The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. CNET (USA) – WebGL powers 3D virtual world on the Web. “One of the obstacles to Second Life popularity is the fact that people must install specific software to visit the site. One of the promises of a 3D technology called WebGL is that such worlds could be drawn directly in a browser. Now a company called Katalabs, formed by a number of Stanford researchers, has done just that with a virtual world project called KataSpace. A version can be explored online with a browser such as Firefox 4 beta 7 (Windows | Mac | Linux) that has WebGL support. KataSpace uses the Web technologies to create a user interface for the open-source Sirikata platform for multiuser 3D world, Katalabs said in a blog post. The demonstration world is workable but primitive, with only two avatars to pick from, some jerky movement, and terrain that avatars walk through rather than over. But it does serve to show that WebGL is moving from concept to reality.”

2. San Jose Business Journal (USA) – IMVU is moving beyond virtual worlds, finding rapid growth. “IMVU Inc. has developed digital chat software that lets users all over the world meet and interact with each other in virtual space using stylized, animated 3D representations of themselves called avatars. Just don’t call it a virtual world. “We used to be a virtual world and talk about ourselves as such, but now we’re talking about ourselves as a social entertainment destination” said IMVU CEO Cary Rosenzweig. “People want entertainment. They want to dress up, they want to chat, but now our own users are saying, ‘What else can I do? What’s next that can keep me here?’” Answering that question is an important next step for IMVU, which grew its revenue by 657 percent in three years to $22.2 million in 2009, making the Palo Alto company one of the Silicon Valley’s quickest-growing companies.”

3. VentureBeat (USA) – Zynga links FarmVille and other games with American Express rewards. “Membership has its privileges — even in the virtual worlds of social games. Zynga, the maker of FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and other social games, is announcing today that you can use your rewards from American Express credit cards to buy virtual goods in its offerings. The strategic relationship is a first between a social game company and a major credit-card rewards program. The American Express Membership Rewards program gives rewards to cardholders in the form of points. Users who play Zynga can take their American Express points and spent them on virtual goods in increments that are as small as 200 points, which is enough to get you a $2 gift card that you can spend on items in the game. A purple cow in FarmVille, for instance, costs 540 American Express points.”

4. Saint City News (Canada) – Virtual hockey game gets kids online, on ice. “A St. Albert native is hoping to get kids in the game — both online and on the ice. Scott Rusnak is the creative director for Visimonde Inc., a company that specializes in online gaming and the production and design of virtual worlds. Later this month, the company plans to launch a private beta release of their new hockey-themed virtual game aimed at kids aged six to 12. These days, Rusnak is based in Scottsdale, Ariz., but even in the desert heat, he said he can’t get hockey out of his blood, and he’s getting more and more excited as the launch date gets closer. “It’s hard to sleep at night, I’m so excited,” Rusnak said. “It’s really fun.” In Rinksters, players can skate through an icy world while playing games, earning coins and items to customize their avatars, build trading cards and chat with other users.”

5. Huffington Post (USA) – Facebook Credits as New Real Currency? “Facebook credits. My definition is a virtual currency. Here is Facebook’s definition. In all transparency: I know of them but have not used them yet. I have personally used Skype credits — and also Google credits — as well as participated in various virtual worlds and made use of those virtual currencies — so I have some understanding at least. All of these are basically re-purposed financial transactions given a virtual edge, if you will. I read some of the history of virtual currencies — there have been many false starts — and some minor success stories like Linden Labs. But nothing on the scale of what Facebook might be able to do.”

6. Hypergrid Business (Hong Kong) – Corporate uptake of collaborative 3D spaces. “Much has been said in recent years regarding the benefits and substantial returns an organisation can achieve by integrating an Online 3D Environment into their everyday operations. Indeed, examples and demonstrations of the power and financial savings 3D collaboration can bring to businesses have been researched, developed, trialed and documented since the original conception of Virtual Reality; however it seems that a great many businesses are still either unaware of or are unwilling to tap into this potential. For those of us working with, or using Virtual Worlds in either a social, educational or development context to connect with others and share ideas, data and concepts, the possibilities this technology is able to offer is often immediately obvious whilst the hesitation from businesses to adopt these ideas is very much the opposite. It could be said that the reasons for the lack of corporate interest are as wide and varied as the uses for the technology itself, but there are some core elements which we believe have really hindered the mass uptake of immersive 3D spaces.”

7. My Fox Orlando (USA) – Military simulation being showcased. “The nations largest simulation show (I/ITSEC) returns to Orlando showcasing the latest technologies that are educating our youth and aiding our military and the crossover to commercial applications. As the nations hub for the simulation industry (one of the fastest growing sectors in the high tech arena), Orlando is home to companies, military simulation training commands and research institutes that are developing both nation-leading technologies and training systems for our military – areas of importance that are embedded in presidential priorities – as well as for many crossover applications to commercial industry in areas such as virtual worlds and medicine.”

8. Kotaku (Australia) – The Greatest World Of Warcraft Music Video Ever Made. “This is what happens when a 25-man Alliance raiding party sacks their own capital city – with rock. They may not have started the fire, but they have created one of the most beautiful videos I’ve ever seen. The Dark Endeavor guild on the Durotan World of Warcraft server has me seriously considering handing Blizzard money so I can change servers and sides, just on the off chance that I might witness a stunning spectacle like this as it happens. I can only imagine the amount of coordination this must have taken, between getting everyone in their places, timing the text to the song, and making sure the camera angles were perfect. It’s sure to spawn a wave of copycats, but none will be quite as impressive as this performance.”

9. Zippycart (USA) – Bigger than Godzilla! Farmville Takes Japan. “Zynga’s Facebook social game workhorse FarmVille will be launching in Japan early this month. Renamed “FarmVillage,” the social game will be released on Mixi, the most popular social network in Japan. Only a mobile version of the game will be available at first, however, which could have been an obstacle to integration, except that a majority of Mixi users access the site through their “feature phones.” How many users are there? Is there really a market for a social game like FarmVille/FarmVillage? Mixi reportedly has about 50 million user accounts, with about 15 million labeled as “regular users,” meaning that they check their accounts at least once a month. Compare this to Facebook’s 500 million regular users, which contribute to about 50 million regular Farmville users. This is actually down from around 80 million users at the height of its popularity. But still, capturing and keeping ten percent of Facebook’s fickle user base is no small feat.”

10. BBC News (UK) – World of Warcraft fans set for Cataclysm launch. “World of Warcraft (WoW) is about to undergo one of the biggest changes in its six-year history. The third expansion for the game, called Cataclysm, will be available from 7 December. As its name implies the expansion re-makes the world in which the game is set and rips up the geography of many familiar places. It also introduces two new races to the game, increases the level cap and makes many other changes. Shops around the world were planning to stay open at midnight on 6 December to let eager players get their hands on Cataclysm. Blizzard had also set up a system that allowed people to pre-load the expansion pack by downloading it so they can play it as soon as possible on 7 December.”