Newsmaker: Sun rises in 'Second Life'

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(Audience member) Jaguar Everett: How would you push the envelope on gaming if everyone is writing from the same set of tools? Wouldn't that actually limit game development more than grow it?
Melissinos: Project Darkstar does not dictate which tools you use to make your game. We believe that the utility model for online gaming will emerge, and we have a great deal of experience in building such beasts. That means that online game companies may not own their infrastructure in the near future. Many companies we have spoken to don't want to own machine rooms anymore. And why should they? No one here owns their personal power plant in their back yard to power their home, right? It's built on utility.

I believe that worlds like "Second Life" are going to continue to emerge. And we think that Project Darkstar will help those worlds get built.

Switching gears, Sun typically tries to appeal to sysadmins and CIOs. So why did you decide to come and create a big presence in "Second Life" where the hipsters are?
Melissinos: Because, at the end of the day, it is users of services and content that drive companies. Period. Let's face it, without all of us here meeting in "Second Life," Linden Lab can't purchase and build their infrastructure, right? And that is the same for almost every service on the planet. Having a presence here allows us to communicate directly with the people who drive all of these big companies. Plus, as a gamer, I now have an excuse to be in "Second Life" for "work."

So you're hoping that by being here, and being here relatively early, you can communicate directly with the movers and shakers behind some of the big projects?
Melissinos: Sure, but as importantly, we are believers in the community around computer culture. Look back to the beginning of Sun and why the company was started. Bill Joy, John Gage, Vinod Khosla, etc., were frustrated with the university computer systems. The goal was to build a low-cost system so anyone could join the network from their dorm room. The company was founded on the principles of community. And "Second Life" is the first, viable example of the next "leap." I believe that worlds like "Second Life" are going to continue to emerge. And we think that Project Darkstar will help those worlds get built.

Are Sun and Linden Lab officially working together?
Melissinos: Let's just say that we know the fine folks over at Linden Lab and are talking to them.

Should we expect some sort of partnership in the future?
Melissinos: I'm not at liberty to say, but I think a partnership between the two companies would make a lot of sense.

(Audience member) Jaguar Everett: How does security play into this? If everyone runs the same platform, it seems more people will try to exploit games (your servers). How do you make it safe for online game consumers?
Melissinos: The idea behind the server side is an object/container model while the information the server processes looks identical to the server platform, the objects and events are dictated by the database and client communications. In this way, we segment/separate the identity of the transaction from the server that is actually performing the operation. We can offer an extremely high degree of security under this model. Think about it this way: Wall Street does not use a different system for every brokerage firm.

(Audience member) ScoobeeSnac Stringfellow: What about the Sony PlayStation 3 and Java?
Melissinos: Java technology is in the PS3 as is defined in the the Blu-ray specification. We are determining just how much you will be able to do with it beyond the Blu-ray stack.

You talked briefly about Java on the PS3. But does Sun still have hopes that Java will be a major player in the game marketplace beyond mobile devices?
Melissinos: I do believe that Java will continue to make inroads beyond mobile. Games like "Tribal Trouble," "Puzzle Pirates" and "Bang Howdy?" They are 100 percent Java games. More and more companies use Java from full development to scripting and that continues to grow. 

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