Best Of WorldsInMotion: From Gaia Online to BarbieGirls

Every week, we'll be featuring the top stories from the surging online/virtual world space from Gamasutra sister site WorldsInMotion.biz. This week's notable items in the space include the launch of BarbieGirls.com's Subscription V.I.P. Service, Nickelodeon's new virtual worlds and online divisions, and our in-depth tour or Gaia Interactive's Gaia Online. Worlds In Motion's Online World Atlas: Gaia Online "Gaia Online's community originally solidified around its forums, and the majority of Gaia Online users still spend most of their time there. However, the site has a massive range of other community options, with customizable avatars and home pages, an online world with towns full of user-owned homes that are just as customizable as the avatars, and games to play (with or against other members of the community)." Mattel Launches BarbieGirls.com Subscription V.I.P. Service "Following its promise to offer competitive subscription pricing to its BarbieGirls.com virtual world, toy company Mattel has launched Barbie Girls V.I.P., a subscription-based version of its 'tween-targeted MMO." Q&A: Marc Theermann On Weblin's Virtual World Future "Weblin isn't exactly a virtual world. It's a personal avatar system that allows what Weblin have dubbed "social browsing" -- Users can see other users as they browse the web, and can interact with them by chatting or other expression." Near Launches Virtual London Powered By Q "UK-based studio Near has launched Near London to the business community, a 3D virtual world modeled after the city of London’s retail district and built on middleware developer Qube Software’s Q platform." Worlds In Motion's Online World Atlas: There "There is an online virtual world with a 3D client. Similar to Second Life, the world consists of several islands upon which users can explore and socialize." Report: Millions Of Us Launches Virtual Greats Company "Virtual worlds ad agency Millions of Us has announced the launch of a new company, Virtual Greats, to take advantage of the growing virtual goods market. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Virtual Greats seeks to sell hair styles, catchphrases, dance moves, clothing lines and other merchandise associated with aspirational characters and entertainment franchises over multiple virtual world and social media platforms." Interested parties can read daily news on the online/virtual worlds space at the WorldsInMotion.biz weblog, with a second Worlds In Motion Summit planned for September's Austin GDC event.