there.com

Real-world woes shuttering virtual world There

The pioneering virtual world There.com will shut down on March 9, a victim of the recession and the pinch on brand spending that had kept it going long past earlier troubles. The news was announced by CEO Mike Wilson on Tuesday.

The service, which launched in the fall of 2003, was a fully 3D social environment with a sophisticated economy, wonderful vehicles like hoverboard and hoverboats and, eventually, a wide variety of community-created content.

In its early days, There got the lion's share of the 3D virtual world attention, far outstripping even Second Life, which launched around the … Read more

Metaplace secures funding for its virtual world

Metaplace, a company that plans on letting users build a virtual world and use social networking conventions to allow groups to enjoy them, announced today that it raised $6.7 million of funding in a round that was led by Charles River Ventures and Crescendo Ventures, as well as independent investors, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.

Somewhat similar to Second Life, Metaplace creates an online virtual world for people across the globe to interact with. But unlike Second Life and There.com, Metaplace uses an open platform to allow users to create, build, and live in their own unique virtual … Read more

There.com to add Mac support and Facebook plug-in

The virtual world, There.com, appears ready to reach for some new and broad audiences, announcing Tuesday night that it would finally be offering support for Mac OS X, as well as a new Facebook plug-in and an instant message application that can communicate directly with anyone on the Internet.

In October 2003, There, as it's known, launched to big headlines and heavy expectations.

One of the first 3D social digital virtual worlds, it presented users with a rich and complex environment complete with a functional economy, the ability to create content and even flying hoverboats for five.

But … Read more

Virtual Worlds conference: Differentiation from 'Second Life'

SAN JOSE, Calif.--I'm down at the Virtual Worlds conference here, and one of the most interesting things I've noticed is that everyone is trying to differentiate themselves from Second Life.

It actually makes sense. The attendees of this conference are largely people who are only recently coming to the concept of virtual worlds, and if there's one everyone's heard of, it's Second Life.

So, this differentiation is happening in two ways.

First, in panels, like the one I'm sitting in right now, titled "Blurring the lines between virtual and real worlds," … Read more

Capitol artists to appear in virtual world

Makena Technologies, which runs a teen-friendly online virutal world called There.com, has signed a deal with Capitol Music Group. Under this deal, artists like The Beastie Boys and Korn will appear in a virtual nightclub called The Tower, where fans will be able to meet lookalike avatars and ask questions. When the musicians aren't present (i.e., most of the time), the club will contain wall-sized videos of various Capitol artists.

Unlike the better-known Second Life virtual world, There.com keeps pretty tight control over user-generated content, in an effort to make it relatively appropriate for teenagers. This … Read more

There.com inks Capitol Music Group deal

In a deal that showcases its ability to bring name talent into its virtual world, There.com announced Thursday that at least five Capitol Music Group (CMG) bands will make appearances there in the next few months.

Among the acts that will be appearing in There will be rap artists MIMS, Korn and the Beastie Boys.

MIMS will come in-world on July 10, There said.

The deal is good for enhancing There's status as an online public showcase. Already, There has built several virtual presences for MTV, but those were private, gated environments unconnected to its main grid.

This … Read more

There.com to add custom weather patterns

Users of the virtual world There.com may soon find themselves traversing many types of weather as they move around.

That's because There is planning on allowing anyone who owns zones, neighborhoods or property lots to set customizable weather and environments in their area.

For weather, they'll be able to choose from rain, snow or thunderstorms, and they'll also be able to choose from automatically changing weather.

They'll also be able to set environmental moods, including new dawns, high noon, romantic sunsets or moonlit nights, according to There's publisher, Makena Technologies.