As Simon points out at GameSetWatch, CMP has launched a new virtual-worldy-blog. It’s called Worlds in Motion, and in many ways it’s the perfect compliment to MMOG Nation. Whereas I prefer to talk about and ponder large-scale commercial games, WIM is going to be looking at your Habbos, your Club Penguins, your what-have-yous. Simon sells it pretty well, so I’ll just *snip*:

So why does it matter? Isn’t that Second Life awfully overhyped? What gamers care about those dinky little online play applications? Well, I think a recent Gamasutra interview with Raph Koster explains a lot of the reason why we should care, as follows:

“Consider the statistics. Webkinz, 2.5 million uniques in December; you buy a plush toy. Runescape: we still don’t think of Runescape as being part of our industry, but it’s probably the most popular MMO in the world, more popular than WoW. Toontown is up to more than 2.5 million uniques now. We never talk about Toontown because it’s web deployed. Then of course there’s was Club Penguin, with 4.5 million uniques in December alone…When you compare the numbers, all of those are larger than the number two MMO in the western world, every single one of them. So yeah, I think people are missing something.”

I’m already liking their Online Atlas. Good luck, Leigh. :)

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