Virtual World Expo: Who is in?

Virtual Worlds Kids, part of the Virtual Worlds Expo, is designed for the owners of kids brands and provides attendees with the insight necessary to launch, operate and maintain a virtual world for kids and teens in this highly competitive landscape. The track focuses primarily on entertainment worlds, but [...]

YIKES: Audience Communication

So… these days, as tween virtual worlds buzz about safety & proactive experiences, I find it interesting that I got THIS push email from Vizwoz – a British virtual world for tween/teens:

Interesting, right?
I don’t know what I find more insulting… the invitation to a game of blood & assault, the “Club the Penguin” which happens [...]

Blessings: The Immortality of Randy Pausch

Did you notice today that Google’s homepage has a small message at the bottom: In Memoriam Randy Pausch (1960-2008)?.
Last September 18th Randolph Frederick Pausch , an American professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, gave a lecture to about 400 students, faculty and friends about some life lessons he’d learned that became an [...]

The Guardian Covers Kid VWs with the Corp Babysitter

Even though I tried to disguise it, I still sound like I was up at five a.m. for my interview for The Guardian’s Tech Weekly Podcast. In the Virtual Worlds Special, host Aleks Krotoski, characterizing Corporate Babysitter as a “watchdog blog,” asked me what I thought about the explosion of virtual worlds for kids. The segment begins around [...]

Fingers Crosssed: Avatar’s MMO

Also at Comic-Con over the weekend, Nickelodeon unveiled plans to launch an Avatar: The Last Airbender 3D massively multiplayer online game based on the animated series. The beta version for Avatar: Legends of the Arena, which will serve as a prequel to the series, is set for launch in 81 markets and in [...]

Youth VWs and Prep for the Unexpected

I asked Zookazoo’s Michael Carter (highly respected in Digital Youth Research) since his multi-faceted gaming background enables him to elucidate much further than yours truly, (he’s always opening my eyes to fresh critical thinking in new ways, from different angles) Michael matter-of-factly said:
“WHO are the cheats “cheating?” It’s their time to use, and it [...]

Toy Industry Study on Product to Web Play

Toy Industry Association Study on Kids and Online Play, 28% of Kids Who Use “SGE’s” have Purchased Products

The Toy Industry Association (TIA) and market researcher NPD Group have authored a research study, Online Play: Earning Mom’s Trust and Children’s Interest.  The report is designed to help industry players understand what’s driving moms and kids ages [...]

Nickelodeon Luvs Social Gaming

Williams then offered up data from a big Nickelodeon research study into casual gamers, which revealed that “nearly half of all internet users are playing games regularly or even every day”.
He elaborated: “Moms, dads, teens are all playing casual games in droves. This shows there are huge untapped markets in this space.”
Nickelodeon has identified key [...]

Miley Cyrus gives thumbs up for Cyberbullying?

Disney cutie Selena Gomez made a YouTube video with her equally cute lifelong BFF and fellow Disney star Demi Lovato.
Well, Miley Cyrus, the ex-girlfriend of Nick Jonas, who is now dating Selena, is not a big fan of Gomez’s.
Along with that annoying much older friend of hers, Mandy, Cyrus made a [...]

FusionFall: 1ST AAA Browser Based MMO

Cartoon Network Creates First AAA, Browser-Based MMOG for Kids

Cartoon Network: FusionFall Takes Kids on 3D Online Adventure to Defend the Cartoon Network Universe

Cartoon Network New Media along with its development partner, Grigon Entertainment, today announced the integration of the Unity Technologies game engine to create the [...]