Another Tween VW coming soon: Magi-Nation

Children’s television show Magi-Nation (on Kids’ WB! on the CW and CBC in Canada) announced that its online world Magi-Nation: Battle for the Moonlands will be going into beta in December. Magi-Nation, produced by Cookie Jar, will also see consumer product tie-ins in 2008–all part of Cookie Jar’s goal to “reach kids wherever they are, be it via through television, consumer products or online worlds. ” “We are thrilled to be working on such an ambitious undertaking as Magi-Nation: Battle for the Moonlands and can’t wait to bring the Magi-Nation online entertainment package to our fans,” said Kenneth Locker, senior vice president of digital media, Cookie Jar Entertainment. “Our young viewers are extremely Internet savvy and routinely monitor their TV shows online. With this project we will extend that connection and enable players to have a fully interactive experience with their favorite characters in one of their favorite worlds.”

Magi-Nation will be a free, Web-based with players competing to become the best magi in the Moonlands. In addition to extending the show’s brand, Cookie Jar hopes to generate revenue through a micropayment model, “which allows players to upgrade their gaming experience.”

The company is accepting beta applications and plans for a live launch in 2008.

Virtual Worlds News: Kids’ Show Magi-Nation Gets Virtual World

Hmm. This should prove VERY interesting– considering it’s a property without heavy weight (my vision of heavy weight properties = in your face, licensed and marketed, top of the viewing chart, and loads of commercials). I know it’s supposedly a VERY popular trading card game (or that’s why their PR says– I haven’t seen my wee tater tot buddies who dig Pokemon, etc, talk about it yet…. personally, I prefer Chaotic’s approach to TV show & trading card game, they seem to be the best quality in animation & uniqueness in this arena).

I will DEFINITELY be watching their population #’s and the success of their microbuys, etc.

This could set a huge trend for newer/less talked about TV shows– a way to get the audience interacting with the brand before brand evangelism kicks in organically. Or, perhaps this will be a new version of organic brand-evangelism making? Oooo times they are a’changing!

As of now– there’s a video player giving trailers of the show on the site, as well as an opp to join the fan club and see the cards (as well as the A-typical background information of the storyline). The site is definitely in temp mode (or Marquee for those who know that term). The show (in both visual and content) reminds me of Yu-Gi-Oh meets The Littles (yes, the 80’s cartoon) meets Dungeons & Dragons. And sometimes– the bad guys (art) look like bad guys from the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons.

I look forward to diving into Magi-Nation’s virtual world in December. I’d almost wish this was a VW for Avatar: The Last Airbender… but beggers can’t be choosers. No doubt I’ll be writing a review of it as soon as I get “stuck in”

Happy days!

p.s. Anyone know of other Virtual Worlds entering Beta (or in early Beta) at the moment? I’m trying to build a list to keep track of ‘em all.

Tags: Magi-Nation, card games, virtual worlds, youth, tweens, tv, entertainment

Noteworthy: Moshi Monsters!

Want a more clever (I avoid the word “educational” because that usually is kid-speak for “lame”) virtual world experience for your tween? Then look no further than MoshiMonsters.

Currently in Beta (early Beta, I was lucky enough to score an invite), Moshi Monsters is a new way of approaching the virtual pet world experience. First of all– your pet is one of 5 goofy-looking monsters (more to come later, I hear) that are customizable by color (much MUCH more boy friendly, izzy-friendly, and sub-culture friendly than say… those doll sites & stuffed animal sites). And instead of “casual gaming” your child is presented with stimulating challenges.

In an allotted amount of time, your child must recognize the puzzle and pick the correct answer– ex. 4 names of colors are given (pink, blue, green, black)– three of those colors are in fact COLORED to their correct name, while one is not. Which word is not the correct color? Your child has around one or two minutes to complete as many of these mind-puzzles as possible to earn points. You can ONLY do this challenge once a day (at least at the moment, could change after Beta?).

With those points earned you can go shopping in town and buy hilariously gross looking food, or buy creative-variations of furniture for your house (my wallpaper is made up of a collection of eyeballs– rock on). Now, while it sounds more boy-like with its grossness and monster-like tendancies… the colors & general design are totally gender-neutral. Bright, bubbly, and fun.

My favorites: Tickling my monster. FINALLY– a place I can interact with my pet. Let me repeat that… WITH my pet. And when he laughs (cause mine is a ‘he’ btw), I cackle (I’ve raised some eyebrows with that cackle). Oh the joy– I can annoy the heck out of my monster by continuously click’n'dragging across him (hence the tickling). Sure, he giggles and tries to hide/protect himself, but eventually he gets annoyed and unhappy… much like my sister did when I played the space-invading (but not exactly touching) “I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you…” game in the car when I was a tater tot. Lesson learned– don’t annoy your pet, he gets grumpy and doesn’t do what you ask. Gotta keep those happiness points up!

Can’t move the monster around yourself with a mouse or arrows. You can click on a spot in the world, which then emits a “come hither” whistle, and hope (fingers crossed) that he comes (he won’t if he’s/she’s crabby). The monster has a few fun movements of his own (mine slicks his hair into a fun wave-like coif) and speaks in monster-gibberish (with subtitles). They also get impatient if you’re not spending enough time hanging with them (understandable).

The interface is very user friendly– simple yet straightforward. And it’s safe (not much opportunity for community at the moment, but that’s sure to come!!). I’ve talked to the peeps behind the big red Moshi curtain, and they’re awesome. I don’t have a doubt that it won’t be one of the safest communities out there– and I’m looking forward to seeing how they rock it out. I’m all about people taking different approaches to this environment (or doing the same as others, but better).

The current downsides: Really, there is only enough to do at the moment to fill maybe 5-10 minutes a day. The short daily challenge brings in tokens, so customizing my monster’s room by shopping is a limited experience since tokens are low. The main street is the only thing that exists right now (construction signs ensure a larger environment for the future). But those things are merely circumstance and will hopefully open up very soon as the world moves into later phases of Beta.

I can’t tell you how much I dig the user-to-monster experience. Very unique. Moshi Monsters will also have cellular-tie-ins, which could be great. UK kids are much more advanced with cell phones than US tweens (and Moshi Monsters HQ is in London, plus… if you have seen any online “mo pod” stores for the UK, you’d see they’re getting pretty wide spread over there), so I’m very interested to see how this part of the experience takes off. From what I’ve seen and heard– when your cell rings, the little monster dances for you (and I’m all about random jig-break outs).

 

All in all– keep your eyes out for Moshi Monsters. What they have in early Beta is very promising (although limited at the mo), and I’m definitely jazzed about the unique approaches they seem to be taking towards other elements in the tween virtual world arena. AND I’ll no doubt fill this in more once the community opens up and I can see how they are approaching safety & communication.

Kid Empowerment Through Nick News

A Global Warning From The Kids of the World, a new special presented by Nick News with Linda Ellerbee, is scheduled to bow Sunday, December 9 at 9p on Nickelodeon. With the aim of reaching adults through kids and their personal experience and environments, the show features kids in different parts of the world explaining what they think about the issues and threats surrounding the change in the world’s climate, including teens who live near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a boy in the Netherlands, and two Native-American teens from Shishmaref, Alaska, a village near the Artic Circle that is slipping into the sea rapidly, its shoreline has diminished by 10+ feet annually for the six or so years due to erosion and impinging elements as a result of global warming.

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis – Cyn Kids 11/28/07

Okay– I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… I adore Nickelodeon. Here is what I like about the idea of this edition of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee:

KIDS REACHING OUT TO ADULTS TO SPEAK ABOUT ISSUES FROM THEIR OWN PERSPECTIVE.

Awesome. Brilliant. Now… can someone please PLEASE tell Linda Ellerbee/Nickelodeon to have an edition about Kids REACHING OUT TO ADULTS, SPEAKING ABOUT ONLINE ISSUES: Safety, environments, experiences, tips for parents from kids, relationship advice between offline parent and online child, etc????

If kids are the ones “getting” the internet & web faster than adults, why not let kids reach out and walk the mommas and the poppas through? It can be like Parent Night at school. The majority of kids get all excited about carting their parents through the hallways… “Look mom, this is where I…” or “Dad, check this out. I drew this picture” and “Mom, see at least my desk is clean, right?” Instead, this time it can be… “Look mom, this is where I earn all my tokens to feed my pet!” or “Look dad, this is the scion I built, want me to disassemble yours?” or “I made this picture and now it’s up on deviant art!” and better yet “This is what I do when I don’t know a person who wants to be my friend.” << Open the lines of communication!

Also, I’d like to see kids speaking out about their virtual experiences– the good, the bad, the awesome, the scary, the confusing, etc. But more than anything– speaking to adults about it.

Anastasia over at YPulse had a great post yesterday (which I rambled nearly a novel-worth of stuff for) regarding the relationship between tween/kid/twid users and their product-based virtual worlds (webkinz, zibbies, bratz, etc).

I think it would be GREAT for kids to talk about their web-wandering experiences and how they FEEL about the opportunities, etc, online.

So, there ya go Linda Ellerbee. I send this tip with admiration and hope that someone at Nick gets a brilliant clue and tackles the next “Nick News” with some youth online issues.

Tags: Nickelodeon, Nick News, Linda Ellerbee, youth, issues, safety, parents, online, social networking, virtual worlds, education, learning, web surfing, kids, teens, children