Disney is not a company that’s shy about dropping money in the right places. In recent years, the media monster has sunk millions into virtual worlds and online games. One of those is Club Penguin, a virtual world for younger children. To protect Club Penguin and their own good publicity, Disney has plotted a massive online safety campaign. While teaching children how to handle themselves online is a worthy goal, the true reason behind the effort probably has more to do with child-baiting scandals in another virtual world, Habbo Hotel. The Guardian has the story.
Looking at these kid-friendly virtual worlds, I’m always struck by how they seem too friendly. There’s nothing to challenge kids, nothing to stretch their limits or improve their understanding. In short, they must think kids are really dumb. It’s no wonder kids migrate over to Xbox LIVE as soon as they can.
We need Jim Henson back. Now I want a Dark Crystal MMO.
As long as they don’t end up with the fail-star method forwarded by Wizard 101, they may be capable of producing a virtual world that can be policed and also capably used as a social venue.