Institute For The Future

Virtual Worlds Aren't As Ephemeral As They Seem

Tech Horizons sponsor Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom is taking on a life of its own, even as the company seeks to shut down what was envisioned as an ephemeral celebration of the real park's 50th anniversary:

 

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Disneyland in 2005, Walt Disney launched a free online game called Virtual Magic Kingdom whose look and layout mimics Disneyland's.... Disney's notoriously obsessive fans got deeply into this. Using their online personas, fans of Virtual Magic Kingdom -- VMK to aficionados -- accumulated points by playing games and completing tasks inside the world. These points could then be used to buy in-game objects like animated hats, pins and furniture to decorate their virtual private rooms. Points could also be accumulated in the real world through purchases of Disney movie DVDs and the like.

 

What started out as a harmless celebration though, is now evolving into a full-scale cyber sit-in:

 

On Wednesday night, however, Disney plans to throw everyone out of VMK and lock the gates -- erasing their online profiles, lives and collections of virtual trinkets and real estate... Disney's plan to close its free Virtual Magic Kingdom game (top) prompted some fans to protest recently.

 

This has unleashed a loud outcry from VMK patrons, and some of them are throwing themselves in front of Disney's virtual wrecking ball. One slick Web site created to help save VMK has gathered nearly 20,000 signatures on its online petition, while blogs maintained by the Disney faithful continue to decry the company's move.

 

 

However, it's not quite tear-the-gates-down time.

 

A real-life protest to sway the Burbank, Calif., entertainment company's thinking largely fizzled, though. Only about a dozen die-hard fans picketed outside Disneyland's main gates on May 10, carrying placards and a banner riffing Disney's "Year of a Million Dreams" campaign that read, "Year of a Million Broken Dreams."

 

 

Link: Fans Resist End of Virtual Disneyland *Subscription req'd)