Virtual Worlds Forum

We reported earlier this week on plans to release a Club Penguin themed game for Nintendo's DS, but it's not the only virtual world looking to make such a leap. One of the buzz games at the E3 show has been Neopets Puzzle Adventure, which uses Nickelodeon's virtual world as the basis for a mixture of puzzling and RPG-style character development.

This is what was shown off during Sony's keynote presentation at the E3 conference this week, providing a snapshot of its Home virtual world in its current incarnation, while outlining a number of major games publishers who are creating content for the world. Virtual agency Millions Of Us has been working with Sony on the world, and according to Virtual Worlds News its work is "quite evident" in this video. Intriguing...

We wrote about the rumoured Xbox Live avatars on this blog a couple of months ago, when news leaked out onto the web of Microsoft's plans to take on Nintendo's Mii avatars on Wii. Now the news is official though: Microsoft unveiled its avatars last night at its E3 press conference. What's more, they're pretty much exactly as they appeared in those early leaks.

When Disney recently reorganised its virtual worlds and gaming activities into one division, I speculated that it might mean more cross-platform activities, such as Club Penguin making the leap to games platforms. Now, the company has provided confirmation, with plans for a dedicated DS game called Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force.

We're all waiting eagerly for the debut of Sony's Home beta virtual world for PlayStation 3, but the company's at work on something equally interesting called Dress, which is billed as 'interactive fashion software'. Developed in Japan, it lets users create original fashion designs, see how they look on avatar models, and then (eventually) upload them to a community via the PlayStation Network.

There are many reasons you wouldn't want to play World of Warcraft on an iPhone. The lack of a mouse and physical keyboard for starters, not to mention limited screen estate. However, there are many technical reasons why getting WoW running on an iPhone is an impressive feat, so hats off to Alan Joyce, who's managed it using Telekinesis, an application that provides a web gateway for controlling a Mac with an iPhone. In other words, the laptop in this video is what's actually running WoW, but the iPhone is acting as a separate screen and controller.

For all its long delays, Sony's Home virtual world for PlayStation 3 is still eagerly awaited, both by gamers and by the virtual worlds industry. Launching a virtual world on its scale on one standard platform owned by millions of people around the world could have a huge popularising effect on the space. Or it could be a huge flop. Sony is naturally targeting the former, with PlayStation Network director Eric Lempel promising a "high quality service" from day one, and comparing it to Gmail.

US firm 8D World has raised "meaningfully more than $1 million" in its first-round of funding, from Spark Capital. The company is reportedly working on a massively multiplayer online game, although the company is in stealth mode, so hasn't given many details on its plans.

The big guns of the media world are certainly training their sights on the virtual worlds space, resulting in intense competition between the likes of MTV, Disney and Nickelodeon. Turner subsidiary Cartoon Network is in the fray too, and has just announced a new virtual world developed by its Cartoon Network New Media division. It's called Mini Match, and it's got a clear focus around gaming.

There's a big buzz today around an HTML comment that someone's discovered in the source code for search.secondlife.com - it reads "placeholer page for XBOX, PS3, and iPhone versions of client when they launch next real soon now". The idea of Second Life running on an iPhone isn't new, of course - Comverse has already shown its technology to make this happen - but it's the first time there's been any kind of (seeming) official plan from Linden Lab to make its virtual world accessible to consoles.

Buried down the press release for a new extra-healthy Burger King kids meal (it “boasts an exceptional nutrition profile” apparently) is news that the fast-food chain is getting into the online interactive entertainment business with the help of one of the biggest games brands around - Nintendo's Pokemon.

What to do after trousering $160 million when your first virtual world is bought by Viacom? If you're Neopets founders Adam Powell and Donna Williams, you turn your attention to the pure MMO space, albeit with a twist. The pair have started a new firm, Meteor Games, which is working on an innovative new project.

We've reached the point where companies are launching new projects having to promise they're “not just another virtual world for kids”, hinting at the potential saturation of the market. So, Kiwi Heroes is... not just another virtual world for kids. It's an MMO due for release later this year.

Games in the workplace? Surely you have to work at one of those trendy Web 2.0 companies who foster employee happiness with beanbag-strewn chillout zones with Xbox 360s in them? But no, it seems that 70% of major employers are already using game-like simulations for training their workforces. That's according to a survey released by games industry trade body the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

Abandon Interactive Entertainment has announced that its closed beta for the innovative Freaky Creatures MMO will start on 15th July, with registration open now on its website. The game's been trailed for a couple of years now, but is finally set to launch, albeit in a test version for selected players.