2007 - The year we all became 'Gamers'
As we see in another new year, many of us are wondering what direction the Internet will take. Blogging and online video sharing through sites like U-Tube became pretty-well mainstream in 2006- So where to now?
I believe you will find the answer to that in online games like 'Second Life' that are virtual worlds in which the viewer takes on the form of a virtual character and moves through the world, interacting with other web users and objects they have created.
I could see the web becoming a large game or number of games in which we all adopt caracters and websites becoming buildings or offices in these games, which our adopted characters visit.
Sound a bit far fetched? Just look at the statistics from Second Life which, by the way is growing exponentially: 2.2 million registered users (up from one million in October last year], US$1.14 million spent in the last 24 hours.
Kids are growing up with these games: My younger kids don't surf the web, they go to 'Club Penguin' where they take on the characters of penguins and meet and interract with friends, who have also taken on the character of penguins. They play games, earn money, buy things for their Igloo etc.
Games like 'Second Life' have taken this a step further and have their own currency, which has a trading value against $US. Players can buy virtual land and using the games sophisticated modelling tools, create buildings, objects or even games within the game that they can rent, sell or charge other players to use. And there are a number of people deriving an income from this.
I imagine as cities develop within this game, this virtual land will become quite expensive and real money will be made buying and selling it as money will be made trading the currencies. In fact, I can see trading in some of these virtual currencies even becoming mainstream in the near future.
And this has not been lost on the major players - Big companies are already diverting advertising dollars to create a presence in these games.
But we will really know it is becoming mainstream when Google snaps up one of these games for billions of dollars - And I predict we will see that sometime this year.
I believe you will find the answer to that in online games like 'Second Life' that are virtual worlds in which the viewer takes on the form of a virtual character and moves through the world, interacting with other web users and objects they have created.I could see the web becoming a large game or number of games in which we all adopt caracters and websites becoming buildings or offices in these games, which our adopted characters visit.
Sound a bit far fetched? Just look at the statistics from Second Life which, by the way is growing exponentially: 2.2 million registered users (up from one million in October last year], US$1.14 million spent in the last 24 hours.
Kids are growing up with these games: My younger kids don't surf the web, they go to 'Club Penguin' where they take on the characters of penguins and meet and interract with friends, who have also taken on the character of penguins. They play games, earn money, buy things for their Igloo etc.
Games like 'Second Life' have taken this a step further and have their own currency, which has a trading value against $US. Players can buy virtual land and using the games sophisticated modelling tools, create buildings, objects or even games within the game that they can rent, sell or charge other players to use. And there are a number of people deriving an income from this.
I imagine as cities develop within this game, this virtual land will become quite expensive and real money will be made buying and selling it as money will be made trading the currencies. In fact, I can see trading in some of these virtual currencies even becoming mainstream in the near future.
And this has not been lost on the major players - Big companies are already diverting advertising dollars to create a presence in these games.
But we will really know it is becoming mainstream when Google snaps up one of these games for billions of dollars - And I predict we will see that sometime this year.
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