Ajax Arena

Ajax Football Club of Amsterdam - one of the most famous names in the sport - opened up an island in Second Life this morning. The build work, which is to a high standard, has been carried out by Nemesis Content Creation, the team behind innovative inworld game ideas such as Numbakulla, a Myst-like game deployed in SL. Reading about the site in other blogs, it seems that the Dutch telco KPN may be is a co-sponsor.

I guess it should come as no surprise to find the site is dominated by a football stadium (the arena), that is an uncannily good simulation for their RL stadium. I know there is a War of Virtual Aesthetics in parts of SL, between those who believe it is good and healthy to import RL buildings into SL, and those for whom it is a complete abomination. Personally, I hate the zealotry coming from the more extreme factions in this "war". In my view, if you have an iconic building in RL, then flaunt it in SL - provided you do it justice. I think the Nemesis team have done a great job in transforming the RL stadium in to SL.


Inside the arena there are seating areas (d'oh) and bars, while the more enthusiastic can run around on the hallowed virtual turf, or sit up in the gantry lighting to get a good view of the on-pitch shenanigans. Outside the main arena there are open areas, the Ajax shop (which seems rather bare at the moment), a bar and a second shop that is yet to be occupied. All of these are linked with easy-to-use teleports - just click and you're there.


The island is intended to appeal, in the first instance, to Ajax fans - with matches being screened live into the arena. The first such is the game on Sunday, 18th against league leaders PSV Eindhoven (who currently have a 23 point lead over Ajax, who are languishing in mid-table mediocrity this season). For those who are not footie fans, the arena will also host non-footie events, although no schedule is currently available. The site should hold up to 50 spectators - rather less than in RL, but average for a SL sim.

I didn't find much sign of freebies. but then given the amount football clubs charge in RL for branded items like replica kits and so on, perhaps this is to be expected. I confess, however, that I may not have spent sufficient time here to discover any freebies that may be on offer.

I mentioned the build quality briefly above. I think the furniture and buildings here have been developed to a very high standard indeed, and should give Nemesis an excellent reference for obtaining new commercial development work.