Barbiegirls.com
© 2007 Mattel, Inc.
April 2008 update: Barbiegirls.com will be moving to a premium content model, discontinuing the MP3 player that served as the key to the site. Like Club Penguin, children can register for free, but will need to subscribe in order to access premium content, including the ability to put a tiara on your avatar and becoming a "VIP." One of the best features is the ability to make your own Barbie avatar, a process akin to virtual dress-up. There's a range of facial features, hair styles and clothing items to choose from, including Barbie-related toys and outfits -- the commercial motive behind Barbiegirls.com. The site borrows proven features from other online success stories like Club Penguin, with a variety of furniture and pets; all items that can be purchased with "B Bucks". It is easy to jump to another part of the site. For example, in B Chic Boutique you can purchase new clothes, and in Furni Fever you can buy a pink sofa or a fish tank for just $120 "B Bucks". You can chat with other Barbie avatars in some of the locations, such as the B Café that comes stocked with fake aloof, spikey-haired boys that are designed to flirt at random intervals ("If you're lucky, a boy-bot may even join you"). So what can you actually do, besides create a hip, teen-girl avatar? How do you earn more B Bucks? That's where this site falls short; in fact we couldn't get our Club Penguin testers to even take a second look at Barbiegirls.com. There's simply not that much to do. You can watch movies, decorate nails or create the perfect outfit for Ken; each awarding random behavior with more money. Testers also found the chat to be bothersome due to the default heavy filtering. The sentence, "I like to eat pizza", shows up as unreadable characters ("I like to ## ##"). So will Barbiegirls.com be successful? The strengths are in the creative possibilities. It is fun to make your own avatar, and the designers didn't skimp on the fashion options. The ability to adapt and care for a pet, and care for it in your customized home is also a slam dunk, and the idea that you can share your creations with others from anywhere in the world is powerful. Weaknesses, at this point, are a lack of substantive things to do. Also, some parents will not care for the emphasis on boys, fashion, thin girls (there is no option for body type), makeup and the "packaged in pink" messages that saturate this site. The Barbiegirls web site was created for Mattel by Studiocom.
Windows, Macintosh
Teaches: creativity, typing, socialization, fashion
CTR Rating: 80%