Habbo Hotel

virtual worlds

Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom Closing, Fans Hysterical

Once upon a time, Disney had this virtual world called (creatively enough) Virtual Magic Kingdom:

As with Habbo Hotel, Virtual Magic Kingdom was developed by Finnish studio Sulake and shared many similarities with the social networking site. Players with registered accounts are able to decorate their personal rooms, earn and spend in-game credits, and participate in a variety of online events and activities with their customized avatars, all in a "safe, non-threatening environment."

The interesting thing here is that Disney announced they'd be shuttering this particular virtual world and people freaked out. When I first read the comments on the Worlds In Motion post, I was sure the posts were made in jest — such a visceral outpouring of emotion for one Disney virtual world out of a whole stable? Raph Koster's blog picked up on it, and Steve at PlayNoEvil speculates that it's an end-of-contract thing (and reminds us that developers and operators need to think carefully about their exit strategies). Legions of fans have mobilized and trotted out gut-wrenching stories of how much the game means to them (and started a petition to stave off the inevitable). People have a tendency to brush off these sorts of virtual worlds, so it's fascinating to see how fired up fans are regarding its fate.

Disney Closes Gates To Virtual Magic Kingdom [Worlds In Motion]

1:30 PM on Sun Apr 20 2008
By mgreene
2,624 views, 37 comments

Latest by Zazu_Yen: href="#c5296725">captain_dl: VMK better than Toon Town Online? I think you're comparing apples to oranges here. Toon Town is a MMO with seriously hamstrung social networking abilities due to not having a general open chat system (only players who are confirmed more »

crime

Should Virtual Item Loss Be Classed As Real Life Theft?

A short and sweet and mildly thought provoking piece over at Terra Nova asks the question: "Why not qualify the taking away of virtual objects as theft?" The author speaks in reference to Dutch law specifically, but a few cases have cropped up in recent months (Shanda getting sued after forgetting to return some virtual items; the case that this post was based on, where virtual theft in Habbo Hotel led to a real life arrest) that raise the question of what do you do with virtual items when they're stolen? Slap a pair of real life cuffs on the thief's wrists? Ignore it, since the items never left the virtual space they inhabited? More »

10:30 AM on Sun Feb 24 2008
By mgreene
3,899 views, 105 comments

Latest by Johnny.Shitbox: I'm just going to make an MMO where the object is to steal from the other players more »

crime

Dutch Teen Arrested For Virtual Furniture Thievery

Normally, sentences that start with "Dutch teen" are cause for excitement—or at the very least, a Fleshbot post—but this one is nothing short of depressing. According the BBC, six teenagers are suspected of stealing some 4,000 euros (about $5800 US) worth of virtual furniture in a phishing scam directed at Habbo Hotel users. One has been arrested, a 17-year old, after police contacted the service's owners. More »

5:40 PM on Wed Nov 14 2007
By Michael McWhertor
3,972 views, 40 comments

fahey created 80 million avatars?

Habbo Hotel Has 80 Million Avatars

Confession: I have never frequented Habbo Hotel. Should I feel ashamed? (Note: Given an over-inflated sense of esteem, anything that I or any other members of the Kotaku staff have failed to experienced is immediately considered worthless and below us when encountered, so the question is rhetorical...if you could even give it that much credit). But a lot of people have tried it out, teens and "teens," producing a total 80 million avatars since the site launched in 2000. Quick division tells us that roughly 10 million avatars have been created per year, or just shy of a million per month. We'd keep spouting off numbers, but you've already stopped reading, continuing your search of import DS titles featuring pantsu and jubblies.

"Hobby project" not originally targeted to teens [gameindustry]

12:20 PM on Tue Oct 30 2007
By Mark Wilson
2,055 views, 33 comments

Latest by Tyro: Yeah, more then half are raid ones, then the rest are pedos. more »

raph koster

Raph Koster On Game Grammar and Creating Fun

Gamasutra has a long (long) interview up with Raph Koster (lead designer of Ultima Online and founder of Areae). It's long. But Koster touches on a ton of stuff - the shift in game design, the ultra-casual market like Habbo Hotel vs. WoW, this idea of 'game grammar', why patents are a necessary evil, and is 'single-player gaming dead'? - and it's an interesting read. Even some interesting ideas on the us vs. them mentality present in the industry (or is it?): More »

4:00 PM on Sat Oct 20 2007
By mgreene
2,176 views, 23 comments

Latest by frostcircus: @L_K_M: That was a really good post. more »

game design

'Designing a Gameless Game' - Habbo Hotel's Sulka Haro

There's a number of wildly popular 'games' (online worlds?) that fly under the radar in terms of press (unless, like Club Penguin, they get purchased for a lot of money), and Habbo Hotel is one of those - some of this is a demographic issue, and some of it is that games like this don't fit into our idea of what a 'game' is or should be. Gamasutra has an interesting interview with Habbo's lead designer, Sulka Haro. It's an enlightening look at those virtual worlds that fall into the part virtual networking site, part 'game' (depending on your definition), both in terms of design and actual implementation. And how we should be defining 'games' in the first place: More »

2:30 PM on Sun Oct 14 2007
By mgreene
4,412 views, 44 comments

Latest by n/a: /b/ was very good three years ago. Rules 1 and 2 only apply to rAIDS. more »

list it

Top 10 MMOs

In news outside of the console industry, the top ten most popular MMO games have been listed. Not surprisingly, World of Warcraft is sitting pretty at number one, but the rest of the list is a bit of a head scratcher. Habbo Hotel, that Finnish playable MySpace to the youth, comes in second, which begs the question,"How old do you have to be to own a credit card these days?!": More »

11:40 AM on Fri Jun 15 2007
By Kim Phu
8,934 views, 73 comments

austin gdc07

Blizzard Pres to Keynote Austin GDC

Blizzard president and co-founder Michael Morhaime will be presenting a keynote at this year's Austin Game Developers Conference. More »

4:00 PM on Thu May 31 2007
By Brian Crecente
714 views, 9 comments

Kotaku

ESA, Game Critics' Awards Debate "Best Of E3" Eligibility

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