12/12/2023 Pudgy Penguins to Launch Webkinz-Like Virtual World in 2024

Pudgy World, an interactive digital world available to Pudgy Penguin NFT holders, will become available in alpha mode sometime next year, according to the company’s CEO.

Move over, Club Penguin. Pudgy Penguins, the NFT-linked toys that waddled into Walmart earlier this year, are marching into a new industry: online gaming.

They'll be chilling in "Pudgy World" – an interactive digital playground for Pudgy Penguins NFT holders and toy owners as well as the uninitiated. The platform's early-access version will launch sometime before next April, offering players both narrative-driven and open-ended gameplay options, Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz said Saturday at contemporary art convention Art Basel in Miami.

Donald Trump Received $5 Million In Crypto Donations — But Not For His Election Campaign
CryptoPunks leads daily NFT sales with over US$1.39 million
How East Goes Global’s NFT Partnership Is Empowering Artists

“Pudgy Penguin fans have long been waiting for more ways to interact with their characters,” Netz said in a statement. “Having a place like Pudgy World will allow players to take their fandom to the next level.”

Launched in July 2021, the NFT project of chubby flightless Antarctic creatures endured a period of internal backbiting involving management changes, before recovering and ultimately, in September, announcing a line of tangible, in-real-life toys, including plushies and figurines, to be sold across 2,000 Walmarts in the U.S. The deal marked one of the first major breakthroughs by an NFT brand into mainstream consumer culture.

The toys are expected to rake in more than $10 million in sales during the second half of this year, Netz toldTechCrunch.

Pudgy World’s debut comes as toymakers increasingly roll out tangible toys alongside virtual gameplay tie-ins for a generation of digital-native consumers. Last summer, toy maker Spin Master released Bitzee, a tamagotchi-like virtual pet that comes in a handheld box. Meanwhile, Hot Wheels earlier this year debuted its Rift Rally Game, an immersive virtual world accessible to owners of its toy-car kit.

Each Pudgy Penguins toy will come with a scannable code containing a birth certificate for a digital ‘Forever Pudgy,’ or a unique character that lives inside Pudgy World, CoinDesk previously reported.

Players can explore Pudgy World as their own customizable characters, according to Pudgy Penguins. The virtual world will also feature the brand's first “Hero Characters:” Pudgy and Peaches, the company said.

The Pudgy Penguins NFT collection first dropped in July 2021, selling out within minutes. Since then, the collection has grown to 8,888 NFTs held by more than 4,000 people, Open Sea data shows. The collection's floor price is roughly $27,000, up from $90 more than two years ago. The collection’s market cap stands at nearly $250 million, CoinGecko data shows

Arts

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/12/10/pudgy-penguins-to-launch-webkinz-like-virtual-world-in-2024/

Interesting NFTs
#64995
By OthersideDeployer
Ethboy
Young Vitalik takes on the role of Picasso’s son Paulo dressed as Harlequin in this artwork but the octahedron Ethereum logo replaces the chequered pattern of the original jester outfit. Leaning against a large chair, the boy genius fiddles with his fingers in a somewhat nervous manner; nevertheless, he stares directly at the viewer with what appears to be a confident, ‘Mona Lisa-like’ smile. Vitalik has no idea what the future has in store for him, but he’s prepared to face any obstacle ahead as he begins life's adventure.
The River Plate Machine
Digital illustration for the cover of These Football Times magazine in its issue dedicated to the Argentine football team "Club Atlético River Plate". Original from 2020. For this cover I have created a complex machine that links all the generations and legends of the club with its great shield and emblem crowning the center as the heart of the fantasy machinery. Full of details and ornaments this is a highly detailed work. An authentic trip to the history of River through the imagination and the colors of the club. The most significant titles of the club are also included, such as the Libertadores Cup, the famous Intercontinental and the new Super Liga and the Argentine Cup in its newest cup design. If you see a hen, don't be surprised, it is the nickname that its fans give themselves, and they like it. ----- https://javierarres.com/about.html
Magnificent
Discovery of a new planet.
Who Is The Creator 2
The idea for this piece was borne out of a tweet of mine that caused a bit of a stir. I’d posted a link to a blog article I’d written a number of months previous titled ‘Who is the Creator’ discussing various types of creative collaborations and why I hire people to work on my animations. It generated a lot of debate around creation and attribution with the community split on whether it’s right or wrong for an artist to hire other professionals to help them realize their art projects. I decided to push the boundaries even further and see how the cryptoart community responded. What if I quite literally had nothing to do with the physical or digital elements of the work other than coming up with the concept and coordinating it? I decided there was one artist in the space who could add huge value to this idea on levels that none other could and so I gathered my courage and contacted the great JosĂ© Delbo to ask him if he’d be interested in a very unique collaboration. I explained to him that to make this piece ‘work’ he couldn't have any say in what I produced and moreover, he wouldn’t even be allowed to see the animation until it was dropped on MakersPlace. To my surprise, Mr Delbo agreed to my proposal. The animation tells the story of the creative process, which includes my roles as writer, director, and producer working with a team and making edits and changes ‘in real time’. The dialogue between myself and my ‘hired guns’ plays out in front of the viewer. The music written for the piece adds to the nostalgia of the comic book superhero theme but other elements such as the snapping and kicking of the pencil and the signing of my signature at the bottom incorporates further layers and challenges the viewer to ask important questions, such as, is the ‘Art’ the final animation (the creation) or is the ‘Art’ the concept/credit for the creation itself?