Barbie's New Virtual World is Called Barbie Girls
Posted on April 27, 2007
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Barbie is going virtual reality. Mattel just unveiled Barbie Girls, a hybrid play experience that blends fashion, music and an online virtual world. Launching this week, Barbie Girls first comes to life via BarbieGirls.com, which Mattel bills as "the first global, virtual online world designed exclusively for girls."
At BarbieGirls.com girls can create their own virtual character, design their own room, shop at the mall, play games, hang out and chat live with other girls. In July, Barbie Girls emerges into the real world with a handheld, 4 1/2" portable device that serves as a music player and fashion statement-in-one, while also unlocking new content within BarbieGirls.com.
The world has many similarities to Second Life: when a girl registers on the site, she can create a personalized virtual character, design her own room, shop with B Bucks (virtual money) that she earns, play games, watch videos and have real-time chats with other girls. Girls can create their own, highly-personalized virtual characters by choosing from 2.64 quadrillion character combinations of fashions and accessories, as well as stylish faces, expressions and hairstyles. Personalization also extends to each girl's room where more than 4.6 quintillion combinations of room colors, floors, backgrounds and furniture are offered to suit girls' varied design styles. Customization is limitless and profiles can be changed at every log-in. Girls can then chat live with other registered girls on the site.
Mattel knows that parents are freaked out about online predators, so they have spent a lot of time addressing that issue. The site's safety approach includes chat word filters and moderation tools that enable site administrators to monitor reported users and ban users.
There are two types of chat in the online world. They include a public chat, called B Chat, and a private chat called Secret B Chat. Secret B Chat is meant for "best friends" who have "connected their devices into one another's computer docking station." BarbieGirls.com also gives girls an email account where they can send and receive messages of up to 500 characters.
Of course, Mattel is hoping that the girls spend lots of money using those B Bucks, so get ready for that. We think Mattel has a nightmare on its hands trying to police the chat rooms of girls and keeping out the crazies. On the other hand, it's a smart way to get girls interested in a Second Life kind of environment early.