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''vSide'' was an Internet-based 3D virtual world that was launched on May 15, 2006. The game is in its public beta phase. Initially developed by Doppelganger, Inc., a studio founded in 2004, the game was acquired in June 2009 by ExitReality,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=ExitReality Confirms vSide Acquisition )〕 which is the owner and developer. Inside the game's universe, users are called "vSiders" and can interact with each other through social networking, celebrity entertainment, virtual boutique shopping and self-expression. Membership is free. ExitReality provides “next generation social entertainment" with ''vSide'', where in-world activities and engagement focus on music, entertainment and fashion. ''vSide'' is designed to be an online social environment where teenagers can hang out in real-time with their friends in public and personal spaces. It is based both on professional and user-generated content or design. A major part of its concept is users hosting their own events for others to participate in. It has won the “2007 Top 100 Private Companies to Watch” award from the 2007 On Hollywood Conference and the “CNET Top Five Selection” from the Under The Radar Conference 2007.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The best new media and entertainment start-ups )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Advertising )〕 In addition to encouraging teenagers to express themselves through personal spaces or "apartments", ''vSide'' also encourages users to express themselves though social gestures and connections, including who they hang out with, where they’re “seen”, where they base their personal space, and the activities that they engage in. ''vSide'' also offers an extensive character customization system with over five million different clothing combinations available for free. Avatars can be additionally personalized through the purchase of virtual apparel. As with all communities, social status is important in ''vSide'' community. Users can earn in-world status and climb a social ladder based on the number of friends they have, the number of new friends that they bring into the world and the activities they host or take part in. High social status in the world is visually represented through points so that users can immediately tell a new member of the community compared to a veteran user. High social status will gain entrance to VIP events, confer preferential access to personal spaces and allow for the acquisition of virtual goods not available to the average user. ==History== In March 2006 Doppelganger, Inc. released a "Preview" of a new virtual game called "The PCD Lounge" after a development phase of "about ten months".〔(【引用サイトリンク】archiveurl=http://replay.web.archive.org/20070329040547/http://www.garagegames.com/mg/snapshot/view.php?qid=1203 )〕 Only a few people from the PCD Fan Club list were invited to try out the preview. At the end of March, a "Preview Refresh" was released with bug fixes and on May 15, 2006, "The Lounge" Beta officially launched.〔 It was introduced as "the first virtual nightclub for teens" featuring the Pussycat Dolls and Interscope Records. In the beginning of The Lounge, the main revenue was "generated from music download sales and other merchandise, as well as billboard advertising space inside the virtual club"〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Virtual Club Opens With Pussycat Dolls )〕 and "Credits" (short "Creds") to buy virtual clothing items were introduced. The virtual game was later renamed to "The Music Lounge". The Music Lounge became a success, grew, and was re-branded as ''vSide'' in the summer of 2007.〔 At this point many of things had changed from the original game. The online world was composed now of 3 cities, the old social status system called "respekt" was replaced with the current vPoint rank status and apartments, which could only be rented in The Music Lounge, could now be bought. More sponsors were added overtime like Tyra Banks, DJ AM and Degrassi and real-life brands such as Kitson, Rocawear, StarStyle & EDOC Laundry. One year after the launch of ''vSide'', in August 2008, Doppelganger, Inc. was acquired for $ by Hip Digital Media but continued to run without noticeable changes for the users. ''vSide'' ran stable for a year and a half with the addition of vHD, a store in which clothes made by users were sold, and some other additions to the game like the Sumo arena and tetris-like machines. Unfortunately, in the beginning of 2009, Doppelganger was forced to lay-off a great deal of their staff due to financial problems〔(【引用サイトリンク】archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20081217234404/http://forums.vside.com/forums/ann.jspa?annID=506 )〕 and a few months after, they informed their community of the game's shutdown. Starting June, both ''vSide'' and ''vSide''s forum were left un-moderated due to all of the staff no longer working for Doppelganger, Inc. Surprisingly, an unknown moderator appeared once in a while to clean up the messes that users caused. A few days before expected server shutdown, two community staff held a featured event called T.G.I.F. (Thank God It's Friday). This would be the last event held under Doppelganger ownership, but did not go that well thanks to some technical problems with offline systems in Doppelganger' headquarters. The virtual game's servers went offline first and a few days later, the game's forum and Doppelganger's official website went offline. Everything up to this period is considered by some as "''vSide''s Golden Age". On July 31, 2009, ExitReality announced that it had acquired ''vSide'' for an undisclosed amount and the ''vSide'' forum comes back online. The game itself was not immediately revived, instead the game's servers were moved from their existing location in the Doppelganger headquarters to a new host run by SoftLayer Technologies in Texas. After the servers were set up, a hidden section in the game's forum called "''vSide'' Renaissance" appeared to selected users, for instance, Guides and Tech Experts before ''vSide''s servers had been shut down. This section and the users in it worked together with the new ExitReality staff to test the server before opening it to the public. Later that year, ''vSide'' was opened to the public with a few changes to the ''vSide'' left by Doppelganger. The most notable change was that ''vSide'' no longer played its own music. The areas in the game with staff-broadcast music were replaced with shoutcast radio stations, which Doppelganger had already integrated into the game. Moderators and Promo Team members, were now users picked by the new staff. During between ''vSide'' was re-opened to the public and the present time, ExitReality has updated ''vSide'' with two more apartments, has added more items for users to purchase like more clothing in the vHD Store and more furniture and decorations for the apartments. ExitReality is often responding to requests on the forums, for example, the Dot Dorm A re-release and make-up were often demanded by the user base even before ''vSide''s shutdown. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「VSide」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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