Have You Heard of Second Life?

Simulated reality has long been the basis for many plots in literature and film. Tad Williams' “Other land” series looks in depth at the idea of a reality simulated by computer technology. The film “Virtuosity” looks at the same thing. This has always been simply in the realm of fantasy, until recently. Video games used to simply be an escapist fiction; making the player a Mafia boss, or a top Rally driver, or something similar. Then along came a game that made millions and changed the perception of what a video game could be. That game was titled “The Sims”.

The Sims is a very primitive step in the direction of simulated reality. You control a character that has a job, family, kids and a house. You controlled when he ate, when he worked out and his social interaction with other Sims. In other words, you were living through the character. However the game was flawed in that every other character in the game was a bot. That is to say, none of the other characters were real.

“Second Life” is an internet based reality that solves that problem. Every character in the “Second Life” world is controlled by an actual person. You can interact with people from other countries, through their characters in Second Life. The characters in Second Life can operate businesses for real money, and rent land in the Second Lie world. They can have occupations that earn money, and they can create buildings. They can do pretty much anything a person can do in the real world. They dance and they play. Second Life has become increasingly popular, with many imitations springing up around the net. Only time will tell if Second Life is a fad, or whether it is here to stay, but it is certainly a fun way to kill some time. As far as internet games go, Second Life is certainly one of the more interesting.