Sony redesigns PlayStation Home as a social gaming hub
Sony is showing off a major redesign of PlayStation Home. The site originally launched in 2008 as a virtual world and is now becoming a hub for social gaming.
The redesign is aimed at jumping on the big trend in online games: social games with free-to-play business models, where users play for free and pay real money for virtual goods. This is the kind of gamble that Sony needs to make in order to hang … Continue Reading
Blue Mars Lite takes 3D avatars to Google Street View
Virtual worlds have had a tough time adapting to the popularity of social networks. Blue Mars, a gorgeous 3D virtual world created by Avatar Reality, has failed to catch a mass audience since it started an open beta in the fall of 2009.
But the Honolulu-based company is still looking for ways to find a bigger audience. Now it is launching the open beta for Blue Mars Lite, a version of its virtual world that … Continue Reading
Sony's new version of PlayStation Home virtual world goes live Wednesday
Sony’s PlayStation Home virtual world for PlayStation 3 gamers will get a makeover tonight and re-open Wednesday morning.
Version 1.5 of PlayStation Home will introduce new technologies that third-party game developers can exploit. Sony promises the world will be “bigger and better” than ever. Home is a virtual world like Second Life where users can create their own avatars, or virtual characters, and wander around virtual spaces. One of the things that Sony is doing … Continue Reading
Dutch firm Eccky grows a new virtual game world for kids
Virtual worlds for kids are kind of out of fashion among entrepreneurs. Big companies such as Disney own a lot of the market with game worlds such as Club Penguin.
But Eccky has carved out a nice space in the market with its virtual game world for children in the Netherlands. It launched in the spring of 2010 on Hyves, a leading social network in the Netherlands with more than 10 million members, or twice … Continue Reading
DEMO: Next Island opens time travel for its virtual world
Next Island is one of 53 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Spring 2011 event taking place this week in Palm Desert, Calif. After our selection, the companies pay a fee to present. Our coverage of them remains objective.
Virtual worlds haven’t fared well as users migrate to social networks. But that hasn’t stopped David Post from launching Next Island. Today at DEMO, the company is formally launching an awareness campaign for … Continue Reading
Is your avatar hot or not? Blue Mars iPhone app will let others vote
The Hot or Not web site was an early web sensation when it debuted in 2000, letting you rate how attractive women or men were with a simple voting system. Now Avatar Reality, the maker of the Blue Mars virtual world, let’s iPhone users vote on how hot, or not, your avatar is.
This is an attempt to snare an audience for a sophisticated simulation experience by creating a lighthearted and entertaining lightweight app. That’s … Continue Reading
FunGoPlay launches virtual-world sports, real-world sports gear for kids
FunGoPlay is announcing today it is creating a sports virtual world for kids — a tough bet because virtual words are on the wane. But it is also partnering with toy maker EB Brands to create related sports gear in the real world.
The hybrid plan that combines an online business with real-world toys shows how companies are betting bigger in order to get new game properties off the ground in a crowded market.
The … Continue Reading
Linden Lab gets second new CEO of the year for Second Life
Linden Lab, creator of the Second Life virtual world, has hired Rod Humble as its new chief executive.
Humble is a veteran of Electronic Arts, where he served as executive vice president for the EA Play label and ran The Sims business. He has an impressive background in games, but Second Life has a lot of problems to overcome.
The company is fighting to hang on to users for its deep and engaging virtual world, … Continue Reading
Next Island launches its time traveler's virtual world
After more than 2.5 years in the making, Next Island is quietly launching its ambitious virtual world with a time travel theme.
The brainchild of serial entrepreneur David Post, the new world is now available for people to visit and is getting a once-over from journalists. By January, Post will trumpet the site to consumers at large. The enterprise is a test of whether virtual worlds have a place in the modern landscape of gaming, … Continue Reading
Social entertainment world IMVU expands to Europe
Social entertainment firm IMVU is launching a big expansion in Europe today as it unveils new versions in seven languages. With IMVU, users create their own 3D character, or avatar, and can then meet people, chat, create virtual goods and share them, and play games.
The company is one of the few surviving virtual world startups that have grown a big audience and generated a lot of revenue. Keeping the growth going isn’t easy. But … Continue Reading
IMVU shifts from virtual world to social games
In a major strategic pivot, IMVU is shifting away from its virtual world roots to social games and entertainment.
In doing so, it is swimming in the same stream as companies that are adapting their businesses to cash in on the hot social gaming and social networking trends. IMVU will offer 75 games from three partners to its community of more than 50 million registered users.
IMVU is partnering with game companies Viximo (whose Top … Continue Reading
Watch out, Disney, Fantage doubles its growth for kids virtual world
Virtual worlds for kids have been volatile during the recession. Some have come and gone. Some have declined. So it’s worth noting that Fantage, a virtual world for kids who like playing games and staging fashion shows, has doubled its audience in the past year.
The Fort Lee, N.J.-based company now has 3.3 million unique visitors a month, compared to 1.5 million nearly a year ago. To date, it has had 7.7 million registered users, … Continue Reading
Intel and Nokia launch joint research on mobile 3D virtual worlds
Smartphones have barely entered the 3D age, but Nokia and Intel are already racing ahead to do research on enabling 3D virtual worlds on mobile computing platforms.
The two companies are announcing today a research center (pictured below) at the University of Oulu in Oulu, Finland, that will work on the technology required to make the mobile 3D virtual world possible.
Heikki Huomo, director of the university’s center for internet excellence, said in a press … Continue Reading
Sony's alliance with Codename to generate new games for Sony Home virtual world
Sony is announcing a deal with indie video-game label Codename to bring a series of independently developed social video games to the Sony Home virtual world on the PlayStation 3.
Codename will work with indie developers from around the world to create exclusive new titles for Sony’s Home, which has 14 million registered users. It’s part of Sony’s multi-year effort to turn its virtual world for gamers into a social gaming hub.
“With this announcement, … Continue Reading
Woozworld raises $3M to expand virtual world for tweens
Sony is announcing a deal with indie video-game label Codename to bring a series of independently developed social video games to the Sony Home virtual world on the PlayStation 3.
Codename will work with indie developers from around the world to create exclusive new titles for Sony’s Home, which has 14 million registered users. It’s part of Sony’s multi-year effort to turn its virtual world for gamers into a social gaming hub.
“With this announcement, … Continue Reading
Virtual worlds recede, but Second Life keeps growing
Sony is announcing a deal with indie video-game label Codename to bring a series of independently developed social video games to the Sony Home virtual world on the PlayStation 3.
Codename will work with indie developers from around the world to create exclusive new titles for Sony’s Home, which has 14 million registered users. It’s part of Sony’s multi-year effort to turn its virtual world for gamers into a social gaming hub.
“With this announcement, … Continue Reading
Virtual world co., Multiverse, raises $850,000 more in debt
Sony is announcing a deal with indie video-game label Codename to bring a series of independently developed social video games to the Sony Home virtual world on the PlayStation 3.
Codename will work with indie developers from around the world to create exclusive new titles for Sony’s Home, which has 14 million registered users. It’s part of Sony’s multi-year effort to turn its virtual world for gamers into a social gaming hub.
“With this announcement, … Continue Reading
