虚拟经济时代的来临？

Nicholas Garr似乎擅长作预言。最近他作出了一个关于2006的预言，其中第一个就是关于电子游戏工业的预测。他在这篇文章里提到

But what really fascinates me is the idea of virtual advertising creeping in to virtual worlds. No doubt we’ll also begin to see “real” virtual stores being constructed within games – so you won’t have to leave the game to, say, shop for and order a new Alienware PC.

他认为，

And we’ll see entrepreneurs begin to open “virtual” virtual stores that will actually compete with one another to sell magic potions and broadswords and other stuff to use within the game. And those stores will, of course, buy advertising in the game – and they’ll even have to bid against each other for the prime spots. The economies of virtual worlds, already complex, will become, well, real.

在这里，Virtual Economy，虚拟经济，被堂而皇之的提出来。在游戏中为游戏的虚拟产品作广告，甚至为真实世界的产品作广告、开商店，似乎已经开始成为新的商业模式的一部分。这种新商业模式是否能够得到进一步发展，尚存疑问。不过很新鲜的一个例子是商业周刊一篇关于游戏内广告代理的文章：

When done correctly — and the in-game ads contextually support the game environment — we’re finding gamers are in favor of videogame advertising because it enhances the realism of the game play. As a result, our clients are discovering that in-game advertising is connecting well with their key customers.

也许是Nicholas过虑了，也许是我想多了。“虚拟”经济其实已经成为了我们生活中的一部分，包括QQ和盛大，他们的“服务”（姑且可称QQshow为服务）早已被少男少女追捧。不过虚拟经济真的会成为下一个Big Thing吗？如果是的话，我们应当如何应对呢？在这个新诞生的生态链里面，我们应当站在什么位置呢？

[tags]virtual economy, internet, prediction, 2006, game[/tags]