In a fairly unexpected move, Avatar Reality's CEO Jim Sink has announced the cessation of development of the PC application version of virtual world Blue Mars, with the soon to be smaller company moving to focus on developing for the iOS (read: iPhone / iPad) platform. The change involves the loss of a number of staff, including Jim himself. You can also listen to audio of his … [Read more...] about The partial death and refocus of Blue Mars
Alternatives
Surviving a day in Minecraft
I appear on a snow-covered beach and look around me. The sun is rising, but it is doing it very quickly. The whole day will pass in just a few minutes, and I have a lot to do. First I test the ice. It holds me up well enough and there’s an interesting island out in the lake off to my right. First thing, though, I’m looking for trees. I turn around and climb up the slope to … [Read more...] about Surviving a day in Minecraft
Second Life / OpenSim developers sought
I had the pleasure of meeting Dale Linegar last year - he's one of many innovative Australian educators working in virtual worlds. He's after some developers as detailed below, preferably Melbourne-based. If you're interested, drop him an email. We are a small, dedicated team of educators, developers and programmers who are working on a range of virtual world, AI and mobile … [Read more...] about Second Life / OpenSim developers sought
Why Second Life is already second-best for education
The announcement by Linden Lab in the past 24 hours that their discounting of pricing for educators and non-profits would cease in January 2011, has engendered the expected level of outrage. And rightly so, given the critical mass of educators that have generated significant outcomes for Second Life. In fact, it could be argued that it's only the good news stories generated by … [Read more...] about Why Second Life is already second-best for education
Review: Onverse
Onverse is comprised of a 2D web site, connected to a 3D virtual environment. Together, they form an intriguing new social networking platform with games included – games intuitive enough for non-gamers to learn, but complex enough for gamers to be interested in. You log in using the same account credentials regardless of whether you log in on the web site or the virtual … [Read more...] about Review: Onverse