Google launched Lively today, which is basically their effort at Second Life. But it might not be all nerds and emos like Second Life, it actually looks moderately cool. It runs in a browser (doesn’t need any software download), and Google already have about 40 million users using Gmail, which includes Gtalk, which is now part of Lively.
Users can create their own avatars (which are also more comic-book like than Second Life), and then create rooms where they can meet their friends. There’s not one big world where everyone is like in Second Life, but apparently that’s on the way.
Google didn’t just launch this so people could see avatars of the friends they’re talking to, if it does take off it will be a massive advertising platform, and it will be completely controlled by Google (which everyone said about Second Life too, but that’s still just nerds and emos).
 I’m just finishing off a report on gaming and advertising and was wondering if I’d missed any major happenings in my intro. Everyone has different, distinctive moments in their own personal gaming histories whether it’s the first use of a Dreamcast Fishing Rod or losing money in the dodgy fish ‘n’ chips shop Space Invaders machine. But I’m attempting to highlight the critical references over a few decades, and do it concisely. Let me know if I’ve missed anything major:
“When Nolan Bushnell first put his coin-operated game Computer Space into Stanford University in 1971, he was initially surprised at its popularity. Of course history tells us he got over that surprise quickly, founded a company, and led a generation of kids in chasing ghosts around mazes on their Atari 2600s.
Of course the monumental success of home computers like the Apple II and IBM Personal Computer meant that kids had been using homework as a Trojan horse to get to gaming for years. In 1980 the Commodore Vic 20 became the first computer to pass the one million sold mark and, released in 1982 it’s follow up the Commodore 64 went on to become the best selling single personal computer ever. And if anthropologists had watched as gamers stared at their cassette player for thirty minutes as it loaded a game, they could have probably foretold what was to come.
During the 80s, Generation X pumped exorbitant amounts of silver into coin-op machines like Galaga, Donkey Kong, Pole Position and Spy Hunter. But by the early 90s, home computers and video game consoles had begun the shift for gaming from the arcade to the lounge room. The Nintendo Entertainment System (1985), Sega Megadrive (1990) and Sony Playstation (1995) all built on the foundations laid by Atari and video gaming had well and truly arrived.
It was the arrival of networked gaming and the internet that took games like Doom, Warcraft and Half-Life to a whole new level. This was gaming fuelled by conversation, competition and co-operation. Game developers began to harness the power of human versus human into high-adrenalin or strategic experiences that enthralled players across the globe. There was no comparing Pong with a 32 player round of Unreal Tournament deathmatch.”
Allowing consumers to mess with your ad using their mobile phone is a playful way to get them involved. Megaphone brings people into the action without requiring them to dowload an app to their device (always a difficult hurdle to overcome). Megaphone not only allows interaction using the keypad but, as the name suggests, the volume into the phone’s microphone can also influence the shared game state. An ad controller (no, not skipper) in every passerby’s pocket - nice one.
Here’s a good example of complimentary interactive applications to enhance the experience at sports events (this time baseball, but could be anything):
“ The innovative program is called the Nintendo Fan Network. For a fee, the network uploads a program onto the user’s DS Lite and allows fans to order food and drinks, watch the live television feed of the game, access stats and scores and play trivia, all from the comfort of their seat - whether it’s a premium seat behind home plate or in the top row of the stadium.”
Of course this should be a moble java application (eventually) for near-total audience compliance but it would be a fun use of your DS at a game. If the trivia is a peer-to-peer competition, it could really harness the respective fanbases in the crowd. Maybe Betfair and similar companies will eventually look at this for small time speculators.
Social networking sites are now so many that the term is nearly obselete. As result of the collective success of Facebook, Bebo, Orkut (if you’re Brazilian) and the ‘Space, a generation of people are heading online having never seen the internet without these experience. So interactions like adding buddies, shooting an IM, joining groups and um.. ‘poking’ Facebookers come to them as naturally as sending an email or performing a search. We used to browse content: now we aggregate, rate and tag it.
Now we’re starting to virtual worlds heading the same way. With a 3D game-like user interface, there is a very low barrier to entry for the younguns in attempting to navigate their avatar around a new environment. Of course there are still lag, rendering and other technical issues to resolve in these alpha experiences, but it’s really not a big leap for the Playstation generation to adopt the basic mechanics. So it stands to reason, that as the basics begin to be ingrained, providers of these worlds can start to tailor and personalise these experience to specific segments.
A great example of this is the recently announced (somewhat released) Virtual Lower East Side (think Vice Magazine meets Second Life). Of course there is value in a massively horizontal, user-generated platform of virtual content. But we’re starting to see virtual worlds translated into targeted editions for all sorts of demo- and psychographic audiences. VLES is the realistic virtual depiction of just one corner of Manhattan. When an area has such distinguishable characteristics that define it - live music, seedy past, grungy cafes - it has real potential to come alive in a game-like world. Clearly this is something Rockstar are trading off. But for these immersive, connected spaces, this is just the beginning.
Australians: maybe a virtual Maroubra could be an interesting place to explore from the safety of your own Macbook..
Recently at the Online Game Developers Conference in Seattle, Sony discussed it’s intentions for better extending the consumer relationship and commercial opportunities it has via connected PS3 and PSPs. Currently Playstation 3 owners are able to play online and download a small array of digital content. But Sony has ambitious plans to capitalize on it’s loungeroom presence via a new range of upcoming digital services.
In the near future, Sony will be looking to fill up the PS3’s 60Gb hard drive with full-length video on demand offerings such as movies, television and music. Some of this will integrate with its 3D community space, Home, where users can share media with friends within their own apartment spaces.
SCEA’s director of third-party developer relations, Michael Shorrock, also talked about how the Playstation Network could be seen as an experimental space for new business models. When asked if pavillions within Home would need to be leased or purchased by developers, he said that Sony are looking to “foster activity and flexibility”. This is encouraging for other non-gaming brands looking to be involved. A FMCG brand might be able to run an event launch, shared with a media owner or create an original video or music content offering. Shorrock also talks about providing conduits for people to contribute conten, but so far the specification for Home has been more focussed on business to consumer-type features.
With loungeroom (PS3) and wireless (PSP) distribution coming together, Sony nearly has all the enabling pieces of the puzzle in place. Now the services that overlay this connectivity just need to be captivating enough for people to turn away from their traditional consumption habits. But when you stand back and look at the possibilities of blending gaming, media, advertising and commerce, the ecosystem might actually provide some compelling reasons for engagement.
Although details are still sketchy, Electronic Arts has announced a partnership with Endemol (producers of Big Brother) intending to combine Second Life-type interactions with reality TV properties. The Guardian (subs required) says:
” Endemol chief creative officer Peter Bazalgette said it represented “a wholly different level” of interaction between viewers and programme makers.
He added that participants would be able to compete in their own “incredibly sophisticated” versions of Big Brother with other people from around the world and that there would be crossovers between the online worlds and the television series”.
The combination makes sense but clearly user-uptake of this kind of ‘converged interactivity’ will depend on its specific uses. EA obviously have access to some high quality avatar-making software (see make your own player options in EA Sports games) but Endemol will still be requiring users to vote with their mobile (for revenue reasons) - the whole TV + plus online avatar + mobile thing is a delicate balancing act. Still, it’s exciting. Branded spaces will be an obvious direction for the online 3D world so happy sponsors will soon see their logos delivered by Endomol into another medium. One question that comes to mind is - how will these Virtual Mes be allowed to interact with the brands?
Recently at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, Reuters interviewed Jerry Paffendorf from the Electric Sheep Company. There are some very interesting concepts discussed in this 30 minute chat, not the least of which is the idea of how Google Maps might mashup with Second Life. This is where the whole planet might exist in an alternative, mirrored video game format, complete with geo-location aspects tying the real and virtual worlds together. Have a listen, some mind-blowing stuff:
..kinda. Yesterday Stanford University demo-ed the Playstation 3 version of Folding at Home, the networked application that uses spare CPU cycles to conduct Alzheimers research. Cool huh? St Edmonds Lab will be installing Folding on it’s black beastie as soon as it’s available. The app’s been running on PCs for years but the significance of it running on a PS3 can be seen in these stats (this is a little geeky):
“..the 826 PS3s doing Folding in beta are already doing 1/6 the processing of all the active Folding PCs out there - over 155k of them!”
Just think of the tasks that 2 million networked Playstations can achieve together?
