Social Networking Experiment Models Entire World

[Tom Goldman]

Social Networking Experiment Models Entire World


Realtime Worlds' new project, a social networking city, couldn't be more of a departure from its just-released cops and robbers online game APB.

Realtime Worlds' less than favorable reviews [http://www.amazon.com/All-Points-Bulletin-Pc/dp/B002BS480M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1280422436&sr=8-1]. The company has already revealed what it's working on next, an experiment called Project: MyWorld, which is a complete shift into the territory of social networking described as "virtual recreation of the real world combined with 3D gaming and social media."

Project: MyWorld still involves an open world like APB, but one that is way bigger, albeit with less guns. Realtime's cute little trailer says it "built the world," and following blog posts say it has stared by rendering the "the entirety of Britain" in 3D. MyWorld appears to be a somewhat realistic replication of the real world that players can inhabit and design, with Realtime asking: "What would it look like if Nintendo built Google Earth?"

Members of MyWorld are able to build and alter structures to make them more personalized. The trailer shows an incorporation of a user's virtual social networking actions, such as updating a Facebook profile, posting something onto Twitter, or doing a Google search, which appear as thought bubble notifications above buildings. Nothing, it seems, will be private in MyWorld.

The "play" component that makes MyWorld a game sadly looks a little lame right now, involving a car driving around a city, a plane doing loops, or a boat that can fish. Considering how this is the project's first teaser, I would assume these features will be expanded as it's developed. Maybe MyWorld friends will eventually be able to pump each other full of lead.

This is definitely a departure from Realtime Worlds' Crackdown and APB, but the scope of MyWorld makes it intriguing, as the company seems to want to create a basic model of the entire world eventually. The project's beta can be participated in through its official website [http://playmyworld.com/].

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[Dexiro]

So...they released APB then abandon it as soon as reviewers say anything negative? To switch to Zynga-like Facebook games?

...

This company is going places.

I think you misunderstood when he said "social networking"

It seems like they're basically making a very basic version of Sims as an MMO, or something similar. At the very least it's 3D so it's more complex than anything Zynga could pull off.

 

[V8 Ninja]

When are we going to get the gun hacks? >:3

 

[Jared]

So...they released APB then abandon it as soon as reviewers say anything negative? To switch to Zynga-like Facebook games?

...

This company is going places.

Yeah,...and those places are dark...crypt like places...where the light of day will never reach them, and..people will be paying them in blood money

 

[Therumancer]

Interesting experiment, it sounds a lot like "Second Life" albiet without as much freedom for player generated content.

Truthfully I'm not all that interested in "virtual worlds" since they seem rather pointless without virtual reality to go with them. No matter how fancy, these things basically come down to a glorified chat mode. If you just want to meet people randomly and talk you can go hang out at a bar or nightclub or whatever. In my free time I generally want to be doing something like playing games or whatever.

The appeal of such things seems to largely be to socialize fat losers through anonomity where they can claim to be anyone or anything. The thing is that I'm a fat loser myself, and I still think this is a bit sad.

While I was never much interested in actually doing it, at least Second Life originally had the gimmick of one's imagination being the limit. This allowed all kinds of expression from the interesting, to the outright hateful and disturbing (until they got into the censorship bandwagon). At least with all the pervs and such I could understand what they saw in it, because it was a method of creating interactive pornographic art (in simple terms) in an enviroment free of persecution. Ditto for people who wanted to express themselves in ways that could get them in trouble IRL, like hate speech and so on, which is part of freedom.

Logging into a model of the real world, and hanging out on a fishing boat for 8 hours chatting and catching cartoon fish doesn't even have the fringe appeal of the above. I mean you could go do that for real, spending the same amount of time, and catch real fish if that's your thing for example.

 

[Kapol]

Is anyone getting LBP flashbacks from the trailer, or is it just me.

Still, seems like LBP combined with the Sims. I'm sure that, if it's halfway decent, casual gamers will eat it up.

 

[silver wolf009]

Now ill support this is they have a server that is World War Z. Anyone else with me on this?

 

[Sacman]

uhh... Totally stole my idea...

 

[qbanknight]

Wow...I don't even think Facebook gamers would play this Googlemap Plus. How the hell did this company go from giving us Crackdown 1 to the mind-boggingly disappointing APB to this?

 

[Blueruler182]

That seems kind of cool. Not great, and I'm definitely not paying opening price for it, but it looks pretty cool.

 

[Gasaraki]

I guess I'm not the not the only one that was thinking that it would totally be cool to recreate the real world in a video game...either that or they read my mind with their satellites! AH!
*puts on tinfoil hat*

 

[Fearzone]

So...they released APB then abandon it as soon as reviewers say anything negative? To switch to Zynga-like Facebook games?

I bought APB. Most of the reviews were generous, and I bet they were along the lines of reviewing its "potential"-- if RTW spent another 5 years adding some content to it. The content is, like, two large multi-player maps with repetitive quests, and then uninspired PvP. The PvP I suppose could be fixed but the balance is broken right out of the starting gate. Seriously, the game is not a 5-year effort, to the degree that investors in the company should consider a fraud suit IMHO.

 

[Stormwaltz]

(leaving)

 

[Warnolo]

Now ill support this is they have a server that is World War Z. Anyone else with me on this?

I do