the university-design MMO, a few times; a working paper has just been released that looks at economic behaviour in MMOs using the game. The interesting thing here isn’t so much the fact that people replicate real-world behaviours online (in this case, they purchased less of an item when it was more expensive), but that it’s yet another piece of a growing literature explaining the utility of virtual worlds in actual research:
A new report has been released on the utility of ‘serious games’ and in-game marketing in virtual spaces like Second Life; OTOinsights, the research arm of One to One Interactive, takes a look at the success (or lack thereof) of marketing attempts by major firms. They describe the results as ‘uneven’ and make some suggestions on how companies can better utilise virtual spaces to pitch their product(s):
Those concerned with ‘virtual worlds’ — as opposed to ‘games’ — spend a lot of time contemplating the role of virtual worlds in a wider market; over at Terra Nova, Bruce Damer looks at the potential future of virtual worlds, which could be a lot bigger than most people imagine. Some potential answers to keep the industry growing? Piggybacking off platforms that are currently growing at a rapid clip, making sure virtual worlds are ‘worth’ something — perhaps some as of yet undiscovered little platform will be the key:
Sony’s virtual world Home service is still not open to the public. And it’s beta is closed to only select people, a group that doesn’t include the press. But I recently found myself in front of a PlayStation 3 that had the Home Beta running on it and decided to give it a try.
Now I know why they’re not inviting the press yet. Home is still in its good-in-theory phase. In execution it’s still lacking. I’m all for Betas having rough edges. That’s the point. But I was surprised that the Home Beta doesn’t seem to have that something special — the thing that yet makes it obvious it’s going to be a hit.
Sorry for the vague terms, but Home is a vague kind of thing. Are you supposed to have fun with it? Or, like most other interfaces, just take pleasure if it works smoothly?
User generated content is something of a hot issue, with even universities like Stanford getting in on the game of how to make it easier and more intuitive for people to make their own stuff for games. At the recent Social Gaming Summit, a couple of industry types got together to talk about user generated content in virtual worlds, and why the model works for their games (such as Habbo Hotel or Puzzle Pirates):
Linden Labs is celebrating the five year anniversary of the launch of their virtual world Second Life, and you’re all invited, even if most of you won’t come! In honour of this milestone, the Lindens will be holding a two-week long Virtual World Fair, complete with parties, roundtable discussions, and exhibits that highlight the genitalia perversion creativity of the world’s residents.
Things kick off June 23rd with a keynote speech from Linden Founder and Chairman Philip Rosedale and newly appointed CEO Mark Kingdon, both of whom better have some pretty kick-arse avatars. If they don’t have at least jet packs and glowing eyes I’m laughing them off the stage. Cue my character’s temporary ban in 3…2…1.
Hit the jump for details on some of the milestones that SL will be celebrating, or visit the official site for a schedule of events.
And happily, no one was on hand to grief it. A 41-year-old Japanese man who suffers from a progressive muscle disease that has left him almost totally paralysed, moved his Second Life character about a virtual environment using his brain waves, reports Agence France-Presse.
The experiment is significant because the signals his brain sent to move the character came from the man imagining that he was walking. He also used a microphone to meet and converse with another Second Lifer. Then a swarm of flying penises surrounded him and the appalled researchers. OK, just kidding about that.
In a somewhat bizarre interview with The Times Online, Nancy Smith (head of the Sims division at EA) said that ” in light of the popularity of virtual worlds … the Sims may soon become a multi-player game”. The article fails to mention the failed experiment of The Sims Online, later rebranded to “EA-Land” and scheduled for closure in August. But Smith talks of potential new (and old) modes for online play:
Ms Smith was adamant, however, that The Sims would not break wholly with its past, and would continue to require players to buy and install software on their machines before being able to play. Some virtual worlds, such as Club Penguin and Habbo Hotel, can be played entirely within a web browser ….
The Sims franchise would also continue to explore new revenue models that have become associated with virtual worlds, she said, including sponsorship and the sale of ‘virtual goods’, as on the fashion-focused virtual world for teens, Stardoll.com.
It’s a really odd interview in light of the online element that already fell flat on its face; maybe second time will be the charm for the Sims?
The Sims prepare for a sociable future [The Times via Worlds In Motion]
While Second Life is still a media darling (though I think the general press is down in number of articles touting this new! and amazing! and wonderful! virtual space since this time last year), Bruce Damer has an interesting piece up over at Terra Nova: are virtual worlds facing a serious downturn in the near future? I suspect the comments section will get more interesting than the body of the post, which goes through eight potential pitfalls:
