A 'Virtual' Escape From Economic Pain Oct 11, 2008
Kid-focused virtual worlds like Club Penguin and Neopets have boomed over the past two years, becoming an attractive investment niche for large media companies. These sites provide a way for kids to interact with a media property--say, Nickelodeon's legion of characters--in an environment that is cheaper on a per hour basis than seeing the latest flick in the theaters. (Forbes -- Technology)
Hand over the controller, girl gamers say Oct 3, 2008
In 2005, Viacom Inc bought Neopets Inc.. At the Nintendo World Store in New York this month, Fatima Gomez, 8, bounced from one game to the next, looking for short, easy ones and never spending long on one. (Yahoo News -- Technology)
TV Land Gets its 'Scrubs' on and Goes on Rounds During a Labor Day Marathon on Monday, September 1 Aug 26, 2008
The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, Gametrailers and Xfire. Source: TV Land. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Nintendo releases second half game lineup for 2008 Jul 18, 2008
14 Capcom We Love Golf - July 15) MotoGP08 - October / November Neopets Puzzle Adventure - Holiday D3Publisher Ben 10 Alien Force - October Onechanbara Bikini Zombie Slayers - Q1 2009 Coraline - Q1 2009 Disney Interactive Studios Disney Sing It ... 2K Games Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - July 8 2K Play Carnival Games - July 8 Don King Presents: Prizefighter - September 2K Sports MLB Power Pros 2008 - Fall Activision Quantum of Solace Video Game - Fall Madagascar Escape 2 Africa Video Game... (GamePro.com)
Real thugs prowl virtual hangouts Jul 4, 2008
It includes Club Penguin, Webkinz and Neopets ... In the past two years, Walt Disney Co. acquired Club Penguin in a deal worth as much as $700 million, and media giant Viacom Inc. bought Neopets for $160 million. (News & Observer)
TECH CHRONICLES A daily dose of postings from The Chronicle's technology... Jun 18, 2008
The San Francisco nonprofit, which focuses on family and media, looked at the top three social networking sites for teens and tweens: MySpace, Facebook and Bebo for teens, and Club Penguin, Webkinz and Neopets for tweens ... Overall, it said that the staff at Facebook, YouTube, Club Penguin and Neopets could do a better job responding to users about inappropriate content and cyberbullying ... It also gave Neopets and Club Penguin top marks for making it easy for users to flag inappropriate... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Technology)
Hands-on: Neopets Puzzle Adventure Jun 3, 2008
IGN: Neopets Puzzle Adventure Preview ... Based on the Nickelodeon license of the same name, Neopets takes the Puzzle Quest formula and dresses it up with the popular children's property ... Neopets are similar to Pokemon in that there are hundreds of little animals for kids to train and interact with. (IGN PC Games)
CBS to buy Cnet for $US1.8b May 16, 2008
CBS to buy Cnet for $US1. Welcome to The Sydney Morning Herald. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Serious playtime May 10, 2008
Although these worlds, such as Club Penguin and Neopets, have games in them they are more an environment children can explore via their avatar ... VIRTUAL WORLD NUMBERS Habbo - 90m accounts NeoPets - 45m accounts IMVU - 20m accounts Club Penguin - 15m accounts Star Doll - 15m accounts Gaia - 12m accounts Barbie Girls - 12m accounts Source: K Zero ... Habbo has 90m accounts, Neopets 45m, Club Penguin 15m and Star Doll 15m. (BBC News -- Technology)
List of the top 100 licensing companies Apr 16, 2008
Dora, Diego, The Backyardigans, Ni-Hao, Kai Lan, SpongeBob SquarePants, South Park, Neopets. 7. (USA Today -- Money)
Online 'casual' games for kids offer media firms new programming options Mar 18, 2008
Additionally, the company owns Neopets, an online pet Web site. The investment will add scores of games to each site in the coming year. (International Herald Tribune -- Technology)
At Toy Fair, Kids' Play Gets Wired Feb 20, 2008
In reverse, there is finally a line of cuddly plush Neopets that have hopped out of the monitor and can receive real hugs, rather than only webby ones. Want a different virtual identity. (Washington Post -- Technology)
As fair opens, toy makers stress value Feb 15, 2008
Plugged-in playthings like Webkinz and Neopets, plush toys that also have virtual lives, are a hit with the kids and popular with parents, too, since they offer a child-friendly online hangout. Click for related content. (MSNBC -- Business)
* [TECHNOLOGY] Jan 1, 2008
Nickelodeon, already home to Neopets, is spending US$100 million to develop a string of worlds ... For instance, Neopets restricts children under 13 from certain areas unless their parents give permission in a fax ... Several Neopets employees patrol the site around the clock, and messaging features are limited to approved words and phrases. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Safe Kids E-mail Gets Parent Approval Dec 19, 2007
Additionally, on the Fun and Games tab, children are connected to some of their favorite Internet spots including Webkinz, Club Penguin, Neopets, PBS Kids and Disney. There are also age appropriate movie trailers to view and music to listen to. (Boonville Daily News, MO)
Organization creates haven for critically ill children Dec 17, 2007
Dianna M. Nez The Arizona Republic Dec. 17, 2007 12:00 AM. Jack Schrooten is 9, and for the majority of his precious boyhood, a battle with muscular dystrophy has kept him confined to his bed and unable to communicate. (AZCentral -- News)
Social networking for pre-teens Nov 30, 2007
In 2005, Viacom - owner of MTV and Nickelodeon - bought Neopets (), an interactive cartoon gaming site that claims to have 143 million Neopet "owners", for $US150 million. This was the site 00004000 that enjoyed minor controversy in Australia three years ago, when a cross-promotion with McDonald's led to accusations that Neopets games closely resembled blackjack and poker for children ... " Using a virtual currency, or points system, as a reward for repeat website visits and engagement with the... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Technology)
Simple fun with simple toys Nov 25, 2007
The trend coincides with virtual playgrounds like Neopets. com and ClubPenguin. (Toronto Star)
Want Webkinz? Get in Line Oct 31, 2007
In the late '90s, kids went crazy first for Tamagotchi, an LCD-display doohickey that hung from a keychain, and Neopets, which lived only on the Internet; both are still popular. Toy sales totaled $21. (Fox News)
Is a virtualchildhood as good as a real one? Sep 3, 2007
The venerable Habbo Hotel, originally launched in Finland in 2000, attracts 7 million visitors a month, Sweden's Stardoll attracts 5 million, Webkinz and Neopets attract about 4 million each, and Gaia Online reports nearly 3 million monthly visitors. Such high and rapidly growing traffic levels are spurring big investments in kid worlds from venture capitalists and they're the reason that Disney is happily doling out hundreds of millions of dollars to the three Canadian men who created Club... (The Age, Australia)
Big money in the cyber-kid stakes Aug 10, 2007
In 2005, Viacom - owner of MTV and Nickelodeon - bought Neopets (neopets ... Using a virtual currency or points system as a reward for repeat website visits and engagement with the games is common among such sites, with Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, Stardoll and Neopets all adopting similar practices. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Nickelodeon Launches Three New Merchandising Programs at Licensing 2007 International Show Spanning Live-Action, Animated and Virtual Worlds Jun 20, 2007
Neopets, The World's First and Most Engaging, Global Youth-Focused Virtual World Announces Merchandising Plan and Harper-Collins Book Series to Build on the Excitement of New Site Features ... and the "stickiest" virtual community for tweens on the web, Neopets ... "The Naked Brothers Band was a tween hit right out of the gate with its fresh comedic mix of real kids, celebrity and rock n' roll. The Wonder Pets! is loved by preschoolers and parents alike and the series' breakthrough animation and... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Is Online Marketing Making Kids Obese? May 18, 2007
She diligently logs online to Neopets ... In addition to Neopets, the report cites Kellogg's promotion of its Pop Tarts pastries on Habbo Hotel, an online virtual community aimed at kids and teens. (MSNBC -- Business)
Surfing's safe for the small set Mar 2, 2007
But they can make their own cozy virtual homes at ClubPenguin and similar sites, such as Neopets, Whyville and Nickelodeon's new virtual world, Nicktropolis - which are laden with safety features and designed for kids 6-14 ... Neopets devotees say they know they're being bombarded by commercial messages - last week's banner ads touted bankruptcy attorneys. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Technology)
WP: It's Teddy Bear, Version 2.0 Feb 7, 2007
More recently, Neopets. com began manufacturing such plush toys as the "cybunny," which mirrored the virtual animals on its site. (MSNBC -- Technology)
MTV Networks' Nickelodeon Launches Nicktropolis: Unprecedented Immersive Virtual Community Playground Featuring Gaming, Video and Social Interaction Jan 30, 2007
Over the past two years, MTVN has acquired expansive community and gaming assets like NeoPets, AddictingGames ... com, Neopets, Parentsconnect, GoCityKids, Addicting Games, and Shockwave ... com are two of the internet's largest casual gaming sites which, along with NeoPets and Nick. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Trippin' on mobile Jan 24, 2007
So whether you're looking at fantasy sports or Neopets or casual games, there are just numerous examples of big internet games, and if you look at the console game industry as a whole, they basically just extended their existing approach which is immersive, complicated challenging gameplay defined by 3D technology. So you saw things like Everquest delivered by Sony, one of the leading console game companies. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Technology)
Online creatures, great and small Jan 20, 2007
along with similar sites such as Club Penguin, combines the shared-space, real-time interaction of "massive multiplayer online games" usually aimed at teens and adults with the pets-on-the- Web kid appeal of Neopets ... Though others have linked traditional toys with websites -- Neopets has added "plushies" sold at Limited, Too, and the Groovy Girls dolls now have a website -- Webkinz is the first to marry the two from the outset. (Boston Globe)
Identity crisisBill Thompson finds out what youngsters do with passwords Jan 6, 2007
When my daughter was younger she was hooked on Neopets and had five or six accounts going at the same time, partly because she could then trade with herself and game the system but also because she expressed different aspects of her personality in the different accounts. This approach to online identity has a number of implications for anyone trying to understand the way the internet is growing, and also carries an important lesson for those trying to build services or make money out of them. (BBC News -- Technology)
