Virtual Worlds

Personally, the idea of virtual worlds is quite freaky, but i'm obviously in a minority as millions of people are eager to join them.
Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG's), are rapidly developing and making a significant appearance in the converged world of media.
The market for MMOG's is now worth more than $1bn (£511m). Revenues from subscriptions for these games are said to hit $1.5bn by 2011.
However the increase of MMOG's is small compared to the growth of video on demand, which is said to be worth $11.4bn in four years time.
One of the most succesful MMOG's is World of Warcraft, this game has over 8million subscribers worldwide including 3million in the West, where it has over 50% share of the market.

Top 5 MMOG's

• World of Warcraft
  
• RuneScape
  
• Final Fantasy Online
  
• Everquest
  
• City of Heroes/Villains
  

There are a number of new MMOG's genres emerging, including:

• Virtual world building games e.g. second life
  
• Virtual pet rearing games e.g. Neo pets
  
• More casual MMO puzzle games
  
• Sports games where you have to buy items and build up your character