Disney plans to mix ads, video games to target kids, teens

[jrsharp21]

from USATODAY.com

Disney plans to mix ads, video games to target kids, teens

excerpt:

As part of an 18-month global campaign that kicks off on May 5, Disney will roll out an interactive, multiplayer game called "Virtual Magic Kingdom." It aims to provide a virtual visit to Disney's five global resorts and 11 theme parks to anyone with an Internet connection. The target: "tweens" ages 8 to 12 and young teens.

Visitors will be able to play free online games based on real attractions, such as the Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise. They'll also be able to chat, create their own avatars, or graphic icons representing real-life Web surfers in cyberspace, and earn virtual points that can be redeemed for T-shirts and other goodies at the actual parks.

full article:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/media...RM_Exclude=Juno

[Monorail Man]

Cool!

[Dustysage]

Cool!

Yes, but you aren't the demographic. And the rest of us hanging around with a bunch of 8-12 year olds online would just be creepy. Too bad, a virtual disneyland chat site would be fun. Oh, wait, welcome to MiceChat.

Anyone want to get to work on our own virtual world?

Send me a PM.

-The Dusty One

[Mousey Girl]

*rant ahead*

The Boy is 8, and I do NOT want him to be able to "chat" online.

This is a bad idea. The concept is a good one, but not the multi-player and chatting feature. That is opening the doors to pedophiles willing to lie about their age to chat up kids.

*rant over*

I don't often get soapboxy, but this is a touchy subject for me. I am sorry if I offended anyone...

[Dustysage]

I agree with you. Scarry stuff. We all know what happens online. Unless Disney plans to really police their site, bad stuff could happen.

[MickeyMania]

I agree with you. Scarry stuff. We all know what happens online. Unless Disney plans to really police their site, bad stuff could happen.

They already run ToonTown online, which solves this problem through a neat idea:

Characters can only talk to each other through a bunch of prefabricated phrases. Any manual typed in chat appears as gibberish. If two players know each other outside the game, they can exchange passwords that allow them to actually read what each other is typing into the game.

It works both ways. I joined a bunch of other older people I already knew playing ToonTown when it was beta and we were making all kinds of immature jokes for each other's amusement, but the kids wandering around heard nothing.

[SomeSayImGoofy]

*rant ahead*

The Boy is 8, and I do NOT want him to be able to "chat" online.

This is a bad idea. The concept is a good one, but not the multi-player and chatting feature. That is opening the doors to pedophiles willing to lie about their age to chat up kids.

*rant over*

I don't often get soapboxy, but this is a touchy subject for me. I am sorry if I offended anyone...

Not to worry...I hear they have Captain E.O. lined -up to moderate the whole thing...

[angryrubberduck]

Not to worry...I hear they have Captain E.O. lined -up to moderate the whole thing...

ROFL!

[quasimodo1384]

This might be a little off topic, but has anyone played "Kingdom Hearts" for the Playstation 2? I loved it and I'm 18 years old. Just an idea, but I was just wondering if anyone else has played it and their take on it....

[Soulquarian]

Great Game, currently playing the GBA sequel, going to E3 to check out the PS2 sequel. Disney games usually suck, so it was great to have a game take advantage of the creative licenses. I bet you could get everyone on this forum to play it if you told them how cool it was...

[Orcatime]

This might be a little off topic, but has anyone played "Kingdom Hearts" for the Playstation 2? I loved it and I'm 18 years old. Just an idea, but I was just wondering if anyone else has played it and their take on it....

yes, Excellent game and they now have a sequel to it "Chain of Memories."

[quasimodo1384]

I would really encourage anyone of you to play it! It's one of my all time favorite games and I'll try to add some links about it so you all can look in to it (I've never done this before so I hope it works...)

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/adventur...reenindex.html

go there for pictures of the first one

http://www.kingdomhearts2.net/

and that site has a lot about the new games.

They're really good games and they got an amazing voice cast (with a LOT of the original actors, and some other familiar names). So yeah, check it out and I hope you all enjoy!