Virtual Worlds are Today’s Reality

“I gotta play, and I gotta stay connected to my friends.” That’s what today’s kids and tweens want from their online gaming experiences, said Steve Youngwood of MTVN Kids & Family Group, and this afternoon’s keynote speaker.

MTVN’s solution is to create successful Virtual Worlds such as Neopets and NICKtropolis that offer young gamers better, faster, more direct ways to play and interact with one another. Today’s kids are wired, and they want their technology to be invisible; they just want relevant, involving content.

According to Youngwood, most kids play games as their primary online activity. Games are a sort of social currency that can earn them “street cred” among their peers. A perfect virtual world allows kids to work on their identity and feel achievement, and is comprised of seven aspects of interactivity:

1. It must be fun
2. It must be customizable and provide players with a level of control
3. It must be social (essentially, the school playground online)It must offer the opportunity for self-expression (giving kids a chance to share who they are)
4. It must be persistent and live (with rules as real as possible)
5. It must feature a never-ending story that allows for growth over time
6. Most importantly, it must provide a safe playing environment that is comfortable for both kids and their parents

Youngwood concluded that key factors for a successful virtual world must include good intellectual property, innovative product and development capabilities, advanced operational infrastructure, and effective, efficient distribution.