Second Life cloned for China

It was inevitable: A Chinese company has launched is closed-beta testing a version of Second Life--and probably not the last we'll see. Called HiPiHi, it seems to have hit the Web late last year: Chinese blog posts that I failed to notice talked about it in some depth as early as December 6. No affiliation with Linden Labs, which created/operates Second Life, that I could see.

There's some biographical info on the founder/CEO Xu Hui here.

Are we going to see a mad rush by advertisers to get into HiPiHi? Is Xinhua going to set up a news bureau? Will HMB, or whatever the currency is called, impact the value of the RMB?

My gut tells me that done right, this could be quite substantial in China, and might have more legs than its U.S. counterpart. For one thing, MMORPG culture is pretty deeply embedded among Chinese netizens, and many players are very used to "repatriating" currency earned in the in-game economy to real life. HiPiHi seems to have made dumbed-down object creation tools available while keeping more advanced options available to the more proficient--don't quote me on that, I've not really played around with it yet.

There's a definite feminine sensibility to the pitch video, which you can download (.wmv) here: a female narrator and avatar, emphasis on the outfits, the landscaping, the houses. Going after women is probably the right move: there are plenty of online gamers in China, but few of the hack-and-slash MMORPGs really work for women.

I'm curious to see whether they'll add distinctly Chinese elements to it--traditional archicture, music, prefab landscape things (say, like Guilin-style karst limestone formations). Also really curious to see what kind of scripts people write. Who knows? Someone might do good business making paired marble lions for people can flank their doorways with. Or selling a two-handed namecard hand-off script.

I'll see if I can get a beta invite, and get my wife to play around with it and report her feedback: she was really into The Sims for a while, and will probably dig this. (We set up Second Life accounts, but the lack of a Chinese interface was frustrating for her, and all she did was create an avatar that looked an awful lot like herself in real life. Vanity, thy name is...) 

Thanks to VirtualChina for this.

Comments

[Xinhua]

Kaiser,

It's been a couple of months since we last met. Your comments on HiPiHi were very interesting. Although the look and feel of HiPiHi is very similar to SL, but HiPiHi has a different strategy. I can help you to connect with Xuhui if you want to know about HiPiHi. I can ask Xuhui to invite you and your friends to play around it if you are interested.

Xinhua

[David]

HiPiHi could go far if it deconstructs the SL user experience and reinvents it so that those of us who don't want to spend our hours messing with polygons can actually create something of interest.

BTW, Kaiser, love that picture. Nothing grabs geek attention like flying Asian chicks in pigtails, haltertops, shorts, and stiletto heels.

Wolfman

[Wayfinder Wishbringer]

HiPiHi has a real chance if they do things well-- not only in China, but in the U.S. Currently, out of a claimed 5 million "residents" on Second Life, only a tiny fraction of that number are actually active in the game (at last count, approximately 6 to 7 percent). Far less than that are paying members. Dissatisfaction with Second Life performance and host company policies has made the market ripe for some strong competition. If HiPiHi caters not only to the Chinese but the English language as well, they could very well give Second Life a run for its money... perhaps with Second Life standing at the starting line with its mouth gaping.

Millions of dissatisfied SL customers have just been waiting for some competition to come along.

[Rock Ryder]

Ni hao HiPiHi,

There are a great many programmers and entrepreneurs in SL who have helped shape it into what it is, my advice would be to reach out to them.

Corporate failings have left many in SL disillusioned, my second piece of advice is that I sincerely hope that HiPiHi learn the lessons of SL. It is good to see your website in two languages, that is a big plus.

I would like to be involved in the Beta program, how can I join?

[Nbkvqsm]

http://sexocolor.info x

[SuezanneC Baskerville]

The Hipihi beta is crashing - vanishing, actually - right after displaying the initial loading screen.

Any idea of where an English-only person can find support information?

A link to the Chinese Hipihi knowledge base, said to be on their site, would be useful. It's hard to find the link when you can't read Chinese.

[Catherine]

In order to run HiPiHi on English window system, you need to install the Chinese language pack (downloadabl from MS), and then run HPH under AppLocale (also downloadable at MS site). This way, when you click on anything, it wont cause the program to crash. Hope this helps.