New York – Games, developers, investors, reporters and others gathered last week for the New York Games Conference, ‘an executive media conference focused on the future of gaming in New York City’. Second Life was mentioned from time to time, but was not a key focus of the conference. However, many of the issues discussed have great bearing on the future of Second Life.

With the focus on investors and executives, much of the discussion focused on how to monetize massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), virtual worlds, casual games, and many other types of online games. A key focus was what role do currencies play in games, how can they be used to fund games as gamers pull back on subscription based games.

The Terms of Service for Second Life states that “Second Life ‘currency’ is a limited license right available for purchase or free distribution at Linden Lab's discretion, and is not redeemable for monetary value from Linden Lab. “ Many have questioned if this approach to currency is the best way hand in world currency.

One company hoping to give Second Life a run for the money is Next Island. Their new virtual world will be opening soon based on the next generation of MindArk’s Entropia Universe. A spokesperson for Next Island spoke about haviNew York - Games, developers, investors, reporters and others gathered last week for the New York Games Conference, ‘an executive media conference focused on the future of gaming in New York City’. Second Life was mentioned from time to time, but was not a key focus of the conference. However, many of the issues discussed have great bearing on the future of Second Life.

With the focus on investors and executives, much of the discussion focused on how to monetize massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), virtual worlds, casual games, and many other types of online games. A key focus was what role do currencies play in games, how can they be used to fund games as gamers pull back on subscription based games.

The Terms of Service for Second Life states that "Second Life ‘currency’ is a limited license right available for purchase or free distribution at Linden Lab's discretion, and is not redeemable for monetary value from Linden Lab." Many have questioned if this approach to currency is the best way hand in world currency.