Google's takeover of every corner of the Web continues today with a public beta of Lively, an MMO-style social networking browser plug-in. Users create a personalized avatar and gather in custom-designed rooms to walk around, chat and perform scripted animations. It's not a game per se, but users have already started turning their rooms into virtual versions of games like chess and various role-playing scenarios.

As the community evolves, you can expect Lively to evolve into a sort of Second Life-style do-anything space, with a wide array of self-styled gaming areas. The question remains: Is Google staking its claim to the future of social gaming, or is it just another Johnny-come-lately in the newest social networking fad?

[Via Massively]

Diehard Final Fantasy VII fans have recreated Midgar in virtual world Second Life. To make things even sweeter, they've even created an RPG sim in SL so that residents can fight and upgrade their way to notoriety. Weapons and materia (gems used for magic in the FFVII universe) can be bought for Linden bucks, which converts to real world money at a rate of approximately US $1 for every 270 Linden dollars.

According to New World Notes writer Onder Skall, the game has around 300 players. Our experience with the world proved it to be expansive; upon teleporting to the start of the sim, we stepped out of the overlooking portal room and had an exhilirating view of the massive city on our equally massive fall.

As to whether or not the game has the blessing of IP owner Square Enix, not even the creators are sure. While they do the developer a service by providing a high quality sim that promotes the Final Fantasy brand to great success, they are making money (however little it may be) off of the brand. SL users can click here to go to Midgar directly.

[Via Second Life Insider]

Rolling Stone has a sprawling article about Second Life that focuses on its creator, Philip Rosedale, and it's pretty eye-opening. Rosedale equates Second Life to Burning Man, rants and raves about virtual reality, and says, "Once we have enough computing power, we can remake the world using simulation."

It's pretty obvious that without Rosedale's fanaticism for the project, Second Life never would have been born, but reading this article makes him seem a bit driven to the point of megalomania. Kushner compares Rosedale's "Rig" that he built to start the virtual experience a "Lawnmower Man-like contraption," and you probably remember how crazy that guy got.

Give the article a spin and find out a little bit behind the man who built Second Life, the problems they face, and where it'll all go from here.

Gamasutra has a interesting article that wraps up the Virtual Worlds 2007 spring conference and asks if they are the future of gaming. They cite the growth and expansion of sites like Disney's Virtual Magic Kingom, Nickelodeon's Nicktropolis, and MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach -- which is soon to include Virtual Pimp My Ride and Virtual Hills, and be connected by a virtual superhighway.

Anyone else tired of the word virtual? While virtual worlds might become the future of social networks, we're not sure that they're the future of gaming. It's hard to imagine a Virtual Halo, where you stroll around, chat with other Spartans, Elites, Grunts ... or is it? "Hey, anyone wanna pile in this warthog and go sightseeing?" Maybe it isn't so far-fetched.

With Sony's upcoming PlayStation Home network, and Nintendo working on some sort of a Sims-like Wii virtual world, the virtual experience could grow beyond Second Life and into the console gaming realm.

If you thought First Life was a brave new frontier on the uncharted expanses of video game comedy, wait until you see this European Kit Kat ad. I don't want to ruin the ending, but let's just say that Second Life citizens like to play computer MMOs too. What? The picture above gave away the punchline? Oh well. Have a Kit Kat.

Other Second Life jokes we're waiting to see:

• Fourth Life: What do citizens of Third Life do when they're bored? The hilarity never ends! Not to be confused with Forth Life, which is in your newspaper's comics.
• Pi Life: Your life as a series of random, never-ending, non-repeating events. Alternatively, your life trapped in a circle. Alternatively, your life in a universe filled with pie.
• Half Life: Second Life, but with more guns. And crates.
• One Second Life: A game that only lasts one-sixtieth of a minute.
• Googol Life: A really long life. Not to be confused with Google Life, which is the life of a web addict.
• Zero Life: What the average Second Life player has. *rim shot*

[Update: How foolish of us. It turns out we posted this video last month. But was this a mistake, or a subtle reinforcement of the video's statement? Alright, it was a mistake.]

"Adam Reuters," the adorable virtual persona of real-life reporter Adam Pasick, breaks a story on FBI agents checking up on the virtual gambling in nerd hangout Second Life. Since gambling isn't legal in most of the US, it presumably isn't legal on the internet either, even when it's using "Cuddle Bucks" or whatever the pretend currency in Second Life is. So far, the Feds haven't shut anything down, but stay tuned ... any time now, a whole lot of furries may have to find another place to play the slots.

[Via Second Life Insider]

Some of you, the exact number, we're not sure, have a Second Life. Others have a First Life. Today's video pick introduces the Third Life as part of a Kit Kat ad in the Netherlands. Created by UbachsWisbrun/JWT (caution: website resizes your window, plays sound, and otherwise annoys), Kit Kat only loosely ties into the joke. Regardless, the humor scores high with us gamers, and we highly recommend the video.

Watch the ad after the break.

[Via Adverblog]

Joining Toyota in the continuing trend of setting up shop in Second Life is Germany's own Mercedes-Benz. This Tuesday will see the launch of not just a showroom for the luxury cars, but an entire island.

The vehicles themselves aren't ready for a test drive just yet, but a track will be available for when that feature rolls out. Which is a shame, really, as we were already planning our Second Life adventure in ghost riding.

Those who stop by for the grand opening can enjoy not only an in-game concert but some free swag as well. Anyone who visits can pick up a free Formula 1 racing suit and helmet, which will quickly be utilized in the red light district in acts that we could not possibly begin to describe here.

Toyota held simultaneous launches of two new Scion models today. One at the Chicago Auto Show, the other in Second Life. Both the redesigned Scion xB and brand-new xD are being offered for 300 Linden dollars ($1 USD) for use in the virtual world; a nominal fee toward becoming one of Toyota's virtual "trendsetter" promoters. The cars are being sold at kiosks in Toyota's 'Scion City' district of Second Life, where the automaker hopes to also sell unused real estate to young entrepreneurs. The idea is to grow Scion City into a bustling promotional "cultural" mecca.

Last year, Toyota invaded Whyville, a virtual playground for tweens. Scions were peddled to under-agers, with the hope of infecting their lustful minds with the brand name; the payoff coming when the young'ns came of age. Toyota sold about 173,000 Scions in 2006 and is expected to challenge General Motors as the top global automobile seller this year.

[Thanks, Matt]

Of course, since there isn't an actual Sweden within the world of Second Life, the plans for opening a virtual Swedish embassy (not to be mistaken for the ABBA Club, which is virtually a Swedish embassy) are really part of an effort to increase tourism to the Nordic country. Illustriously dubbed, "The House of Sweden," the polygonal building will is expected to open its digital doors within the next few weeks and is said to modeled on the newly erected embassy in Washington -- not Sweden's considerably more impressive Turning Torso skyscraper (as seen to the right).

"It will have answers to questions on all aspects of Sweden," explains the Swedish Institute's Olle Wastberg. Indeed, the virtual embassy will likely serve as an enthusiastic and interactive knowledge hub, hoping to lure Second Life users into visiting Sweden in their first lives.

[Via Aeropause]

Blogger Darren Barefoot has published a clever Second Life parody at Get A First Life dot com. The community boast over 6.5 billion residents (not inflated), free membership, and is the first 3D analog world sans server lag. Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, even sent the site a "Proceed and Permitted" letter (the opposite of a "Cease and Desist"). Nice to see the company appreciates a sense of humor. Now go outside and enjoy the beauty that is First Life.

[via Boing Boing]

Linden Lab has released the source code for the Second Life Viewer under the GPLv2 free software license, opening up its virtual world's client to a host of potential new features and improvements. The 'open source' announcement comes amidst a period of scrutiny in which the media has begun to debunk the hype and seriously question Linden Lab's reported SL user base; a recent estimate suggests that Linden Lab has inflated user numbers by more than 2 million.

Since the source code release has arrived sooner than anticipated, it's no stretch to suggest Linden Lab is attempting to redirect media buzz. Ploy or not, the open source SL era brings with it an opportunity for an unproven developer to generate some needed exposure.

Update: clarified that this is a release of the client (not full game) source code.

Second Life had a backlash coming. The overhyped virtual reality world with amazing public relations and highbrow academic love is now the focus of an increasing number of reports calling foul to their claim of 2.3 million residents. American Public Radio's Marketplace says it's actually more like 250,000.

Clay Shirky, a reporter for Fortune says, "So these aren't terrible numbers, but it's certainly a much more modest success than we've been led to believe by the business stories saying 'there are millions of people using Second Life and it's growing by leaps and bounds.'"

Linden Labs refused to comment on the Marketplace piece, which is par for the course at this point. Expect more stories like this in the near future because it's been a long time coming. Although it is good to see Linden Labs beginning to release some actual data to help diminish the backlash.

See also: Second Life millionaire pummeled with penises

Irish funnyman Jimmy Carr is set to become the first major comedian to perform stand-up in Second Life. On February 3, as Carr takes the stage in London, his routine will be simultaneously broadcast to a select audience in the virtual world. Will his signature deadpan survive the translation?

Carr is giving away tickets to the event through a competition on his MySpace page.

[Thanks Joe]

(Note: the BBC story grossly exaggerates the size of Second Life's user base. See: Analyzing the press' Second Life obsession)

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism in South Korea has proposed a bill prohibiting the sale or purchase of virtual currency for anyone gaming in the country. According to the Ars Technica article, no limits would be imposed on trading.

Never mind how logistics of trying to enforce such a law, a full prohibition on a billion-dollar industry is simply a reaction to a trend which legislators have little understanding of. Even if enacted, virtual consumerism would continue to grow. A bill that taxes virtual economies would be more realistic, but could such a bill be enforced?