Found this Habbo's New Virtual World quite interesting. It appears Sulake is building a 3D virtual world. Although it doesn’t specifically state what their plans are, it kind of makes sense for them to create an environment into which older Habbos can graduate. Is this the beginning of virtual world interoperability? Habbo may not have plans to transfer the currency/status earned by millions of kids in Habbo to WoW, but this may allow a Habbo to retain and transfer his blood, sweat and tears as he gets older.
As blogger and entrepreneur Dave Rosenberg pointed out in his CNET column yesterday, China’s recent move to tax virtual goods is sparking inflation in the virtual world - quite the contrast with our physical world, where the unhappy specter of deflation looms over the global economy.
Beyond that, China’s policy decision has me asking myself this question quite emphatically: if the Chinese Communist Party understands the income potential of virtual goods, shouldn’t it be a no-brainer for us capitalists? You’d think so, but the concept remains a little novel in some quarters. Not for long, IMHO.
I found this article Four Patterns of Thinking quite interesting. It discusses thought process and challenges us to consider whether we are cognisant of how our differing thinking patterns affects our actions, which clearly it does. But more importantly, how might we ‘borrow’ from a different type of thought process to more affectively make decisions?
In considering how this relates to our business, it is clear that our kids game designers think differently than our creative directors think differently than our strategists, and this intersection of thought is what truly fosters great work.
From another perspective, how much of this is considered when designing games and virtual worlds, specifically for kids? Clearly, it is important to provide experiences that different types of people can interact with and enjoy. When designing games and virtual worlds, the first question often asked is for what demographic are we building, and once that has been defined, it is dissected further. But as we design, its important to consider how different minds and different behavior patterns will experience the same environment.
This is my friend Ashok — he owns the aptly titled and fantastic Marindian restaurant called Avatars. Every year, he has a celebration at 2656 Bridgeway in Sausalito where he serves a fantastic dinner to as many people as possible on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. For FREE. From 4 PM to 10 PM. Yesterday he told me I couldn’t come unless I brought at least 20 people. This is his way of saying “Thanks”. I think its a beautiful idea — I will be there with my family. Please twitter this and help me out. Last year he served 1100 people.
