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Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids plans to develop and produce new virtual worlds

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Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group Executive Vice President of Digital Media Steve Youngwood announced a commitment to develop and produce additional virtual worlds, building upon the success of its existing Neopets and Nicktropolis virtual world sites. Virtual worlds based on Nick’s existing animated property — SpongeBob SquarePants — as well as new original properties like Monkey World (working title) are being put into development. In addition, Youngwood announced that a new virtual destination, World of Neopia (working title), is in production and expected to launch in the next year.

The new worlds will be developed out of Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group’s Virtual World Studios (formerly titled NeoStudios, announced in July 2007), which will develop virtual destinations for kids, tweens, teens and families each year, while continuing to innovate upon the company’s existing virtual worlds.

Originally posted on April 4, 2008 @ 10:21 am

International fund for Animal Welfare launches presence in Second Life

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ifaw.pngThe International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has launched its space, IFAW Island, in Second Life. IFAW Island will serve as a virtual meeting ground for those interested in animal welfare issues.

Coinciding with the island’s launch, IFAW will hold a live concert on Thursday March 27th at 1:00 PM SLT featuring two popular Second Life bands: AngeyLaura Houston aka Laura Angey and the UKD Project from Italy. The concert will take place in IFAW Island’s African Savannah space. The event is open to all Second Life residents, and there is a suggested donation of $100 Linden dollars for which donors will receive a virtual IFAW T-shirt.

IFAW Island offers visitors a virtual African savannah space with species information on elephant populations and background on poaching, illegal trade and migration. Additionally there is a theater presentation space for multimedia campaign updates, a skybox with photo galleries, trade maps and donation tools.

Originally posted on March 27, 2008 @ 11:51 am

Vollee brings ‘Second Life’ to mobile

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vollee.pngSecond Life will soon be available on 3G handsets via Vollee’s streaming mobile games service. Beta trials for Vollee’s new mobile offering for the Second Life Grid platform (an inter-connected platform which extends beyond the mainland of Second Life itself) will be open to those who pre-register.

Vollee’s Second Life mobile service will enable access to the virtual world of Second Life for Residents to explore, interact and communicate on-line. The Second Life mobile experience reformats the online world to fit on mobile phone screens while mapping the keys on handsets to commands in-world. Existing Residents can simply log-in and people new to Second Life can also try out the online world for the first time through the mobile service. With a simple download to their 3G mobile handset, anyone can enjoy their online Second Life session while on the move.

Vollee’s Second Life mobile beta trials will begin in May 2008.

Originally posted on February 18, 2008 @ 11:36 am

Zwinky avatars come to life with Zazzle

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zwinky.jpgZwinky,a wholly-owned business of IAC and home to more than 12 million avatars, has launched Zazzle Kiosk within the Zwinky virtual world. The Zazzle Kiosk will enable Zwinky users to purchase customizable merchandise on-demand including t-shirts, mugs, posters, postage stamps, and more, all branded with their personalized Zwinky avatar.

The Zazzle Kiosk makes Zwinky one of the first virtual worlds to give users the opportunity to customize and purchase merchandise for the real world. All merchandise can be created and shipped to the user within 24 hours.

Users who visit the Zazzle Kiosk inside Zwinky’s virtual world can see their avatar automatically displayed on various merchandise items. The user can then choose from saved avatar outfits that they have previously created to display on their merchandise.

Originally posted on January 30, 2008 @ 11:56 am

WWE stars rumble in Habbo’s virtual world

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wwe.pngWorld Wrestling Entertainment is taking their annual Royal Rumble to Habbo’s virtual world. Though the actual Royal Rumble doesn’t take place until January 27, live on pay-per-view, the action on Habbo.com has already begun. And just like the real Rumble, the winner will be going to WrestleMania 24 on March 30 in Orlando.

After being assigned a virtual avatar to one of 59 WWE Superstars, Habbo.com’s 1.6 million online citizens will vote for which of the top 30 WWE Superstars they think will play various roles in the event. Users who correctly predict at least one of the roles will be entered into a sweepstakes, sponsored by Habbo, for a chance to win a trip for two to WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, Fla. on March 30.

Originally posted on January 23, 2008 @ 12:16 pm