MTV Announces Virtual Cribs, VLB Usage No.’s
MTV’s latest addition to their virtual universe — which already includes Virtual Laguna Beach, the Virtual Hills, Nicktropolis and a planned music world, among others — will be a virtual version of MTV Cribs within VLB that will let users own apartments and trick them out more or less as on the television show, according to MTV’s Matt Bostwick, giving a keynote address at Virtual Worlds 2007. Few details were forthcoming, for the moment, but you can imagine what things will be like.
Bostwick also mentioned some current usage numbers for VLB and vHills:
MTV has registered 600,000 registered users in 6 months.
The median age is 20.
Users are 85 percent female, which is almost an exact footprint of the people watching the shows.
Bostwick said the network estimates they’ll have 3 million registered users by the end of the year.
He said 64 precent of users come back multiple times, they visit on average 1.4 times a week for 37 minutes a visit.
Bostwick also went over a couple of other new features being added to MTV’s virtual universe include, including:
• Click-through eCommerce, which will allow users to click through from virtual items in order to buy real-world versions of them.
• Skill ladders that will allow users to bewcome DJs, fashion designers or club promoters.
Feeds
Dear MTV,
Please stop jockin our style
- BlockSavvy
[…] I am back safe and sound from Virtual Worlds 2007. The main thing I can say is how fantastic (personally) the entire conference was. One way and another I missed almost all the sessions but 3pointd has them very well covered, start here and work forward. I was very proud to have not only a IBM stand, but Colin’s key note and Paul Ledak of IBM on one of the panels and lots of my IBM collegues in attendance. I keep typing IBM because the mere fact IBM was there was the subject of many a conversation. I saw practically no sessions but at the stand lots of people either wanted to say “thankyou” for supporting and adding to the industry or ask ‘why IBM?’. The coolest ones were “we did not know IBM had people like you” where you was the entire IBM team there. I went to meet many of the famous avatars and business leaders then realized I was one of them and people wanted to meet me :-) However as Mark Wallace from 3pointd pointed out “I made this guy” so humble time :-). I am not going to get into the politics of Second Life being mentioned too much or the constant questions of ROI, but some things got aired and I had hours and hours of discussion. For me personally this was the most vibrant and exciting conference I have been too. A large percentage of us there were there out of passion. Many of us had never met in the flesh, and we all recognized one another and just got on with communicating. I did a lot of press including an interview for a ‘youth’ section where the guys had previously covered an elephant coming into town for the circus. I have to say that that is not usual territory! What important points got aired? 1. Its about people. Even Philip Rosedale/Linden said this in his opening speech. When he started SL he did not start it with that in mind, but now we have all learned thats the important part 2. Don’t focus on just marketing the real in the virtual, think new products. Sibley from(as in Founders and CEO of) Electric sheep put this so well. 3. “Millions is spent on a feature film when only 400 people watch it together in a theatre” Another gem from Sibley. The worry about concurrency in a single space. 4. We need things to be made “fit for business”, my collegue Peter Finn just said of all the work in Second Life “It’s great business but it closes on a wednesday” 5. Second Life is not the only platform to consider. Its there its public, its easy. Take a look at ProtonMedia there have been building for 10 years look like a great virtual world with desktop integration and a web services/web2.0 design ethic. Let alone Forterra, Multiverse, There.com, kaneva et al. The major media companies are also moving into the space. Games that are not games, films that are not films, Sony Home, MTV Virtual Laguna beach and pimp my ride to come. How to get people to choose to feel involved, and ways to keep them interested. Its got to beat a poster on a wall or a banner ad. […]
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