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Kid e-Land
"If I can get a kid making an avatar based on Narnia, I have a better chance of keeping that kid in the franchise," said Chris Byrne, a toy industry analyst.
(Knowledge Adventure)
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Golding said the company has strived to build a safe environment by giving parents control over how their children can use the service. At the most basic level, they can only message one another with preselected words and phrases. On higher levels, they are allowed more freedom, but there are filters for profanity.
Disney plans to include the virtual world's software with all of its upcoming games for the Nintendo DS. There are no subscription fees; the company sees DGamer as a way of building consumer loyalty among its young fans.
Chris Byrne, an independent toy industry analyst, said Disney doesn't mind that it will not directly draw revenue from the service. In a world where kids are offered many entertainment choices, anything that keeps their attention in one place longer than the competition is good for business.
"The strategy is, frankly, 'How much of a kid's leisure time can I own?' " he said. "It's such a crowded marketplace, that if can get a kid making an avatar based on Narnia, I have a better chance of keeping that kid in the franchise."
Some virtual worlds for children are even taking an educational approach.
Knowledge Adventure has an online world set to launch this summer. To access the fun parts of the online world, such as areas where kids can race against one another, users have to earn points on educational exercises. Parents will be able to tweak the types of assignments the online game world doles out; if a child is falling behind in math, for example, the game can dispense more math-related activities.
"Think of it as World of Warcraft for 3- to 10-year-olds," said David Lord, chief executive of the Torrance, Calif., company.
Michael H. Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, which studies how technology can be used to speed children's learning, seemed to like the idea.
Schools in the United States sometimes seem stuck in a "time warp" that ignores the digital revolution, he said. An offering like Knowledge Adventure's might be helpful as long as "the kid doesn't know that it's supposed to be educational."
In other words, he said, "The real trick is making sure it doesn't turn out to be a spinach sundae."
