Cyworld going 3d?
(Visited 7395 times) Game talk
Nov 212007
So sayeth Virtual Worlds News, based on a Google translation of an article.
The questions are where and why. Such a move may make sense in Korea, where a number of factors make it a much easier sell:
- massive penetration into the market, which creates a built-in audience
- widespread use of ActiveX controls, which means little consumer opposition to downloads of plugins
- higher-speed connectivity, which means downloads are far less of a concern
Here? Probably less sense, given that the adoption of Cyworld hasn’t set the country on fire. On the other hand, perhaps the logic is that this market demands higher quality visual experiences. We’ll have to wait and hear more.
5 Responses to “Cyworld going 3d?”
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While they could, why should they? 3D will radically increase their costs, but is highly unlikely to bring in more revenues. Also, network costs will increase to stream the larger, more complicated graphics, you’ll increase the specs for a viable customer system… blech!
If you are going to go 3D, I think you have to do it with Java… just to avoid the plugin download issue. While a new plugin might work in Korea because of Cyworld’s existing popularity, it will increase consumer resistance here (if they really care).
Part of the appeal of Cyworld and Habbo is their abstract / simple environment. It would seem foolish to mess with that success.
Java isn’t preinstalled on Windoze… Active-X sucks.
I’ve gone for 3D in Flash9 because of AVM2, but creating an acceptable experience with 100+ objects require “clever” tweaks and trade-offs which makes development a confusing experience. The advantage is having a really small (
The market data is that Flash is on the most computers, followed by Java (both well over 90%). This drops off very rapidly for any other plugin. The next “programmable” plugin is Shockwave (Adobe Director) at 60ish percent. The other high penetration plugins are all media players (Real, Windows Media, Quicktime). The X3D(?) plugin is down at 10 percent.
I’m not arguing in favor of 3D at all. Only stating that if you want a mass market product or service, you should not create a barrier to entry – and ANY installation process is a barrier to customers.
In response to Steven… an advantage of Flash and Java is that they are on the big three platforms. (Windows, Mac, Linux) It is frustrating that virtual worlds so often are only available on Windows, like it’s the only thing out there. Sure it is the biggest, but if they want longevity, they need to provide for other two.
As per Cyworld going 3d. I agree it is a waste of money for them. Strengthen your core product, don’t dilute yourself.
Here in the US, we have no plans to incorporate 3D at this time. We are focusing on improving our user experience and taking the initial localized service and tuning it for our US audience.
The Virtual World News article included a quote from the co-CEO of the Korean service. Any references to the US were probably a mistake or miscommunication.
Darian Patchin
VP, Product Marketing
Cyworld US