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Gaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website with Chibi-style animations. It was founded as go-gaia on February 18, 2003, by Derek Liu, Long Vo, Josh Gainsbrugh, and the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 by its owner, Gaia Interactive. Gaia originally began as an anime linklist and eventually developed a small community, but following a statement by founder Derek Liu, the website moved towards social gaming and eventually became forum-based.
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Toontown Online, commonly known as Toontown, was a 2003 massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on a cartoon animal world, developed by Disney's Virtual Reality Studio and Schell Games, and published by The Walt Disney Company.
Horseland was an online community and browser game where members took care of, bred, trained and showed horses and dogs. Begun in 1994 in the United States, Horseland had grown to have more than 8 million users who played from all over the world. Most of the players were females from age 10 to 22, although a number of adults played the game. In September 2006, an animated cartoon series based on the website was launched in the United States. The cartoon is now distributed around the world. The game is no longer online, having closed sometime in April 2019.
Club Penguin was a massively multiplayer online game (MMO), involving a virtual world that contained a range of online games and activities. It was created by New Horizon Interactive. Players used cartoon penguin-avatars and played in an Antarctic-themed open world. After beta-testing, Club Penguin was made available to the general public on October 24, 2005, and expanded into a large online community, such that by late 2007, it was claimed Club Penguin had over 30 million user accounts. In July 2013, Club Penguin had over 200 million registered user accounts.
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Planet Hot Wheels was a massively multiplayer online racing game created by the developers of the toy car brand Hot Wheels and Mattel, Hot Wheels' parent company. The service launched in 2001.
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ChessCube.com was an online chess community with over 1,400,000 registered members. ChessCube.com was founded in 2007 by Mark Levitt, and offered live play, chat, and ChessCube Cinema. In 2009, ChessCube hosted the world's first FIDE-rated online matches played in the South African Open 2009 where arbiters were present near the players' computers as supervisors. On January 31, 2020, ChessCube officially ceased operations.
Fantage was a MMORPG involving a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities, developed by Fantage Inc. The game featured a customizable cartoon avatar, called a "Fantagian", that users can customize with items ranging from hair to clothing and accessories. Fantage was released to the general public on March 17, 2008, and had since expanded into a large online community— the game had over 16 million registered users by January 2012 and over 30 million by December 2014.
YoWorld is a browser-based virtual world game which was released on May 8, 2008. It is developed by Big Viking Games. The game operates on the freemium model, and is supported through microtransactions, as well as a voluntary in-game ad program. The game itself is free-to-play, however, players can purchase in-game currencies or enroll in special programs and offers to improve their game-play experience or help them progress faster, using real money.
ourWorld was a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities. It is developed by FlowPlay, and is aimed at the teen and tween demographic.
MiniMonos was a virtual world for children six and above. Players created a monkey avatar on MiniMonos, socialized with other monkeys, and played mini games. The game incorporated themes of environmentalism and encouraged "green" activities among its players, both online and offline. The game was popular with children around the world, particularly in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, where the game was invented. The game closed on 12 May 2013.
Power Soccer, also known as Power Challenge and PS, was a massively multiplayer online browser-based sports game, developed by the Swedish developer Power Challenge, the same company that develops ManagerZone. This game was a browser-based soccer simulator in which users could create a team and play against other users from all around the globe. Additional benefits were offered to those that purchased the Club Membership.
Animal Jam Classic, formerly known as Animal Jam, is a massively multiplayer online game that is developed by WildWorks and recommended for kids up to the age of 12. It was launched in 2010, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. As of late 2020, there were 3.3 million monthly active users and a lifetime total of 130 million registered players in 200 countries across both Animal Jam Classic and Animal Jam.
References
- 1 2 Grimes, Sara (September 2, 2008). "I'm a Barbie Girl, in a BarbieGirls World". The Escapist. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
- ↑ Consalvo, Mia; Ess, Charles, eds. (April 2011). The Handbook of Internet Studies (1 ed.). Wiley. p. 342. doi:10.1002/9781444314861. ISBN 978-1-4051-8588-2.
- ↑ "Mattel and Fisher-Price Customer Service". service.mattel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
- 1 2 (PDF) https://service.mattel.com/instruction_sheets/BG%20Device.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Mattel and Fisher-Price Consumer Relations Support Center - Barbie Girl Device Registration Update". service.mattel.com. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
- ↑ (PDF) https://service.mattel.com/instruction_sheets/L2935-0920-G4.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Barbie Girls - Parents' Place". 2008-11-04. Archived from the original on 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2018-03-11.