With its Kids’ WB! Saturday morning slot on The CW slated to get the axe this fall, Warner Bros. has been working quietly on a new platform for its library of animated programming. The result is KidsWB.com, a premium ad-supported website that launched yesterday and targets kids six to 12 with a wide array of free entertainment offerings based on characters and properties from the Warner Bros. Animation, Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics vaults.
Leading the charge is Sam Ades, KidsWB.com GM and VP of digital animation for Warner Bros. Television Group. With more than 100 games, thousands of streaming videos, customization elements on most apps and a robust cache of prizes and rewards for virtually every activity on the site, Ades is confident it will attract a sizeable audience.
The company is devoting resources to commissioning big-name industry talent to produce original made-for-digital programming under its Studio 2.0 banner. In the kids pipeline are shorts based on Plastic Man and The Wizard of Oz. The site will also house a special KidsWBJr. area for preschoolers with age-appropriate video, games, activities and downloads and two planned virtual worlds for older kids - DC HeroZone featuring the comic brand’s top superheroes, and Warner Zone.
Comcast is the site’s inaugural distribution partner, offering free streaming and VOD programming on its Fancast.com hub. Shows that play into this deal include The Flinstones, The Jetson, Smurfs, Batman: the Animated Series and Josie and the Pussycats. AOL will also feature a KidsWB.com broadband channel, streaming a different assortment of toons selected from the catalogue.
Mattel and McDonald’s are on-board as the platform’s first advertisers, with Mattel holding the rights to launch ad and promo partnerships for DC HeroZone, which will showcase a range of products it produces for the superhero franchise. Remaining ad inventory on the site will be handled by WBTVG’s digital media sales team, directed by EVP of media sales Michael Teichler.
Wowza… yeah… so I was WAAAAAAAAAAAY off yesterday with my thoughts about the cross platform approach to KidsWB. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY off.
Hmm. So, KidsWB (old Tworks) is no longer a virtual world? It’s just a platform - like Kabillion or Nick.com(ish)? Interesting.
I wonder how well this will do with older cartoon programs & less TV/Saturday Morning support? Will cartoons that appeal more to the parental set be able to compete with newer, shinier brands?? Or is there a lasting glimmer in older cartoons like Flintstones and Jetsons that can transcend generations?
I guess if I were in a grocery store with my kids and they were acting like hellions, I might just pop my phone in front of them so they can watch streaming Bugs Bunny… instead of most of the content available on the web.
And so… are DC HeroZone and Warner Zone (apparently they dig the zone) going to add to the bigger list of Virtual Worlds… but only for teens? Sounds like it. And do they mean that KidsWB.com is DEFINITELY NOT a virtual world (as had been mentioned in regards to its previous moniker)?
I tend to be “thick” some times… so maybe I’m just missing something. I look forward to more press statements regarding Warner Bros’s plans. In the mean time, if anyone has any commentary about this– bring it on, yo
Wow– and info keeps pouring in (thankfully, I hate being confused). Here’s a tidbit. Click this link to actually see the entire post (thanks to Virtual World News to always bringin’ it to the table, Rad):
What about virtual worlds?
“The areas I’m most excited about are the highly immersive, ever-expanding virtual worlds: The Warner Zone and The DC HeroZone,” said Ades. “These are the worlds where the kids really take control in open-ended exploration and gameplay—and, again, earning points for everything they do.”
After emphasizing concerns for safety and COPPA compliance, Ades showed a video demo promising that “the best is yet to come. Prepare to enter the KidsWB virtual worlds.”
Displayed were avatar creation tools with Daphne from Scooby Doo, Taz, and Tweety. It looks as if The Warner Zone will be a fairly colorful, friendly environment. The DC HeroZone, though, is “melodramatic, where heroes and villains face off” in what is described as “the all new Batman virtual world.”
That’s not to say it won’t be appropriate for kids–I’m certainly not going to make that judgment after a 10-second clip–but it does look like it might skew slightly older.
In September, Warner Bros. announced plans for a large virtual world to tie interactive content and its extensive video library together in the form of T-Works aimed at competing with Disney and Club Penguin. Warner Bros. announced today that it had changed the name of the platform to KidsWB.com. The site, aimed at kids 6-12, is being billed as a “premium, ad-supported destination built around youth-oriented, immersive entertainment.” For now it seems like that means streaming video of WB properties and casual games. According to PaidContent, though, KidsWB will see a virtual world by the end of this year that features classic Loony Tunes characters as well as new characters created just for the site. McDonald’s and Mattel have already signed on for the ad-supported site.
I sigh sadly. I actually liked T-Works better. Ah well.
Here’s some possible rational as to why KidsWB is a better choice: They don’t want to compete with Cartoon Network’s rip roarin’ FusionFall (which I’m still uber-psyched about despite the continued push back on time– ooo the suspense) nearly as much as the Club Penguin crowd. T-Works has an older, edgier tween/teen boy feel to it (at least to me… I envision Taz when I hear it. Taz, Marvin Martian, etc, all remind me of 8th Grade and Freshman year, as well as Great America theme parks and lick & stick tattoos… anyone else?).
KidsWB is so much more kidsy, it’s got a young, donut hole Saturday Morning cartoons vibe (my dad used to take me for donut holes on Saturday Morning– I was an early riser on Sats. LOVED my cartoons). –Hmm… it couldn’t be because KidsWB HAS a Saturday morning cartoon line-up, could it? BINGO. (update: apparently this is getting axed this fall? Weird)
Syncin’ it, they’re syncin’ it.
Me thinks there will be multiplatformness… and immediate competition with Neopets 2.0 (tv, MMO, virtual environment, plushy, cross-media IP, etc).
KidsWB– multibrand (Bugs, Batman, Scoobs, etc) under one uberbrand (WB) distributed in Saturday Morning cartoon block, and a virtual world where you can be ONE with your favorite multibrand cartoons.
The only question is… will it succeed where Nicktropolis’s multi-brand in one world kinda (forgive me gods that be at Nick) didn’t?
What do I mean? Nicktropolis has sections where you can make a unique character in the visual styles of Spongebob, then make another in Danny Phantom’s world, etc. Sadly, this method doesn’t feel cohesive, and it takes away from any encompassing citizenship in Nicktropolis (where you again have another character representation of yourself). Part of community is recognizing others. How do you get used to the visual representation of a cool new friend if they’re always changing on you? Plus… how fun is it to travel in a virtual world where the main characters are NPC’s who feel more like animatronic musicians at Chucky Cheese, then a favorite friend from an animated series? It’s a tough line to walk. That’s why MMO’s have rocked for the brands with pre-created characters and story lines (Pirates of the Caribbean, FusionFall, Fosters), and vague cast-o-characters, new brands have worked for virtual worlds (like Club Penguin, Neopets).
But who knows– this project has been in development for a while now… perhaps they’ve found the magical combination that proves me & history wrong? (Notice: me first, history second… apparently I have a chip on my shoulder today, lol).
Australia’s non-profit National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect is running a powerful ad, “Children See. Children Do.” Fortunately for the rest of the world, the ad has made its way to You Tube. Check it out:
Props to Parent Talk Today for posting that… It’s amazing, frightening, and dead on.
This weekend my friend Nicky– a 2nd grade teacher from Chicagoland– and I were talking about how much we’ve noticed the trend of parents to ignore the actions of their children in public (while the parent is in attendance). And even when bystander adults have to correct the child– the parent half-shrugs and continues their own agenda (chatting with friends, eating, reading, etc).
Case in point: Santa Monica has a Farmer’s Market next to an outdoor cafe. The cafe allows a large percentage of their grounds (porch) to be used by the public who have purchased at the market. There is a 3 foot brick wall around the porch ending in an upward slope and a cement planter filled with flowers.
We watched a 4 year old and his 3 year old sister jump up and off the wall, and then the boy (4 year old) try to climb up the slope to the flowers. The flowers were about 5 feet off the ground, so the slope was steep. If he had fallen, he would have cracked his head soundly on cement or brick– in every direction.
It was like watching a bubbly, inexperienced tight-rope walker. Not fun.
The kids belonged to grandparents(?) sitting at a table in the non-cafe part of the porch, staring off into space. Their table was no where near the brick wall.
Nicky and I were doing what all child-care-peeps do– which is eek & jerk about as if invisibly catching the child. We threw dirty looks at the g-p’s, tried to talk the kids off the wall, etc. The kids just stuck their tongues out and kept going. The hostess of the cafe eventually succeeded in gently ushering the kids off and away.
Now, mind you– there’s like 200+ people milling about this small/medium sized market… and many coming off and on the porch.
The manager had to come and ask the grandparents to remove their children from the wall. Which the gp’s did with reluctance, if not annoyance. Five minutes later they were back– the process repeated several times until finally the grandparents decided to leave.
The whole day was like this. Shortly after - a very “manipulated” woman (plastic? yes) talking on her cell phone physically stopped us from entering a shop (despite the fact we had the right of way) to let her daughter and her daughters friends (tweens, perhaps 12?) enter before us. She didn’t even speak to us– she just put her hand on my shoulder, stalling me enough to give her daughter the head nudge to go first. I hadn’t even seen them there, they had been walking behind us. The woman didn’t even look at me. Just kept talking on the phone. Her daughter’s friends walked around the shop like they owned the place– speaking very rudely to the employees.
Apples, trees, and short distance people. I’d like to see a commercial about children being “representatives” of their parents. Kids can be kids, sure– but never for the sake of their family or community. Pride and respect aren’t “pick and choose” features that we only speak about when it behooves us. My dad told me that, and my mom ensured that I carried it through.
Granted, I ain’t no saint. It’s always a work in progress, just like breathing, seeing, experience, and growing.
The Association of Virtual Worlds has just released its new title The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds listing over 250 virtual worlds and is pleased to offer it free to anyone who is interested in the rapidly growing field of virtual worlds.
“I am very excited by this new book from our publishing division,” says Edita Kaye, Founder of the Association of Virtual Worlds, “because it is a simple, one-stop resource for everyone from kids to corporations.”
The Blue Book contains over 250 virtual worlds. Each world is listed alphabetically and includes a web address and brief description. In addition each world is classified as to whether it is live or in development, whether it is appropriate for kids, tweens, teens, or adults; and type of virtual environment it is, for example, a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game), a social network, a mobile application or a custom world.
The Blue Book is as easy to use for newbies (newcomers) to virtual worlds as it is for pros and long time fans of virtual worlds, or even businesses and organization looking to explore the virtual market place.
“This book was designed to open up the metaverse and show you the exciting possibilities just a click away on your own computer,” adds Dave Elchoness, Executive Director. “You’ll find a wide variety of virtual spaces, environments, and playgrounds from the very sophisticated, to the quick and simple, just waiting for you to explore.”
Check out the Association of Virtual Worlds - it’s a social network for anyone who works within the Virtual Worlds field (or just appreciates it?). I’ve not gotten a hold of the free book yet (will in a minute hopefully), but anything that lists & describes so many worlds has got to be a nice & handy toolbook, yeah?
Now if only the Safety Nod of approval was more like a Safety Dance… Oh, Dexy’s Midnight Riders… where for art thou & thou brilliance?
Anyway– check this out:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dizzywood Earns PRIVO Online Kids’ Safety Seal of Approval
Privo’s rigorous review finds Dizzywood to be one of the safest environments for children online.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – April 25, 2008 –Dizzywood, a virtual world and online game for children ages 8-12, today announced that it has earned the PRIVO Seal of Approval for providing one of the most safe and secure environments for children online.
In addition to its sophisticated filtering system and presence of live moderators who monitor all actions and communications in the world, Dizzywood strictly complies with the high standards of regulations contained in the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). Dizzywood has also taken additional safety measures to implement the privacy requirements of Privo’s Privacy Assurance Program.
“Dizzywood has demonstrated their commitment to safeguarding the privacy of kids,” said Denise Tayloe, CEO of Privo. “We appreciate the steps they have taken to earn our Seal of Approval and believe they have set a strong example for others who cater to children under 13 to follow.”
To earn the coveted PRIVO seal, Dizzywood’s privacy practices underwent a rigorous review process to ensure they met Privo’s requirements, including a full audit of Dizzywood’s safe and secure chat feature.
“Safety has always come first and foremost in Dizzywood,” said co-founder Sean Uberoi Kelly. “We have implemented a substantial number of technical safeguards for the web site. We have combined this with live real-time moderation by trained professionals to provide a safe and fun environment for kids.”
Dizzywood was launched in November, 2007. The imaginative, story-driven world offers kids a safe environment where they can engage in challenging activities that develop self-confidence, as well as cooperate with others and find a sense of belonging.
Dizzywood is free to use. Subscriptions will be available to access premium content in the future.
About Privo
Privo is the first and only infomediary service to be recognized by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). Website operators are deemed in compliance if the operator complies with Commission approved self-regulatory guidelines. The posting of the Privo Privacy Assurance Program Seal signals to consumers, partners, advertisers, as well as government, that your site meets the COPPA guidelines.
Privo extends to multiple industries that market family-oriented products and services and to general audience websites that attract kids. It is a costly challenge for individual companies to responsibly and legally initiate and sustain online interactive communication with kids. Privo enables these companies to create lifetime customer relationships through branded permission-management systems consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The Privo system is a secure, third-party Kid registration and Parental consent service for companies who attract kids to their websites.
About Dizzywood
Dizzywood’s mission is to inspire young people to use their imagination and have fun, while learning real-life values and skills. Dizzywood’s creative, story-driven world offers children a safe virtual environment where they can explore worlds unlike any other, engage in challenging activities and cooperate with others, while developing important cognitive skills. Because Dizzywood’s games and activities have endless variation, each experience is new and unique – keeping kids captivated and engaged. Kids are appropriately challenged with games and activities that earn players unique super powers and other creative rewards. For more information, visit www.dizzywood.com.
Very rad. Live moderators? That’s wicked great. Full audit of chat security? Niiiiiiiice. I can’t imagine that would be easy to sit by and watch happen — like spending months on a thesis paper, and then handing it in to the professor, and watching him grade it in front of you. Pins, Needs, Nerves, and Anxiousness. But BRAVO to the folks of Dizzywood. They’re really putting in the full effort to make Dizzywood a well-rounded, unique virtual world.
Del Toro’s moving to New Zealand for the next four years to work with Jackson and his Wingnut and WETA production teams. He’ll direct the two films back to back, with the sequel which will deal with the 60-year period between “The Hobbit” and “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I don’t know if you saw Labyrinth, but it was like a horror version of a Henson flick (in regards to creativity & muppety monsters). Gorgeous. Seriously.
So for Guillermo del Toro - whose talents abound - takes over where Peter Jackson left off??? WHAAABAM. I honestly believe he’d be the ONLY one to bring a sense of similarity from LOTR trilogy, while STILL tossing in his own credit, expertise, and kick-rear-ness to the mix.
I’m so darn pumped. I loved the Hobbit as a kid, and I cannot wait to see what they do with this classic.
• Nickelodeon UK’s new multi-platform comedy series iCarly has debuted as the number-one rating program on any children’s channel in cable and satellite homes in the region. The live actioner achieved a 13.4% share of viewers in its first two weeks on-air; attracting 2.2 million sets of eyeballs.
WOOT!!! iCarly is a rockstar of a show for tweens, from the brilliant mind of Dan Schneider. While still creating unique stories, they’re able to interweave UGC videos made by viewers into the show. The videos don’t really impact the storyline (at least not yet), but they are fun and goofy (and exactly what I would have done if I were there age & had a computer & a camera & loved iCarly).
I will say, at times, the show can be a shady… snarky (as in meanish for the sake of humor). And although I totally understand that tweens are really getting into the enjoyment of sarcasm and the power of humor & words, on occasion I do cringe. “Whoa, did they just go there?” kinda cringe. But alas, have you hung out with tweens? Twinging is nigh on a medical case, it happens so often. Ah, the freedoms and social learnings of youth?
Carly (Miranda Cosgroves) is a solid lead - she’s sweet, works hard for grades, has morals, and is the mickey mouse character of the group. Her friends Sam & Freddy (Jeannette McCurdy & Nathan Kress, respectfully), are like Tom & Jerry… cat and mouse. Sam, not necessary anyone’s example of an ideal role model, is slightly a bully and slackerish– but IS loyal to her friend through and through. Freddy is a good kid under the thumb of his overbearing mother. A bit of a tech geek and in love with Carly, he is always the butt of Sam’s jokes.
But to me… the golden child of this cast??? Carly’s older brother Spencer. He’s goofy, endearing, and off-the-wall bonkers (a bit of Fozzie Bear & Gonzo & Jim Carrey meshed into one… hmm, sounds awfully familiar…). Jerry Trainer (29 years old), also played “Crazy Steve” - another of my favorite Dan Schneider characters OF ALL TIME - on Drake & Josh. As Spencer– he plays the cool, wacky brother every tween girl & boy would want as their guardian (while Dad’s away with the Navy). Not to mention, he’s got some wicked socks and a rad apartment of clutter (treasure to me, junk says my mom).
On itunes they have the podcast for iCarly (just like all of Schneider’s Bakery productions), and they mostly feature the actors backstage, lounging about or talking about how the show is made. They’re just a few moments long, but they’re jam packed with kids-being-kids. They don’t act like snotty, too-old-for-their-years (I’m starting to feel that way about a certain Disney cash machine), poptart tweens. They act just like kids– giggling, doing complex handshakes (and getting them wrong), trying to be goofy-cool while joking with calm, clever (awesome) Jerry Trainer (okay, yes, I’m turning into a fan girl… leave me along, lol), and just hanging out. It’s refreshing to see. I can’t help but wonder if the same could be said for Zoey101’s cast… ever. Yes, Z101 is not in production (someone has other biznas in Louisiana), but I’d be surprised if those kids were hanging out just being goofy. Seems like Z101’s cast = a little more of the popular-kids-club, where they need to look Abercrombie and talk about their acting careers off set. But that’s just a vibe.
Anyway– the point is… those podcasts made by the staff are refreshing. It’s nice to see (even if it’s somehow magically fabricated, but I don’t think their individual simplicity could ever be truly ‘acted’) a bunch of kids just acting like kids, and not pushing their uber-careers and hollywood star status. Recess play - nothing can be how refreshing recess play is.
What I’d like to know is — what can they do with the UGC submissions from the iCarly website that is more than they’re doing now? How can iCarly grow two-fold… one hand educating, guiding, and rewarding youth for SMART web/video use (aka education), and also finding new ways of empowering and entertaining?
Maybe it’s just a start, but overall it’s cool with a lot of possibility? I’m curious as to why others haven’t tried such an approach.
In conjunction with Earth Day and Arbor Day, Dizzywood will be announcing a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation that will allow children to experience environmental lessons in a virtual world — and then see the impact offline in the real world. Here’s how it will work:
Beginning April 22 players in Dizzywood can plant trees in an effort to restore nature and balance to large tracts of forest that have been destroyed by the notorious arch-villain Emperor Withering and his ruthless mining activities. For every virtual tree planted in Dizzywood, a real one will be planted in areas that need them most through a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation.
Players earn their tree seedlings upon arrival in the world and quickly discover that with help from friends, their trees grow faster. As each tree is planted, players also see the effects on the polluted sky as it slowly begins to clear and notice that the adorable Dizzywood critters are returning to their homes.
Awesome! That’s a nice way to bring moral, empowerment, cause/effect into a virtual world. And, naturally, I’m a HUGE supporter of virtual world story arcs for the tween (and younger) demographic. Puts less pressure for meaning on them, and gives them a backdrop of “drama” to care about when they’re finding a moment without a game goal. Story! Story! Get to be a part of the story!
For places like Dizzywood– a creative bubble of adventure, exploration, and occasional epic– this is a great method of working in the “green” initiative into their user’s tools. Some places, green initiatives feel forced.
Planting a tree (and the associated image) feels like more fun– especially if things continue to happen with the trees (building a treehouse? boo, I forgot, that needs wood… perhaps eco friendly wood? Or adding in animations, like a birds nests, etc). Playing tag in the forest could be fun too.
I suppose, things like this should have meaning beyond the message. Messages are short– pass in one ear and out the other. If you give meaning that connects to individuals, the collaboration with that project has a longer life span.
Here’s how I look at it?
Honestly– is your initiative has a momentary connection (”charity”) or a user-needed connection (”action/time”)? After you sort that part, then treat it accordingly and smartly. Giving coins for a cause (”Club Penguin”) was successful because they didn’t ask for any more of your time than what they needed– donate to support. To make it live and get exciting, they built a bit of celebratory fanfair around it, and dedicated some time to congratulate (positive reinforcement) the users for rockin’ it (which makes them want more reinforcement). With Dizzywood, they have chosen a path that requires action/time. Planting can be a phenomenon to kids– the ability to put something small in the ground, pay attention to it, and it lives and grows? You have to make it exciting with fanfair as well… but the ability to change an environment by empowerment is pretty cool indeed.
It’ll be great to see how/if/when this inspires more avenues & objectives, projects & learnings, coolness & exploration– not just for Dizzywood’s awesomeness, but for other virtual worlds as well.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has teamed with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) team to launch a nationwide education campaign that includes the release and distribution of a booklet, A Parents Guide to Video Games, parental Controls and Online Safety, to the all 26,000 PTAs. The campaign encourages PTAs to educate parents about the ESRB’s rating system and parental control technology available for various gaming systems among, and how to use the equipment. The booklet can also be downloaded (for free) in English and Spanish via the PTA and ESRB websites. Additionally, a free webcast featuring the heads of both organizations and others, will take place tomorrow night at 7p. The webcast will offer explanations of the ESRB ratings system, information on setting up parental controls for a range of major gaming systems, as well as a discussion on online gaming safety
Reminds me a lot of the awesomeness that IS Common Sense Media… But every ounce added to the pot makes a lot more broth and better chances for full bellies.
