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June 16, 2007
Virtual life
My long-time friend Nick Yee recently sat on a CNN panel to discuss the impact and evolution of virtual worlds (online video games). This video is an 8 minute clip from the longer program on the subject. Nick is probably the world's expert on the culture and psychology of online gaming, and particularly for the massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, or Second Life. He started his research (much of which appears on his Daedelus Project page) while we were both at Haverford and when online gaming hadn't hit the mainstream the way it has today. If you want to understand what virtual worlds and online gaming are about, his work is the place to go.
Also briefly featured is Philip Rosedale (CEO of Linden Labs, which makes Second Life), whom I recently met at a Santa Fe Institute business network meeting. Nick tells me that the clip is airing worldwide on CNN this week, and that he's working on a book on the subject as well.
Update 16 June: Nick's posted a brief writeup about his appearance.
posted June 16, 2007 09:12 AM in Things to Read | permalink