e366 – MetaMoney | Games At Work dot Biz

stacking euro coins on top of a rook — Photo by KAI MA on Unsplash

MetaMoney – stories about the monetization of the metaverse, immortality, Habitat MMO, autonomous & LEGO classic vehicles.

Andy, Michael and Michael start things off in this episode discussing the monetization of the metaverse. Stories about the percentage of sales going to Meta, as the owner of the virtual experience form the launch point for the discussion with the co-hosts. As reported by Gizmodo, 47.5% of the sales price will go to Meta, which includes the 30% Oculus hardware fee. These substantial sums spark a conversation about metaverse arbitrage opportunities, and make it easy to imagine how price competition may evolve with different taxation rates in different app stores.

Next up is a story about metaverse immortality. Longtime Games At Work listeners will remember intriguing discussion about this topic going all the way back to 2012. See the links to episodes 26 and 218 and 328 in the show notes below. Andy brings up the “Be Right Back” episode of Black Swan, which raise many issues about what might emerge from this kind of technology.

Michael R shares a story about Habitat, a classic MMO that he played on the Commodore 64, reminding him of the Little Computer People discussed on e163.

Then, the co-hosts turn to a Kickstarter for a doorbell camera whose differentiation is a virtual eye. The Doggole Smart Eye Doorbell has a single human eye that watches the person ringing the bell, and triggers a bit of an uncanny valley experience. It reminds Michael M of the droid at Jabba’s place that answers the gate.

Wrapping up this episode are stories about police officers pulling over an autonomous vehicle, map enhancements coming for Subaru, the LEGO DeLorean from Back to the Future, the LEGO Landspeeder coming on Star Wars Day, ancient dice and a new Star Trek, Next Generation reimagined as a 1970s era animated series.

Ready to try immortality, or build the new LEGO Landspeeder? Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz !

Thanks for listening!