We made these videos for an internal KidConfidence project, however parents (you) may find these informal write-ups and video clips about Club Penguin, Webkinz, Whyville and Neopets interesting as well. Take a look:
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CLUB PENGUIN
Club Penguin is an online game developed by New Horizon Interactive, which was bought by Disney for 700Million Dollars.
Using cartoon penguin avatars, players can walk around, chat, play minigames with or against other members, and participate in other activities such as environment puzzles in a snow-covered virtual world.
After beta-testing, Club Penguin was made available to the general public on October 24, 2005 and has today an estimated 800,000 paid subscribers and 14 million activated users, primarily in the U.S. and Canada.
Club Penguin shares similarities with other popular online environments like Habbo Hotel. Though open to users of all ages like Virtual Magic Kingdom, another Disney-owned online community, Club Penguin is primarily designed for children ages six to twelve years old.
The primary activity of the game is earning Coins from playing minigames. – however, only paid members have access to all the items available. Commom items sold are outfits and accessories for the Penguin as well as Puffles – a pet for the penguin.
Paid subscribers also have access to customizable Igloos; which serve as a virtual home for the players penguin. Members can choose to open their igloo to visits by other players.
Club Penguin offers Pre-Paid game cards available at Target stores in addition to Pay Pal and Credit Card payment options.
The game provides two options for inter-player communication. The Ultimate-Safe Chat mode allows players to select phrases from a list. The other mode, “Open Chat”, allows players to enter their own custom messages. Players who use profanity are punished by an automatic 24-hour ban. However, it is important to note that chatting is not a dominant activity due to the young age of most users.
NEOPETS
Neopets is a virtual pet website launched on November 15, 1999. On June 20th 2005, Viacom bought Neopets, Inc. for $160 million (USD). Neopets consistently ranks as one of the top stickiest sites on the Internet.
Neopets is based around virtual pets that inhabit the virtual world of Neopia. Visitors can create a free account and take care of up to four virtual pets, buying them food, toys, clothes, and other accessories using a virtual currency called Neopoints. Neopoints can be earned through playing games, investing in the stock market, trading and winning contests. Users can explore the world of Neopia with their Neopets and interact with each other through the NeoBoards, Neomail, and guilds.
Several issues with the site, such as immersive advertising, gambling-based games, and hacks and glitches have garnered criticism.
In addition to the main site, Neopets also operates a pay-to-play version known as Neopets Premium, which offers additional features and is free of advertisment for a monthly fee of $7.99 (USD).
The Neopian economy is a mixed economy with the Neopoint as its smallest denomination. Neopia is a capitalist economy on the player’s side with capital gains. There are various other forms of currency used in-game that can be sold for Neopoints. Players can earn Neopoints through playing games, selling items, and other transactions. Once earned, they can be saved in the bank or used to buy items from other players or NonPlayableCharacter shops. Neopoints can also be used to buy and sell stocks in the Neopian stock market called the Neodaq.
The worth of an item is not only based on its use value, but also its rarity.
Players can open their own shops to sell items, which adds an interesting twist to the virtual economy.
WEBKINZ
Webkinz are stuffed animals released by the Ganz Company on April 29, 2005. The toys are similar to many other small plush toys, however they come with a special code on their labels that allows access to the “Webkinz World”. Here kids can “adopt” a virtual version of their pet for virtual interaction.
The toys have been compared to Beanie Babies since some are retired after a certain amount of time, which encourages high secondary selling prices. The Webkinz model – “Retail Toy with Access to a Virtual World” has since been copied by a variety of Toy makers including MGA Entertainment’s Be-Bratz and MyePets as well as Mattels Barbie Girls and Shining Stars introduced by the Russ Berrie Company.
Webkinz have been extremely popular, with Ganz claiming more than 2.5million units sold to retailers and 1.5 million registered users on the Webkinz website.
After adopting, the player is given basic items such as a room, a welcome balloon, a food item, a piece of furniture and 2500 in “Kinzcash”. Kinzcash is the virtual currency of the game. Each pet has levels of happiness, health, and hunger that vary as time is spent with the Webkinz. The stats can be increased by feeding, playing, exercising and bathing the pet. Many of these activities require Kinzcash. Earning Kinzcash involves playing multiple minigames, including quizzes and arcade games.
Webkinz also offers KinzChat. A chat system with various safety precautions. Depending on the setting, users cannot type, but can only choose phrases from a list.
Concerns have been raised about children’s use and overuse of the toys, while other studies suggest that a virtual pet will help children learn and care for a real pet.
The once advertisement-free site started displaying advertisements, previously only for their own additional game related products, but now also for movies, such as Alvin and the Chipmunks.
WHYVILLE
Whyville was launched in 1999 as a virtual city for engaging young people in constructive educational activities while promoting socially responsible behavior. The citizens of Whyville interact with each other while participating in activities that range from science and math to art, civics, and economics.
Numedeon – the developer and publisher of Whyville, works directly with the Getty, NASA, the School Nutrition Association, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to bring educational content to kids. The game is free of charge but features corporate sponsors such as the automaker Scion who advertises thru minigames and other in-game items.
Whyville offers a text bubble based chat system. In order to keep the chat safe, players must take a chat license test and parents must print, sign and then fax or mail the form.
The games currency is Clams, which can be earned and spent in a variety of ways. Alternatively, Clams can also be purchased via credit card.
Designed to run on a 56k modem, Whyvilles graphics are outdated by today’s standards. The site has an estimated 2.8 Million registered users. However, Web-traffic analysis tools show a sharp drop in overall traffic and popularity over the last 18 months.
on February 13th, 2008 at 10:04 am
The drop in traffic was addressed by Jim Bower, Founder of Whyville, as due in part to a technology change in the website which has affected the ability of web-traffic analysis engines to properly count traffic and users.
on February 21st, 2008 at 11:07 am
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