Posts tagged virtual worlds 
ION Game Conference to address social networking on consoles, PC
Game industry types looking for yet another reason to flock to a central location and gab about the business while getting liquored up at the open bar should take a moment to block out some time for this summer's Ion Game Conference, taking place from May 13-15 in Seattle. Known as the Online Game D...
Virtual worlds virtually exploding in popularity
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 incl...
PS3 will see 'user-created experiences' next year, says Harrison
User-created content, which has long been a fixture in the world of PC gaming, has never managed to gain any real traction on consoles, be that due to technological constraints or a lack of online connectivity. With both of those issues out of the way in modern systems, the time is ripe for users to...
Gamers of tomorrow: brains in vats [update 1]
From my favorite (private) discussion group comes this summary of Chalmers and Bostrom, written by a lawyer friend of mine: "Have you considered that if we assume computers can at some level of technology run an accurate simulation of the universe, then it's a virtual certainty that at some time s...
Cash card taps into virtual funds
The MMORPG Project Entropia is known for its economic experiments, with pieces of virtual land being bought for high real-world prices. This latest news breaks the barrier between real and virtual money even further, however; a new cash card will let owners withdraw from their ingame balances using ...
MMO design: the job of creating worlds
Decisions over how long burning rivers should stay aflame for can have a profound impact upon the atmosphere and enjoyment factor of a virtual landscape. This, and many other decisions like it, is how Richard Garriott spends his time these days -- as executive producer for Tabula Rasa, he has to hel...
Cybersex is child's play: virtual world morals
We've already heard recently about the sexy side of Second Life, a virtual world in which the players' imaginations are more or less the limits. This article, however, shows just what can -- and does -- happen in an 18 environment where players are given free rein. Although Second Life is no strang...
Prediction: One virtual world to rule them all
This Wired piece by technology thinker Steven Johnson is a neat summary of a prediction about virtual worlds that's becoming increasingly common. If you take a step back from the MMOs and other online pursuits of today, you see a lot of standalone bubbles of activity with one common factor--you. How...
Virtual worlds' selective reflections of reality
The announcement of Valentine's Day events for both City of Heroes and World of Warcraft comes hot on the heels of a debate around virtual identity sparked off by a LGBT-friendly guild. The creation of in-game events that reflect popular world holidays is increasingly fashionable; it seems no week g...
Ingame lawyers may soon be necessary
The complexity of massively multiplayer games is such that they are generally also called 'virtual worlds'--and as places that echo the real world, they carry with them a whole host of unanswered legal questions. GameTycoon has compiled a list of issues that are currently unresolved in various world...
