Library Voice

Second Life: Hype vs. Anti-Hype vs.  Anti-Anti-Hype

A fairly decent article that disses discusses the shortcomings of Second Life.  One quote that I thought was interesting, particularly as we investigate using SL for library services:

Can they really build a fully streamed world comprised of tens of thousands of servers? That’s way above my paygrade, but I’ll guess that challenge fits under the rubric of Fricking Hard. Can they fix a profoundly unfriendly user interface and thoroughly disorienting first hour user experience, which are aggressively, almost intentionally unwelcoming to the vast majority of interested users? Both shortcomings are at the heart of Second Life’s poor rentention rates, but neither have significantly changed in the three years since its commercial release. You have to wonder, whatever their stated intentions, if Linden’s tech-centric corporate culture simply puts their improvement at a low priority. (I have a dream, and in that dream, Linden Lab developers are locked inside 1100 Sansome with their own mothers, and not let out until they’ve improved the interface sufficiently enough so that their dear moms can easily use it.)

1UP.com has a story about how grown-up gamers are balancing work, life, children, and video games:

Gamers that stared down the challenges of reaching “just one more level” or beating an old high score are now facing a more significant challenge: blending marriages, mortgages, and parenting together with their gamer lifestyle. How are some members of the “videogame generation” coping? What do the children of gamer parents think? And where do sociologists see the “videogame generation” taking family relationships and gaming itself in the future?

One of the contributors states that he tends to not play games that don’t allow saving at any time or any place.  I too, have found that games that have predetermined save points can be a challenge to play when time is limited.  It’s really tough to put that controller down when you’re almost to a save point and the baby wakes up.  Hands down, the Playstation loses that battle every time.