Alchemic Dream, Inc. offers a set of services to publishers, designed toward one unique goal and two different approaches. Modern MMO players only want to play the most accessible and best supported games, and at the same time publishers and developers want to facilitate access to their product and increase retention rates.

“By partnering with Monumental Games, we are sure that future MMOs developed with the Monumental Technology Suite will take both players and publishers expectations into consideration regarding accessibility and support.” said Stephane Jankowski, General Manager of Alchemic Dream. “In the end, everybody wins”.

The Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) is a complete suite of tools that allows organisations to develop Virtual Worlds and Online Games for a wide range of applications (including computer based training (CBT), entertainment, corporate intranets, and collaborative environments). Alchemic Dream, Inc. brings its customer care expertise to this partnership to help Monumental Games offer the best solution possible to developers.

”At Monumental we realise that the development, launch and ongoing operations of an MMO goes beyond the underlying technology itself,” said Paul Mayze, Business Development Director for Technology at Monumental. “Alchemic Dream’s specialist skillset fits in well alongside our roster of existing partners that include best-of-breed billing, VoIP and hosting solutions.”

About Alchemic Dream Inc.

Alchemic Dream, Inc. is a Canadian company founded in 2001 that specializes in MMOG and Virtual World management, in-game events, customer support and localization. Alchemic Dream has already worked on MMOGs such as Lord of the Rings Online(TM): Shadows of Angmar(TM), Dungeons and Dragons Online(TM): Stormreach(TM), Fury, Pirates of the Burning Seas, Archlord and Kwari. Alchemic Dream also operates the PlayMMO.com gaming portal and the MMO gaming newsfeed MMPOW.com. For more information, please visit http://www.alchemicdream.net.

Global hosting, infrastructure planning, and roll-out activities are some of the most important decisions facing managers of successful Virtual World and Online Game projects. Monumental’s growing list of technology licensees are launching Virtual World and MMO products into the global marketplace. These products depend on mission critical hosting, infrastructure and bandwidth solutions to succeed. Monumental’s customers need hosting solutions that provide sustainable competitive advantage, long term cost savings and solid customer support in equal measure both to launch and sustain growth within the global marketplace.

The Monumental Technology Suite (MTS) is a complete suite of tools that allows organisations to develop Virtual Worlds and Online Games for a wide range of applications (including computer based training (CBT), entertainment, corporate intranets, and collaborative environments). It makes sense to partner with organizations that specialise in the hosting of such large scale global projects. Monumental is happy to announce a strategic partnership with Global NetOptex, Inc. (GNi), which will see them offer world-class hosting services and solutions to licensees of the Monumental Technology Suite.

“Making great Virtual Worlds and Massively Multi-player Online games with our technology suite is only one of many aspects of developing and launching a successful product. The GNi guys know what they’re doing and specialize in games, so we are proud and confident to offer their services to our technology licensees. Our partnership with GNi offers MTS licensees a complete hosting solution from pre-production through to launch and beyond” said Rik Alexander, Monumental’s CEO.

“Our partnership with Monumental continues to show that great developers know that well built and managed infrastructure is the foundation of delivery of a successful Online Game or Virtual World and we are pleased that Monumental has recognized and chosen GNi to provide this critical foundation”, stated Philip Bouchard, GNi CEO

GNi offers a range of industry-leading networking, internet transit and consultancy services, providing world-class 24/7 facilities for the hosting and management of customers’ critical data, applications and networks. Data center facilities are located throughout California in San Francisco, San Jose, El Segundo, Sacramento, Oakland as well as Chandler Arizona, Frankfurt Germany, and Tokyo, Japan. GNi has been specializing in the provisioning of high grade hosting solutions for games and digital media companies for over three years making them a leading industry veteran. GNi provides games companies with fully-managed, dedicated game hosting services, comprising best-of-breed server and network infrastructure, and expert network design, deployment and operation.

GNi is a leading provider of customer-centric managed services that extend customers’ infrastructure while dramatically reducing their total cost of ownership (TCO). GNi provides the expertise, resources and solutions to meet and exceed customers’ unique onsite and off-site requirements. Services include wired connectivity, world-class network security, disaster recovery, comprehensive server management and hosting, networking operations and management, and network consulting.The company’s Games and Digital Media division was formed from the recent acquisition of Online Game Services, Inc. and allows GNi to strengthen its game service provider business model with industry-leading, fully-managed dedicated games hosting environments and Internet transit around the world. For further information, visit http://www.gni.com.

Although no specific advertisers were mentioned as part of the deal IGA anticipates that a variety of companies will be interested in making using of in-game video screens, football and team kit designs. Advertising opportunities will also be present in the off-pitch virtual world and through the in-game mobile phone communication system.

Commenting on the partnership, IGA Worldwide CEO Justin Townsend said: “We are pleased to announce our partnership with CyberSports. Football Superstars features a genuinely unique approach to the MMO genre, as well as providing relevant and innovative opportunities for advertisers, from dynamically-updateable stadium ads and tournament sponsorships to fully interactive stores and even avatar clothing. The possibilities are almost endless, and attractive to a wide range of brands.”

Investors during the Q4 2007 period include: Omnicom, Alloy Ventures and Storm Ventures, Vickers Financial Group, DHX Media Ltd., Benchmark Capital, Canaan Partners, GrandBanks Capital, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures, Rustic Canyon Ventures, Providence Equity Partners, Charles River Ventures, Kodiak Venture Partners and Pequot Ventures, Gigamedia, Sony and Time Warner, Microsoft and BigFish Games.

“Most of the investors in Q4 were venture firms,” said Christopher Sherman, Executive Director of Virtual Worlds Management. “Sony and Time Warner, the only two media companies investing during the period both opted for Gaia Online. Meanwhile Omnicom invested in virtual worlds agency Millions of Us, and television personality Pat Sajak became a significant shareholder of Numedeon. The largest investment by far was ZeniMax’s $300 million financing from Providence Equity Partners.”

Four of the companies that raised funding are squarely focused on the youth and kids virtual worlds market: Gaia, Hidden City, Numedeon and Star In Me. The close proximity of the online game industry to the virtual worlds industry can be seen in the recent funding news as well. Many of the software companies who received funding service both the online game industry and the virtual worlds industry. Indeed of the total 15 companies who received funding six are squarely in the game business as well as the virtual worlds business.

It is worth noting that the Zenimax investment is only partially focused on virtual worlds, showing a still prevalent industry bias towards PC and console games. Zenimax owns game publisher Bethesda Softworks, but is also launching Zenimax Online Studios to tap into the massively multiplayer online game and virtual worlds markets.

Link [ Article ]

Imagining a world–and, it seems, predicting one–where everyone in a company has an avatar that interacts in an environment simulating the best of the physical world (all the communication without the “acrid-smelling empty coffee pot in the kitchenette”), Forrester envisions meetings where distributed participants are more engaged and are supported by technology like 3D models. digital white boards, real-time recording and playback, and more.

In short, Forrester’s new report is prepping workforces for the time when virtual worlds revolutionize business as much as the Web already has. And it cites numerous examples of how the technology is already there. In side-by-side tables comparing the Web and more traditional collaboration tools and spaces to virtual worlds, the benefits are clear: more immersive communication than teleconferencing, more cost-efficient (though still unwieldy) non-verbal communication than most video setups, and much more purposeful collaboration tools than IM or email, to name just a few.

The report also cites existing projects as success stories. Among many others, the Institute for Avanced Study at Princeton University is using Qwaq to bring together international astrophysics research teams, and mental health therapists in Camden, N.J., us Forterra’s OLIVE platform to help disturbed adolescents work through traumas. On the business side of things, Forrester lists projects undertaken by IBM, Intel, Sun, and many others as proof that virtual worlds can ease long-distance, and even same-room, collaboration with many different tools.

But the report isn’t entirely rosy. Forrester rightly notes that there are many factors holding back virtual world adoption. From confusing, game-like interfaces and problems of credibility to more technical problems like bandwidth requirements, bug-heavy clients, and integration with office productivity software, Forrester notes that virtual worlds may not be ready for prime time in many enterprise-level businesses.

But that only means companies should prepare now.

“The costs of establishing a small, relatively secure presence in Second Life are typically so low as to be expensed in many organizations,” says Forrester. “The real costs are the employee hours it takes to create a useful space and working environment.”

The time to experiment and establish best practices is now. While individuals already involved in virtual worlds may not glean too many new recommendations from the report, it’s a compelling argument for why everyone else should join up.

For a full copy of the 24-page report, which is relatively inexpensive at $279, visit Forrester.

Article [ Link ]

Joe Little, who works in BP’s chief technology office, said the company has identified 3D interactive web and virtual worlds as the breakthrough technology for 2008.

The company is using virtual world environments for strategy planning, global collaboration and anonymous counselling for staff.

Speaking at the Virtual Worlds Europe conference this month, Little said, “BP is engaged in virtual worlds because of our dispersed workforce, team members working on several global projects, periodic travel restrictions, an ageing workforce with a lot of knowledge to impart and a tough graduate market.”

By mid-2008 BP executives hope to increase the use of virtual worlds, especially for collaboration, marketing public education, mentoring, learning and development and refining business processes. Other opportunities include using virtual worlds for process safety training and educating consumers in alternative energy concepts, Little said.

Dutch bank ABN Amro is using the virtual world Second Life for recruitment and for one-to-one meetings with prospective employees.

Daan Josephus Jitta, ABN Amro’s senior vice-president, direct channels and innovation, said, “The 2D internet is excellent for simple ­human-machine interaction, but the 3D social internet enables ready human-to-human interaction, or anonymous avatar-to-avatar communication.”

He said future uses of virtual worlds would include customer contact, consulting and financial planning. However, financial services would not yet be offered through virtual worlds because of the need to resolve regulatory, ID management and security issues.

Drinks manufacturer Diageo has piloted a Second Life events-based programme to boost creative productivity among its global research and development teams. The teams are using the technology for brainstorming, co-development and training, said Dele Alanda, Diageo’s global digital marketing business partner.

However, Dutch drinks group Heineken backed out of Second Life following regulatory uncertainties over the ability of people aged under 21 in the US to view drinks advertisements.

Article [ Link ]

The appeal of online virtual worlds such as Second Life is such that it may trigger an exodus of people seeking to “disappear from reality,” an expert on large-scale online games has said.

Virtual worlds have seen huge growth since they became mainstream in the early years of this decade, developing out of Massive Multiplayer Role-Playing Games.

And the online economies in some match those of real world countries.

Their draw is such that they could have a profound effect on some parts of society, Edward Castronova, Associate Professor in the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University, told BBC World Service’s Digital Planet programme.

“My guess is that the impact on the real world really is going to involve folks disappearing from reality in a lot of places where we see them,” he said.

Varying involvement

Dr Castronova, who has written a book on the subject entitled Exodus To The Virtual World, drew parallels to the 1600s when thousands of people left Britain for a new life in North America.

“That certainly changed North America - and that’s usually what we focus on - but it certainly changed the UK as well,” he said.

There will be a group of people who spend all their lives there, and the question for me is, how big is that group?
Edward Castronova

“So what I tried to do in this book is say, ‘listen - even if the typical reader doesn’t spend any time in virtual worlds, what is going to be the impact on him of people going and doing this?’”
And he predicted that everyone will be involved in a virtual environment within ten years - although the level of that involvement will vary.

He said while some people will be colonists - “the virtual frontier opens up and off they go and disappear” - others will just use virtual worlds to get together with distant family and friends.

But he stressed there will be a group of people that spends all their lives there, and that the big question is the size of this group.

“We forget how many people there are, and we have to ask ourselves, how exciting is the game of life for most people out there?” he said.

Escape and Refuge

The appeal, he said, is not for those in a good job, but for those working low-paid, low-skill jobs. “Would you rather be a Starbucks worker or a starship captain?” he asked.

But he also stressed that since virtual worlds are social, he sees increased interaction in them as a step forward.
And he also highlighted the difference between seeing them as an “escape” and as a “refuge.”

“If reality is a bad thing, and people are going into virtual worlds to reconnect, the word you would deploy is refuge,” he said.

“A father of two spending 90 hours a week in a virtual world because he doesn’t like his wife - I would say that’s escapism, and it isn’t anything you would say is good.

“But if it’s a heavy-set girl from a small town who gets victimised just because her body isn’t the ‘right’ kind of body, and she goes online to make friends because she can’t get a fair shake in the real world, then I would say the virtual world is more of a refuge.”

Story from BBC NEWS [ Article ]

Virtual worlds are expanding rapidly. To date, Second Life has nearly 11 million registered ‘residents’ who spend in excess of $1million every 24 hours buying property, items or experiences in-world. Similarly, Gartner expects the popularity of online gaming to continue to expand.

These virtual worlds and video games are emerging as places where consumers can shop and retailers need to be ready to respond to this growing demand. Gartner recommends that retailers:

* Expand your definition of customer touchpoints to include virtual worlds and online games.

* Develop trial criteria prior to launching a presence in virtual worlds and measure the results.

* Monitor innovation in retail activity in virtual worlds and online games, particularly if you are targeting a younger demographic.

* Target the right environment for your customer: In Asia/Pacific this might be in online games. In North America, younger generations may be in social networks such as MySpace and The Sims2 while Generations X and Y may be in Second Life. In addition, it could be in retail with H&H collaboration with The Sims2 namely the Sims2 H&M Fashion Stuff.

Predicts 2008: Through 2012, the number of consumers using mobile phones to shop will increase at an average of more than 25 per cent per year. Gartner expects Asia and Europe will take the lead.

Mobile commerce has been viewed as an emerging new sales channel for retailers for some time now but retail revenue through mobile phones is currently insignificant, much less than 1 per cent of total sales.

However, as mobile phones evolve in form and function, the impact ofthe mobile phone on retail sales is set to increase.

Through 2010, consumers will use the phone as part of their shopping activities to search, browse, find locations and check stock. Eventually, consumers will use mobile phones to purchase merchandise and an example of this includes event tickets. Gartner’s advice to retailers
is:

* Plan how consumers will access your retail sites via mobile phone over the next two years. Decide what information and activities they will want to ‘pull’ to their devices and what you need to do to ‘push’ that information and invest accordingly.

* Decide if the mobile Web will be simply an extension of your website or and entirely different interaction touchpoint. If you want consumers to access you via the mobile Web today, you must deal with the specifics of each major carrier. Start out small, with very limited capabilities.

Link [ Article ]

Developers looking to tackle the daunting task of creating their own MMO have been turning to Monumental for assistance since the middleware provider launched its new Prototype Licence one month ago.

The Monumental Technology Suite, one of the world’s leading MMO and Virtual World development platforms, is proving to be a great success as the company have signed up 10 new licensees in the first month of their new offering.

Selected from over 50 applicants the new licensees are using the engine to develop new MMO titles to a prototype level, thus helping them to source additional investment and attract publisher interest. Applicants range from professional studios to programmer collectives born from the modding community.

‘We see this as a vindication of our strategy of supporting the smaller developer. Many of these teams have projects that will be hugely attractive to investors and publishers, and by using our platform they ensure that when the time comes they will be in the strongest possible position to negotiate a deal,’ says Paul Mayze, Business and Marketing Manager, Technology. ‘We are already Europe’s leading platform for MMO and Virtual World development. With the growth we are experiencing now we are on course for our target of being the world leader in two years.’

The licensees were selected based on a number of criteria, including originality, technological feasibility, opportunities for revenue, and the team itself.
‘Clearly, many of these applications have been generated by the new Licence – but increased investment interest in virtual worlds is also helping to fuel development growth,’ says Rik Alexander, CEO of Monumental.

In the supplement, which identifies key figures in up-and-coming companies, both CEO Rik Alexander and Business and Marketing Manager Alan O’Dea were hailed as ‘Rising Stars’.

From small tea producers to new energy stars, Observers The Future 500 is ‘a celebration of the collective passion and determination which is breeding business growth across the country’.

‘Obviously it is an honour to be selected for inclusion in the Future 500, but I feel this reflects the hard work of all Monumental employees as opposed to just being a personal accolade,’ says CEO Rik Alexander.

The list of 500 individuals, representing ten business categories, has been developed in partnership with trade publications and judges. Luminaries worthy of praise were ‘picked because of their clear persistence, passion and devotion to achieving greatness in their professional life’.

Ed Bartlett, media category judge, from IGA Worldwide comments: “The quality of entrants to the media category has been astonishing, which bodes extremely well for the future media landscape in the UK.’