RL T-Shirt Store Opens Branch in Second Life
ches_grin writes "The (very real) t-shirt maker American Apparel has opened a virtual store in Second Life, becoming the first major retailer to set up shop in the SL universe. Though items cost only $1, the company hopes to bolster real life sales. Article includes some screenshots of the store and clothes." From the article: "The amount of money American Apparel has made so far on Second Life is probably not as much as they would make in a day at a single store ... But the idea meshes existing Korean online game models in which players can buy accessories for their avatars in micro-transactions, with the idea of the social Web--an online, virtual community. American Apparel's store suggests a new form of videogaming only starting to be explored in the U.S."
- American-made, non-sweatshop products
- A creepy pervert owner and creepy, sleazy advertising
SoWhat I'm listening to now on Pandora...
It's sort of IRC with graphics. Only you get to an avatar and to build stuff.
You want to be tiny, huge, furry or a robot? No problem. Want to live in a huge medieval castle, or a futuristic home? Can be done. There are games, gambling, damage enabled zones where you can use weapons and kill people, lots of places where to hang around, and a world that would take months to fully explore and keeps growing.
You can use it as a platform too. For example, there's an artificial life simulation somewhere, with an energy cycle, plants that grow and reproduce, etc. If you wanted to code that yourself you'd need a graphics engine and such, and SL already provides it.
Of course, some people will find it completely pointless, and some really fun.
I love the idea of Second Life but I hate the implementation. I have a fairly beefy PC but the game runs like ass unless I kill the draw distance. There are menus upon menus upon menus that I just can't find my way around. The lag is so bad sometimes that I don't move for seconds after I press a key.
I much prefer There, not that I play these pseudogames any more. SL is the winner in content but There is superior in accessibility.