Step aside, Second Life. There’s a new time-wasting virtual social network just released by Google. It’s called Lively and it’s your ticket to the cyber world, complete with emotes and customized avatars. Screw that pay to play bullshit on Second Life. Hell, no one wants to hear your lame cyber concert anyways. Play on a real stage or go home!

Lively’s client is free to download and runs with IE or Firefox. Images and videos are viewable in Lively, as well as the ability to embed websites, like your Tumblr or other blogs into your Lively “living space.” Though the content isn’t quite there on Lively (lacking an economy like that of Second Life), it’s still free to play and you’ll feel less dorky playing it than you would with Second Life. Give it a try and let us know how it is.

Link (via)

Back in November, Blizzard released a slew of celebrity World Of Warcraft commercials, one of which starred William Shatner as the nature grasping Shaman. Oh sure, we’ve seen our share of gamer themed cakes, but this super-chocolaty cake showcases the Shaman symbol from the popular MMO.

I don’t think Star Trek ever had a sweets-themed episode, but Shatner’s slight belly paunch leads me to believe he is no stranger to the ways of the baked good. The Shaman cake is also one of those delicious and savory desserts which leaves your teeth covered in a black film, emulating pirates and the Undead. All I can say is, OM NOM NOM. — Andrew Dobrow

Link

We thought the idea of Nolan Bushnell, creator of Pong, one of the first and most well-known video games worldwide, was a really interesting idea. If he could think of something with the lasting power of Pong, what could he offer the world of MMOs?

Bushnell comments that he is indeed working on an MMO, but than mysteriously added “as compelling as World of Warcraft is, it too shall find that there are other ways to play a game.” So we’re thinking the Bushnell MMO won’t be your traditional fantasy dragon slayer game. — Andrew Dobrow

Link

Blizzard can’t help but tease the eager public, but we ask of them, “For the love of God, PLEASE stop teasing us!” Starcraft2.com is now an official site, which redirects to the Blizzard homepage. So is there cover totally blown now for the announcement of Starcraft 2?

Maybe, maybe not. This could be Blizzard’s way of differing us from the real announcement. But probably not. The big question is, will Starcraft 2 be an MMO or the more traditional god controlled game? With WoW still surging in popularity, would it be wise to launch another MMO? — Andrew Dobrow

Link