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Virtual Greats to sell celebrity likenesses

Tateru Nino — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Second Life, Habbo Hotel, Virtual worlds, Gaia Online

And not just likenesses. Metaverse developer Millions of Us intends to market likenesses, hair-styles, catchphrases, dance moves, signature moves, clothing lines, furniture collections -- you name it -- based on well-known celebs all under the banner business name of Virtual Greats. These appearances and digital accessories would be sold in dozens of virtual worlds, though you'll probably see them in Gaia Online, Habbo and Second Life first.

Deals have already been done with Justin Timberlake, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Snoop Dogg, Paris Hilton, Raven Symone, Marvel (for The Incredible Hulk), and Tila Tequila, and more are in the works.

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Virtual Greats to sell celebrity likenesses originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MissBimbo -- When satire turns serious

Brenda Holloway — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, Culture, Economy, News items, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Humor, Kids

With a name like MissBimbo.com, you probably won't expect to find a reasoned, measured website where girls are taught the finer points of economic theory. Its founders, however, have definitely learned that lesson. Since launching in France two years ago as Ma-Bimbo.com, girls have created over 1.3 million "bimbos" which they teach to become fashion superstars. Like superstar celebrities Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, success for a girl is defined by these sites not by what they do, but by how they look. We live in a Barbie world, with Bratz dolls all around, constantly discussing fashionable celebrities' every moves. Aren't girls continually soaked in an increasingly confined prison of society's expectations? Parents turn a blind eye while their daughters eagerly learn the answer to the only question the world wants to ask them -- Hot or Not?

Where parents were content to let the television raise their children, now they have the Internet to do their babysitting for them. Soupy Sales asked children to reach into their sleeping parents' wallets and send him those "funny green pieces of paper" (in return they'd receive a lovely postcard from Puerto Rico!). Parents were outraged! Now the Internet asks the children to text MissBimbo for $1.99 per text, and the parents gladly pay. Perhaps it isn't only the children that are learning a lesson. Kids should not be set free, unsupervised, on the Internet. Villainous marketers are waiting for them there. If it takes an over-the-top satirical (yet profitable) website like MissBimbo to make parents understand what's happened, then it has provided a real service. We come here not to bury MissBimbo, but to praise it.

MissBimbo -- When satire turns serious originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aristotle/Integrity: El D�a de los Muertos

Tateru Nino — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:30:00 EST

Filed under: Bugs, News items, Second Life

Second Life users have found a way to deal with Aristotle/Integrity's age-verification service (who's non-USA failure rates seem to be awfully high, and who's data may be a touch less than comprehensive) and a straightforward and easy way to get themselves verified.

Famous people and dead people. Also famous, dead people. In fact, people are having more success verifying their accounts with the credentials of the deceased than with the living.

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Aristotle/Integrity: El D�a de los Muertos originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 09 Dec 2007 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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