Terry Pratchett Visits Second Life

First, I want to make it clear that I was not, in fact, at the Terry Pratchett Q&A today in Second Life. As a semi-professional misanthrope, I tend to avoid large crowds in Second Life - they are laggy, confusing and more disorienting than I prefer - and on this occasion, it seems the sim was already heading towards full a good hour before the kick-off. If I was made of sterner stuff, I might have camped out ages in advance, but for one thing I had a bunch of real life chores to do, and for another, Mrs K would have taken a dim view of such behaviour.

Mr Pratchett was inworld to talk about his new book, Nation, and take questions from the avatar crowd. I assumed the transcript would appear eventually, but perhaps such is the power of 2.0 applications that I quickly learned on Twitter that the transcript was already up, and posted on Flickr!

I will leave you to read the full piece for yourselves - but I wanted to lift just a few of the quotes that tickled my funny bone and put them on Slambling:

• ... I’m not really into all of this YourTube into MyFace kind of stuff!
• I like the idea of Second Life, because it is a totally human activity. Monkeys wouldn’t be able to join.
• I actually have a small potato in my coat pocket. In time of hunger a potato is more likely to be more useful than prayer.
• I’m also a sucker for the kind of books with titles such as “Picky – The History of 500 Years of Snot in Britain”

There is also a Nation sim - which I have yet to visit - modelled, I understand, on the tropical island depicted in the book.

PS: Upset at the lack of piccies? Then try this Flickr group.

Late News From The Newseum

While I occasionally manage to time my site visits just right - or even, just a little 'ahead of right' - one of the recurring motifs of my virtual travels is the frequency with which I make a spectacularly late arrival. Tonight's sim fall isn't this category: Newseum. I reckon I'm about 4 months late for this one... And it's not like I didn't know of its existence. In fact, I've seen it many times on the Second Life map over the last God-knows-how-long, but whenever I tried to teleport it was always shut. So often had this been the case that I gave up trying maybe 6 months ago (maybe longer than that) and it was only on a whim that I tried it this evening, while I was visiting a neighbouring sim. I have to confess, I was rather surprised to find myself teleported in. But enough of this tedious tale... what am I actually waffling on about?

To save you wading through my prose, I can point you to this post, which gives you all the news that's fit to print about Newseum and the Newseum sim. But if you want to persist with my prose, here goes:

It seems that the Newseum opened its prestigous new building on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC in April this year - with its Second Life equivalent opening at pretty much the same time. The version in the atomic world describes itself as "the World's most interactive museum" - a claim I have no means of (or for that matter, any interest in) verifying. And this spirit of interactivity is carried across into the Second Life build - where you will find a lot to see and do.

The build consists principally of the museum itself - the surrounding landscape being a little perfunctory, in my view. There is a rather sketchy Washington Monument, but the main effort has been poured into the museum. And unlike the surroundings, the museum is a great success. It is a copy/homage/interpretation of the atomic world building - and to my untrained eye it seems to carry it off very well.

The textures and shading are well executed, conveying a strong 3D feel, and this is heightened by the thoughtful detailing in the furniture and other fixtures and fittings. The virtual museum also houses a lot of stuff - including a number of intriguing integrations with the outside world. For example, in the atrium there is a running tickertape-style headline display that seems to be current, while in another part of the museum you can read today's front pages from a number of US newspapers.

The Pullitzer Prize room is thought-provoking, providing background on some of the most iconic photos of the last half century or more. In another room, you can listen to brief histories of some the many journalists killed in the line of duty. Continuing the sombre theme, there is the 9/11 Gallery, which is also to be found in the atomic world museum, comprising cover stories about that fateful day from papers across the USA, and indeed much further afield.

Or if that is too gloomy for you, perhaps you'd like a run-through of the top Stories of the Century - or take part in a news quiz. For the more cost-conscious museum-goer there are free T-shirts to be had in the Gift Shop. And to round things off, there's also an auditorium, a studio and a couple of staged scenes (I assume so you can get a photo of yourself or your companion as 'intrepid reporter').

The build has been done by Bethany Heart and Echo Seigo, who together make up EB Creations. While they may be relatively new to this scale of building, I think they've done a fine job, and look forward to seeing what they do next. One note of concern, though - despite the interactive nature of the build, there isn't much sign of a continuing engagement with visitors, for example, I didn't see any indication of a schedule of events. With the avowed aim of the Newseum “to provide a forum where the media and the public can gain a better understanding of each other", I would expect more in the way of discussions, debates and other activities.

Anyway - here's my piccies of the build:

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation

This blog is largely given over to looking at non-residential builds in Second Life - they could be corporate, education, not-for-profit or whatever. But how do I find them? Well, in truth, I find as the number of islands grows, the more time-consuming and tedious the job of finding suitable sims becomes. Now, even regular readers may be forgiven for forgetting one of the tricks of the Ambling Rambler's trade: if you see initials on the Map, then check out the sim. So many organisations use acronyms and initialisms that it is worth investigating if you see them. And so it proved with today's site. In fact, it is a cluster of 4 sims - but the one that caught my eye was the enticingly entitled: ABC.

The list of possibilites was extensive, even after noting the neighbouring sim is called TV. In fact, the 4 sims belong to Asahi Broadcasting Corporation. This was easily ascertained, since it is plastered on the underside of the blimp that circles the TV sim. Originally founded as a radio station in Osaka, Japan, in 1951, ABC now broadcasts both radio and TV to around 20 million people. And that about taps out my knowledge of the company.

The 2 principal sims (ABC and TV) are rather splendid - at least to someone who likes both rich immersive textures and well-made Japanese sims. To be fair, not a great deal happens on the sims, given the amount of real estate available. ABC features a nicely made office block (though there is limited access to the interior) and a set of teleports to locations around the block where you can acquire a variety of free branded vehicles. Though the ads have the number "100" emblazoned on them, I did not seem to be charged for the pleasure. I can recommed the wheeled vehicle, but I found the aeroplane a nightmare! Most striking about this sim though, is the near photo quality of the textures.

The TV sim is rather more exotic. A large ... what?... (hmmm... words... what words to describe it?...) blue, fluroescent sci-fi ziggurat dominates the sim. Within this, somewhere, is a splendidly realised theatre. You reach this via a nifty teleport, which bears a small amount of explanation. To use it - simply walk on to the square plate of the device. You will be instantly boxed in by blue walls. Now use Right-Click and select "Sit" to operate the teleport. All this is explained in Japanese, with pictures, but there's no harm in explaining it. Also around the sim are 3 blue "studios" - I won't explain these, mainly because I can't - plus it might spoil your own discovery. Finally there's a sandbox and freebie station, where you can acquire a cartoony avatar. At least, I think that's what it is - I've not unpacked it yet.

The other 2 sims are still basically empty, so I won't bother describing them yet. Using my yardstick that the more pictures I take, the more I like a place, I can safely assert that I like this place (14 pictures). Oh, I'm not saying it's cutting edge - or that it engages with the virtual world community - or that it does a great job for ABC. But I really like the build. Kind of reminds me of Electric Sheep builds of yore. Oh, and if you can tell me about the builders responsible, then I'd like to hear that. In the meantime why not have a look?

Eye-Popping in Popcha

Near the cow sim of my last post I noticed another that looked vaguely intriguing on the map: the Popcha sim. On arrival, I found that half the sim is actually up for sale or rent or whatever the name is for handing over virtual cash and getting the use of virtual land in return. But it was not the plot that was for sale/rent/whatever that was of interest, rather it was "the neighbour." This was no ordinary residential sim!

It was an odd sensation to turn round and see the neighbour's side of the island. I saw this huge "thing" rising from the ground, and as my viewed panned upwards this thing just kept getting taller and taller. I buzzed over to that side of the island for a better look - and found that it was actually called "Brooklyn is Watching". Some serious Googling turned up the following, from the relevant flickr page: "Brooklyn Is Watching, sponsored by Popcha is an artwork by Jay Van Buren on view at Jack the Pelican Presents in Brooklyn, New York." The best I can tell you about Popcha is "Popcha! is a NYC based media technology company making virtual worlds work for you." Which is nice.

The bulk of this side of the sim, aside from a rather smart Popcha! building, is given over to a series of basically huge art works, one towering to 700 metres+ and consisting of enough tortured prims to bring my poor graphics card to its knees and my FPS to low single digits. I've not done the detailed homework on this - it's 2:00AM for heaven's sake. But I thought you might like the images - I did. I found a midnight setting worked best, most of the time, as you can see:

Nokia Italia

Having posted about a couple of "hot off the press" sites, here is one that is rather less new, and that managed to slip past my less-than-perfect radar: Nokia Italia. It's been open since mid-November and has been put together to support Nokia Trends Lab. Rather than finely craft a post of infinite subtlety, with poise and humour, I think I will take freely from the Nokia website.

Visit the island and join interactive games, listen to web radio or participate by creating your own multimedia content. When arriving on the island you will immediately notice the big stage. Here you can visit performances of Nokia Trends Lab artists. In the “My Radio” area you can listen to 10 web radio stations, bringing to you the sounds of Nokia Trends Lab in an atmosphere of a real event. Artists have the opportunity to enter information and add pictures or anything useful to get to know the residents of Second Life. As a visitor you can participate too: take pictures, shoot videos and record sounds! The best multimedia content will be selected and used as an integral part of The Milan Experiment.

Well that's what the website says. I don't know what The Milan Experiment might be, but it sounds a bit scary. My experience of the site is a bit less gung-ho, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that some of these features are yet to come. What I did notice was:

• Music listening stations
• Video viewing stations
• Options to vote for your favourites
• Open mic spot
  
• The "My Radio" area has a number of poses you can adopt, to match the music being played.

The look and feel is a continuation of that found on the website, although the surrounding desert island theme seems a little at odds with it. The Trends Lab seems to have been dropped in, rather than blending with the environment. Still, I like what Nokia are trying to do here, though they need to increase the frequency of events. If the website is correct, there has been only one actual event - and that was at the time of launch. Here are the piccies I took:

Sony Pictures HE

I've commented in the past about national groupings of islands in Second Life, but I have clearly not been paying attention recently - or indeed for many months - to the large area of the grid occupied by Italian sims. In a bid to put that right, I first pounced upon Renault Italia, but decided this was such a messy site that I would leave it for another day.

In looking at the map, however, my eye was drawn a couple of sims South, to Sony Pictures HE. When you see it (below) it is obvious why I might be interested!

Some bright spark has griefed the sim - plastering "Sorry the PS3 sucks Go 360" across it. How could I resist a look?

Actually, after crossing a low mountain range to get in, I couldn't find any sign of the above sign. Perhaps, by the time you read this, the SL map will have been refreshed and the sign will have disappeared. I went up to over 2000 ft to see if I could see it (it is hard to miss, I'd think!) - but nothing.

The sim beneath the sign is Italian, despite the name, and is intended to promote Sony's Home Entertainment solutions - the "HE" in the sim name. At one end of the sim you will find a stage with a New York backdrop, intended to get your spidey senses atuned. Walking towards the centre of the sim you cross a number of overlapping circles, over the last of which rotates a big blue DVD disk... Blu Ray... geddit? No? Well, in the High Definition DVD market there is a battle of formats, reminiscent of the VHS vs (Sony) Betamax battle of yesteryear. Sony (surprise!) are prime movers, indeed inventers, of Blu Ray.

Back to the sim... The platform beneath the rotating Blu Ray disk sits over a pond or lake that occupies the centre of the sim. Around the edge of the lake is an intricate set of structures featuring various products in the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment portfolio - games and DVDs. You can click many of these to bring up relevant webpages.

As I have not been keeping close tabs on this part of the grid - or indeed any part, it has grown so large - I don't know if I missed a launch. However, as there still one or two "plywood" objects about and some of the automatic streaming is not working, I assume that the sim is not officially open. Indeed, they also need to sort out that griefer sign!

I can't say I'm overly enthused about the site. It seems straightforward, and no doubt meets the client brief, but from a media company I think I expect more. Next up? The Renault Italia sim.

Polskie Radio

Here's one I've been keeping an eye on for a couple of months, but that seems to have opened without my noticing: Polskie Radio. This may not be the first Polish island in Second Life, but it's certainly the first one I've seen in some time. My last visit to Poland in SL was Second Krakow, back in August.

Polskie Radio is Poland's public radio station, their equivalent of BBC Radio I suppose, and has been broadcasting since 1925. Actually I'm not sure, given Poland's troubled history, how continuous this has been - but it appears to be thriving today. It is odd to think that 10 years ago radio was all but dead, killed off by TV and home entertainment systems, yet the media enrichment of the internet has led to a great resurgence. Polskie Radio today has 4 main channels:

• Jedynka - information and easy listening music
• Dwójka - culture and classical music
• Trójka - alternative, jazz, rock and all other music
• Bis - youth oriented, educational

All of these are represented in the Second Life site, which is divided into a number of smaller islands, one for each channel. The theme is tropical, and certainly not typically Polish! Each of the smaller islands is easily identified by the station ident and has an arrival zone, a venue or large meeting area, together with a number of smaller seating areas where a few people can get together and chat. The Bis island also has a motocross track which you can attempt using the quadbikes provided. Each station's arrival zone provides free drinks along with extensive information about the channel - or at least I assume it does, as it is all written in Polish, yet another of the World's languages in which I have absolutely no proficiency. There seems to be a general lack of weblinks or other information here. If your Polish is good, there is an information blimp which will take you on a tour of the sim.


I tried a little light Googling to see if I could spot a press release for this sim, but drew a blank. This could be lack of patience on my part, or it could indicate a "soft launch" - a quiet opening to test the waters. Feeling in a generous mood, I will go with the latter interpretation. The sim is missing a schedule of events and, as I already mentioned, links to websites, podcasts or other sources of non-SL content. However, I rather like the build itself. They have crammed a lot into the sim, and yet it feels airy, relaxed and intimate. All of the meeting areas and auditoria are outdoors, and built to a human scale - no grand sweeping tower blocks full of almost useless office spaces. But it also feels like a place that is waiting for something to happen.

BBC World

I must have blinked and missed the announcement of this one, since I stumbled across the BBC World island, unsurprisingly called BBC World, completely by accident. BBC World is the BBC's international news and current affairs television channel, and boasts the biggest audience of any BBC channel. It broadcasts worldwide, 24 hours a day. If you've stayed in any hotel room outside the UK, the chances are this has been one of the channels on offer. It also seems to be the first Beeb channel to set up a permantent residence in Second Life, though the Beeb has dallied with the virtual world in the past for specific events.

I gather this site has been in Second Life for about a month, as I found a press announcement dated 5th October that declared: "BBC World holds its first ever Second Life press conference and introduces The Internationalists." It then went on to explain: "The Internationalist campaign is a global advertising and direct marketing campaign, created to introduce [BBC World]’s unique audience to the media trade. The Internationalists are the conscientious consumers, big spenders and opinion leaders populating the world, who are committed to global issues and life-long learning."

So let's take a look at it...



Broadly, the island is divided into a number of areas corresponding to the main subjects covered by the channel: finance; travel; luxury & lifestyle; technology and business & international. There is also a large outdoor meeting area, the World Plaza, that can be used for hosting events. The site is strongly branded, and nicely built.

While here you can also visit a pirate island, that is currently a lot less entertaining than it might sound, and the BBC tower transmitter, which is surprisingly rather more entertaining than it might sound. Why? Well it seems that aliens have a peculiar fondness for the transmitter tower. So much so, in fact, that they are trying to dismantle it and take it home.



The map also shows a jetski ride, but I failed to find it.

But what about the freebies? I found a couple of things, though there may be more. First off, there is a small Buddhist meditation area on the island, where you can help yourself to some freen Buddhist robes. However, if bling is more your thing, you can also find his'n'hers watches, with adjustable blinky bling.

One odd thing, the island is immediately adjacent to Conference Island, despite having no connection with it that I am aware of. Conference Island provides facilities for companies without a Second Life presence to arrange meetings and presentations. Its main feature is a rather good Scope Cleaver bespoke building.

New York and Virtual Entertainment - it's a Meme Thing

Every so often I pick up on a common theme running across Second Life. In the past it's included "German cities" and "virtual recruitment". These themes or memes (as I prefer to misuse the term), though no doubt long in the conceptualising, seem to burst forth in a spookily synchronous fashion at a number of locations. Perhaps the hottest meme of Autumn 2007 is also the most complex that I've seen to date: New York and Virtual Entertainment.

Within the space of only a few weeks, 2 of Second Life's major construction and consulting companies - Electric Sheep Company (ESC) and Millions of Us(MOU) - will have launched 3 different models of New York to vie for your attention. Furthermore, each of these is tied in with the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry.

So let's consider the options:

New York #1
First up, we have ESC's "I Am Legend" site, designed to tie in with a movie of the same name, that is due for release by Warner Bros in mid-December. The movie trailer suggests to me a remake of the old Charlton Heston sci-fi classic(?) "The Omega Man," though it seems both are derived from a 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson. In the new movie, Will Smith plays the last surviving human in New York following the release of a rather nasty man-made virus. His only companion is his faithful pooch. Unfortunately for him, the city is also populated by mutants, who are not that keen on him having the run of the town. It's a classic "man vs mutant" tale.

As part of the marketing for the movie, ESC and Warner Bros have launched the biggest (movie tie-in) game yet seen in Second Life. It has its own orientation zone for newcomers, together with a game orientation zone where you can opt to play human, dog, mutant or mutant mutt. You should then undergo a set of training exercises before you reach the bridge that takes you over into the game zone of New York itself. Being a self-confessed coward I made my excuses and left at this point. No SLURL for this - but if you use MAP SEARCH and look for "IAL" you won't go far wrong. Oh... nice textures by the way... if a bit laggy.



New York #2
Next, and also from ESC comes the interworld game / programme / entertainment behemoth of CSI:NY. This was blasted all over the recent Virtual Worlds 2007 Conference, and launches in Second Life on 24th October. Bookies are still taking bets on the exact moment that the grid will crash. In an Omega Man kind of way, I may be the only person left on the planet who has not seen, and is not particularly interested in, CSI:NY. However, this is ground-breaking stuff for virtual worlds, where the linear narrative of the Real Life TV show intermingles with the gameplay and narrative in Second Life to produce some kind of Ultimedia extravaganza.

If you want a more complete story about this, you are best off popping along to Ugotrade, which has reams of top notch info for you.

Not only will there be orientation zones and game sims, but to make life easier for newcomers to Second Life, the Sheep are also launching their own, browser-based viewer: OnRez. Personally, I might give CSI:NY a miss - but I'm looking forward to trying the new viewer. For many of us this might solve some of issues we have with the standard Second Life viewer. A number of my colleagues, for example, are unable to run SL on their work-supplied laptops owing to issues of memory and, more often, graphics driver compatibility. This might be the solution.

New York #3
The third version of New York comes courtesy of MOU. This is a virtual version of 7 square blocks of the Upper East Side, and has been built as a tie-in with "Gossip Girls" on behalf Warner Brothers and the CW Network. This is described as a teen drama, based on a novel series of the same name. An article in wikipedia describes it thus: "Gossip Girl revolves around the lives of socialite young adults growing up on New York's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with sex, drugs, and other teenage issues." Yeah...well... whatever. I did visit the site a few weeks ago, but didn't take any pictures. So I am afraid you've had to put up with this rambling narrative instead have been back and snapped these:



The show first aired in the USA on 19th September, 2007 - followed a day later by its launch in Second Life. In a blog post dated 20th September, MOU boss, Reuben Steiger, said: "[soon] we will start a very interesting social game that will take place in the city." More recently MOU announced The Gossip mobile, a heads up display that lets you to see the style, coolness rating and status of the people around you. Here's a video tutorial if you find this to be this season's must-have accessory. Hmmm...

So there you go... 3 New Yorks for you to explore, play in and reach your own conclusions.

Tuning in to TV Station

My last post, about the WTC Memorial, I hope shows that Second Life can be a place for serious contemplation, and not just a playground or a giant advertising hoarding. But now I want to get back to my more usual themes, and look at another company build in Second Life. I have mentioned this sim - TVStation - in an earlier post, when it was still inaccessible. However, although still incomplete, it is now open to the ramblers of Second Life, so I thought I should have a look around.

TVStation is another Japanese site, built by the team from Webstar. And a curate's egg of a place it is too. You arrive in front of a nicely constructed model of the island, with embedded teleports to take you to the main locations, which include:

• A cafe where you can watch the multi-channel SLnews.tv
• The main office and studio block
• A walk-thru machinima course (in English and Japanese)
• The TV broadcasting tower

Of these, the dominant feature is the TV tower. This rises to a staggering 2000 metres above sea level. No mean achievement, given the difficulties of construction above 760metres or so. Fortunately there are teleports to get you up and down the tower - otherwise it takes simply ages! The other main feature is the office and studio block. This looks to be still under construction, but you are able to visit several studios - ranging from kids' tv to newsrooms. I didn't have time to try out the machinima course, so cannot comment on its virtues (or otherwise).

The map:


The office and tower:


The studios:


So what's so curate's egg-ish about it? On the plus side, there is a lot of content here, and the build is competent and professional. However, as with its sister webstar sim, the actual construction seems flat, dull and lifeless. The rendering of the studios, for example, seems crude and "blocky" when compared to, say, Sky News. It feels very much like a construction by a company still trying to find its way in Second Life. It is missing many of the tricks of the trade (sophisticated textures, and lighting effects) that make a place interesting. Perhaps this is a reflection of the incompleteness of the build, but given that the webstar sim has the same issues, I am thinking this is more a matter of creative judgement. Each to their own, I suppose.

I will update this post with a SLURL for the sim later. But in the meantime - use the search facility offered by the Second Life "map".
UPDATE: Here's the SLURL I promised.

Yet Another Tokyo

Yeah... I know... I know. You are getting heartily sick and tired of my Tokyotic Expeditions. But that hasn't stopped me in the past, and so I shall plough on undaunted. On the plus side, this is only a brief post, concerning the sim Tokyo4,On the minus side, this is the only open sim in a cluster of 12!

The sim is entirely given over to an athletics stadium. At the entrance you get a big sign for TBS - Tokyo Broadcasting System. Their website tells me that this is an extensive network of 28 TV stations affiliated with the Japan News Network (JNN). Inside the stadium there are also adverts for Dogatch, which I understand to be a video-on-demand portal. Following the various weblinks, the best I could deduce is that TBS and Dogatch are providing athletics coverage, probably of the current IAAF World Championship in Osaka, of which TBS is an official sponsor.

Much of the build looks relatively rudimentary and far from complete. Whether it is running late for Osaka2007, or early for other athletics events I couldn't say. The track itself looks OK, but the stadium looks like it is a couple of weeks or more from completion and I could find no working links or teleports. Still... at least I could get in. While I was here I also peered over the boundary into Tokyo3. The details (below right) are a little hard to make out, but it appears to be a giant pair of skis, sitting atop a ski jump. My Holmesian logic tells me that this sim, too, is aimed at sporting events, but given the wintry theme, may be in no hurry to open.


So that's another one (or is 2) Tokyo sims ticked off the list.

UPDATE 30/08/07: Judging by this link I wasn't too wide of the mark. Personally, my favourite is still Tokyo Mainland. The hullaballoo about Virtual Tokyo has been somewhat overblown, but then I guess that is to be expected, given the site is owned by Dentsu, Japan's leading advertising agency.

TV21 and Tetris

I've been somewhat preoccupied in recent days, with lots of deep discussions going off in all directions. This is all good fun, but it does mean that my poor blog has been feeling left out in the cold. So last night, after wrestling for most of the evening with a stubbornly intransigent laptop that shows all the signs of being totally FUBAR'd, I donned my virtual walking boots and set off into the big, wide metaverse of Second Life to look for something new. After the usual false starts I finally alighted upon the island TV21. This sim seemingly belongs to a German company of the same name. TV21 is a television production company that seems to specialise in interview and current affairs shows for local TV stations.

The island itself looks quite new, and not fully complete. At least, that is my assumption, as it is still somewhat sparsely furnished. On arrival I found a giant game of Tetris, which seems to be the only interactive feature on the island, aside from a couple of weblinks. Next to this was a rotating box, advertising a number of jobs (LSL programmer, SL architect and 3D designer) at Bokowsky + Laymann, "Marketing in Computer mediated Environments." This company, as with many others like it, have extended their marketing offers into Second Life, and have a website specifically aimed at companies looking to acquire a presence in the virtual world. Joining the dots, I assume that the TV21 sim has been built by Bokowsky + Laymann. Here endeth the Sherlock Holmes part of the post.


The island is set out in a tropical style and comprises 4 straightforward office buildings, offering meeting spaces of varying sizes, including a room that kept telling me it was for staff only, but (a) allowed me in and (b) did not kick me out. There is also a tiki bar, for those wanting a less formal meeting. An extensive system of teleports will take you around the various locations on the island. There is little information available, hence my conclusion that the build, though nearing completion, still has a way to go.



The quality of the build is, in my view, so-so. There is a fairly attractive water feature,
but aside from that the build is unexceptional. It has a corporate look to it, lacking in wit and imagination; there is nothing there (yet) to capture the imagination. I accept (or hope!) that it is too early to tell whether the island will acquire more character as its launch approaches. I can only hope so (having the Tetris is at least an indication that there may be more to come).

Spaceship Suruga

I seem to be on something of a Far Eastern riff this weekend. Here's the latest in this medley of Oriental delights.

I reported a while back on Suruga Bank's then new island in Second Life (as well as name-checking Korea's Acid Crebiz), and have checked back from time to time to see if it was open. Last night, while rambling in the general vicinity I thought I'd give it a pop - and this time I was able to gain access. If you look on a Satellite Map view, the site looks completely black - and there seems to be a good reason for this. The entire site seems to be contained within a huge expanse of blackness. There is no terrain as such, rather a number of coloured discs and something akin to a space station, floating in space against a backdrop of stars. The effect, to my jaded eyes, was refreshingly new and exciting.

A teleport system will take you each of the 3 disks. On two of these you can watch videos, including (what looks like) an introduction to Visa cards and their benefits. I would like to know a bit more about this, since I am off to Tokyo at the end of the month, and have read that credit cards are not widely used for payment. The video goes some way to supporting this assertion, since it does seem to be "Credit Cards 101" - fun though! It made me chuckle a couple of times.

The main theme of the build is "d-labo" (dream laboratory) which links with this website. As far as I can tell, this ties in with the opening of Suruga Bank's new branch (if that is not too small a word) in the prestigious Tokyo Midtown tower. It looks like "d-labo" is either the project name, or the name of the company designing and managing the build in RL. Certainly the Second Life "d-labo" shows many of the features to be found in Real Life. The builders in Second Life seem to be the busy Japanese virtual worlders, Meltingdots (who offer their own portal into SL here). But enough of the blather - to get the idea of the place it is best to view the pictures:


The guy in the video is spouting the virtues of Visa cards.


I think the main aim of this sim is to promote Suruga Bank's opening in Tokyo Midtown. You may argue - largely successfully - that Second Life is not an ideal promotional channel. But be that as it may, I really like this build. It shows a lot of humour and imagination, while also looking to address the client's brief of co-ordinating the SL channel with other promotional channels. If some can explain to me the subtleties of the d-labo website, then I would be grateful!

Where Webstar Are

I went the the Southern Seas of Second Life for the first time in a while this evening and stumbled on the island of Webstar, belonging to Japanese 3d computer graphics and web design company... umm.. Webstar. They have a section of their website given over to Second Life, but not being a whizz at any Japanese alphabet* I can only surmise that they will be building on their existing strengths to offer construction and promotion services in Second Life.

The island is an eclectic mix of styles, ranging from beach huts, to an Indian palace and a glass and steel office box, replete with training centre. Then just to add a bit more spice, there is a small fun park with, it must be said, the accent on "park" rather than "fun". The island is well kitted out with meeting areas of all sizes, and at least one dance area. In fact, they've crammed quite a lot into this sim.


For a creative company I have to say I was disappointed. OK, the build quality is better than anything I can manage, but then that's hardly a challenge. But compared to other builders I thought the textures lacked depth and there was a general absence of flair. Also, aside from a link to the website there was little information to be had - well, none that I could find. This is not a brand new island, so any teething problems should have been handled by now. If they host events here - as seems likely - they do not choose to advertise them on the site. So I am left confused as to the purpose of the build, since I think it does no favours to Webstar.

Next door is the TVstation sim, but despite promises of a teleport it did not seem to want to allow me in. So I have no idea what it has to offer. In any event, here's a picture so you can stand a chance of working it out for yourself.


* A situation I need to rectify as I'm off to Japan in 3 weeks time for a holiday!

Comcastaway on a Virtual Island

A version of this posting first appeared at 3pointD.

Comcast, the largest provider of cable services in the US — and one of the world’s leading communications companies, providing broadband Internet and a host of other digital services — have had »an island« under development in Second Life what seems like an eternity. I have tried on numerous occasions to gain access, since it looks rather intriguing on the Satellite Map view. Last night I gave it another go, and was pleasantly surprised to find myself standing in front of a teleport board, offering all manner of interesting pursuits. I had not picked up any hints that this site was due to open, and certainly the only other person present when I arrived was a developer, beavering away on various bits of fine tuning.

The build, from Millions of Us, is really too much to describe in one post — but I will give it a go. Most of the island is geared toward entertainment, with much for the seasoned traveller to try out. The main feature is a snaking tubular arrangement, which brought to my mind images of a particularly bizarre accident in a pipe factory. This turns out to be a raceway where up to four players can compete against each other, around three laps of the tubular track, in zippy little flying cars. Unfortunately, as a solo adventurer, I evidently didn’t count as a team and it flatly refused to rez me a race craft*. I had more luck outside, where I took the opportunity to ride (and repeatedly crash) a rather skittish jet-ski. Again, a track has been laid out to allow you and your friends to race these unmanageable brute. In subsequent conversation with Kathleen Millionsofus I whinged about the jet-ski and was informed that it had now been "de-tuned" to a level more suited to an old geezer like me.

My favourite spot has to be the pharmacy, with its whiff of 1950s shlock sci-fi movies and Little Shop of Horrors vibe. In the basement you will find a secret lab, where the strange brew “Faster” is whipped up. There are a number of amusing diversions, including “Around the World in a Minute”, that you might enjoy. You can also help yourself to a free labcoat and other mad professorial paraphenalia. To leave the lab you will need to pick up a (free) parachute, as you get catapulted some ridiculous height before gliding gracefully back to earth.

I have only highlighted a few of the points of interest, but there is also a display area, a meeting area and a viewpoint. I looked for the jet-pack station, but I was pushed for time and didn’t find it on my first trip. However, on a second jaunt I was able to grab a jet-pack. This, in turn, leads to the rezzing of a number of floating rings that you need to fly through. I assume there's some kind of points scoring involved, but I didn't spend long enough at it to find out.

This will be a fun place to come with friends and just play — perhaps one for the “Things To Do” group in Second Life. I don’t see much sign of Comcast branding, and the purpose is not clear, but it looks to me like Millions of Us may be applying some of the lessons learned from their successful Pontiac Motorati site to provide a community site in Second Life that tallies with Comcast brand values. This would certainly be a more subtle approach, and indeed has been confirmed by the builders, who added that the theme is linked to the current "Comcastic" TV campaign, featuring (I'm told) a shlock 50s sci-fi theme.

I assume we can look forward to an official launch in the near future.

* It turns out that this was due to incorrect land settings - and should now be fixed.

Old News From Me About Sky News

A version of this was first posted at 3pointd.

Sky News, the leading satellite news broadcaster in the UK, assisted by brand consultants and SL builders Rivers Run Red, recently launched »their island« in Second Life. I understand there were virtual queues of around 700 people trying to gain access to the function, which garnered a lot of good press in the blogosphere. The launch event was tied into a broadcast from the Guardian Hay Festival, an annual literary festival held in the picturesque and distinctly bibliophilic town of Hay-on-Wye. I tend to avoid such functions and their attendant lag, so I did not venture into the island until much later, once the fuss had died down.

Sky News are setting out to be the first real-world television news service to establish a permanent bridgehead in the virtual world, and thus steal a march on their opposition. Until now, UK television news and current affairs programmes have had only sporadic involvement in Second Life, most recently with the broadcast of BBC2’s “The Money Programme” (also managed by Rivers Run Red).

Anyway - what of the facilities? The bulk of the island is taken up with the virtual Sky News studio. While I am not completely au fait with a news studio, this one certainly matches my mental image of one. There are interview areas, a large presentation screen (a feature of the real-world Sky News studio), and a dais for the anchorpeople. Behind the scenes there are cameras, lighting and sound rigs, desks, autocues, mixer desks and all the other paraphenalia one would expect. The effect is very impressive, in that it looks like a well-rendered visualisation of a real world environment.

And here is the nub of my concern with this build. A lot of energy has been expended in mimicking the real world, but the actual interactive content is low. I could find just one set of Web links, to the Sky News weather Web site, while there is a video headlines stream, re-purposed from the Sky News Web site. Visitors can also cycle through a number of stock news backgrounds (”knife crime”, “education” and so on) on the large presentation screen.

Outside, there are a couple of mockup sets. The first is #10, Downing Street; the second, a cordoned-off police incident tent. I have no issue with the former, but the latter is in dubious taste. Indeed, that oday’s headline video on the web site featured just such an incident tent, but over the spot where a young woman’s body had been found.

In terms of freebies, the key item is a Sky News TV that you can take back to your virtual home, where it will deliver the headlines, showbiz news and weather. You need to have land rights as it achieves this by setting the “media content” field to the relevant Sky News (mp4) clip. These clips could do with a refresh as they appear to be a couple of days old, and not keeping pace with the Web site. The news TV is a cool idea, though I would have preferred it if it was written so as not to fiddle with the media settings on my land.

Rivers Run Red are promising that a lot of new features will appear in the coming weeks. According to Justin Bovington, CEO and Executive Creative Director, quoted on the Ugotrade blog: “A dedicated content team will be on hand for updates — just like breaking news it need to be a 24/7 approach. We’re going recreate scenes when needed. We could in the future reproduce courts etc.”

Given the metaphorical tumbleweed blowing through the site, and the general lack of further real-world involvement since its launch, I am having serious doubts about this. It has all the hallmarks of a one-off event, rather than an ongoing commitment. OK, granted the purpose is to serve up news, so the site characteristics are not key — but without regular traffic the Sky News TV sets will not get distributed, and the Sky “news how you want it” multi-channel initiative will have little impact on Second Life.

UPDATE 8th June:

On 3pointD Peter wrote: "
Aleister,

Again, I have to throw my opinion in here as well. I attended an event last night on the SKY sim, an inciteful and interesting discussion with the SKY Crime correspondent, Martin Brunt. This was excellent, as Mr Brunt took questions and gave us a tour of the SKY NEWS centre. As a Brit, who watches SKY NEWS a lot, it was a treat to get this first hand interation.

Does this start to answer your issue on sustainabliity?"

Answer: Yes. I am pleased that Sky News is showing a sustainable approach. It will be interesting to watch their presence evolve.

The Frogman Show - Movie

The Frogman Show, a popular Japanese TV cartoon and now, movie, has been brought to Second Life by leading Japanese builders, Melting Dots at Kaeruotoko Island. If you want to get a flavour of the show, there's a number of clips on YouTube - as you might hope/expect, it is totally crazy. I've been struggling to find details (in English) about the show, but I am reliably informed that the "frogman" in question is the pseudonym of the sole animator, and that the 30-minute TV show is all produced using Flash.

Kaeruotoko Shokai is the company behind the runaway success of the show and a number of other Flash-based projects; "a gung ho visual contents brand...A charismatic force in web animation which could only be chaired by the FROGMAN himself."

The island itself is largely submerged, and only a small area of land is actually in use. The main plot offers a number of weblinks and a movie theatre, where trailers can be viewed. There are also several freebies, ranging from caps and T-shirts, to a couple of free avatars, which is good.

The whole place is garish and cartoony - just like the show - and I have to confess that I rather like it.