A RockYou user has filed a class action lawsuit against the social media developer for allegedly failing to properly secure his and others' personal information against a hacker's attack that walked away with email accounts and passwords for some 32 million registered users.

The suit alleges that the developer, which produces popular games like Zoo World and apps like Slideshow for social networks, maintained its users' information in an unencrypted and unsecured database (plain text), which did little to protect hackers from gaining access using a "well-known and easy-to-prevent exploit".

According to Alan Claridge, Jr., who filed the suit, RockYou did not notify him or other users about the breach until news outlets caught wind of the hacking more than a week later. The class action lawsuit is seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order requiring the developer to increase its security for users' personal information.

"This alleged data breach was by no means unforeseeable. The means of attack has been well-documented for some time, as has been the means to prevent it,” says KamberEdelson's Michael Aschenbrener, the lead attorney for suit. His Chicago-based law firm specializes in class action suits dealing with internet, technology, and privacy issues.

Aschenbrener adds, "RockYou allegedly did nothing to prevent the attack or safeguard its customers’ sensitive personal information. How any company in possession of this much data could do nothing to secure it not only violates the law, but also basic common sense."

A spokeswoman for RockYou, Wendy Zaas, says the developer plans to defend itself vigorously. "The company takes its users’ privacy seriously," Zaas commented, though she did not discuss the suit's specific allegations, according to a report from Wired's privacy/security blog Threat Level.

Social gaming developer Zynga filed 21 trademarks for registration in late December for what could be potential titles of upcoming social network games, such as FrontierVille, Mafia World, and many others.

It's unlikely all of the trademarks will see video game releases, as many seem to be variations of a theme like CrimeVille and Crime World, or Zoo City and Zoo Island. The FarmVille studio could be using multiple titles do discourage rival developers from creating similarly named games, or it could be just keeping its options open with what title it will eventually use.

While some games sound like sequels to existing properties (e.g. Mafia World a possible follow-up to Mafia Wars, and AnimalVille to PetVille), many seem to indicate new ideas the developer could be considering for upcoming releases, such as HospitalVille, HotelVille, TreasureVille, BountyVille, FrontierVille, and Casino World.

You can see a full list of the recent trademarks Zynga filed after the break, as posted by consumer gaming blog Games.com. Please note that the company has previously filed for trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for items that sound like possible social network games but were never released, such as MMOSenz, WebSenz, Casino Gold, Celebrity World, and more (the last two were filed last November).

Near Death Studios, the now ill-fittingly named developer that purchased landmark MMORPG Meridian 59 in 2001 and has maintained the game since, announced that it's closing its doors after five years of being "on life support".

Originally developed by Archetype Interactive and launched commercially by The 3DO Company in 1995, Meridian 59 30 massively multiplayer online roleplaying games. The subscription-based PC title featured graphics that many often compared to Doom's, as it used a similar proprietary graphics engine that rendered sprite-based objects in its 3D world.

Meridian 59 was already long in the tooth when The 3DO Company shut it in 2000, but Near Death Studios, a studio founded a year later by the game's former developers Rob "Q" Ellis and Brian "Psychochild" Green, purchased its rights and re-launched Meridian 59 in 2002 with hopes of updating the title and growing its community.

"Unfortunately, M59 never really grew," Green admits in his personal blog. "We were lucky that we got a lot of attention for keeping an old game alive from the press. We also had a small and dedicated group of fans willing to keep the game alive. But, the press didn't really care about our attempts to improve the game, and the fans weren't interested in trying to attract new players."

China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and the Ministry of Culture (MOC) are expected to announce an agreement between the two organizations over a punishment and fine for the country's World of Warcraft operator NetEase, allowing the company to continue running the MMORPG.

NetEase's troubles stem from a dispute between the two government bodies last November in which GAPP ordered the operator to take World of Warcraft offline and refuse new account registrations due to "gross violations" of regulations. NetEase refused to do, as it received a go-ahead to run the game from the MOC, which recently took over regulatory responsibilities for the online game approval process in September 2009.

The MOC responded to the suspension notice by holding a press conference disputing GAPP's accusations and claiming the organizations violated a a higher-level State Council provision on the approval process for online games. Both groups seem to have a come to an agreement since their public spat and expect to announce sanctions for NetEase in mid-January, according to a local report summarized by China-focused research firm JLM Pacific Epoch and backed up by a GAPP official's comments to Reuters.

NetEase has faced a number of challenges relaunching Activision Blizzard's World of Warcraft since took over the game from its previous operator in China The9 last June. The game's transfer to NetEase was followed by two months of downtime and a long closed beta, the latter of which cost NetEase significant amounts of money to sustain without player revenue.

The recent problems with China's regulators have taken its toll on the company's stock, too; NetEase's shares have fallen 23 percent from their record high in September 2009. There's hope the price will shoot back up, though. "Investors still have a wait-and-see approach to the situation, but I think if there is any speedy resolution, that will be positive to the share price," predicted JPMorgan analyst Dick Wei, talking with Reuters.

San Francisco-based casual and social games developer DNA Games, which is currently operating in stealth mode, revealed in a recent SEC filing that it's so far raised $2 million in funding from unidentified sources.

Another SEC form filed last month showed that the startup raised $1 million of the this round in early December, according to a report from digital content business site PaidContent. Other than that, DNA Games has disclosed very little information about its plans, but the LinkedIn profile for Jonathan Lee, the studio's chairman and CEO, indicates the company was established in June 2009.

Lee founded DNA Games with Shaun Haase and Timothy Stevens, both of whom he previously worked with when heading Bazaar Advertising Solutions, a search engine marketing company that was purchased by Epic Advertising division AzoogleAds in September 2006. Haase and Stevens are listed as "directors" for DNA Games on technology firm directory CrunchBase.

The company put out a call for a senior Flash developer last November with the hope of recruiting someone who will help it deliver "the most captive, viral, social and profitable games that connect people via rich social experiences online." DNA Games also described itself as "well funded and lead by several successful serial entrepreneurs and game designers of epic hits in the video game industry."

Forterra Systems, the software developer behind the OLIVE platform for enterprise virtual worlds, laid off nearly half of its workforce in late 2009, mostly in mid-December. The company now has only 20 employees made up of its core engineering team and other staff devoted to delivering billable work to its government and corporate clients.

Founded in 1998 and based in San Mateo, Forterra specializes in helping business, healthcare, education, and government/defense customers meet, train, experiment, and host events with each other in a virtual space. Its primary product, OLIVE (On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment), provides customizable 3D virtual worlds where companies can meet and collaborate.

The workers made redundant include employees in Forterra's commercial sales and core research and development teams. Marketing vice president Chris Badger was also let go, according to a report from ThinkBalm, which speculates that the company will now focus more on its professional services and less on promoting its OLIVE and Meeting Labs products.

Forterra president Robert Gehorsam says the developer plans to continue operations and fulfill current contracts. Though he chose not to discuss whether the company is preparing its assets for possible acquisition, he commented, "We are always looking for ways to accelerate growth and adoption of virtual world platforms in organizations. We will look at ways to do that the best. We haven’t decided anything. It might be acquisition, further partnerships, further investment from investors, or organic growth over time."

Every week, we'll examine the most popular Facebook applications (according to MUA, monthly active users), as well as the social network's up-and-coming apps that have picked up the most users in the past seven days.

Though Christmas is past, and with it the popularity of holiday-themed apps, the jump to 2010 has raised the profile (temporarily, one would presume) of New Year-themed offerings like Happy New Year 2010, My Year In Status, and My Year In Photos.

Shikha's Pillow Fight at #3, which has its users swinging virtual pillows at the heads of their Facebook "friends, crushes, affair[s], love[rs], kids, or enemies" again picked up lots of new users, adding 3 million (+29.7 percent) to its total, now 10.2 million.

Zynga's PetVille also continues to nurture its user count, attracting 2.1 million new virtual pet owners (+11.2 percent) and now counting 19 million monthly active users. CrowdStar's recently launched Happy Island returned to the list, too, growing 23.8 percent with 1.5 million new players.

Emerging platforms like mobile, online and social games will generate almost 40 percent of all content revenue for the game industry in 2010, says Lazard analyst Colin Sebastian.

Although analysts like Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter are expecting a software sales rebound in 2010, Sebastian isn't expecting much of one -- with sales "flattish" when console software price declines are factors in.

However, the analyst notes "a significant opportunity for growth outside of the traditional console and handheld markets," adding: "We note that monetization of video game content online is increasingly driven by the sale of virtual goods, a market itself that could eclipse a billion dollars in 2011."

"The emergence of smart phones and social networking sites as key platforms driving growth further complicates matters for publishers geared toward the traditional console cycle," warns the analyst.

As a result of this migration, Sebastian predicts "legacy" publishers will continue investigating the social gaming space as Electronic Arts has done with its acquisition of Playfish.

Virtual goods solution provider Viximo revealed new partnerships with social networking sites BlackPlanet.com, SmartDate.com, and FanIQ.com (a sports-themed social gaming site). It also announced the appointment of interactive entertainment veteran Dale Strang as president and chief executive officer.

With its list of partners now exceeding 40 brands and two dozen web publishers, Viximo says its virtual goods network reaches more than 60 million monthly users. The company provides a platform for its clients to set up virtual goods, analytics, virtual currency, and microtransaction payments for their products in "less than one week".

Viximo brings in Strang to head the company as it tries to take advantage of what it sees as a "major surge" in the virtual goods marketplace. He replaces acting CEO Dayna Grayson (of investor North Bridge Venture Partners), who took over after the company's first CEO Rob Frasca resigned last April.

Prior to joining the firm, he served as president and co-founder of venture-backed online ad network 5to1.com. Before that, he was executive vice president and general manager of consumer video gaming news site IGN Entertainment for three years, and EVP and publisher of Ziff Davis Media for eight years.

"We are excited to partner with BlackPlanet, SmartDate and FanIQ to grow each site’s online economy and drive a new revenue stream," says Strang. "While many solutions in the market currently provide individual virtual goods components, Viximo solves the virtual goods puzzle for publishers by combining our premium content, virtual currency, analytics, and microtransaction payments into a single, easy to implement, customizable solution."

With browsers capable of supporting higher quality 3D objects -- and higher-quality games -- many developers are looking at ways to flex their muscle within the web window.

For Making History II: The War of the World, Muzzy Lane Software is using Sandstone, its 3D game engine for fully web-based games that supports multiplayer and social networking features, too.

Worlds in Motion sister-site Gamasutra has a new feature looking at how Muzzy Lane handled its specific engineering challenges -- rendering 3D games in-browser, approaching backend services and handling content distribution.

When it comes to rendering, Muzzy Lane's Matt Seegmiller explains:

As it turned out, it was not all that difficult to render hardware accelerated 3D graphics in a browser window. To do so, the basic challenge (in Windows) that needs to be overcome is getting a handle to a window. (This is similar in Mac OS X or in Linux.)

Most 3D-in-the-browser solutions currently solve this issue by writing a browser plug-in. However, there are two drawbacks to this. First, many people distrust custom browser plug-ins (Flash and Java plug-ins being the exception.) Second, each browser plug-in is very browser specific. Even the Mozilla plug-in architecture, that many browsers support, still often needs to be slightly tweaked for each individual browser. This eventually becomes a maintenance nightmare.

Following just a couple weeks after the release of its OpenFeint 2.4 SDK, iPhone developer Aurora Feint has announced it will release a standalone application for its social gaming network in mid-January.

The OpenFeint app's landing page will feature two features specifically designed to expose users to new games. The initial screen will feature a new free game every day, which will show if their friends on the network have added it as a favorite or written a review for the title. It will also offer a dynamic list of games that their friends have recently played.

The iPhone application will also demonstrate many of the new features introduced in OpenFeint 2.4, allowing users to see when their friends are online, instant message buddies, check a message inbox, access forums read developer announcements and newsletters they've signed up for, designate games as favorites and add reviews, access geolocation leaderboards, save game data to OpenFeint servers, and more.

"We have received many requests from players and developers alike, so we decided to release a stand-alone app on the heels of our OpenFeint 2.4 launch," says Aurora Feint marketing VP Eros Resmini. "We hope the app provides our players with a simple way to access the OpenFeint community of 7M+ players and discover content in our catalog of 650+ games."

You can see screenshots of the upcoming OpenFeint app after the break.

Social media monetization platform gWallet recently partnered with online video promotion company TubeMogul to introduce video campaigns to social games. The alliance with TubMogul, which also helped host and track the success of the clips, enabled gWallet to tap into "10 leading brands" for the advertisements, including Best Buy, K-Mart, Nestle, Coke, and The History Channel.

The videos are a variation of the click per action offers found in free games on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, with which players can earn virtual currency for games or applications by participating in an offer that asks them to sign up for trial subscriptions, complete surveys, or download applications. With gWallet's new campaigns, users need only watch a video to receive in-game cash.

The startup says its campaigns not only received more than 480,000 views and over 1 million minutes of total viewing time in just one week, but also helped increase the revenues of game publishers who integrated the videos by up to 600 percent. The video campaigns averaged more than two minutes of user engagement, promoting major brands and playing trailers for films released over the holidays.

gWallet attributes the success of this new program to the "ease and low time commitment" of watching a video. Many of the campaigns also feature a viral component that allows users to become Facebook fans of the advertiser's brand. The company notes that while most publishers can typically monetize only 2 to 3 percent of their users, providing video offers could help them monetize a larger audience.

The gWallet announcement follows two weeks after the startup revealed gLTV, a metric designed to help publishers project and potentially increase the lifetime value of users on their applications. Two weeks before that, it announced a round of funding that brought in $12.5 million to help grow the company into "the leader in cleaning up the virtual currency space".

"Our goals for 2009 were to bring major brands into the virtual currency and social media advertising space, and the use of video was a key component in making these goals a reality," says gWallet founder and CEO Gurbaksh Chahal. "This year, we will continue to drive additional innovation through a new set of products that brings brands into one of the fastest-growing sectors of digital media."

Norwegian developer and publisher Funcom (Age of Conan, Anarchy Online) appointed Miguel Caron as the chief executive officer of its recently established branch in Montreal, Funcom Games Canada. the new CEO will lead several "strategic initiatives" with the company's MMO segment, and is charged with growing the new office's staff.

Announced last September, the Montreal studio will play "a large and important part" in the development of Funcom's upcoming conspiracy-themed MMO The Secret World, according to the game's director Ragnar Tornquist. It's expected to hire between 100 to 150 employees over the next year and a half to help with that effort.

Prior to Funcom Games Canada, Caron spent 15 years heading several public and private businesses such as IT firm BCM International, mobile company NoWire Telecom, tech products design house Lyrtech, and management consulting firm Kigami Management. Funcom COO Ole Schreiner was initially announced for the Canadian chief executive position months ago, but the company evidently chose to install Caron instead.

"We are thrilled to have Miguel join us at Funcom," says Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. "Our Montreal based Company is central to a string of new business initiatives in Funcom, both in the high-end MMO space and in the casual MMO space. Mr. Caron will be instrumental in developing and expanding those initiatives. We have already found Quebec and Montreal to be an excellent location for business and we look forward to further expand our operations here under the leadership for Miguel."

Veemee, a developer specializing in branded spaces for game platforms and virtual worlds, announced the introduction of The London Pub to PlayStation Home in Europe. PS3 owners can now log into the service and purchase the premium area for €4.99 ($7.14).

Based on drinking establishments in London, the virtual pub is "situated on the banks of the river Thames overlooking The Houses of Parliament", and offers several activities for owners and their friends. Patrons can play a multiplayer darts game, conversate by an open fire, mess around with "comedy beer pumps", make crank phone calls, and more.

In PS Home, users have personal spaces that they can decorate and invite other users to. The London Pub is a premium personal space similar to the Summer House, Pirate Galleon Apartment, Loco Island, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift camp, and Final Fantasy XIII apartment. VEEMEE hasn't revealed any plans to release its new space outside of the virtual world's European version.

"It’s always nice to inject a bit of humour into the games industrym" says Veemee's creative director Kirk Ewing. "In a virtual pub you can get all the banter but obviously none of the booze. In The London Pub in Home, we always encourage people to 'Think Responsibly!'"

You can watch a trailer for The London Pub, complete with Cheers theme song "Where Everybody Knows Your Name", after the break.

"Game Room in some ways is sort of a retro approach," says Microsoft executive Robbie Bach. "There's a generation of people...who grew up with a set of games like Centipede. ...Game Room is the idea of bringing that back to the market, and bringing that to a very broad audience."

That's an approach reminiscent of Microsoft's initial characterization of Xbox Live Arcade, which has since expanded to include considerably more complex and graphically-ambitious experiences.

The service will launch with 30 arcade titles from publishers including Atari, Intellivision and Konami -- titles like Asteroids Deluxe and Centipede will be showcased in their original cabinets and playable in 1080p for up to two players. Microsoft hopes to offer some 1,000 games within Game Room over the next three years, adding multiple games each week.

A player can purchase a game for 240 to 400 Microsoft Points, and then play it on either Xbox 360 or PC at any time; the leaderboards and friend system are shared between the two platforms. Users can also pay 40 Microsoft Points to play a one-off game on any title, as if putting coins into the arcade machines.

An official Game Room trailer depicts avatars walking through virtual collections of arcade cabinets, signaling a more focused concentration on the retro, low-fi ethic and somewhat bringing to mind the virtual world approach of Sony's PlayStation Home environment. The user-created arcades are customizable, and in friends' environments, users can try their games before buying.

"I think what we're gonna find is that when people can get 30 or more of these games, they're gonna love it for the experience," Bach continued. "And it's not just you and I who are gonna love it. Even the people who would call themselves 'hardcore gamers' are gonna say, 'Oh wow, this is fun!'"

Online games publisher GOA will shut down its European operations for yet another title, this time long-running, subscription-based MMORPG Dark Age of Camelot. Mythic Entertainment, the developer behind the game and its North American publisher, will take over.

This news follows two weeks after GOA closed its European servers for Warrior Epic, an MMORPG from True Games, due to lower than expected player registrations. The operator urged fans to join True Games's U.S. servers but did not offer an option for transferring their characters or virtual items. At the same time, GOA terminated its Kart n' Crazy servers for the similar reasons.

GOA also recently cancelled its plans to publish another free-to-play title from True Games in Europe, upcoming MMO real-time strategy game Mytheon, a move the company said would help it focus on their other titles (e.g. Warhammer Online, Pangya, and League of Legends) and provide a "high level of quality and customer service" for its players.

As GOA lets its Dark Age of Camelot license expire, the company is working with Mythic to transfer operations and the community. Though the MMORPG first launched in October 2001, Mythic has kept the game's small userbase entertained with seven expansions (five retail, two free) and at least one major patch. The developer made all of its previously paid expansions available for free in August 2009.

"[We] will soon be providing details about pressing player questions such as existing subscriptions, character transfers, game versions, localization, and more," says Mythic Entertainment. "We look forward to welcoming all players from the European servers and look forward to supporting them in the years to come."

Online game publisher Nexon America (MapleStory, CombatArms) announced its plans to publish PopTag!, also known as BnB Crazy Arcade in other territories, in North America some time in the first half of 2010.

Sharing more than a few similarities with Hudson Soft's Bomberman series, PopTag! has players battling each other and computer-controlled characters in online maps with water-based weapons, like water balloons. To defeat their opponents, they place a water balloon next to an enemy to trap it in a bubble. The trapped player can escape the bubble by using a special item or receiving help from a teammate.

With each victory, players earn experience points and can level up. The game features both player-versus-player modes and cooperative modes in which gamers can team up to fight enemies and boss monsters. There's even a co-op mode enabling two players at a single computer to control different characters at the same time using a single keyboard.

Though it's a free-to-play title, PopTag! has thousands of purchasable items and character customization goods. It also features an in-game messenger and other community features, as well as a "sweetie" system that actually allows players to marry each other in-game. Nexon adds that it plans to release regular updates with new maps, modes, items, and quests.

"PopTag! is an exciting addition to our catalogue of games, and it should have strong appeal to fans of fast-paced arcade style gaming," says Nexon America CEO Daniel Kim, Nexon America's CEO. "We consider PopTag! one of the cornerstones of Nexon's worldwide success. It exemplifies Nexon's commitment to delivering a quality free-to-play gaming experience with frequent content updates."

Just a week after announcing its joint venture with developer Kingsoft, Chinese online games company Shanda Games revealed a series of agreements to expand its current offerings, including its acquisition of Goldcool Games, exclusive licenses for operating free-to-play titles Bubble Fighter and Mir III, and movie rights to develop a film based on Mir II.

Based in Shanghai, Goldcool currently operates two massively multiplayer online role-playing games in China, Hades Realm and Dukes and Lords. The developer has at least four other titles in its pipleine: Dragon Heir, Zodiac Tales, Martial Glory, and Hades Realm II. Neither company disclosed terms for the purchase.

Shanda obtained its exclusive license to operate Bubble Fighter, a 3D shooting-based casual game", in mainland China from Korea's Nexon Corporation. Its license for Mir III (or The Legend of Mir III), comes from Actoz and Wemade Entertainment, co-owners of the Mir series IP and both also from Korea. The Chinese company published Mir II as its first title in 2001.

The renewed partnership between Shanda and WeMade comes after a long legal battle that began when the two discontinued their Mir II licensing deal due to a profit-sharing disagreement. Shanda created a similar MMORPG, The World of Legend, and transferred users's data and equipment to the new game. WeMade responded by suing for copyright infringement in 2003; the companies eventually reached a settlement in early 2007.

Shanda also procured the rights to develop a film based upon Mir II from Actoz and WeMade, which the Chinese publisher says is part of its continued efforts to "enhance and extend" the Mir II brand. "We are very pleased to announce these exciting updates, which demonstrate our continuing strategy of creating and enhancing value through deepening cooperation with our partners," says Shanda CEO Diana Li.

She continues, "These recent developments, in combination with our previous announcement to establish a joint venture with Kingsoft, are a testament to the trust our existing partners place in us and the strong reputation of the Shanda Games brand, and are central in pursuing our winning multi-source approach to developing creative new game content."

In our latest employment-specific round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in big sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from Bungie, Sledgehammer Games and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted this week include:

2K Marin: Multiplayer Systems Designer
"2K Marin is looking for a dedicated, passionate and personable Multiplayer Systems Designer to join us on an exciting unannounced project. As a Multiplayer Systems Designer, you'll be in charge of taking high level goals and translating them into game systems and moment-to-moment experiences."

Relic Entertainment: Senior Director of Development
"The Senior Director of Development executes the developmental strategy of the studio in accordance with the GM and THQ’s strategic and tactical objectives. Responsible for ensuring project development achieves operating objectives and financial goals; ensuring development efficiency and product timeliness, and otherwise ensuring consistency and process improvements across projects."

Coinciding with a panel it's taking part in at CES 2010's Kids@Play summit, Build-A-Bear Workshop released several interesting statistics the reveal how its customers are retail stores locations are interacting with its Build-A-Bearville virtual world.

The company currently operates over 400 Build-A-Bear Workshop stores around the world. On the free Build-A-Bearville site, children can customize their avatars, chat with friends, play games, and take on quests in a Build-A-Bear-branded virtual world. If they purchase a physical Build-A-Bear toy from a brick and mortar shop, they can receive a special code to access exclusive content on the online service.

"Because of the unique perspective with our real world stores and the extension into our virtual world we see firsthand, how kids blend the way they play. This new generation of kids is changing the boundaries of play between traditional and virtual types of interaction," says Dave Finnegan, the company's "chief information and logistics bear".

According to Build-A-Bear Workshop's released data from a recent survey, one out of every three guests who visit the virtual world have also recently visited a Build-A-Bear store. The company adds that 40 percent of girls aged 8-12 years old and 50 percent of girls aged 10-11 years old registered their Build-A-Bear stuffed animals at the Build-A-Bearville site.

The virtual world could also be helping drive users to go out and shop at the real stores, as almost 17 percent of kids received their first Build-A-Bear stuffed animal after they joined Build-A-Bearville. "The interactivity of the in-store Build-A-Bear Workshop experience is the foundation for our Guest engagement with Build-A-Bearville," said Build-A-Bear Workshop founder and CEO Maxine Clark.

"Today’s kids want to combine their experiences and the friendships they develop in the real world with those in the virtual world," she continues. "This process is seamless for them and a part of their everyday lives. Our aim is to provide positive real and virtual world experiences to reflect children’s imaginations and natural interest in learning, sharing and having fun."