Free Guide Lists Over 115 Virtual Worlds for Kids, Tweens, and Teens
The Association of Virtual Worlds has just released its new title The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds listing over 250 virtual worlds, of over115 are worlds categorized by the world's designer as kid-friendly or designed for tweens, or teens, and is pleased to offer it free, to parents who want to know more about where their kids are going online and what they're doing when they get there.
Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) May 7, 2008 -- The Association of Virtual Worlds has just released its new title The Blue Book: A Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds listing over 250 virtual worlds, of which over 115 are worlds categorized by the world's designer as kid-friendly or designed for tweens, or teens, and is pleased to offer it free, to parents who want to know more about where their kids are going online and what they're doing when they get there.
"This book gives the reader insights to all varieties of virtual worlds. But since kids are so heavily engaged in virtual worlds, I consider The Blue Book to be an important resource for parents who want to learn more about virtual worlds and how to find them. Like any kids' activity, parents need to evaluate their child's use of virtual worlds carefully." says Dave Elchoness, Executive Director of the Association of Virtual Worlds and a parent of two young ones himself. "This book is by no means the 'be all and end all' for parents on kids' worlds, but it certainly gets us going in the right direction."
The Blue Book includes a quick system of categories and web addresses to make it easy for parents to preview age-appropriate virtual worlds, and make sure that these are the worlds they approve for their children. In addition each world is classified as live or in development, by the type of virtual environment it is, for example, a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game), a social network, a mobile application or a custom world.
Kids' virtual worlds in The Blue Book include worlds developed for children as young as 2-years. Brief descriptions help parents identify virtual worlds that are linked to toys such as Webkinz, Beanie Babies, and Build-A-Bearville and worlds that offer an educational component such as PBS Kids Play, Handipoints, or MinyanLand. There are also worlds associated with many familiar brands such as Barbie Girls, Coca Cola, MTV, Disney, and Nickelodeon to name just a few.
The Association of Virtual Words is a global industry association for the rapidly growing virtual worlds industry. It serves as a resource for those wishing to experiment and explore virtual worlds for work or play. The Association's mission is to educate, network, recruit, and further the membership's collective goals.
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