I'm currently sitting in on the Google Lively keynote at Austin GDC. A lot of people have been wondering why exactly Google entered the 3D chat space and I think we just heard the reason.
Google is announcing that they will eventually be opening up the API for Google Gadgets and Google Lively. What exactly does this mean?
Currently Lively users can embed Google Gadgets into their 3D spaces. For the most part, these are non-interactive desktop applications that can be included in these virtual environments. As Google opens this up it will allow for much more interactive content. Soon, we will be seeing web-based 3D spaces with interactive objects such as televisions or kiosks (think: commerce).
Similar to Playstation Home, Google is now bridging the gap between 2D and 3D, only they are doing it for the mainstream web user rather than the hardcore gamer. It is already being described as “democratizing the 3D Web.”
As Google continues along this path they will also be opening up the API for Lively itself, allowing game developers to build right on top of the Lively platform. And, taking it further yet, Google is going to provide a scheme for peer to peer transactions where creators can sell their content directly to the end users. This will not be through a virtual currency and seems I'm guessing that Google Checkout might be a start for this.
This is huge news for game developers, for a lot of reasons:
First, in a way, Google really is building something similar to Second Life by allowing developers to create the content for their 3D spaces.
Second, they are creating a platform for developers of 2D games in Google Gadgets.
Third, they are creating a commodity game engine in Google Lively.
Fourth, they already have a 3D content creation tool in Sketchup for game creators.
Fifth, all of this allows game creators to circumvent the game publishers, taking out the middle man and allowing them to sell directly to the users.
There is no timeline for when these features will be released but I'm sure that a lot of people will be eagerly anticipating them. It will be interesting to see how Lively grows as a result.
This probably seems like Monday morning quarterbacking, but I can't say that I was too surprised by the demise of Lively.
Lively is just the latest in a long series of technologies that have fallen into the Snow Crash tar pit (following Adobe Atmosphere etc). The notion of shared virtual spaces inhabited by avatars is constantly hyped by the media, yet it solves no real world problem. That's why these kinds of technologies are doomed.
What we need is practical, real world web baed 3D that can be used to solve real problems and communicate visual spatial information effectively (game playing counts as solving a problem).
The world does not need another 3D chat space. The Snow Crash style Metaverse is an interesting enough notion, but not a useful model for real world technology.
Posted by: Abe Megahed | February 18, 2009 at 09:02 AM
I was interested in what Lively could have been though, as a game creation platform. It's similar to Metaplace and I douby that they're too disappointed that Lively is gone. Google Gadgets may still fulfill that role.
Posted by: Dale Beermann | February 18, 2009 at 09:13 AM