MoiPal: virtual worlds meet mobile games
Or, if we were feeling flippant, we'd call it Virtual Pet 2.0
We're at the Virtual Worlds Forum Europe conference today in London, finding out what relevance (if any) the likes of Second Life and Habbo Hotel have for mobile gaming. And don't scoff – there could soon be more of a crossover than you might think.
One example is MoiPal, a connected mobile game created by Finnish firm IronStar Helsinki. We actually reported on it in an early incarnation called Pocket Pal in May 2006, but it's developed a helluva lot since then.
"What we do is think about the mobile device as a personality extension," said IronStar's Joakim Achren in his presentation. "It's the idea also of using a mobile game engine to build a mobile virtual world. You have this friend – your pal – living in your phone that you take care of, and then send them off to different locations in the virtual world."
It's an intriguing concept. You care for your pal in the usual virtual pet stylee, but then before you switch the game off, you send them out to various locations – the theatre, mountain climbing, whatever. And then the next time you fire up the game, they'll tell you what they did, maybe bring an object back, and report on which other people's pals they met while there.
It's like social networking by proxy, in other words. Digital Chocolate has a slightly similar idea with its AvaPeeps: Flirt Nation application in the US.
"When you don't have time to be inside a virtual world, your pal is in there doing it for you, and when you come back to your phone, they tell you what they've done," said Joakim. "And we're cross platform, so we also have the website version, too."
IronStar will also be working with brands for advertising and sponsorship. For example, it's already working with record label Warner Music Group on promotions for artists like My Chemical Romance, offering clothing and posters for players' pals.
Achren's certainly bullish about the concept: "We believe this is going to become one of the biggest personality extensions since ringtones were invented."
