virtual-worlds posts

Second Life. Club Penguin. Habbo Hotel. For millions of users worldwide, these virtual worlds are their homes-away-from-home, and for many, the realms in which the majority of their time is spent. Yet for outsiders, these environments represent nothing more than a niche for hobbyists with nothing better to do, or a fad for people with too much time on their hands. It's likely that there is more misinformation regarding virtual spaces out there than there is actual fact. However, one of the phenomena that the pundits have been debating for years is the idea that eventually, everything and everyone will be connected 24/7 via some form of virtual world or another.

The questions are: when will this happen, and how? Why hasn't it happened already? What does this have to do with games?

To say Google has sights set on the gaming industry would be an understatement. After recently purchasing in-game advertising firm Adscape, Google solidified its gaming intentions with the launch of its virtual world Lively and a appearance at the Austin GDC earlier this month.

At this point Google seems specifically focused on the social media aspect of games. Lively is the search engine giants plan to jump into the increasing popular online interaction environment which includes network sites such as Facebook. GamesIndustry.biz has a chance to speak with Kevin Hanna, creative director on Google Lively after his appearance at the AGDC08. Although Hanna wouldn't outline Google's future plans for the gaming industry he made it clear he wishes to grow the virtual space without interrupting the end user.

"This is just my personal preference, but I'd like for it to be invisible, where when it makes sense to have 3D aspects of the web, that everyone will have already downloaded the plug-in, it's one of the first things you do when you install your machine, and you're able to just jump around and play in a creative space."

Hanna is no stranger to the industry, having worked with Microsoft in the early stages of the Xbox and at Disney for "50 some-odd titles." As Google Lively enjoys its time out in beta form the question remains, what is the future for the service? "There may be multiple phases, and new iterations and - I think I can say this - we actually have a lot of content that we held back on. We have a lot of cool stuff that we're going to be releasing iteratively."

According to a massive 27-page report released by Strategy Analytics (authored by Harvey Cohen and Barry Gilbert) one billion people will be logged into virtual worlds by 2017. That's strictly non-gaming virtual worlds, places like Second Life and Habbo Hotel, not MMOs or multiplayer frag fests.

The report ("Market Forecasts for Virtual World Experiences") predicts that 22 percent of all global broadband users will sign up for at least one virtual world over the next 10 years. If one billion real people do log in virtually they will bring with them eight billion real dollars in service opportunities. Someone somewhere is going to make a lot of money in the future.

Do we hear The Matrix calling?

By now, most of us are aware that video games aren't just for fun anymore. The latest evidence: the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has distributed over $2 million in grants to 12 teams developing video games intended to help players overcome health problems.

For example, one funded project is a virtual world for recovering drug addicts, wherein they can get support and practice drug-free living. Another: a motion-sensor-based game to be part of stroke patients' physical therapy regimens. 112 teams applied for funding, and this was just the first round.

This is one more example of society's exploration of new applications for video game technology. We've already seen games used for everything from geopolitical activism to exercise. Are these signs that interactive software will replace film and television as society's dominant medium? We wonder!