mysitenotyours.com

The Internets are buzzing with talk that the new remake of V is, in part, a jab at Barak Obama and his legion of supporters. One great example comes from the Chicago Tribune:

Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care.

The news media swoons in admiration — one simpering anchorman even shouts at a reporter who asks a tough question: “Why don’t you show some respect?!” The public is likewise smitten, except for a few nut cases who circulate batty rumors on the Internet about the leader’s origins and intentions. The leader, undismayed, offers assurances that are soothing, if also just a tiny bit condescending: “Embracing change is never easy.”

I know her hair is shorter now, but c'mon ... a man?

Other than confusing Morena Baccarin with a man (which frankly is not a mistake easily made) the above is a description of V. Also, as Glenn Garvin goes on to explain, Barak Obama.

Well, put in that light I guess it could apply to President Obama. However, this seems to me to be a case of seeing what we want to see. Let’s break down the points and show why they don’t really apply.

Point 1: In a time of trouble, a charismatic leader appears. Put that way, this certainly could apply to President Obama. Except for one thing: This is pulled directly from the original V series in 1983. In that there was also a time of trouble (massive recession that the country was only just leaving, a very scary Cold War and the rise of fundamentalist Islam). So basically the show is following the plot of the original.

Point 2: He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care. Again, the 1983 Original did just this as well. The aliens offered hope, new technologies and universal health care. They didn’t call it “Universal Health Care” in 1983, not sure the term had entered the zeitgeist by that point, but they did open clinics, cure cancer, etc. So the only real difference between the old and the new is that the new used the current terminology. How evil of them!

Point 3: The news media swoons in admiration — one simpering anchorman even shouts at a reporter who asks a tough question: “Why don’t you show some respect?!” I would argue that except for one guy, Chad Decker, most of the media was shouting tough questions. But whatever. Again, this is pulled directly from the 1983 original. There was even a “Chad Decker” role, though it was a female anchorwoman.

Point 4: The public is likewise smitten, except for a few nut cases who circulate batty rumors on the Internet about the leader’s origins and intentions. The leader, undismayed, offers assurances that are soothing, if also just a tiny bit condescending: “Embracing change is never easy.” Not to sound like a broken record here but … this was also in the 1983 original. The whole world embraced the aliens right away - giving up factory space, political power - everything - because they loved the aliens so much. There was only a small group that believed that the aliens were evil and they were widely disregarded.

So unless the writers of the original V traveled back in time to write the original show, V has nothing to do with President Obama.

So what is V about? Only one episode of the new V has aired so far (with another new one tonight), but if it follows the pattern of the original at

Connect the dots people ...

all (as it has done so far) it will be about the dangers of giving in to totalitarianism. Heck, the original didn’t dance around the issue at all, making the aliens Nazis. I mean, check out the original symbol for the 1983 V’s. Look familiar? Even the plot was about how the aliens were locking up all scientists and putting them into camps, and later storing them for snacking on. And just in case the audience *still* missed it, they had a Holocaust Survivor explaining how much like the Holocaust this was.

So why are people so willing to believe that a show about totalitarianism is about Obama? I mean, sure, there are nut cases out there that think he became president for that reason, or to destroy America, or whatever. But has it gone so far now that when we see anything on TV that deals in that area we think of our president?

On one side we have conservatives who love thinking this show is about president Obama - I mean, if it is than the show is painting him as someone who wants to take over the world and possibly eat its people.

On the other side we have liberals who think that this is the conservative view of Obama and are then offended by it.

Insanity. People please - stop comparing a show about giant lizards who (possibly) wish to eat us to President Obama. That is just crazy talk.

Instead, just enjoy what looks to be a very good Sci-Fi series.

Matthew TV Shows Morena Baccarin, Obama, V

I will freely admit it: I love Doctor Who. I am a recent convert, I will admit, but am now caught up on the most recent seasons of Doctor Who, from 2005 to present, with the 9th and 10th Doctors. I have even started checking out some of the older Dr. Who programs and have to admit, while the “effects” are pure, grade A cheese, the stories are quite good.

I say all this to lead up to this Dalek costume. It is awesome! The wearer is in a wheelchair that has been rigged up to look like the fearsome Dalek.

(via Make)

Matthew TV Shows costume, Dalek, Doctor Who

Dear Heroes writers, producers, etc:

The show stinks. I am sure you have heard this before. And perhaps you have even been told it is because of specific plot-lines or characters. But I am here to tell you the problem isn’t always with the story-line or even the characters: It is because you use the same plot device over and over again. I call this plot device “I must do this alone”.

See how they are all standing there - together? Yeah, this never actually happens in the show.

Let’s look at some quick examples from this season. Peter Patrelli won’t join forces with Noah or anyone else, because he feels that he alone must atone for the “sins” that they all committed.

Matt Parkman sees Sylar in his head (which is actually a cool plot-line that has been dropped the last 2 episodes). He knows he needs help, but he is going to do this alone.

Tracy Sanders also turned down Noah, because she wanted to go it alone. Now, in her case, she changed her mind. Decided to take Noah up on his offer. But by this time the “I must do this alone” syndrome had hit Noah too, so he turned her down.

Claire Bennet has almost always, to some degree, wanted to do it alone. That certainly hasn’t changed this season.

Even the new, rather lame, “hero” that can see sound as color wanted to just deal with everything alone.

The result is that the villains, this year in the form of carnies, are able to mess with each hero rather easily since they don’t even compare notes, let alone work together. This is lame. It is boring. I just keep wondering why NONE of these people have learned, in four years, that working together is what works best.

Toward the end of season 3 I even had a small hope that this would happen, as a lot of them sat down in a diner and discussed recreating The Company, but for good purposes. This could have been very cool. Heroes working together, finding other heroes and fighting villains - this would have made for some solid story-lines and episodes. So of course this didn’t happen - because everyone felt they needed to, you got it, do this alone.

Look - the lone hero thing can be awesome. Batman pulls it off. So does Spider-Man. Superman too. On your own show it is perfectly fine when Sylar is on his own. Because he is evil (and, when you give him a good story, awesome). But this is an ensemble cast - not a show about one hero. So having everyone just stay apart and act like snotty, overly dramatic teenagers is boring. It also leads to story-lines being dropped, since you have so many running around (like the Matt Parkman/Sylar story-line and the Tracy story-line, which have just gone away) I am not asking for the Justice League, or corny costumes - just a group that even loosely works together would be nice.

Please - I want to like this show. I love most of the characters - you have a top-notch cast. But you need to change things up a bit and make a new rule around the writing table: No more “I have to do this alone” story-lines.

Sincerely,

Me.

Matthew TV Shows Heroes

In writing this, I feel a little bit like I am encroaching on Charon’s territory here by complaining about Arby’s. However, I will forgo complaining about their food - this is easy for me since I never eat there. Yet, despite this avoidance of shoe-leather on a bun, Arby’s still manages to reach out with its horsey sauce covered claw and grab me.

Several years ago I and a car-pooling co-worker were heading home. It was my day to drive. I turned out of the office driveway and onto the main road - from there it is a mere 200 yards to the expressway.

I didn’t make it.

Instead, I turned and after successfully navigating the first 100 yards was broadsided by a guy turning left into Arby’s. He couldn’t even wait for traffic to clear he wanted it so badly. He hit my car hard! Airbags were deployed even (slight digression - airbags are not at all like they are depicted in the movies and TV - they are not soft pillows that inflate and slowly deflate - rather they inflate quickly, hard as a rock, then deflate so fast you don’t even have time to register that they went off - they are also painful - and I am glad they were there).

My car was totaled. So was his. Everyone was ok except for some bruising. While waiting for the police and tow trucks, the fellow that hit me - who never even spoke to me, let alone apologized for his action - went into the Arby’s and got his lunch.

I am not kidding. That dude really wanted his Arby’s.

Don't confuse this with the Justice League

Now, let’s jump forward to the here and now. My wife, kid and another mom and kid went to Arby’s for dinner, post-swimming lesson for the kids. I was able to avoid this by being at work. However, when my 4-year-old got home she was very exited because of the toy she got with her Arby’s kid meal. She said the toy was a “Super-Friends” toy. It was really a Justice League toy, but I decided that at 4 she was allowed the error. At 5, though, we will have a long discussion over the differences, which are many.

This toy was a Martian Manhunter Bobble-head. Made from paper. Full assembly required.

“C’mon!” you might be thinking, “How hard can it possibly be? It is just paper right?”

You need new thoughts.

Yes, indeed it was just paper. In fact, it was just “slot A into slot B”. Problem is, it was super-cheaply made. This means that nothing fit together quite right. Additionally I am trying to put this together with a 4-year old saying “Why couldn’t this just come together so I could play with it? They should have had this together so I could play with it. Why didn’t they just make it together? I really want to play with this daddy, why didn’t they do that?”

This went on for the full 15 minutes it took me to assemble this stupid toy.

So how did it turn out?

I hate you Arby's

Check out the picture. The head does not bobble because the weird spike that I put the head on goes through the top. So it just sits there. The moment my daughter touched it the arm fell off. I mean, yeah, it could be how I put it together, but I am going to blame the cheap toy itself. I mean, sheesh, what is a kid supposed to do with this exactly? Stare at it? Anything else and it falls apart. Which is did in about 10 minutes.

Listen, Arby’s, giving away Justice League stuff is awesome - but please make it something not made of paper. Also, I am with my daughter on this one - let’s make it fully assembled, ok?

Thanks.

Matthew Random Thoughts Arby's, cheap toy, martian manhunter

It has been 10 years to the day since Sega launched what ended up being their final console, the Dreamcast.

The Sega Master System

I and my brothers grew up on Sega, as opposed to Nintendo like so many others. My first console was the Sega Master System. This incredible 8-bit system came with a light gun and what are still the coolest 3D glasses ever. Those glasses actually had screens built inside of them, so rather than just using cheap red/blue 3D glasses that change the color of the game and only work moderately well, these would give a true 3D effect. I used them to play many, many hours of Missle Command on the SMS. Unlike the original Missle Command, in this game the rockets flew out “at” the player, who had to use the light gun to take them down.

The SMS also had Phantasy Star. I firmly believe this was the best 8-bit game ever created. The music was excellent for its time and the graphics far ahead of its peers. When exploring dungeons in the game, it even moved to a first-person point of view, the first such game I had ever played.

Then came the Sega Genesis. I saved up to buy this wonderful machine so I could play NBA

Try and match this Nintendo!

Jams. My brothers and I played a LOT of this game and many others. The Genesis also took Sonic to a whole other plane. Sonic was cool on the SMS, but on the Genesis he showed why he, and not Mario, was the best video game icon. Mario was slow, plodding and just like to jump sometimes. Sonic was all about moving at high speeds and rocketing from place to place. Heck, as time went on Sonic games even used rock and metal as its musical backdrop, as opposed to the dinky Mario music that, while iconic, does not exactly scream “excitement”. To me, the console-war winner was clear, even if the Nintendo people didn’t get it. This Penny Arcade comic does a great job summing this up. Later, the Genesis grew in complexity and added a CD reader and a 32-bit add-on. As you can see from this picture, it could get a little … crazy.

The Sega Saturn came next. I never owned one of these. When it came out it certainly had amazing capabilities, but programing for it was proving too complex for game makers. This console just never had the games to compete with the Sony Playstation. I worried that this would be the end of Sega.

Then, one fateful day in the summer of 1999 I was walking through a local mall when I passed by a Babbages. There, on display, was the Dreamcast. It was love at first sight. The graphical capabilities of this system far surpassed anything I had ever seen before. Unlike the Saturn, the Dreamcast was also going to have games and a lot of them at that. I knew I had to make it mine.

So, once again I saved up and bought a Sega console. Like all of my previous Sega consoles, it was a sleek black (I stayed away from the beige model and bought the Sports Edition, which was black). It even had innovative controllers. The memory cards that held game data went right into the controllers. Those memory cards even had tiny screens on them that gave the player information as they played. Even crazier the memory cards had little controls on them, so that mini-games could be played on them.

That awesome memory card for the Dreamcast

I, of course, got the new Sonic game for it, which just about caused my head to explode. It used rock and metal to pump the player up and moved at speeds I didn’t even think were possible. This, I thought, would make believers out of the Mario-people and get them to understand why Sonic was so much better.

Then came what remains to this day the best overall videogame I have ever played: Shenmue. It played like an old Kung-Fu movie. The story had an amazing complexity to it, and was intended to be a 3-game story-arc. Sadly, only one game was ever released in the US. The second did get released overseas, but the third and final game never came out. I have the second game along with an adapter, but sadly we will never learn how the story comes out. Despite this, I certainly don’t regret playing the game - it had an open world in which Ryo was free to explore and go wherever he wanted. I loved this.

In 2001 Sega stopped producing the Dreamcast and has yet to return to the world of manufactoring consoles. It is very unlikely they ever will enter that market again. They do, of course, make plenty of video games for the remaining consoles. Sonic is certainly still alive and kicking. Still, it hasn’t been the same without Sega making its own consoles.

I think tonight, to celebrate this occasion, I will pull down Shenmue and explore Ryo’s world again. You know, just for old time’s sake.

Matthew Random Thoughts dreamcast, genesis, master system, sega

A question often asked by those that have never entered a virtual world is “Why would anyone spend their time in such places?” Rather frequently that question is followed by a comment like “They should stop working on their Second Life and get a first one!” or some other variation on the theme.

So why do people play Second Life? Why do they play World of Warcraft? Why do they enter into any virtual world at all? Isn’t the real one enough for them? Or are they just loners, scared of real human interaction?
The main reason anyone enters these worlds is a social one. Being in these worlds is a very social experience. I know, this seems to fly in the face of perceptions, right? I mean, those of you that do not play are probably picturing a pasty troll sitting in his basement, never seeing the light of day, just killing orcs and never talking to anyone except, perhaps, the pizza delivery guy.

Yet this perception is false. The reality is that being a part of these worlds has a massive social aspect. These worlds do not work, in fact, without this social structure.

First, let’s look at games like World of Warcraft. The idea of “soloing” – or playing the game by yourself – is not unknown. But it is difficult, if not outright impossible, to get through the more difficult aspects of the game without a team. To this end, players can team up with other players in order to face a far more difficult challenge than they could on their own. These teams are not usually random either. Really good teams are made up of diverse “classes” of characters that can each bring something different to the team. For example, one class might be the team’s healer. The healer won’t fight any creatures, but will stand a little away from the fighting and heal his or her comrades while they do the fighting. Other classes are warrior classes, they will obviously do the fighting. But not all fighting classes just raise a sword and hit something. Some might cast spells in order to do damage from a distance because they cannot get hit much without “dying”. Others fight hand-to-hand, and can take more damage, so they stay close up so that their spell-casting friends can avoid being hurt.
The scenario above is a simple one too. Teams can get every complex, with each team-member assigned to do a very, very specific thing in each fight. This level of teamwork would be envied in the real world.

So how do people find teams to fight with? One way is to join a guild. Guilds are very large groups of players (sometimes hundreds of players) that come together to share resources, to find people that want to team up and to just talk -because the game isn’t always about fighting. Sometimes people become friends during the course of the game and so spend time in guildhalls or other meeting places just to chat. After all, if you make an in-game friend who lives on the other side of the earth, seeing them in person is not a likely event.

The result is a massive world full of wizards, warriors, evil goblins and … a massive social network.
Second Life, on the other hand, is a little different. There are no battles of good vs evil. Second Life is modeled after our first lives. There are shops, cars, homes and more. So why be in Second Life if it is so much like the first one?
In this case the social aspect of it is the whole reason it exists. People are in Second Life to interact with other people. That interaction could come in the form of a conversation, a sales transaction, teaching a class or just about any other way you can imagine. However, while you might know some people in the town you live in, odds are not everyone shares your interest in, say, cats that wear sweaters. Yet in Second Life you can find lots of people that love cats in sweaters. You can even argue with people from a rival group of some kind. Say, people that love cats in hats.

Others use it for more serious purposes. Like IBM. IBM has multiple “private islands” on Second Life where they can hold events for their employees. They even have meeting centers where actual business meetings happen. This allows for IBM workers located around the world to “meet” in the same room. They have found that doing this is better than a simple conference call because after the meeting ends, people stick around to talk to their colleagues, just as they might do in a real-world meeting.
Should these virtual worlds act as a social replacement then?

No. Consider it an enhancement. It is fantastic for those that live far apart. They can interact in many more ways than the phone, e-mail or instant messenger allow for. Yet it is not a replacement. There is still no facial expression. There is no chance to shake someone’s hand. Huge parts of what we consider “human interactions” are missing in virtual worlds.
Yet you cannot think that everyone that spends time in these worlds is a loner. Odds are they have many, many friends in the virtual world. It is just that instead of their names being “Sally” or “Fred” the names are “Jabberwocky281” and “GoblinKillah.”
Now, there is a huge thread that does connect Second Life and World of Warcraft together: they are, in the end, entertainment. When you watch TV you see the people on the screen act out their lives and are entertained by this. In World of Warcraft you can actually be the character. You can write their story yourself and interact with others writing their tale of adventure and heroism (or of villainy if you are so inclined).

Consider the joy in that – have you ever watched a TV show and wished you could be part of that world? Or that you could at least write an episode or two? If so, than these worlds might be for you. In Second Life you can create a sitcom of your own design. You can have your character, or “avatar” as they are more commonly called, do just about anything you want. The result is that you are making your own entertainment, not just letting Hollywood dictate the entertainment to you.
Right now with the writers’ strike going on, perhaps there has never been a better time to check out these virtual worlds. Who, after all, is better at writing a story you would like to see than you yourself?

Besides, isn’t an interactive form of entertainment better than a passive one? Television is about as passive as you can get. I love television, don’t get me wrong. I am not condemning the medium. In fact, I really want Chuck and Pushing Daisies back on the air soon! C’mon people! Settle the strike already! However, as wonderful as TV can be, other, more interactive forms of entertainment can be better. Reading is more interactive since you must picture the settings, the people, everything, in your mind. Online entertainment allows you to take some of the pictures in your mind and express them right there on the screen in front of you.

In the end, we all have our ways of both interacting with people and entertaining ourselves. No one form is better than the other (unless you really do put sweaters on cats). So next time you are lamenting that new episodes of Heroes are not forthcoming check out an online world. You might be surprised at what you find there.

Note: this was written by me and originally posted on the Rising Tide blog.

Matthew Uncategorized

If you visit Google Labs on a regular basis (and really, who doesn’t?) you might have noticed a recent addition: Lively.

Lively is Google’s answer to Second Life: A virtual world where people can interact on-line in rooms that are already created or created by themselves. The rooms hold up to 20 people at a time. These avatars can chat, place furniture and do some interaction like shaking hands, hugging and smashing people with giant anvils.  More on that later.

This project, like so many others, is a result of Google’s “20 percent time” policy. Google workers spend 20% of their time at Google innovating and creating new products.

So is this some kind of “Second Life Killer”? No. There is no currency or a way to create new content for the world. Avatar creation is also very limited. There are not a lot of choices or ways to make the avatar really stand out. Second Life, in theory, allows thousands to interact at once while Lively only allows 20.

The biggest difference is that upon creating a “room” in Lively it can be embedded in a blog or other Website so that others can visit the room and, in theory, learn more about the creator and their personality. Another difference is that it works in IE or FireFox (Windows only right now) and doesn’t require a whole separate application like Second Life.

Additionally this works with Facebook accounts. So I could go into my Facebook account and create a room that my friends can see and interact in. In fact for the purposes of research for this blog (at least, that is the excuse I am using) I will be doing that. Facebook friends, you have been warned.

I did, briefly, enter the world to get a better idea of what it is like. Keeping in mind that this is Beta, the avatar creation tools are very limited, except for hair styles. It has a lot of hair styles.

The first room I entered was a small island that had, inexplicably, the song “If” by Bread playing. That song played over and over and over. That song does not deserve such a high level of replay.

After walking around and being confused at the large amount of furniture strewn around the island (the game does have furniture that can be placed around by users) I left. I moved on to a room that was a recreation of a room at the Google Headquarters. It was there that I was struck by a giant anvil by an unknown assailant.  My avatar was squashed for a bit, but he recovered.

I only spent a short time in the world, enough to get an idea of the controls and what it all looked like. At this time I will spare you a review until I can spend more time in this world. Needless to say I will be keeping a close eye on this entry of Google’s. Not everything they have done has been a hit to be sure. However, when Google is involved, it is always worth watching.

Note: this was written by me and originally posted on the Rising Tide blog.

Matthew Uncategorized

If there is one thing Wikipedia has proved, it is that a pretty good reference of information can be built using the mass mind of people around the world, contributing to their online encyclopedia. Sure, there are mistakes, but thanks to their mass-edit concepts, many of those mistakes are then corrected by others who know better or who just plain watch to ensure solid fact-checking. It is far from perfect, but more people are using Wikipedia as a resource than Britannica online.

With that in mind, more and more things are getting the “wiki” treatment. But perhaps one of the more interesting concepts is the idea of architecture and city planning taking advantage of mass collaberation over the Internet.

Studio Wikitecture is attempting to do just that. They are gathering together people from all over in order to design buildings and even do city planning. Of course, ideas can be thrown together and discussed. The real trick is in applying these ideas.

To build an entire building would cost a rather lot. And would an investor really want to pile money on this concept? A mistake in Wikipedia might mean a lower grade on your term paper. A mistake in a building design could lead to a structural collapse.

With that in mind, the group is doing what everyone else seems to be doing these days: Turning to Second Life. They have created a group in Second Life whose purpose is to design and build buildings using this mass mind concept.

Using tools they and i3Dnow created, members of the group (which anyone can join) can build objects or vote on existing objects and designs. This YouTube Video shows this concept in action. I highly recommend watching it. Not only is it cool, but I have simplified things a bit. This video shows how it works in more detail.

Recently the group entered the Open Architecture Network’s Asian Challenge. The OAN is part of the Architecture for Humanity project, which is committed to improving living conditions world-wide. The group did exceptionally well, taking Third Place as well as the Founder’s Award for their innovative design methods.

Are we looking at the future of building design? Of city planning? More? Perhaps. This is still very early on and certainly the buildings haven’t yet been built in the real world. Still, this somehow feels momentous. That in some way the concept of mass collaboration is now going further than gathering knowledge; steps are now being taken to use this knowledge and apply it.

Note: this was written by me and originally posted on the Rising Tide blog.

Matthew Virtual Worlds

In last week’s post I mentioned Wikipedia and its use as a resource. I had also mentioned that it isn’t always accurate. However, this isn’t due to a lack of diligence of its contributors.

If anything, the contributors care a bit too much sometimes.

You see, when you visit a Wikipedia article, you may notice some tabs across the top. Three of them – “Discussion”, “edit this page” and “history” tell you a lot about a given article. History shows you the past versions of the page, when they were changed and who changed them (minus an ID it will show IP). Edit this page allows you (yes YOU) to edit a given entry. Discussion is just how it sounds – a discussion on the article.

In some cases the “facts” are in question or are different depending on point of view. So what happens when “facts” collide? An “edit war” – where different people keep changing “facts” back and forth based on what they perceive the reality to be.

Some things are basic enough facts that no one (seriously) argues them. If you step off of a cliff with no form of support you will fall. If you stay out in the sun too long without protection you will get burned. And we all know that the Tiger is the most powerful cat in the world. Or do we? This article alone has over 500 edits done to it, many of them having to do with this very question. Are they really stronger than a lion? How about a bear? Ok, so a bear is not a cat, but shouldn’t this be discussed and mentioned and argued ad nauseum?

If you agree that this is one of the most burning questions of our time, than head on over to the Tiger entry on Wikipedia to join in on this, the most serious question of our time.

If, however, you feel that the argument is silly then head on over here to see more of the lamest edit wars in Wikipedia history. A very very funny look at the most “burning” questions of the day. Also, for the record, a bear could totally beat a tiger. I mean, come on, this is even a discussion?

Note: This was written by me and originally posted on the Rising Tide blog.

Matthew Technology

McDonald’s has recently launched a virtual world aimed at kids that enjoy their Happy Meals. Located at happymeal.com this world is built for kids to interact in.

It is currently still in Beta – so it is a touch buggy. However, if you want your kids to have a good time in a virtual world while learning how awesome hamburgers and fries are, this is the place for you!

The game itself is free. However, they do give additional bonus objects and prizes if the kids enter in codes found inside of their Happy Meal from McDonald’s.  So have no doubt, this exists to get kids to beg (even more) for Happy Meals.

There is also a vote going on to name this new Virtual World. The options are (and I am making none of these up):

1. Scaddlmon (McDonald’s with the letters all mixed up)

2. McD Zone

3. McDonaldlandia

4. McD Island

5. McWorld
The site appears to be “safe” for kids in terms of their personal information. They don’t ask for much. The child can make a friend list and talk to those friends, but only through pre-set phrases (at least at the moment).

Now, I have a 3-year-old daughter. Whenever we pass a McDonald’s she gets excited and starts talking about how we should stop at “Old McDonald’s” - like the song … ee yi ee yi oooo – I know it is spelled MacDonald in the song. I have tried this argument. It fails. Anyhow, she wants to stop not because their food is any good, but because they have those play areas for kids. This leads to a long, drawn out conversation in which I say “No” and she asks why and I say because the food is terrible and she argues that it isn’t and I explain that it isn’t healthy and she explains that she can play.

And so the conversation continues.  For a really, really long time.

In a couple of years when she is online playing games (I am realistic about this, I figure it will happen about then) I can have the continued joy hearing about Old McDonald and their awesome virtual world called Scaddlmon and how we need to buy Happy Meals so that she can get her avatar a new hat or something.

So I have that to look forward to.

It will be interesting to see if this venture works for McDonald’s. Are kids ready to socialize in a virtual world? Will they want to go to one connected with McDonald’s or will they want one connected to Second Life, which they see their older brother and sister playing? It should be interesting to watch and see if this type of venture becomes a successful marketing tool.

Note: This was written by me and originally posted on the Rising Tide blog.

Matthew Virtual Worlds