Continuing on the theme of massively multiplayer worlds that people don’t pay attention to, here’s a nice Boston Globe article about Webkinz. The gimmick here is that you buy a plush toy, and it comes with a login code for your virtual apartment, complete with a virtual pet version of the toy you bought. In fact, the toy is actually your subscription fee: each one you buy gives you access for a year.
Enough with the hype, you say. How about figures? Try 2.5m uniques in December.
This is embarrassing — the gold farmer and RMT companies in Korea, such as ItemBay and Item PlayForum, have formed an industry association in order to have more leverage with the Korean government, given its recent moves towards regulating digital asset trading. This means, I think, that they beat the actual game companies to it. It’s called the “Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association,” and the CEO of ItemBay will be its first head.
Hurricanes in Scandinavia. Ice in Austin. Snow in Malibu. And now, an inch and a half of snow in Tucson and Phoenix.
I think we broke it.
Jason Miller has an article which is mostly about whether 2007 will be the year of the online game — apparently he’s the initial source of the idea that Nabeel Hyatt was talking about.
What fascinates me, though, is the difference between the list of top games based on market share, versus the top games based on time spent. Time spent, of course, speaks to monetizing via ads. So, the first list is already heavy on titles that the mainstream online game industry tends to ignore or minimize the importance of. Check out the second list and tell me how many of them you even know?
