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Internet marketing man Shimon Sandler brings news (via Glitchy and Steve Rubel) of a new Google real estate app, not yet officially released, it seems, in which Google mashes up their own search and mapping apps to create a Craigslist-like real estate search site. Expect more of this kind of thing as Google keeps buying up companies and the primordial ooze they have going on behind the scenes there gives rise to new and different 3pointD life forms. Especially with their recent purchase of SketchUp, they’re now beginning to approach a critical mass of 3pointD services that are just waiting to be put together into something pretty grand.

Two interesting payment models to note where virtual worlds, both single- and multi-player, are concerned: First, SL resident Glitchy Gumshoe at the SL Future Salon flags a post by Raph Koster in which the legendary MMO developer talks about “company-sanctioned RMT” in the single-player game Oblivion. (Also from Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry Hryb’s blog.)

Basically, it seems you can swap points in Oblivion for downloadable armor for your mount. (And if this catches on, there’s certainly more to come.) Since Oblivion is a single-player game, this would seem to circumvent the usual objections over “real-money trade.” But as Raph points out, the Xbox Live ranking system essentially makes a massively multiplayer universe out of everyone’s single-player Xbox games by letting other players view your progress and accomplishments. (more…)

Mashing up World of Warcraft into Second Life

The latest news from the Electric Sheep Company (who sponsor this blog) is of a fascinating event planned for the end of this month that will bring two virtual worlds together. The Sheep have previously held “mixed reality” events in which a real-life location was recreated in Second Life and interaction between the two made possible. But this will be the first “mixed virtual reality” event for the Sheep, and involves creating video, audio and chat links between the worlds of Second Life and World of Warcraft. (more…)

The Danville, Kentucky, Advocate-Messenger brings news of a virtual world I’d not heard of before. Club Penguin is a free browser-based MMO for kids (though it’s open to “children of all ages,” according to the site). It has a nice cel-shaded look about it, navigation is smooth and there are actually interesting mini-games to play, both solo and against other players, through which residents can earn “coins” that can be used to buy hats and scarves and other things for your penguin avatar or furniture and items for your igloo, if you have a premium account (all very reminiscent of Animal Crossing). The world seems to be about six months old and is running more than a dozen shards in the U.S. and abroad. I haven’t seen this on Betsy Book’s Virtual Worlds Review yet, so I don’t know much more about it than I could glean in a brief visit, but it seemed a pleasant enough place and it was not at all empty of users, more evidence that virtual worlds are going to be woven into the fabric of the next generation’s lives in a way we probably can’t even envision yet.

The second part of our SecondCast show featuring Linden Lab founder and CEO Philip Rosedale is now available here.

Second Life resident Johnny Ming’s SecondCast has just been hired by Linden Lab to produce a one-hour audio “Town Hall” meeting about once every two weeks, Johnny reports. LL’s Town Hall meetings put a single LL representative on a stage in Second Life to field questions from residents for an hour or two. The crowd pushes SL’s servers to the limit, and the chat window is filled with so many questions and comments from residents that the Linden’s responses are often difficult to make out. Moving to an audio format should solve many of the problems that have plagued Town Halls in the past. (more…)