Virtual Worlds and the mobile world

One of the hottest trends today is the Virtual Worlds "madness"... For those of you who are not familiar with the phenomenon, I am talking about 3D virtual worlds in which you can take the form of a 3D Avatar, walk around in the virtual space, chat with people, buy stuff etc.

Some of these worlds have economy systems with an exchange rate from US$ to the virtual currency (For example, in the most famous world, Second Life, the currency is called Linden Dollars), and people can buy clothes, gifts, vehicles, apartments, furniture and what not... obviously the revenue potential here is big.

The picture here of me hanging out with virtual babes is taken from MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach. The thing about their world is that everyone looks hot... (At least their virtual avatars...). This world by the way has a good vibe too, and I think we'll see its market share rising.

The question is, when and how will this trend translate into the mobile world. Obviously the capabilities needed to render the full experience is beyond mobile devices today, but more than that, the question is whether handsets are the right media for such activity. As I wrote in previous posts, some activities (such as 3D shooter games) are enjoyed best with a big screen TV (Or at least a decent 19" screen..), so the handset will always be a "second best".

But there maybe something between the full 3D worlds and the most used social data application on the mobile (SMS...) that may provide users with a new experience. For example, Sulake, the developer of Habbo Hotel has a mini version of their world called "Mini Friday". It's quite neat, but still lacks in support for mainstream phones.

I also heard rumours about other companies trying to port the full 3D experience to mobile. Anyway, there's a lot of potential there. Unlike traditional games, virtual worlds don't necessarily focus on tasks and missions, but are just a virtual hangout place. And we know that for chat and social activities the handset can be a major platform.

So, it is going to be interesting to see the new stuff that comes out soon. In the meantime, if anyone hears news on that subject feel free to comment here or drop me an e-mail.


P.S. - Regarding the writers team of NextGenMoCo, thanks to all of you who have joined, we expect to launch the blog in its new form (with contributions from various authors) sometime in June.