Travel China and Beyond

China Quickly Coming to Virtual Reality World - “Second Life” with China Twist

Have you checked out “Second Life” - the virtual community developed by Linden Labs in the US? If you have not you can read first about it on the Business Week web site

This virtual community web site has gathered tons of netizens who are leading an active literally “second life” on the web.  Now China has its own answer to the virtual world experience — the creators of the Chinese version are Hipihi.com

Despite the interesting Businessweek.com article on Linden Labs, I am not sure how successful has Second Life really been.  I keep hearing about it in multiple references but at the end of the day, I believe the US consumer is less likely to embrace the concept wholesale.  Now, the Chinese consumer is a different story.  China has long had the success of multiplayer on-line video games.  If you go by a Chinese on-line cafe you will see hundreds of teenagers and 20 something year olds spending hours in on-line virtual game worlds. I have talked with many Chinese parents who are REALLY concerned about the health of their kids who are fully absorbed by on-line video games.

Then in early 2006 some of the Chinese on-line video game companies like Shanda and Netease, decided to make many of their games “Free to play”.  What that means is that you can actually play the games without any hourly or monthly fee.  However you use virtual cash for buying accessories, tools, clothing, etc. for your game characters…Also in order to win higher and higher levels you most likely need to spend cash to acquire tools, strength, powers… That cash comes via prepaid cash cards, smart cards, etc.  So it is linked to real money.

Given that well established trend, I can see how Hipihi.com could be very successful in China.  This new virtual world could become even more successful than on-line video games as it offers (based on quick scan through the beta version of the site) all sort of experiences….i.e. a whole lot more variety and challenges than a video game….

So, lets see what happens.  In the mean time enjoy the real world…Or is it