CARTOON  OR SUPER-REALISM Do the graphics really matter in virtual worlds? … and is Blue Mars really the third generation? Blue Mars 2050 … does super-realism matter? I have always wondered just how much the graphics matter in virtual worlds: I know my personal preference falls into the super-realism category when it comes to graphics but I’m well over the age of 30 and even as a youngster never had much time for cartoons or comics. I ‘ve been enamored with World of Warcraft for years as well as the latest Grand Theft Auto offering. The CryENGINE (R)2 graphics,  when proposed for Entropia  Universe, really turned me on. I’m also intrigued  with the possibilities of Lenova elounge, by Nortel, and the  latest offering from  the MellaniuM stable,  the Furnace , and love  today’s graphics in Second Life, especially when seen through some of the better viewers on a high-end computer. I also felt  the failure of Google’s Lively to get any traction with any age group was due to the cartoony style of its graphics. However, the digital generation, unlike the digital migrants or my generation, the digital dinosaurs, seem to have no problem with cartoon characters or environments: Look at Habbo Hotel (135,000 m users). Although accurate figures are notoriously hard to come by the best estimates from the industry-leader in understanding the marketing dynamics relating to virtual worlds, British-based Kzero , suggest that 57 percent of the estimated 579 million people who are registered users of MUVEs around the world, are children. Virtual Worlds ‘not a passing fad’ As Victor Keega n reported in the UK Guardian almost  all of the 39 percent growth in MUVE usage reported by Kzero for the second quarter this year came from children. “Girls used to grow up with their dolls; now they are growing up with their avatars,” he said. In this largely unreported cartoony VW  flood poptropica.com – aimed at five- to 10-year-olds – had 76 million registered users; among 10- to 15-year-olds, Habbo (135 million), Neopets (54 million), Star Dolls (34 million) and Club Penguin (28 million). The numbers start tailing off among 15- to 25-year-olds – apart from Poptropica (35 million), underlining the likelihood that as youngsters get older they will be looking for more sophisticated outlets and for ways to link existing social networks such as Facebook or MySpace to more immersive virtual worlds, he  said, arguing that virtual worlds “are not a passing fad”. Do those digital generation figures mean, however, that Second Life,  described by  Larry Johnson , CEO New Media Consortium, as “the most currently evolved of the virtual world platforms … the seminal first instance of what the 3D web might look like”,   could  be beaten to a pulp in the marketplace, either by  virtual world  offerings which have even more realistic  graphics  or  over the long term, as the current generation of teens and tweens become adults,   by cartoon worlds like Habbo Hotel. But, although, we’ve also seen the growth of  the Second Life software-based, opensource OpenSimulator environments, such as OpenLife, OsGrid and ONGENS among others, the arrival of behind-the-firewall applications such as Nebraska and offerings from other stables such as OLIVE Forterra, Twinity, Wonderland, Kaneva and peer-to-peer offerings such as Vastpark , Second Life at the moment, like Microsoft before it, seems to have the critical mass, the content  and the graphics to carry the game among adult MUVE users for at least the next five years. That doesn’t mean to say that Second Life  wont have competitors in the  short or the long run.  It currently  seems to be moving  to ensure that it can beat this competition by  again emphasising  real life applications;  in some ways it is moving away from its core  user-base, of mainly nerdy, older (as compared to the popular teen and  tween worlds)  fantasists, first movers, former lounge potatoes, weather-bound, shut-ins  and others who delight in interacting with each other around the world, but at a distance. Mainstreaming Second Life Although apprehensive about some of the future plans the Lindens have for Second Life, which I feel will, in many ways, destroy the things which contribute to its attractive game/play/art/on-the-edge  feel,  I think the Linden move  to promote training and education uses of virtual worlds and its expressed goal of mainstreaming  through “ extending the value of Second Life beyond the virtual world (through) helping Residents more closely integrate Second Life with their daily lives” are  correct moves in  an economic sense. As Larry Johnson, summing up the growing momentum of Second Life and virtual learning, said in April this year, “I think it’s safe to say now that nearly every college and university has some sort of project in Second Life.” For many users, however, that is probably the “boring’ direction. And it probably means that many  early Second Life adopters are already moving or will move on to other more edgy worlds taking their creativity – if not their content – with them. One of those worlds just might be Blue Mars 2150 which  is scheduled to launch into its open Beta phase tomorrow, September 2. Or, of course, it too might join the virtual world scrap heap which is already littered with virtual worlds which have been created, promoted, and sometimes marketed,  and then faded away over the last few years. Remember Outback? From the preview above – and remember it is a promotional video -  Blue Mars’ graphics are stunning, as are its partners.  It to obviously wants to cash in on the fact that the average social website user today spends $US148 each year, a figure that can only rise. Blue Mars 2150 , which  describes itself as the third generation of virtual worlds (also here) and like Linden Labs is based in San Francisco,  has already secured joint ventures with numerous leading academic institutions around the world, including the National Association of College Stores, with its 30,000 plus members, TERC, the National Geographic Society Alan Watts, NOVA and Smithsonian Institution. It remains to be seen just how successful  Blue Mars 2150 will be. My belief is that unless someone comes up with something like “interactive, shared, controllable, lucid dreaming”  the Lindens are going to be very difficult to knock off their perch.

Hi! My (poptropica) name is Jumpy Fire, but some call me The Boot (or Smiles, if you want to go obselete). I’m a new author hear and I can’t describe to you how honored I am to be working on this website! Here’s a picture of my poptropican: I have a few more, which include… -Quiet Skull -Orange Crumb -Magic Tornado My favorite bands are Linkin Park and Evanescence. I can’t wait to meet and/or interact with all of you guys! -the boot

The wardrobe for the Nottingham legend has expanded! Limited supply of fabrics for the new styles has caused a shortage of costumes to distribute, so grab yours while you can! Attention Protectors of Sherwood Forest! Ooooooh Pretty! I bought it on one of my side accounts and it looks pretty kewl! Also, there is something strange going on with the old Lt. Number Popstar outfit… What is this? Transformers meets Disney Channel? Cool Wing/Element OUT! Thanks to whoever edited this! I didn’t have the costume….

There are two brand-new costumes in the Poptropica store this week: the Angel and the Little Demon costume. Both cost 75 credits. There have been a lot of new costumes this summer, as promised! Summer will be over soon, so we’ll have to wait and see if any more new costumes come out next week.

There are 4 new Poptropica Costumes for sale in the Poptropica Store. Oh yeah, My name is Popular Thunder. I’m a new author. My blog is here .

I had some problems with my screen capture software, so I am a little late in posting this, but here is a complete walkthrough for the Disney Wizards of Waverly Place Advertisement mission in Poptropica. It’s a lot like the Race to Witch Mountain mission that was running a few weeks ago. Video Walkthrough If you don’t want to bother reading through the text, just watch this video walkthrough on YouTube. It shows the whole mission in under five minutes. Easy! Complete Walkthrough Go to any starting area on any of the mission islands and you’ll see the entrance to the Wizards of Waverly Place mission. Go inside and talk to the guy to get started. He’ll tell you what to do and let you choose one of the wands from the characters on the show. It doesn’t matter which wand you choose. Jungle Area The first area is pretty easy. All you need to do is to get to the other side and avoid the spiders. At the beginning, after you get past the first spider, you’ll see a vine coiled on the ground with sparklies flying around it. Click on this to use your want on it and make it straighten up. Then you can climb up into the trees. Once you’re in the trees, jump from tree-top to tree-top heading towards the right. Once you get to a large pile of rocks with sparklies, click on it. Your wand will turn them into a stone bridge that you can run/jump across to get to the end of this area. Then go right to move on to the next part. Cave Area This part is really easy. Again, just keep going to the right and try to avoid the spiders who will knock you back. In the middle of the room, there is a stone column blocking the way, but it has those sparklies on it. So click it and your wand will make it drop down and turn into a platform. Jump on top of it and keep moving to the right. When you get to the very end, you will see a purple rock. This is the Stone of Dreams . As soon as you pick it up, the rocks will start to fall from the cave and the game will tell you to run. It’s just like Indiana Jones! Get Out of There Now you just need to go all the way back to the beginning. It’s really easy and even though there are rocks falling, there’s no hurry. When you get back to the stone bridge, though, watch out. One of the rocks (the second one on the right) will fall if you step on it. So jump over that rock when you’re crossing the bridge. After that, just run all the way back to the guy in the starting area and click on him. He will give you your rewards, which include the Family Wand and the book of Forbidden Spells. Congratulations, you did it! Jump over the second rock from the right on your way back.

The Poptropica Pop Star Costume is the latest special outfit to arrive at the Poptropica store this summer. This girl costume makes you look like a real pop star, complete with a microphone. The costume has a special move. When you press the space bar, your character will close its eyes and sing a few notes. Rock on! Rocking out in Poptropica with the Pop Star costume

There’s a new feature on the Poptropica Home Page called Avatar Studio. When you type in your account name, you’ll get a picture of your avatar. You can resize and crop the picture and save a copy to your computer, or you can use the link and embed codes to put an animated version of your avatar on your own web site or blog. Here’s one of me! The really cool part is that your embeddable picture will change every time you change your look in the game. How cool is that? I wish the studio had more features like the ability to change the background color or add different props and scenes to the picture. Right now it’s a little boring!

There’s a new costume in the store and it is a special limited edition item called the Light Ninja costume. It looks like the opposite of the Midnight Ninja costume that has been available in the store for a while, except it’s white and it’s only available for a limited time. It will only be available in the Poptropica store through August 23, 2009. The outfit costs 75 credits, so now is the time to finish up one of the Poptropica islands or to buy some credits. Here’s a picture of me wearing the Light Ninja Costume and prowling around Spy Island. BTW, the special action for the costume, which you activate by pressing the space bar while wearing it, is spinning nunchucks.

The Creators released a new Limited Edition card in there store! This RARE outfit will only be available for purchase until Aug 23, 2009.