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Google gets Lively

Posted by Cole Stryker


This was unexpected. In development for two and a half years (just late enough to be a potential Mii ripoff), Google's new Lively 3D chatroom utility is basically Second Life Lite integrated with popular social networks like Myspace and Facebook. For now, it's all free, though it seems Google will roll out the ads when their metaverse is sufficiently populated.

Google is uniquely poised to validate this space for the mass market... this is not for geeks - this is for everyone.

...under the age of eighteen. There's nothing innovative here, it's just another Gaia or Habbo Hotel, albeit prettier. With its gargantuan resources, Google will no doubt spin this into a cash cow, exposing it to more users than any tiny developer could, but I'm not seeing a revolutionary new platform here.

So, is it OK to call Google the new Microsoft yet?


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

Derrick Sanskrit said:

what personally upsets me the most about this is that the development team's creative director is Jeff Matsuda (they even show his blog with his name on it 13 seconds into the trailer), who was my absolute favorite comic book artist of the late 1990s. he did a lot of stuff for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including the fake Jonathan comic used in the episode where he became a James Bond-style super secret agent. he left comics to do animation, serving as character designer for the Jackie Chan Adventures, which was great, and The Batman, which was good. now he's doing this and...ugh...even if it worked on Macs, which is doesn't, i'm still not sure i could bring myself to try it. it just feels...dirty...

July 13, 2008 6:39 PM

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about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia's prized possession is a certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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