Did you know there's actually a Barbie MMO? BarbieGirls.com is the kinda thing that makes hardcore gamers groan, but there is -- a pink-festooned, dolls-getting-manicured, 'tween girl-focused MMO, and moreover, it's ridiculously popular. In its first 60 days, it signed up three million users. Now it's up to four million -- that's half of what Second Life has drummed up in its entire lifespan -- and growing at a rate of 4500 a day.
In order to play the full version, you've gotta buy a Barbie-shaped MP3 player (shown) that acts as a USB key. It costs $59.99. Would you buy this for your kid (even if it's a theoretical kid as of yet)?
Not to be left out of the competition, the freaky skank dolls of Bratz are getting in on the action with Be-Bratz.com, another 'tween girls' virtual world with a real-world component -- you buy a $29.99 Bratz doll-slash-USB key, and it comes with some pink computer peripherals (a mouse and pad) that look like Japanese sex toys.
As nauseating as the whole bubblegum-fashion explosion for adolescent girls can be to us "mature" adults, you can't fault Barbie for keeping up with the times. These virtual worlds for kids -- the things I've been looking at on Worlds in Motion like Habbo, Puzzle Pirates, Nicktropolis and Toontown -- are absolutely huge, able to generate way more hits and user activity than even the most popular MMO targeted at our set. This is big biz to corporations and advertisers right now, but even if it weren't, I guess it's sorta cool to see the evolution of the way children play with dolls keeping pace with technology. The coolest part, though, is the comments I sometimes get on my Worlds in Motion articles:
this site is very cool i like it the only problem is with many of us girls is that some of us cant afford to get the barbie beta mp3 player and that sucks when we play the game because we dont have the codes i think it would be much better if we did not have the codes to put in i really want a pet and i cant get it and maybe some new different looking cloths PLEASE PLEASE TAKE LET US AT LEASE GET A PET WITH OUT THE MP3 PLAYERBratz should be illegal, though. What kinda 'tweens dress like that?
5 comments:
The problem I really fear is that these games will soon turn to the Korean MMO market for inspiration with micropayments for every little tchokey imaginable. Its one thing to have a child feel like they have to compete materially with their close handful of friends, its another when you're dealing with millions.
The influence of the Korean market is already very powerful, Robert -- most MMOs offer microtransactions these days -- very few don't. It's an alternative to the monthly sub.
I love how the BRATZ Dollongle is half the price of the barbie version... just like their back-alley blowjobs will be when they grow up!
I tried getting on a beta of the Barbie game a week or two ago, and it never let me through. I suppose it was probably those millions of pre-teen girls clogging up the system :).
No I know. Back in teh day I used to play around on CartoonNetwork's site. Yeah I'm a huge PPG fan, sue me. Anyway they used to have basically a virtual stickerbook that you got stickers for by entering codes from the TV or from getting points by visiting the site. Now there wasn't really a game until later (was a sort of neat collectable card game)but here I think is where I hoped things would go. Sure you subject them to ads but hey I was subjected to 30 minutes toy ads (Thanks Uncle Ronnie!) and I'm ok! Well except for the part about hanging out at blogs dealing with sex and video games. That might arouse some suspicions....
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