Let me first say that this assignment has been one hell of a hassle. According to SecondLife.com, in order to properly run SL you need to have an ATI Radeon video card (8500, 9250 or better) or an Nvidia (GeForce 2, GeForce 4mx, or better). Based on the specs required on the listed video cards, my Volari XGI is more than compatible or so I thought. When I first ventured into Second Life last fall, everything ran smoothly. However, Second Life has changed a bit since last year. In fact it has changed enough to know that my more than capable video card is not one of the listed brands supported by Linden Labs. Luckily enough, I have a 5 year old Compaq that I modified a year ago with a Radeon 9200 video card installed. It was around the 14th crash when this epiphany struck me. After re-imaging my old machine and running some driver updates, I was finally in business. Since business is the theme, I figured I would clue everyone in on what I had to endure to get up and running.Once in world I decided to locate those Adidas "a3 microrides" I blogged about early. I wanted to buy a pair and start bouncing around. After all, whats $0.20 US? It was at this point that I ran into road block numero dos. Okay so there I was doing the search thing (if you haven't searched in SL prepare to get pissed off.) I know for a fact Adidas has a landmark. It says so on SecondLifeGrid.net where I first read about them. In the article, I was able to find a SLURL (Second Life URL) which is suppose to redirect you to the landmark. That didn't work either. When I searched on the map, Adidas and its coordinates showed up fine. However, when I attempted to teleport there, I was kicked back to my previous location. If I am doing something wrong I can't figure it out. Until then, my opinion of searching in SL is "it blows". There is no way to tell it to disregard people so you end up with a shit load of unwanted results.
Nike
In frustration, I headed over to check out some of Adidas's competition at the Nike & Reebok stores. The Nike store has an open floor plan complete with full height clear glass windows and resides on the beach in Kimokeo Cove. The graphics were inviting and nicely done. Right outside the front steps is a promo chair. Basically, if your name begins with a given letter and you sit in the chair for the alloted time, you receive a free gift. Behind the chair is a Nike Shox ad, which I thought it was a clever marketing gesture. Unfortunately, "G" was not the letter of the moment.
Reebok
First impression: "Reebok rocks." I liked the flow of the design. It is very industrial yet modern. In regards to layout, this functioned most like a real store. Instead of just images on a wall, Reebok utilizes the look of displays with shirts and shoes stacked on shelves. This made the experience more realistic. The big thing here is the "rbk"customizable sneakers. Reebok allows you to design your own sneaker for SL just as they do on their website. Concepts like this make the most impact. Much like my anticipation for the a3 microrides, Reebok offered something usable. At this juncture, Reebok has my vote for best images and relative marketing. If my assumptions about Adidas are correct, they get bumped to second.
Nike
In frustration, I headed over to check out some of Adidas's competition at the Nike & Reebok stores. The Nike store has an open floor plan complete with full height clear glass windows and resides on the beach in Kimokeo Cove. The graphics were inviting and nicely done. Right outside the front steps is a promo chair. Basically, if your name begins with a given letter and you sit in the chair for the alloted time, you receive a free gift. Behind the chair is a Nike Shox ad, which I thought it was a clever marketing gesture. Unfortunately, "G" was not the letter of the moment.
Reebok
First impression: "Reebok rocks." I liked the flow of the design. It is very industrial yet modern. In regards to layout, this functioned most like a real store. Instead of just images on a wall, Reebok utilizes the look of displays with shirts and shoes stacked on shelves. This made the experience more realistic. The big thing here is the "rbk"customizable sneakers. Reebok allows you to design your own sneaker for SL just as they do on their website. Concepts like this make the most impact. Much like my anticipation for the a3 microrides, Reebok offered something usable. At this juncture, Reebok has my vote for best images and relative marketing. If my assumptions about Adidas are correct, they get bumped to second.
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