January 25, 2008 26 Comments

XBox PS3 Wii Second Life and You

avatard Do you have an understanding of where gaming will go in 2008 and in coming years? Do you understand as a business professional, a marketer, a parent, an artist, what this will mean for you?

Ars Technica reports that gaming growth is far outpacing movies and music as our entertainment of choice. As we move into more immersive, more interactive, and much more networked worlds, this is where these opportunities will grow. Think about Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where there was the notion of the “neighbors,” basically soap operas with a giant plasma screen TV, where you in your house would talk along in the script. It’s here already, in dozens of ways.

This past Christmas, I bought a Nintendo Wii from Geoff Livingston. (Side story: he twittered that he barely used it and wondered aloud about selling it. I sent him a message right away, and picked it up at a Social Media Breakfast event). The game was immediately transformational in my family. My father and my daughter played bowling and baseball together right away. It was collaborative, physical, and extremely inviting.

Places like Second Life and Small Worlds and Kaneva are in full effect. World of Warcraft and Halo3 and interactive gaming platforms exist in such a space as to deliver thousands of active and engaged people into shared spaces. There’s an entire revenue space forming around virtual goods that is real, and generating revenue. (Sidebar: see Eric Rice for TONS more information on this space, on potential new flavors, and all kinds more info than I’ll ever have.)

So the question is this: with all this energy, effort, revenue, and opportunity floating around in gaming, how much longer can you ignore it? Either as a player/participant, or an organization, what will you be doing in this universe?

Photo credit, Financial Aid Podcast

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  • http://www.guydavid.com Guy David

    Second Life is not really a game. It’s a virtual world. As such, it can be a creative bed for ideas and networking of ideas. You can create your own little realm in it as well as use it as a promotional tool for your efforts in the real world in various ways. It has a live community of musicians performing in it and real life artists who open galleries in it. You can meet people from all over the world and converse with them in ways not available in most on-line games. I think it’s more like a new platform then a game, and I think it’s going to grow in ways we cannot imagine now.

  • http://www.guydavid.com Guy David

    Second Life is not really a game. It’s a virtual world. As such, it can be a creative bed for ideas and networking of ideas. You can create your own little realm in it as well as use it as a promotional tool for your efforts in the real world in various ways. It has a live community of musicians performing in it and real life artists who open galleries in it. You can meet people from all over the world and converse with them in ways not available in most on-line games. I think it’s more like a new platform then a game, and I think it’s going to grow in ways we cannot imagine now.

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  • http://www.avlis2.org John Johansen (aka TripleAught

    I’ve been involved in gaming communities for about 9 years. Mostly as a player but in the last 2 I’ve shifted to creating content.
    It’s been a great way to learn how to navigate online communications. I’ve gotten savvy in forums, IRC, wikis, virtual worlds, and various UIs from playing games.

    Also, working on a creation team has helped me learn how to work with distributed teams, community relations, being more of a futz, and plenty of other skills I now bring to work with me.

    My thought is that if you want to get some real hands-on experience with engaged communities, gaming is a great place to start.

  • http://www.avlis2.org John Johansen (aka TripleAught)

    I’ve been involved in gaming communities for about 9 years. Mostly as a player but in the last 2 I’ve shifted to creating content.
    It’s been a great way to learn how to navigate online communications. I’ve gotten savvy in forums, IRC, wikis, virtual worlds, and various UIs from playing games.

    Also, working on a creation team has helped me learn how to work with distributed teams, community relations, being more of a futz, and plenty of other skills I now bring to work with me.

    My thought is that if you want to get some real hands-on experience with engaged communities, gaming is a great place to start.

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  • http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog Geoff Livingston

    Damn, making me look like I run a social media bazaar! LOL. Glad you like!

  • http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog Geoff Livingston

    Damn, making me look like I run a social media bazaar! LOL. Glad you like!

  • http://jeanricardbroek-architect.blogspot.com/ JeanRicrad Broek

    Welcome to twitter and the community Chris

  • http://jeanricardbroek-architect.blogspot.com/ jeanricardbroek

    Welcome to twitter and the community Chris

  • http://www.chrisbrogan.com chrisbrogan

    Sorry, right. Second Life is a world. I shouldn’t insinuate that it’s a game, but it IS in the same spending category, I’d bet, for most organizations. Online entertainment.

    I’ve seen some great business applications of second life lately, but I’m still not there. I want some kind of data api.

  • http://www.chrisbrogan.com chrisbrogan

    Sorry, right. Second Life is a world. I shouldn’t insinuate that it’s a game, but it IS in the same spending category, I’d bet, for most organizations. Online entertainment.

    I’ve seen some great business applications of second life lately, but I’m still not there. I want some kind of data api.

  • http://jeanricardbroek-architect.blogspot.com/ jeanricardbroek

    1 in 10 new “players” stay in Second Life, and 50% of those that stay do it for yes, for entertainment, but 50%, maybe more, are there for serious business, from very large to very small, all on the cutting edge in one way or another.

    There are at least 20,000 people in Second Life all the time working, experimenting and “doing business”. Were else can you sell something to IBM for 50 cents and the person next to you is selling something for $100,000 US. Non-entertainment or play uses cover all fields from Art to Zoology and thousands now make a “living” from Second Life or have made it their full time job. It is simply a very unique and revolutionary environment.

  • http://jeanricardbroek-architect.blogspot.com/ JeanRicard Broek

    1 in 10 new “players” stay in Second Life, and 50% of those that stay do it for yes, for entertainment, but 50%, maybe more, are there for serious business, from very large to very small, all on the cutting edge in one way or another.

    There are at least 20,000 people in Second Life all the time working, experimenting and “doing business”. Were else can you sell something to IBM for 50 cents and the person next to you is selling something for $100,000 US. Non-entertainment or play uses cover all fields from Art to Zoology and thousands now make a “living” from Second Life or have made it their full time job. It is simply a very unique and revolutionary environment.

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  • http://www.sekstvizle.com seks

    Were else can you sell something to IBM for 50 cents and the person next to you is selling something for $100,000 US. Non-entertainment or play uses cover all fields from Art to Zoology and thousands now make a “living” from Second Life or have made it their full time job.

  • http://www.teknometre.net teknoloji haberleri

    Also, working on a creation team has helped me learn how to work with distributed teams, community relations, being more of a futz, and plenty of other skills I now bring to work with me.

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    Mostly as a player but in the last 2 I've shifted to creating content.
    It's been a great way to learn how to navigate online communications. I've gotten savvy in forums, IRC, wikis, virtual worlds, and various UIs from playing games.

    Also, working on a creation team has helped me learn how to work dizi izle with distributed teams, community relations, being more of a futz, and plenty of other skills I now bring to work with me.

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    I've gotten savvy in forums, IRC, wikis, virtual worlds, and various UIs from playing games.

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  • http://www.yuregininsesi.com yuregininsesi

    Sorry, right. Second Life is a world. I shouldn’t insinuate that it’s a game, but it IS in the same spending category, I’d bet, for most organizations. Online entertainment.

  • http://www.savetubevideo.com video downloader free download

    Think about Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where there was the notion of the “neighbors,” basically soap operas with a giant plasma screen TV, where you in your house would talk along in the script. It’s here already, in dozens of ways.

  • http://www.savetubevideo.com video downloader free download

    Think about Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where there was the notion of the “neighbors,” basically soap operas with a giant plasma screen TV, where you in your house would talk along in the script. It’s here already, in dozens of ways.