webkinz posts

MMO Family: Virtual worlds for kids

by Lisa Poisso Nov 13th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Club Penguin, There, Habbo Hotel, Gaia Online, Barbie Girls, Kids, Moshi Monsters, MMO Family

MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family.

Nestling somewhere in between MMOs and social networking, virtual worlds are a virtual sandlot for millions of kids worldwide. Think avatar-based chat and mini-games alongside other kids of the same age range and interests, and you'll catch the appeal of these kid-friendly destinations. While a gaming parent might consider virtual worlds mere training wheels for games still to come, kid-friendly virtual worlds seem to fit the attention spans, chatty nature and niche-y interests of kids to a T.

The sheer variety of worlds appealing to children makes it easy for kids to find a spot where they'll want to hang out. As of early 2009, kids could choose from 112 virtual worlds designed for children and teens, according to Engage Digital Media, with more than 80 new worlds under development. The numbers of kids who've found a virtual home in these worlds rivals even the fat figures of MMO big dog World of Warcraft. Research firm eMarketer estimates that in the United States alone, 8 million kids hung out in virtual worlds regularly during 2008; that number is projected to swell to more than 15 million by 2013.

Tags: action-allstars, barbie-girls, bella-sara, build-a-bearville, children, dizzywood, family, featured, parents, pixie-hollow, poptropica, ridemakerz, roblox, seapals-world, secret-builders, teen-second-life, toontown, tootsville, tygirlz, virtual-worlds, webkinz

PAX 2009: Massively interviews BioWare and LucasArts on SWTOR part 2

by Kyle Horner Sep 7th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: New titles, Massively Interviews, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Tags: bioware, blaine-christine, ea, electronic-arts, jake-neri, lucasarts, multiplayer-dialog, pax, pax-2009, roleplaying, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, the-old-republic, tor, webkinz

The Trading Table comes to Webkinz

by Michael Zenke May 19th 2008 at 9:00PM

Filed under: Webkinz, Kids

The thousands of happy kids that care for their 'kinz online every day now have a new way of playing. Ten Ton Hamster has the word that Webkinz will now allow players to trade their virtual pets in an online trading room. It's much the same way that kids trade their real world plush. Players are allowed to trade with a given person only once per day, and the official site stresses that "the only trades allowed in Webkinz World are made in the Trading room!" An official notice went up reinforcing this concept, proving that RMT and player-to-player sales are a problem even in worlds aimed at the smallest of players.

A post on the TTHamp site earlier this month discussed this new game element in greater detail. You'll only be able to trade in the Clubhouse, and there are a number of security elements behind the scenes that required the once-per-day-per-person trading limit. The interview with the folks at Ganz points out that new chat elements were added to facilitate trading, and that (someday) Kinz Chat Plus might return. Check out the piece for the entire lowdown.

Tags: ganz, trading, webkinz

Webkinz, Habbo, Linden Lab make list of top 25 most valuable startups

by Akela Talamasca May 2nd 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Real life, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, Making money, Second Life, Habbo Hotel, Webkinz, Kids

The Silicon Alley Insider has the latest iteration of its "World's Most Valuable Digital Startups", a list of 25 privately-held companies with products or services on the Web. They say 'iterative', because they plan to continually update the list as market values change.

Companies of note on this list are Webkinz, the purveyors of virtual pets, valued at an estimated $2 billion dollars; Habbo, makers of Habbo Hotel, valued at $1.25 billion; and Linden Lab, the hosts of Second Life, valued at $1.1 billion dollars. If you're wondering about how they've come up with these valuation numbers, they explain their methodology, which essentially consists of four main components: implied valuations in recent financing, financial performance, market share and market size, and growth rate.

The Webkinz model is well-supported by now; it's essentially Beanie Babies in digital. Habbo Hotel is doing well enough to almost become a household name. Second Life gets the lion's share of public eyes on it by being the target of everyone's assumptions. Honestly, we're surprised that all three of these companies are still privately owned. Any bets on how much longer that will last?

Tags: beanie-babies, habbo, habbo-hotel, linden-lab, sai-25, second-life, silicon-alley-insider, webkinz, worlds-most-valuable-digital-startups

Massively exclusive: Inside the mind of Mind Candy's Michael Smith

by Seraphina Brennan Apr 30th 2008 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Puzzle, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Massively Interviews, Kids, Moshi Monsters

I recently had the opportunity to sit down and spend some quality time with the CEO of Mind Candy, Michael Smith. I picked his brain about Mind Candy's newest game, Moshi Monsters, how they're going to attract and protect the kids that play it, and what some of Michael's favorite past-time activities are. Plus, we even discussed a little background on Perplex City, and the status of the anticipated alternate reality game, Perplex City Season 2.

Interested in what goes on in the mind of one of Britain's most innovative game developers? Read on after the break and find out!

Tags: casual, club-penguin, exclusive, featured, interview, interviews, joystiqfeatures, kids, michael-smith, mind-candy, monster, moshi-monsters, perplex-city, pxc, stardoll, webkinz

Lost. The Monster. Reward: Cuteness.

by Seraphina Brennan Apr 23rd 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, New titles, Previews, Free-to-play, Browser, Education, Kids, Moshi Monsters

Do you like cuteness? Do you like monsters? Do you like puzzles?

If you said yes to all three, then do we have the multiplayer game for you! As we reported earlier, Mind Candy, the crazy developers behind the super-huge alternate reality game Perplex City, have been working on something for the children. Their result is Moshi Monsters, a cross between a Tamagotchi, Brain Age, and sheer attitude.

The picture to the right is Smigglesnuff. Smigglesnuff likes two things: the word "miasma" and choptastic moves. Oh, sure, she enjoys the tickles I give her, but don't mess with her unless you want your face re-arranged. Go visit her if you want to find out for yourself.

Tags: beta, browser, cartoon, educational, flash, free-to-play, kids, michael-smith, mind-candy, moshi-monsters, neopets, new-title, preview, smigglesnuff, webkinz

The Rise of the Casual MMO

by Brenda Holloway Apr 12th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Casual

It's always a little odd to hear someone talk about gaming as 'hardcore' or 'casual' because it is, after all, still just game. When we log out of the game and turn off our computers, we've come to the same place no matter if we spent our time clearing Karazhan at record speed, or spent it in a tavern discussing the finer points of blood elf hair-styling over tankards of ale. When someone announces they are making a casual MMO, what do they mean by that? World of Warcraft was at one point described as a casual MMO, and perhaps compared to EverQuest or Dark Age of Camelot, it was. It set up a milestone for casual gaming, but gaming has moved on and now even WoW is considered too hardcore for many. How is it possible to define what a casual MMO is, when the definition keeps changing?

Tags: club-penguin, daoc, dark-age-of-camelot, eq, everquest, imgdc, kart-rider, mmo, mmo-industry, nick-fortugno, parking-wars, rebelmonkey, solitaire, webkinz, world-of-warcraft, wow

Barbie Girls Online: Been there, done that, got the tiara

by Brenda Holloway Apr 7th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Business models, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Barbie Girls, Kids

How will you ever tell your little girl that her friend Jane is a special VIP in Barbie Girls Online, but you won't even give her a dented copper tiara? Jane's tiara is made of diamonds, platinum and unicorn hair! Your daughter: No tiara. You: resented in real life. But you're a good mommy or daddy, and you'll buy your little girl her VIP membership and her tiara will be gold, with rubies, because you love her just that much. Welcome to the wonderful world of getting to your wallet through your children.

It's not entirely new; Kid-oriented web sites such as Webkinz and Neopets have offered dolls with codes for use on their website for some years now, but they were real dolls, and the special perks on the website were theirs forever. They had something to keep when the computer was off. Now, your daughter's tenuous reign as VIP lasts only so long as you keep paying for a VIP membership. (Barbie Girls Online also requires a Barbie-shaped dongle/MP3 player to be plugged into the computer for full access but is not required for most of the site).

Tags: barbie, barbie-girls, barbie-girls-online, disney-channel, neopets, nickolodeon, rmt, shopping, subscription, tiara, vip, webkinz

Beanie Babies Online entertains kids, sells toys

by Samuel Axon Mar 12th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Browser, Casual, Kids

Ty -- 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 service will only unlock when children buy new real-world Beanie Babies. The toys ship with some sort of registration code that will progress the account to the next level when entered at the Beanie Babies 2.0 website.

Usually we're glad to see virtual worlds and online games adopted by the culture at large, but we're not so crazy for this one. It looks less like a meaningful experience for kids than it looks like a sneaky attempt to use technology to sell more Beanie Babies. Sure, Ty is a business, and it needs to profit. But we're more quick to admire businesses that try to do something constructive with their products as well -- like Fluid Entertainment and its environment-friendly kids' game. At the very least, the game should be fun on its own, right?

Beanie Babies 2.0 has no such aspirations. The New York Times thought it fitting to call it "Catalog 2.0."

Tags: animax, beanie-babies, beanie-babies-2.0, flash, kids, new-york-times, toys, ty, virtual-worlds, webkinz

Green-themed kids' game nabs $3.2 million in funding

by Samuel Axon Mar 12th 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Browser, Casual, Kids

Fluid Entertainment, a game company that employs only 14 people, has raised an impressive $3.2 million in funding for the development of a Flash-based online social game for kids aged 6 - 11. The game has an environment-friendly theme.

After the successes of Webkinz and Club Penguin, these kid-oriented games and virtual worlds are hot items for venture capitalists, according to VentureBeat. Fluid is one of many companies aiming to enter that sector of the industry, but its game is particularly intriguing because it aims to use the medium to "[affect] real-world behavior around environmentalism and sustainability."

This is one more example of the virtual world and MMO phenomenon expanding beyond the hardcore role-playing game niche and "just for fun" design. Fluid is aiming for a summer release of the new game, and its business model will combine subscriptions, micro-transactions, and apparently the sale of real-world merchandise. With $3.2 million in funding, these guys could end up notable players in the kids' MMO space, so we'll be watching them.

[Via Mashable]

Tags: angel-investors, club-penguin, enviromentalism, fluid, fluid-entertainment, green, investors, kids, mashable, venture, venture-capitalist, venturebeat, webkinz

The Daily Grind: What's a good first MMO for a child?

by Akela Talamasca Mar 2nd 2008 at 8:00AM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Culture, Game mechanics, Guides, MMO industry, Club Penguin, Opinion, Toontown Online, Webkinz, The Daily Grind, Gamer Interrupted, Kids

Our Robin Torres writes a column called Gamer Interrupted, about mixing real life with gaming, and it's a wonderful read. In a recent post, the subject turned to how to make MMOs more child-friendly. A few specific titles were covered as well, including WoW and ToonTown Online, but it's worth asking if there are other good first MMO titles that are not only child-safe, but actively worthwhile for a kid to play, either alone or with a parent.

Obviously, we can mention Webkinz and Club Penguin, but are there others? Are there, in fact, any non-child MMOs that are safe for children to play?

Tags: child-friendly, child-safe, children, club-penguin, first-mmo, gamer-interrupted, kids, opinion, robin-torres, the-daily-grind, toontown-online, webkinz, world-of-warcraft

GDC08: Thinking outside the virtual world

by Elizabeth Harper Feb 21st 2008 at 7:14AM

Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, Virtual worlds

Tuesday afternoon, Michael Acton Smith, CEO of Mind Candy, presented attendees at the GDC's Worlds in Motion summit with an interesting look at the confluence between real goods and virtual worlds. For some background on where Smith is coming from, Mind Candy "creates games and puzzles that span multiple media.... [they] use all forms of technology to tell stories and interact with... [their] audiences." They run Perplex City, an alternate reality game that uses clues puzzles in the real world combined with web-based resources to create a unique type of gameplay. Their upcoming game Moshi Monsters is an adoptable pet game geared towards kids. Smith says it's a "new type of virtual pet experience." The pets will be very alive with their own emotions (driven by a behavior engine which will cause your pet to act different ways depending on how you treat it) that will be reflected in the pet's animations. The game will also incorporate a number of social tools, so both you and your pet monster can hang out with friends. And, of course, there will be toys, oh glorious toys. (Some already available, though the game itself is still in beta and closed to the public.)

Gallery: GDC08: Worlds in Motion summit day 2

Tags: barbiegirls, be-bratz, beanie-babies, build-a-bear, build-a-bearville, featured, gdc, gdc08, gdc08fanboy, habbo, habbo-hotel, maplestory, michael-acton-smith, mind-candy, moo, moshi-monsters, neopets, shining-stars, thinkgeek, toys, webkinz, wim, world-of-warcraft, worlds-in-motion, wow

GDC08: Abandon Interactive's Freaky Creatures

by Akela Talamasca Feb 20th 2008 at 4:45AM

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, Galleries, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, Opinion, Mobile, Hands-on, Casual, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage

Today (and by 'today', of course, I'm talking 'earlier Tuesday', whereas for many of you reading this as it goes live, it'll be Wednesday already) I saw a vibrant new MMO called Freaky Creatures. By the end of my session with the creative team, I said this, and I quote: "You guys will hear this a lot from now on, so let me be the first: this is like Pokémon, but far, far cooler."

And it is. Freaky Creatures has a lot going for it, and it sounds like they're getting it all right. Given that the game has been in development for over 5 years now, Abandon Interactive has had the advantage of watching many an MMO rise and fall, and they're making sure they don't make the same mistakes. Read on, O Intrepid One, and lemme 'splain some things to you.

Gallery: GDC08: Freaky Creatures

Tags: abandon-interactive, battle-beasts, black-and-white, breaking, feature, featured, freaky-creatures, gdc, gdc08, gdc08fanboy, pokemon, webkinz

GDC 08: Entertainment content convergence in online worlds

by Barb Dybwad Feb 19th 2008 at 8:30AM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Club Penguin, Second Life, Webkinz, Virtual worlds, Massively Event Coverage, Gaia Online

We spent most of Monday ensconced in the GDC Worlds in Motion summit track, which made "standing room only" seem extremely spacious -- most of the sessions were packed to the gills and then some. It seems like more than a few industry types are interested in the intersections between gaming and virtual worlds. Case in point, the following session we've paraphrased (hopefully not too liberally!) from Reuben Steiger, CEO of Milllions of Us, a company that builds marketing campaigns and content for virtual worlds.

Reuben: Storytelling is the bedrock of human culture. (Looking at a slide with a real campfire on the left and a user-created campfire in Second Life on the right) -- users in virtual worlds are recreating this storytelling tradition. I'm going to make a contention: the internet has failed as a storytelling medium. Instead, the norm is bathroom humor and ridiculous jokes.

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, where fun can be in a way you define as opposed to what some game developer feels is fun. But the appeal of virtual worlds is that we can tell stories on a broader and less walled playing field.

Tags: ARGs, club-penguin, disney, enitechlabs, featured, fox-tv, gaia-online, gdc08, gdc08fanboy, gossip-girl, millions-of-us, mou, reuben-steiger, sarah-connor-chronicles, second-life, SL, social-networks, sony-home, storytelling, summer-slam, virtual-worlds, webkinz, world-wrestling-entertainment, wwe

Hello Kitty Online: I have no mouth, and I must scream [Updated]

by Akela Talamasca Feb 14th 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Culture, New titles, News items, Hello Kitty Online

Some of you have anticipated it. Some of you have dreaded it. Some of us have been threatened with it, when we've been naughty bloggers ('Follow the style guidelines or we'll make you play it!'). Whatever your reaction to the news, it's finally happening: Hello Kitty Online is currently in closed beta, and will launch sometime in the latter half of 2008.

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 like Club Penguin or Webkinz!

Color me curious; I've already signed up for the beta. More news as it comes. Keep an eye on Massively for all your superdeformed, facial orifice-less, kawaii character needs.

[Updated: Closed beta actually begins on April 23rd.]

Tags: breaking, closed-beta, club-penguin, flower-kingdom, hello-kitty-online, hko, kawaii, new-title, sanrio, superdeformed, webkinz