Online gamers blog

Social networking sites for children are growing fast - and they are attracting attention from big media companies and concerned adults, says Matthew Wall.

Webkinz has built its position by creating an online world for its real-world toys and making it compelling. Photograph: Tina Fineberg/AP

When dancing penguins are sold to Disney in a deal worth up to $700m (£345m), you know that websites aimed at kids are a serious internet phenomenon.

The corporate giant last week acquired Club Penguin, a virtual world aimed at children aged between six and 14. With a claimed 700,000-plus young subscribers paying $57.95 (£28) for a 12-month subscription, it's clear that social networking for the young is likely to be just as big - and as lucrative - as websites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Club Penguin is by no means the only place for children to interact online. Among the latest crazes is Webkinz, a website that lets young children bring their real-world fluffy toys to life online within a virtual world.

Webkinz, developed by privately owned Canadian toy and gift company Ganz, is a range of soft toys aimed at children between the ages of six and 13. Each toy comes with a code that can be entered into the website to create an animated virtual version of it.

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Online fantasy videogames like World of Warcraft typically involve spending hours on battles and quests in a virtual universe. But buzz is building online for a Web-based battle game designed to be played in short bouts -- each battle takes about 60 seconds -- in other words, possible to play at work.
[Duels]

The game is called Duels and it is free to play. In it, players build their own character, or avatar, purchase weapons and then can start challenging others who have registered online. The Web program determines the outcome of each duel based on the characters' skill levels, armor and weapons, taking into account a measure of luck; the players simply watch the duel unfold.

Players say the hands-off fights are surprisingly addictive. Though you can't influence the outcome of a duel mid-fight, the anticipation is a bit like watching the screen on a slot machine. The strategy lies in choosing how to build up a character's weapons cache and powers (winners of duels gain virtual coins and "experience points" for this purpose) and picking well-matched opponents for dueling. It's an appealing diversion for those who don't have hours of time for virtual sword-fighting practice.

Soon after the game was launched online last week by the company Oxygen Games, popular sites such as Digg and TechCrunch reviewed it positively, sending thousands of people to the game. As a result, the Duels site has experienced a few outages due to high traffic.

Currently, there are no female avatars available, though Andrew Busey, CEO of Oxygen Games, says they are forthcoming.
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I think thats what kept me in the ballgame Saturday. Ive played so many ASGA events and Ive won so many of those events I just havent given up. I knew I had it in me.The biggest thing going Browns way is that hes finally playing pain free. Eight weeks ago while playing in another tournament Brown broke his left wrist in the middle of a round and was forced to withdraw.Since that time hes broken the wrist twice more giving himself and his golf game several frustrating moments.This is the first time this year that Ive played a tournament pain free Brown said. It feels good because I knew I had it in me but I couldnt play my kind of golf with an injury. Im excited to put two good rounds backtoback together after coming off injury.After shooting a 2under 70 on Friday to take second place in the tournament behind Aaron Baldwin of Boulder Colo. Brown found the hot streak hes been looking for midway through his round on Saturday.Brown bogeyed four holes on the frontnine Saturday including three straight on the fifth sixth and seventh holes before finding a rhythm on the backnine a rhythm hes hoping he can continue today.Brown birdied No. 12 a 455yard par5 and then reeled off three straight birdies on holes 16 17 and 18.On No. 16 Brown sank a 20foot downhill putt before almost driving the green on No. 17 a 285yard par4.Brown then chipped onto the green within two feet and then birdied the hole.When I birdied that hole I started to kind of feel it like my game was really coming around Brown said. It was a great feeling.Baldwin who shot a 3under 69 on Friday shot a 4over 76 on Saturday mainly because he couldnt hit his iron shots or putt as well as he did in the first round of the tournament he said.Its just really disappointing said Baldwin whose playing in the ChickATee for the first time. Im playing pretty good right now Im just disappointed.

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