Venture Capital: Gambling on Social Games
July 23rd, 2008
As recently reported in The Wall Street Journal and in a post on GigaOm, virtual worlds and social games are attracting increased attention from VCs these days. As GigaOm’s report noted: “…in the first half of 2008, virtual worlds raised $345 million in venture investment, according to data from Virtual Worlds Management…. From World of […]
Read more »Step Lively…
July 8th, 2008
Among the many early reports of the launch of Google’s new social network, I found Mashable’s one of the most detailed. As the post notes: “…Google has just launched Lively, a new social network built around the concept of each user creating an avatar and a personal virtual room that can be embedded anywhere on […]
Read more »A Hole in the Walled Garden?
July 7th, 2008
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Linden Lab recently announced that some avatars have successfully been transferred—or “teleported,†in the jargon of virtual-world fans—from Second Life to a separate world operated by International Business Machines Corp. As the article notes: “…Ultimately, expanding this medium beyond a tiny niche—and making three-dimensional simulations a standard feature […]
Read more »Avatarnomics — A Virtual Economic Collapse Mirrors Real Life
January 23rd, 2008
As reported in today’s Wall Street Journal, just as real-life banks are reeling from the subprime-mortgage mess, a shutdown of the virtual banking system in Second Life, is causing real-life havoc for thousands of people. As the article notes: “…the San Francisco company that runs the popular fantasy game pulled the plug on about a […]
Read more »Virtually Real…
December 9th, 2007
Two great articles in this week’s Economist on augmented reality. The first notes that the some of the most exciting uses of the internet rely on coupling it with the real world. As it states, “…Social networking allows people to stay in touch with their friends online, and plan social activities in the real world. […]
Read more »Avatarnomics: Risks in Virtual Finance
December 6th, 2007
Despite Linden Lab’s efforts to avoid formally acknowledging a “virtual economy,†a nascent- yet sophisticated – financial sector is developing in Second Life, one in which businesses can raise funds, sell shares, issue bonds and take on debt. And lest we think the recent real-world credit crunch was the sole definition of financial risk, Reuters’ […]
Read more »