Event Review: Microsoft’s Virtual Space launched

Greetings from the beach on Caribbana Tropico, where the weather is warm and friendly, and so are the residents!

For about five minutes last Thursday night, I felt bad that I missed the Virtual Space launch on Microsoft Island http://slurl.com/secondlife/Microsoft/135/195/22 because I had allowed real life to drag me away from the beach in Second Life. Then, I saw the reports in the VS group IM that not only had the sim had crashed halfway through the launch party, but the whole place was plagued with lag, lag, lag. Once again, it looked liked “ain’t-it-cool?” design had triumphed over relevance and usability in bringing a RL presence into Second Life, something that plagued Popular Science and Nissan when they brought out their SL sims.

Too bad, too, because Virtual Space is actually a nicely designed destination for SLers who want a new place to go without feeling like they sold out to the corporate juggernaut. It’s built by people who obviously have a clue about what works in SL. When it’s not stuffed with avatars, the sim has low lag despite the prim-heavy design. And, any place that keeps Champagne on ice and available 24/7 is okay in my book. At the very least, the dance ball works, which is more than I can say about events sponsored by Virtual Thirst , the Coke platform http://slurl.com/secondlife/crayon/172/83/532 that hovers above the space held by interactive marketing agency crayon.

Still, it suffers from the same lack of continued attention and independent purpose and has the same technical glitches that plague so many RL marketing efforts in SL. And make no mistake, marketing is the reason why brand names like Reebok, Circuit City and American Apparel have set up shop in the last year, and why new launches, such as debuts by the NBA and the redesigned aloft hotel, are comin’ atcha almost daily.

Maybe, in a year, Virtual Space will evolve into a must-go destination like Pontiac’s seven busy islands (Pontiac, Motorati, Ride, Garage, Velocity, Drive-In and Motor). I’ll tell you why Pontiac has it going on in a future post. Next week: The NBA sims, lag-laden but worth the trip time.