Webkinz

By Samuel Axon Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Browser, Casual, KidsTy -- the company behind Beanie Babies -- has teamed up with Animax to take on Webkinz with a somewhat similar online service called Beanie Babies 2.0. Unlike Webkinz, the different levels of servic...

By Barb Dybwad So virtual worlds: are they games or not? What defines a game -- linguists and semioticians get real worked up about it. The audience might say "virtual worlds are games without rules, competition, goals or fun." And it's hard to blame them. Extreme openness has defined virtual worlds, wher...

By Akela Talamasca So, what can we expect from HKO? Appearances from other Sanrio characters: check. Cute explorable zones like the Flower Kingdom: check. Combat system: che -- wait, what? Combat system, guilds, extensive crafting system ... this is an actual MMORPG, not just another cutesy virtual world lik...

By Michael Zenke The popularity of titles like Club Penguin and Webkinz is undeniable. This past Christmas saw the Webkinz servers just crushed under the new load of happy plush owners. It shouldn't come as a surprise that traditional game-makers are looking to this niche as a new area for profit. Earlier th...

By Michael Zenke The site categorizes these rumors as expressions of anxiety over treasured friends/objects; much like a young person would fear a bully ripping the head of their stuffed animal off in real life, so they fear the virtual equivalent. And no, they note, neither Club Penguin nor NeoPets have...

By Louis McLaughlin Filed under: Business models, Culture, Club Penguin, Webkinz, Virtual worldsIt's that's time again, gentle reader: the New York Times are taking a look at the financial side of virtual worlds, and analyzing the potential for growth within the market. But instead of focusing on Second L...

By Akela Talamasca Filed under: Real life, Culture, Club Penguin, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Webkinz, Education, Virtual worldsHere's a CNet article about a USC panel discussion concerning how virtual worlds are affecting children, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, who are investing in...