Double Your Life
April 28, 2006
Business Week is featuring Second Life, mentioned briefly in a previous post, as a cover story. It's fascinating. The new model of media consumption - collaborative and participatory - is exemplified by this 'game'.
Game isn't the right word though. There isn't even a word yet really. A virtual world where you can be anything, create anything and then sell it, own land, where the currency has a real world value. You create your own experience from the ground up.
They have clubs and residents associations. They have a stock exchange.
They have a record label.
They have a porn mag, featuring nude avatars, called Slustler, that is shot and distributed entirely with the 'game'.
Businesses are using it to host virtual presentations.
A game created within the 'game', called Tringo, has been licensed by Nintendo for the Gameboy Advance.
If you want to understand how people will interact with media in the future, this is the place to watch.