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NO BUSINESS LIKE SNOW BUSINESS:
The new sims where winter lasts all year!


It may be summer out there, but way down South in Second Life, the snow never stops falling. Icy lakes, pure powder everywhere, and ski lifts that take you up the mountain through the clouds to the top of Kanin! Last week, Linden Lab released over two dozen all-winter simulators on the Southern-most tip of the continent, and to take advantage of its many slopes, threw a fully operational snowboard into the bargain. Already residents are trudging along the cliffs in sunglasses and their finest winter wear, looking for the best route to cut some extreme downhill action on. Meanwhile, to complement the cozy ski lodge owned by Governor Linden, residents are buying up plots and building snow lodges amid the mountains and the white-capped trees. Imagine the hot cocoa you’ll drink, after a day of gliding on the ice.





 

MAKING THE MOVES:
Linden Lab parties down, showing off fresh moves!

A fleet-footed man in red backed by his posse of dancing zombies got the audience jumping, last Thursday. With over a hundred guests pouring in, including residents and members of the media, Linden Lab opened the doors on New Moves for a New World, the coming out party for Second Life’s custom-made avatar animations. Jammed into a hip SOMA art gallery, guests ate and drank, and got a good look at a montage of original animations, featuring bloodthirsty ghouls, sexy table dancers, and the crowning clip, a tightly choreographed tribute to Michael Jackson’s classic “Thriller” video by SL Resident Ulrika Zugzwang. (Watch the video now) It was a great time to celebrate Second Life’s next generation technology—and Second Life’s creative community, who’ve done so much with it, in so short a time. (A community that now boasts, by the way, well over 10,000 residents.)



 

PLAYING TO WIN:
Resident game developers wow a pro

The competition was fierce and everyone had their favorite, but in the end, the top two entries in the debut of the Second Life Game Developer’s Competition had to be chosen. Top prize for most popular game (in terms of foot traffic) went to the team led by Xylor Baysclef, for their Game Parlour, featuring giant-sized (and highly addictive) games of chess and solitaire mah jong. Veteran game designer Harvey Smith (project director of Ion Storm/Eidos’ Deus Ex: Invisible War) was on hand to judge and award a special developer’s prize to one of four finalists. “The Demolition Derby had TONS of effort put into it,” he told a live audience of residents, in an interview with embedded journalist Hamlet Linden Notes. “The mah jong [in Game Parlour] was super cool in multiplayer mode, and Mysterious Journey had the most unique flavor…[but] I kept coming back to the board game Deus Via, trying to master it, having fun playing it.” And that’s who his award ultimately went to. Harvey stayed around to talk about the art, craft, and commerce of games with Hamlet and the capacity audience, and the fascinating insights he offered there are available at New World Notes here.



 

MEDIA NOTES:
Second Life and Linden Lab in the Press


With the launch of Second Life 1.4, media mentions of SL were diverse and frequent in June and July, including a feature appearance by CEO Philp Rosedale in a video interview on CNET's News.com, and a story on how Second Life's new animation features are infusing the world with personalized expressions and soul.

Mindjack.com July 20, 2004
"The introduction of user-created animations in Second Life has opened our eyes to a future cyberspace where technology empowers rather than suppresses humanity."

Gamespot June 23, 2004
"...Rosedale says that 'in May, Second Life saw 240,000 transactions made between users, with a US dollar value at current exchange rates of about $212,000 - with actual profit-taking of about $40,000.' "

CNET News.com June 21, 2004
A new more exciting animated you! "Philip Rosedale explains how users are turning their online alter-egos into money-making businesses.

Read all news

 
May 15 , 2004 Volume 1, Number 12
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
Apr. 1, 2003 Volume 1, Number 6
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