The kingdom of Norrath has a GDP roughly equivalent to Namibia. In 2002 the average citizen made about $3.42 an hour. This is an impressive figure, considering Norrath has been in a constant state of civil war since its genesis in 1999. What makes this figure even more impressive is the fact that Norrath is a virtual kingdom, inhabited by players of the online game EverQuest.

These days, inhabitants of online worlds can create more elaborately than Norrath. Second Life, which is more of a virtual world than a game, encourages players to buy and sell virtual goods for real money. Some citizens rake in over $50 000 a year. Of course, some are logging 70+ hours a week, as in the case of Veronica Browne of Simone! Design, a virtual fashion company. Despite the long hours, she makes over $17 an hour, well above the retail average. Even more fantastical games like World of Warcraft which, with over seven million players, have well-established economies where it is possible to make a significant income over and above the monthly cost of play.

With the ability to generate a livable income online, a lot of the old criticism of virtual worlds becomes obsolete. Games can no longer be called simple escapist fantasies that are disconnected from the real world. With over $1-million (USD) in transactions a day, Second Life can hardly be written off as an irrelevant fiction. Within the decade, most of us will experience the Internet primarily through a 3D virtual world, projecting ourselves into that world in the form of a 3D character, called an avatar. We will interact in a manner that approximates our offline experience. Instead of buying books from Amazon.com, we’ll walk down the virtual boulevard to the Amazon department store, pull digital books off the shelves and watch as our avatar thumbs through the pages. News agencies like the BBC already use Second Life as another venue for distribution, Telus recently built a virtual phone store, and even musicians have hosted concerts in cyberspace.

Taking games seriously does require a whole new set of questions. What are these virtual worlds doing to us? How do they affect the way we interact, the way we see ourselves, and the way we learn? Much has been said about the potential of games for education: if people can learn and have fun at the same time, then we’ll all get smarter, the education system can be reformed, and teachers can retire early.

Dr. Ian Bogost, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has spent a great deal of time thinking about these questions. His main site, watercoolergames.com, is devoted to discussing “games with an agenda.” It examines political, religious, and educational games, as well as advergaming. Bogost also heads up a gaming company called Persuasive Games, whose Arcade Wire series includes games that comment on Christmas consumerism, mass farming, and the oil industry.

Bogost spans the divide between academia and industry, adding some much needed scholarship to a business that he himself is a part of. This designer/scholar hybrid is something that I’m hoping to achieve by pursuing a Master’s of Digital Media, a brand new program beginning this fall in Vancouver. With a $40.5-million (CDN) grant from the B.C. government and another $8-million from the industry, the program’s claim that “the centre of digital media is here” rings true. The program is project-driven, which means that students will work in small teams to deliver finished products to clients each semester.

Unfortunately, the campus building won’t be built until well after I’ve graduated. But that’s okay. They’ve already hired an architect in Second Life to build an exact replica, and I recently had a chance to meet with some of the directors in their virtual boardroom.

Games, and the online worlds they create, are ready to redefine the Internet and the way we communicate. Virtual economies now see millions of dollars go through them every day, and more and more institutions are seeing these worlds as viable markets to explore. If you’re interested in joining the exploration, head on over to secondlife.com and make an account. It’s free. And as you’re busy whizzing around the world, don’t forget to visit the Centre for Digital Media on Erie at 130, 32, 23. See you in cyberspace.