Sande had a video link up to an interview with the CEO of Guppyworks, creators of Guppylife, an MMO "for girls" - but the vid's been taken down for some reason. I'm curious though: details are slim but, it's Danish, it has AI, and is about cuddling critters, by the looks of it.
GuppyLife is an MMO for girls. The overall purpose of the game is to take care of the small furry inhabitants of the world, the guppies. A guppy is a small life loving creature with an innocence of a child and a thrill for fun and adventure. Guppies are quite intelligent. With a little guidance they learn to sing, dance, and most importantly be nice to both friends and strangers. Without guidance however, they will pickup bad habits or get sad and depressed.
Heh, bring on the Evil Guppies!
The environment design's pretty fantastic though, eh?
No news of any release date, as far as I can see.
screw it being for girls, I want to live in those buildings in the background! retrochic! It's like something from late 60's sci-fi!
Posted by: kim | March 03, 2008 at 17:00
I dunno - the swiss cheese portholes are a bit funky. The whole thing looks a bit freaky to me, to be honest!
Posted by: Taymar | March 03, 2008 at 17:21
so male humans don't visit guppy world? i find that hard to believe. i'm sure we're in charge of guppy population control, which, will be featured in Guppylife2: guppy hunt.
Posted by: l'elk! | March 03, 2008 at 18:04
If you are male and choose to play this game I will ask you to take a seat.
Posted by: Chris Hansen | March 03, 2008 at 22:37
A guppy is a type of fish. To the right of the comments box I'm typing this into, in the "Ads by Google" section, it says: "Guppy Fish Lovers Beware. Stop Killing Your Favorite Wet Pets. Expert Reveals Little Known Secrets".
Why did they decide to call their decidedly non-fish Tamagochis "guppies"?
Richard
Posted by: Richard Bartle | March 04, 2008 at 07:52
Your guess is as good as mine, Richard. Makes it a bit tricky to google, eh.
l'elk - brilliant.
Posted by: Alice | March 04, 2008 at 08:20
I'm so building those houses in Second Life...
Posted by: Ian Betteridge | March 04, 2008 at 10:03
Damn this game looks nice, It has a really nice feel to it in the image. I bet the programmers making this game must be really really talented.
Posted by: Kristian | March 04, 2008 at 10:47
As if we needed another video game for girls "Guppylife for girls"
I do agree with Alice though, the design looks great but please, its bad enough creating another video game for girls (have a look in any games store at the DS titles and you will agree) but to brand it "for girls" is not the best way to market it. Women and girls are put off by anything which overtly targets them as women. Not only does it put women off, but as one Lady Geek told me "just because I have breasts, doesn't mean I gravitate to other breasts." Nicely put i think. Apple never brought out the ipod and marketed it "for girls" but they did alot of research into understanding what women would respond to. Sony Bravia are positioning their TV as "a piece of furniture" not as "a piece of furniture for women" but their strategy is very much to appeal to the female market. The opportunity is for brands to understand the subtleties of connecting with women. Its complicated. Women are complicated. And an overt "girls only" approach just ain't going to cut it.
Posted by: belinda | March 04, 2008 at 10:57
Hey! lets see how they market this game before you start flaming how they market it.
Obviously this IS a game for girls -look at the screenshot. I think guppyworks are brave that they honestly try to make something good for the girls that are not just into shooters.
Posted by: lizas | March 04, 2008 at 11:05
I fail to see what exactly makes this game specifically for girls. Are boys not allowed to care for small animals too? I agree with Belinda that marketing it as "for girls" will not only put off girls but will totally put off any boys who would be curious about the world. And although they have actually begun to market the game, the first sentence on the makers site, "GuppyLife is an MMO for girls" makes it pretty clear who is invited and who isn't. It's a shame. For both the makers of the game and the boys that would have wanted to check it out.
Posted by: liam | March 06, 2008 at 03:44
I just realized that the guppylife web-site is up and running, but its only in sweedish at the moment.
Still interesting thou.
Posted by: belinda | August 16, 2008 at 11:15
hi
i like this game
Posted by: aisha | August 31, 2008 at 00:12
Apparently they've gone bankrupt. Anyone confirm/deny?
Posted by: Alice | October 23, 2009 at 11:53
Nope - the company is still running.
And the game i still running, but only in sweeden :(
Posted by: Belinda | December 08, 2009 at 13:06
well to me this game looks very fun and friendly, to say it is for girls though, i dont think its too much a big deal. and liam yes boys are very welcomed to, i think the object is more for girls fashion and things and more to talk about guys then to be with guys ;) but i would most certainly be willing to play this game for a while- it looks very fun and very good graphics
Posted by: Beck | March 03, 2011 at 08:25
and also i am gonna add with chris, the fact that this game would appeal to teen boys is rather odd... though i do realize some sickos would create an account if they are a boy... but really you cant stop them, if you had just the girl there and not a boy and just have the name say guppylife or guppyworks would they not make one anyways?
Posted by: Beck | March 03, 2011 at 08:30