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I. BURNING FOR YOU

All the freeform creativity and dreamy partying -- just without the sunburns, or long lines at the portapotty. In an online tribute to the legendary Burning Man arts festival held every Labor Day weekend in the Black Rock desert, Second Life opened up two new simulators (about 32 acres of virtual land), and let the residents go wild.

Running concurrently with the real-world event, residents immediately converged on Burning Life, held in the Mauve and Chartreuse simulators, throwing up fantastic sculptures and structures. Pyramids of giant monkeys! The statue of a torch-bearing goddess! An electronica-themed nightclub for raving into the wee hours! Elf-bearing dirigibles, pagan art shrines, kinetic horse sculptures, solar system mobiles, and of course, the bonfire incineration of the Burning Life effigy itself. Everything seemed possible, and usually was -- right up until September 2nd, that is, when the simulator territories were returned to normal use.

Senior Second Life Resident David Cartier, who attended the actual Black Rock event a few years ago, was duly impressed. "There were many thought-provoking, many hilarious projects done that I wish the organizers of the real Burning Man could see for themselves." (Burning Life is covered in greater detail by in-world journalist Wagner James Au, AKA Hamlet Linden, in several entries between September 1-10 of his New World Notes.)




II. MAKING MOVIES (MACHINIMA COMES TO SECOND LIFE!)

"As a girl, they honed her into the perfect weapon-- as a woman, she declared war on all Nexus Prime!" That could be the tagline for the trailer recently directed in-world by veteran resident BuhBuhCuh Fairchild. It's also a glimpse of the first technology of its kind-- which will soon be showcased in the first festival of its kind.

Creating movies within a 3D game engine (or "machinima", as fans call it) has become the vanguard app of the game industry, and the latest build of Second Life lets you do just that. BuhBuhCuh's trailer (viewable here in Windows Media Player) is a very early example of machinima in Second Life, and the first application of that technology in a massively multiplayer online world. Ambitious residents are already racing to make the September 22 deadline for the Second Life Movie Contest, to be judged by the Linden staff, with the top three entries taking large L$ cash prizes at an in-world ceremony. (Think Sundance Film Festival, but without the snow or cell phone chatter from Hollywood agents.)

Parodies, action shorts, gonzo stunt videos -- the genre possibilities are endless, with the only limits being size and length (under 2 minutes and 30 megs), and inappropriate content (no trademarked/copyrighted material, and nothing prohibited in a "PG"-rated sim.) Imagine the potential for machinima shot "live" in a persistent world, with actors and crew members collaborating from around the globe. Click here for more information on becoming a Second Life auteur.




III. THE WIDE WORLD OF SL SPORTS!

The thrill of jumpshot victory, and the agony of killshot defeat! The sports-oriented simulator of Rizal has become the arena for three full-contact team games, and the Linden sports director is looking to form leages now.

Lee Linden is Second Life's referee, event coordinator, and league commissioner, all rolled into one. Contacted by the Second Opinion, he gave us a rundown of Rizal's three featured team sport, while offerring a few tips, on mastering the competition:

LaserTag
"Very similar to many first-person shooter games, but it has a slightly slower pace that makes players put their noodle to work and strategize... In the new Domination mode, it's all about controlling the [Check]points. The best tactic I've seen is to send one player to attack a heavily-defended position, while the others scout out and control the less-traveled points."



JetBall
"Extremely similar to basketball, it's a very pass-centered game. The team that can control both ends of the court, pass the ball to each other, and make those high-flying shots into the basket will walk away a clear winner."



AtlasBall
"It's about throwing your weight around, literally. Players climb into the pods and get dumped out inside a giant steel ball... then roll their ball onto the scoring pods. The best tip is to always watch for your teammates; nothing's worse for your team than to have two teammates fighting to score at the same pod."



Lee is now on the lookout for residents who want to form up teams and leagues for each sport; to that end, he's launched a Sports Mentor program, for people who want to bring new players up to speed. In-world, instant message Lee Linden, or e-mail him at lee.linden@lindenlab.com, for more details on getting in the game.




IV. HIKARU YAMAMOTO, ANIME PRINCESS (RESIDENT PROFILE)

You wouldn't think it to look at her, but Kayla is a 19-year-old college student from St. Charles, Missouri, and Japanese only in spirit. In Second Life, she's Hikaru Yamamoto, and she's better known as an angelic demon or a robot righting doll with a savage right kick.

Kayla joined Second Life way back in March, during the Beta phase. (She'd just burned out on the first-person shooter she was playing, and wanted to try a new MMOG.) "This was the type of game I've always wanted," she decided, and within a few months, she'd established a reputation for creating some of the finest anime-inspired avatars in-world.

She's a long-time lover of Japanese animation. "They really pay attention to detail," Hikaru tells the Second Opinion. "Anime eyes are just so cute and the hair is always shiny, flowing, and beautiful. I also love the Japanese language; it's very unique and flows very nicely."

For Hikaru's photo shoot, she began by modeling avatars inspired by Chibi and Kouryuu, from the anime program "Wish", then took us to Little Tokyo, the centerpiece project of SLittle Tokyo, Second Life's largest anime-oriented group. Hikaru helped build and owns the city's very realistic high school -- "Since there is a high school in just about every anime story, we decided to make one," she explains -- and it's there that she shows off an avatar based on Sakura, from "Cardcaptor Sakura" (her very favorite anime series). From there, she transformed herself into a battle-hardened robotic babe inspired by Sasuka, from "Angelic Layer", and demonstrated several fierce karate moves. As luck would have it, Lexus Slate (a fellow SLittle Tokyo member) happened by, and challenged Hikaru to several bruising, leaping rounds of swordplay, at the nearby dojo.

Studying computers at her local community college, Kayla's ultimate goal is a career in the high-tech arts. "When I get good, I want to get a career in 3D computer animation," she says, and she's already experimenting with the software to create it. Meanwhile, in Second Life, the 3D animation tool she's mastered is herself, using her avatar to recreate the genre she loves, to an ever-growing audience of online friends.




Closing and Legal

We hope you liked this newsletter. We’ll do our best to make it both useful and entertaining. We welcome your comments, suggestions and story ideas. Send them to: newsletter@lindenlab.com.

Copyright 2003, Linden Lab. All rights reserved.







Sept. 9, 2003 Vol. 1, Number 10:
Burning for You
Making Movies
The Wide World of SL Sports
Hikaru Yamamoto, Anime Princess
Closing and Legal


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Oct. 22, 2003 Volume 1, Number 11
Sept. 9, 2003 Volume 1, Number 10
Aug. 5, 2003 Volume 1, Number 9
Jul. 9, 2003 Volume 1, Number 8
Apr. 24, 2003 Volume 1, Number 7
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