Gawker: valleywag, nickelodeon

Nickelodeon getting into the mom- and kid-games market

Jordan Golson — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:00:02 EDT

"What video is to TV, games are to the Web," says Steve Youngwood, executive vice president for digital media at Viacom's Nickelodeon channel. We're not sure about that, but "casual gaming" is definitely big business — Nickelodeon is spending $100 million on new gaming initiatives including 600 original games for its websites, branded with its various entertainment shows. The appeal is obvious: For a 9-year old girl, why watch Dora the Explorer when you can be Dora the Explorer?

"Casual games" are small, easily mastered games frequently offered for free at sites like CandyStand and Kongregate. These compare with traditional action games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto, played on TV-attached consoles like the Xbox 360. Nickelodeon hopes to capture eyeballs as users spend less time watching TV and more time looking for entertainment online. Casual gaming is probably a good start, but $100 million? There's nothing "casual" about that.

Get the kids before they develop a first life

Mary Jane Irwin — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:30:28 EST

Virtual worlds and big tobacco hold one strategy in common: hook 'em young. It's estimated some 20 million kids will congregate in virtual playgrounds by 2011. To capitalize on their addiction, a growing percentage of virtual architects are focusing on kiddie fare modeled after Webkinz and Club Penguin. Disney, Warner Bros., Viacom's Nickelodeon, as well as Lego, Mattel, and Hasbro are milking cartoon and toy franchises for the stuff of kids' virtual dreams. Disney's launching Pixie Hollow, a fairy-themed world, in time for the release of Tinker Bell this fall. Disney, we have the perfect beta tester for you.

British Lord decries lack of second lives

Mary Jane Irwin — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:17:20 EDT

David Puttnam, a member of Britain's House of Lords, said virtual worlds targeted at children are doing little more than to make them "think of themselves as not that much more than consumers," during his keynote at the Virtual Worlds Forum. Too many of them are backed by product-hawking companies like Viacom's Nickelodeon or Time Warner's Warner Bros. Instead of being fantasy playscapes that also instill an overwhelming urge to run out and buy Teletubbies plushies, they should be encouraging children to "exercise those same values and skills we wish to see them exercise in the real world." No more orgies in Club Penguin, then. We can top Puttnam's suggestion: How about encouraging them to stay in the real world and exercise, period?