1. MCV (UK) – World’s first virtual football world. “Football Superstars is a free to play football MMO, published by UK Company CyberSports. It is the world’s first virtual footballing world – an interactive online virtual world designed for football fans to live a top footballer’s lifestyle and is due for release in late 2008. Once downloaded, players re-create themselves online as a footballer and then have free reign in the state of the art interactive virtual world. Players can play their way from three-a-side up to eleven-a-side matches, gaining attributes and skills in order to specialise in their chosen playing position.”

2. The London Free Press (Canada) – Public health enters virtual world. “The young denizens of Whyville never saw the dreaded Whyflu coming — though in retrospect, the flu clinic that mysteriously popped up in their virtual world a few weeks earlier should have been a clue. Avatars who hadn’t received a flu shot started coming down with the Whyflu, sneezing every time they tried to communicate with their online friends.”

3. HR Zone (UK) – The virtual world of recruiting. “The use of virtual worlds as a recruitment tool has been much hyped of late – TMP hosted the UK’s first ever ‘virtual world’ careers fair last year; Kelly Services launched its own island in Second Life; and GCHQ, the government intelligence organisation, has been advertising in online gaming to tempt web-savvy graduates to become spies. But how is it possible and what does it mean to use virtual worlds as a recruitment tool? Is this wave of technology really going to dwarf social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace? Is it merely an over-hyped media gimmick or the next evolution of the web?”

4. BBC News – Web worlds ‘useful’ for children. “Virtual worlds can be valuable places where children rehearse what they will do in real life, reveals research. They are also a “powerful and engaging” alternative to more passive pursuits such as watching TV, said the BBC-sponsored study. The research was done with children using the BBC’s Adventure Rock virtual world, aimed at those aged 6-12.”

5. Computerworld (Norway) – When virtual worlds die. “Think pulling the plug on a relatively small and slightly aged social virtual world is easy? That’s what Disney apparently thought, when it announced plans to shutter its free Virtual Magic Kingdom service. Even though the VMK userbase is small (just over one thousand were online when I checked this morning, and now almost 4000 are online at 7:30 in the evening, eastern time) they are extremely dedicated, and are taking news of the closure quite badly, according to the Wall Street Journal and other sources. There have been petitions, angry blog posts, and even a tiny real-world demonstration outside of Disney HQ.”

6. The Associated Press – Researchers teach ‘Second Life’ avatar to think. “Edd Hifeng barely merits a second glance in “Second Life.” A steel-gray robot with lanky limbs and linebacker shoulders, he looks like a typical avatar in the popular virtual world.
But Edd is different. His actions are animated not by a person at a keyboard but by a computer. Edd is a creation of artificial intelligence, or AI, by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, who endowed him with a limited ability to converse and reason. It turns out “Second Life” is more than a place where pixelated avatars chat, interact and fly about. It’s also a frontier in AI research because it’s a controllable environment where testing intelligent creations is easier.”

7. The Age – Second Life provides virtual classrooms. “Two Queensland universities are using an online virtual world to reach students. The University of Queensland has commissioned a builder to construct a virtual Great Hall on the three-dimensional online virtual world Second Life – where millions of “residents” from across the world build their own homes, go shopping, go on holiday and interact with each other.”

8. Times Online (UK) – The office psychologist. Second (corporate) Life. “The boundaries between work and personal life have been blurring for years, but the next generation of office technology will mush them into a social gloop. Software designers have leapt on to the social networking bandwagon to make communicating with colleagues more fun. After all, what’s the difference between sitting in front of a screen updating your Facebook biog and sitting in front of a screen typing marketing reports?”

9. The Age – Kremlin critic gets genital reminder about who’s in charge. “rmer world chess champion turned Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov has been on the receiving end of an unconventional prank launched by his political foes – one that draws its inspiration from the virtual world of Second Life. Kasparov was attending a weekend meeting of a coalition of opposition groups which had assembled in Moscow to launch a symbolic alternative parliament. As he was addressing the gathering of more than 500 delegates, he was buzzed by a remote-controlled flying phallus.”

10. IGN – Age of Conan First Impressions. “You may have noticed the lack of a review for Funcom’s Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures on IGN. It’s not because we’ve been avoiding play time. Since the game launched in the United States on Tuesday, we’ve been slugging our way through its content every day. The simple fact of the matter is games of the massively multiplayer online genre are enormous; they’re meant to be played and enjoyed for years. It’s not exactly a quick, efficient process when trying to decide how to deliver any kind of definitive word.”

1. International Herald Tribune (France) – Ikea and EA strike real deal in virtual world. “Last week, Electronic Arts, the video game publisher, announced an agreement with Ikea in which its furniture would be featured in “The Sims,” a series of games that allows players to simulate the actions of a fictional family. For around $20, players will be able to buy a “stuff pack” that will let them fill out their Sims abodes with Ikea designs.”

2. ZDNet – Nortel Demos Virtual World Platform. “Nortel demoed a virtual world prototype here in a Ottowa at a day long event. Dubbed Web Alive, the virtual world is the first project to come out of Nortel new research effort that imposes a VC-like model for funding research. Like other virtual worlds, Web Alive allows avatars to interact with one another in a virtual landscape. Web Alive differentiates itself through the use of proximity based voice and a thin client.”

3. Times Online (UK) – The latest trend in medicine – virtual reality. “Imagine the scenario: you’re sitting on a plane, strapped in and ready for take-off. But you’re terrified of flying and are suddenly hit by an uncontrollable urge to spring from your seat and run screaming out of the aircraft.”

4. Information Week – Most Business-Launched Virtual Worlds Fail, Gartner Says. “The vast majority of virtual world projects launched by businesses fail within 18 months, but the impact of the collaborationtechnology on organizations could eventually be as big as the Internet, a market research firm said this week. Fully 90% of business forays into virtual worlds fail because organizations focus on the technology rather than on understanding the needs of the employees using it, Gartner said.”

5. Magical Mountain – Disney Interactive Studios Launch Virtual World For Nintendo DS. “On Thursday, May 15th, 2008, Disney Interactive Studios formally released DGamer, an avatar based community for Nintendo DS owners. It is a free service offered to US residents. “DGamer is our opportunity to work with Disney Interactive to make sure we have this connected environment and to make sure we reach our guests wherever they are, including a player on a Disney Interactive DS title talking to a player in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean Online”, says Paul Yanover, executive vice president and managing director of Disney Online.”

6. Canada.com – Virtual world disputes landing in real-world courts. “Some very real money was on the line when a Pennsylvania lawyer recently sued a San Francisco-based company over a online property deal that went sour. The real estate at the centre of the dispute was entirely imaginary. The lawyer, Marc Bragg, was seeking thousands in damages for breach of contract and unfair trade practices after he purchased virtual property in Second Life, a 3-D world that exists only online. And when owner Linden Lab terminated his account, he sued. The dispute was eventually settled out of court in a confidential agreement.”

7. Law.com – ‘Virtual Law’: It’s Not Your Father’s Law. “”Virtual law,” as specialists call it, is not your father’s law. And according to some aspiring lawyers, it is the next big thing. Of the 50 or so tech-savvy lawyers around the country conversant in the language of orcs, avatars and toons, Brian Pyne, 23, says, “They all know each other. I’m trying to become one of them.”

8. WIVB.com (USA) – Welcome to the World of Warcraft! “It’s one of the hottest video games worldwide. Some might even call it, an addiction. Welcome to the World of Warcraft! It’s not a secret society, but if you enter it, you may not want to leave. Jonathan Weiss said, “It’s like digital crack, pretty much.” Mark Preston: “It really is addicting. If you start playing, you’ll be hooked.”

9. Wall Street Journal – My Virtual Summer Job. “While his friends scramble for jobs flipping burgers or bagging groceries this summer, 18-year-old Mike Everest will be working as a trader in the fantasy Web world of Entropia Universe, buying and selling virtual animal skins and weapons. His goods exist only online, but his earnings are real. In the past four years, he’s made $35,000. Mr. Everest, of Durango, Colo., is among a new breed of young entrepreneurs seeking their fortune online in imaginary worlds.”

10. Foreign Policy – Fake China. “China is about to re-create itself on a massive scale. This July, the Beijing Cyber Recreation District (CRD), a state-owned enterprise, will launch the first of several “virtual Chinas” planned for popular online realms known as massive multiplayer online role-playing games. The first “virtual China,” which they call “Dotman,” will be found inside Entropia Universe, a 700,000-player gaming world run by the Swedish technology firm Mindark. Capable of hosting 150 million avatars, or virtual citizens, it will be the largest virtual nation in the world.”

1. The Chicago Tribune – Virtual dinner and a movie? Simulated dating ranks grow. “Paula Weisz’s favorite place to take her dates is the Millennium bar, where she can sip a glass of red wine and have a good conversation. She typically goes on one date per week with men she meets online at OmniDate.com.”

2. The Edmonton Journal (Canada) – Plug ‘n’ play. “Cyber sex isn’t just the late-night pastime of techno-tarts, sex addicts and pedophiles. Today, even the military thinks getting your virtual groove on is a matter of national security, says the creator of HighJoy.com, a virtual world where your vibrator meets your USB cable. “We create the technology that allows you to control another person’s vibrator over the Internet,” says Amir Vatan, co-founder of HighJoy Products.”

3. Linux Insider – Not Much Life in China’s Virtual Worlds. “Last November, Procter & Gamble’s Vidal Sassoon launched with much fanfare its first hair salon in China’s virtual world. There was even a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony. However, today the VS salon in HiPiHi, China’s oldest and largest virtual world (a simulated online environment where users adopt identities known as avatars), sits mostly empty save for the occasional visitor.”

4. Los Angeles Times – A Second Life for corporate America. “To save money in these tough times, universities, conference planners and global firms have started holding gatherings for far-flung employees and students in the online world known as Second Life. Sun Microsystems Inc., a Silicon Valley tech company, has only one rule: Employees should show up looking like humans.”

5. Science News – Scientists get a 2nd Life. “To track down neuroscientist Corey Hart, you could stop by his laboratory, located on the second floor of Drexel University’s medical building in Philadelphia. Or, you could visit the lab of Luciftias Neurocam, located in the virtual world of Second Life. Luciftias is Hart’s digital alter ego, or avatar. Like his real-life counterpart, Luciftias tracks the twitches of frogs’ muscles to find clues to the spinal cord’s ability to control movement.”

6. Gamasutra – GFH: Neils Clark On Moving Beyond ‘Game Addiction’. “Following his Gamasutra feature on the subject, writer and researcher Neils Clark spoke at the ongoing Games for Health conference in Baltimore on game addiction. In his talk at the conference, he covered the perceived problems, a run-down on why people might get addicted, and some proactive measures that developers can use to combat addictive behavior in the future.”

7. Reuters / Second Life – EVE Online experiments with virtual democracy. “It can be difficult for the most well-meaning of virtual worlds companies to understand what their customers want. But CCP, the company behind the sci-fi world of EVE Online, thinks they’ve solved the riddle: have users elect their own representatives. Sixty-one candidates are vying for nine spots in open voting on EVE’s website. The top vote getters will become the official representatives of EVE’s player community, and flown to Reykjavik, Iceland to share their thoughts on the game at the company’s headquarters.”

8. World Changing – Gold Farmers. “Gold Farmers are young people who earn their living by playing MMORPG games. They acquire (“farm”) items of value within a game, usually by carrying out in-game actions repeatedly to maximize gains, sometimes by using a program such as a bot or automatic clicker.”

9. Reason Magazine – Virtually Free. “In February, subscribers to the virtual world of Second Life awoke to a surprise: The garish, skyscraper-sized billboards they had learned to tolerate as part of their three-dimensional landscape were about to be vaporized, the site’s creators announced.”

10. Accountancy Age – DO enters Second Life. “BDO Stoy Hayward has launched on internet virtual world Second Life in a bid to open up its services to a broader audience. Its launch of an ‘island’ on the world will enable the firm to holding meetings online, presentations and events for staff and enhance recruitment options by engaging with a broader, international audience.”