Worlds In Motion Adds Millsberry Profile, Wu Interview

Author: by Staff

Game Developer Research-affiliated online worlds weblog WorldsInMotion.biz has added General Mills' kids online world Millsberry.com to its Atlas, as well as posting an interview with Charles River Ventures VC (and Areae funder) Susan Wu. WorldsInMotion recently reached the ten-world milestone on its Online World Atlas, and has now added information on Millsberry.com to the comprehensive guide. It notes of the world: "While Millsberry is, as you might expect, plentiful in product placement, it's also a place where kids can play minigames for currency (Millsbucks), explore various areas and learn about nutrition and exercise. Each character has five statistical attributes -- Fitness, Civics, Health, Intelligence and Hunger -- that can be affected and improved by in-game choices and participation levels." (Other additions to the Atlas include titles such as MapleStory, as well as a profile for Sherwood Dungeon and the most recently-added profile, for Whyville. Earlier popular profile for worlds such as Club Penguin and Disney's Toontown are also still available.) Elsewhere, the site also posted an interview with Charles River Ventures VC (and Areae funder) Susan Wu, in which she made some notable suggestions for the future of the game business and her goals for an upcoming convergence: ""The distinction between what Facebook and an MMO looks like is going to disappear," Wu says. "All social interaction online will be driven by game mechanics... There are all these Web 2.0 conferences, and Web entrepreneurs basically talking amongst themselves in this insular environment, and I see the same thing in the gaming industry, which has always been a cottage industry and very segregated. I see so many different parallels going on in these two communities, and my goal is to bring them more closely together."" WorldsInMotion.biz will continue to report daily on virtual worlds, as it compiles information on this increasingly important market, with more information on research and related announcements due in the next few weeks.