3pointD.com

Linden Lab has begun publishing live economic statistics on a daily basis for its virtual world, Second Life. [Via Clickable Culture.] Stats include the number of users who’ve logged in in the last 60 days (more than 100,000), land added to the grid, money supply and resident transaction data, and L$ sources and sinks. It’s not a lot of information, and a couple of methodological questions remain — for instance, does “residents” refer to physical people, or to accounts, more than one of which may be held by the same person — but it’s a good start. Data is available for download as an Excel file as well, or for use on the Web in XML format.

Now that the Metaverse Roadmap has been Slashdotted, it must qualify as a real live meme. A number of other sites and bloggers have been weighing in on the subject over the last few days, though. A selection of takes from the Web (besides my own): (more…)

The 3D lab and virtual reality lab at the University of Michigan are holding a week-long “virtual reality event” in conjunction with Sensics, Inc., makers of panoramic virtual-reality displays, according to a press release. The invitation-only event starts June 12, and is designed to showcase various VR technologies for comparison side-by-side. If you’re interested in attending, contact marketing@sensics.com or calling (410) 327-0822.

I was chatting to Linden Lab’s chief technology officer Cory Ondrejka last night and thought to ask him about moving Second Life’s back-end architecture “away from custom C++/messaging and into Web services” (as blogged by Tim O’Reilly and linked here by me). After all, I have only a vague idea of exactly what that means, though it sounds quite cool. So for readers like me, who may not have an immediate grasp of all the implications, a bit of clarification from Cory. And yes, it’s very cool. (more…)

There aren’t all that many people around the LA Convention Center, where E3 is about to open, but that hasn’t stopped 3pointD from picking up a rumor here and there. Word today is that Sony Computer Entertainment America is looking to jump on the Major League Gaming bandwagon with a sponsorship of the organization. We blogged MLG a while back when they struck a deal to air their Pro Circuit tour on the USA Network. A slightly vaguer rumor: Wal-Mart may also be talking to the league about a sponsorship. I don’t follow these things as closely as some, but I don’t think I’ve seen this news before. (Please correct me if it’s out there already.) I believe Wal-Mart is the largest games retailer in America. The combined weight of Sony, Wal-Mart and a basic cable slot could do much to catapult gaming into the forefront of American consciousness in a way it hasn’t enjoyed before.

3pointD is interested in services like Turner Broadcasting’s GameTap, which makes PC games available to users via broadband, because of their potential to connect large numbers of users, in similar fashion to services like Xfire. Now comes the accouncement, ahead of E3, that GameTap will revive Ubisoft’s Cyan World’s dormant multiplayer Myst world, Uru Live, which was cancelled in February 2004 but which will again be up and running and supported with new content, according to the press release. The Myst communities that have sprung up around games like Uru Live have been among the most devoted of any. It’s interesting to see GameTap move in this direction, as it indicates their model may be a good catalyst for development as well as distribution, and for community-building as well as simply getting your play on.

A Pennsylvania lawyer has apparently filed suit against Linden Lab, makers of Second Life, over a land deal gone bad, according to this press release. [Via former Second Life Herald correspondent Neal Stewart, who flagged this post on Clickable Culture.] While the facts of the case are anything but clear, it does mark the first time that I know of that an SL resident has bothered to take legal action against the company. Look carefully at how the dispute is handled and how it is resolved, as it should provide important signposts on how such legal issues will be handled in future. (more…)