Sunday, November 04, 2007

Second Life on Australia Network

If you have access to it, Australia Network is showing a program on Second Life.

From their website:
This documentary film takes us on the parallel world of virtual online games, known as MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games). Millions of gamers all around the world spend on average 30 hours a week playing games in these boundless realms. A booming business has sprung up at the crossroads where these virtual worlds and the real world meet. Virtual islands are selling for hundreds of thousands of real dollars. Imaginary real-estate is going for thousands and thousands of dollars. Weapons and characters are being exchanged every day for a few dozen dollars, in auctions inside these realms. The film navigates its way back and forth between the virtual and real worlds. To get a deeper understanding of this new addiction and new business, we enter the MMORPG world through a gaming character: the 'hero' of the film. The hero helps us understand how the game works and the excitement it sparks. Through him, we carry our investigation over into the real world. Who are these gamers, and what is their psychological profile? Who does this new economy benefit, and how is it organized? A futurist film, at the outermost gates of the real world.

http://australianetwork.com/guide/ep_00045275.htm

It's on here in Hong Kong on Wednesday. I'll post a summary after I watch it.

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