Duran Duran's Upcoming Second Life Site Actually a Restoration from Second Life's Gilded Age of 2006

Framegrab of Nick Rhodes in Second Life for a 2006 BAFTA award presentation

Duran Duran is launching an official site in Second Life this month, you've probably heard by now, but what you may not know is it's actually a restoration of a project that was completed in 2006, created by the metaverse developer Rivers Run Red, working with the band. That was back in Second Life's Gilded Age, when large brands and companies were eager to promote themselves in SL. (Though in retrospect, long before the world had the scale to justify or support their grandiose plans.)

"We created the project," Rivers' Justin Bovington tells me, "I worked very closely with Nick Rhodes and we created the concept and the world in unison. It was a great experience. What we created was version 1.0. We then handed it over to the 'launch' company, and we were told to step back and they would do the rest. We waited. Like everyone else, we were surprised that it never launched."

Since then, Justin tells me, they've had no contact with the band, and only recently learned of the re-launch plans, and during a sneak preview, discovered the site will include assets they built five years ago:

"This is a piece of work from 2006," he tells me. "It's very much of its time; before sculpties and viewer technology and design innovation. To us, this is like opening a time capsule from 2006." Since then, Rivers Run Red has largely stepped away from the consumer side of virtual worlds, mainly focused on Immersive Spaces, an enterprise-level product.

As for Duran Duran's much delayed launch, "I don't know why they're doing it now." Perhaps it was through patient nudging from the band's fanbase, many of whom joined SL when they announced their imminent debut into the metaverse. "It's a testimony to the power of fandom, that so many Duran Duran fans waited so patiently. In that time, fans met because of it. Some even had children."

So when the site (called Aziz) finally opens on June 22, fans will go through a gateway into another era of Second Life, to experience another kind of nostalgia: As Justin Bovington puts it, "[It's] ironic, considering the whole 80's nostalgic trip around Duran Duran; stepping back in time, by stepping back in time..."

Meantime, here's a fan-made machinima from the era, a music video featuring a Duran Duran song about Second Life -- yes, back in 2007, they recorded one for their album "Red Carpet Massacre":

Comments

[Gwyneth Llewelyn]

Better late than never, and although it's certainly a baffling surprise, it's nevertheless a very welcome one :)

[Melissa Yeuxdoux]

Wow, what a flashback. Every so often I look back at my first SL snapshots to remind myself of how far we've come, and watching that video gives me the same feeling. Someone should do a remake, like the Gus Van Sant remake of _Psycho_.

[Sintax]

Should be fun, if for nothing else to see more than 3 people around.

[Ignatius Onomatopoeia]

Hey now, woo. That made me feel hungry like the wolf.

Too bad SL's Gilded Age is not happening now. Just when virtual-world technology has matured enough to justify a bit of hyperbole, the world beyond has moved on to social networking as the time-waster of choice.

[Robert Graf]

Memories Light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were

Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time rewritten every line
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me, would we? Could we?

Memories
May be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply to choose to forget

So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were

Babs...

This news is hilarious... LMAO!! What's next? Fey's Fantasies coming back? would love to see that! had fun there! If LL wanted to revive something, revive something useful like the Pontiac regions... LOL!! Pathetic... ;)_~~~

[Rio Gander]

Robert,

As a DDU fan, we have been waiting for this, for close to 5 years.

It never opened, so there is no revival.

What has this got to do with LL?

Perhaps you should talk to the people behind Pontiac? If there is enough of you, something would happen.

[II Singh]

Rather appropriate would you think Simon Le Bon looks like a grandpa or Wayne Newton or both and Second Life has become a similar wrinkly old irrelevancy as well. Perhaps if they are really lucky Linden Labs can woo a more modern band like the Zimmers to come on board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPQFLGxM6xs

[Lady Sakai]

First of all @ Robert Graf: This has Zero to do with LL. They dont own this Duran Duran does, so your laughing at the wrong tree.

Secondly I agree with Justin (Rivers Run Red) its very 2006, Seeing the builds (those that survived the slaughter made by the team brought in after Rivers is very much a nostalgia trip. I do think Rivers Run Red did a good job of it. Sadly some of it has been altered so for me its was sad to see.
Opening it now was well good in a way but the way it has been done is very far from Duran Durans usual standard. The whole opening has been handled in a most amateuristic manner to say the least. Going to show that trusting amateurs to handle this high caliber work is always a bad idea.
Not supricingly 99% of the fanbase are not impressed. Even those still in Second Life are iffy about it. Mainly due to the last years of high drama and clique tendencies. The ones that did give Second Life a try and left dont seem to want to come back.
Most of the Duranies in Second Life has moved on with our virtual lives and no way will the days of Avalon return. You can be sure that we will find our own ways of celebrating the genius of Duran Duran in any world that we may enter.
In conclusion I again want to extend my deepest thanks to Rivers Run Red for being to nice and patience with us in 2006-07. They went to great lengths for us all. Even resurrecting the old Avalon for a Duranie wedding that was filmed by the BBC.

[Dizzy Banjo]

oh wow I have to see this .. great that its finally released Justin! congrats.
I'm a big Duran fan ( especially their early work ) and always wanted to see this so I'll definitely check it out later !

In respect to time capsules : I think this is a great feature of SL - that some places stay the same and never age. I used to love flying around the early mainland regions near my Blumfield home, even going to Da Boom and seeing extremely early builds still there - looking at creation dates etc. Does that make me a sad loser or a Indy style virtual archaeologist ? ;-)

[Stone Semyorka]

This and the story about user numbers trending upward are some of the best SL news in recent memory!

[JoJa Dhara]

Finally best kept secret is out! That was a long wait but so thank ful as it made us explore and see the uppertunities and meeting great people like Justin, Dizzy Banjo more great designers and project leaders.

Music brought me in to secondlife indeed thanks to Nick Rhodes.
Still in an hour I got a fight with someone when i was on the islands about jelousy. But I am not jelous just worried so much about the name Duran Duran as some of the build are poorly done and specially if you put prefab houses on a sim the belongs to a great name as DuranDuran.
Specially if you are aware of the art of building and met them.
Simple modest great people that express themselves so wonderfull.
Still hope the launch will see this through and great events will be at place. But also if Nick Rhodes is watching closely with us he will see allso the great artists of art,machinima and music specially. I would hope they will be able to support some of the greatest of Second Life.

I am happy and releaved... and looking forward!!!!!

ps.. yesterday at MetaMeets event we saw the 3d viewer of Kirsten.. would that not be great of have that and walk in 3d through this world!! Wow so many great stuff can be done!!

[JoJa Dhara]

ps ;-) I got banned completly I found out after a great weekend event in Amsterdam.

As Community manager I would like to say there is a difference between managing a sim or rulling...

And as CM you should have an elephant skin!

well will wait a little longer till it is open for public ;-)

[foneco zuzu]

Quoting:
. The ones that did give Second Life a try and left dont seem to want to come back.
Unqoting: Lady Sakai

How its funny to see the one that almost made me quit Sl, when as a landlord just stoped paying the bills and didnt even give a single word to their tenants, that lost all built with love, saying that!

[Lady Sakai]

@ foneco zulu
I dont recall your name I have to say. Taking a quote from me that deals with something completely different (naimly Duranies leaving SL due to the learning curve among somethings) baffles me a little.
I know you tried to post on another blog as well as I got a subscribe email. I couldnt see your post there so it must have been removed.
Fact is that my Estate business went belly up in SL. Reasons were many. In RL busineses go bust everyday and innocent people get caught. Its no excuse but its a fact.
How LL deals with take downs is being layed at my feet. Not all fair. The circumstanses that lead to the take down almost a year back now I wont get into here as they are private.
Your welcome to IM me in SL if you need to talk or vent.
Regards Lady Sakai

[Ann Otoole InSL]

Oh look. Instead of holding the event in the club that spans two sims only 40 avatars allowed.

Back before LL created homesteads we could get 100 in a sim and still have fun. When homesteads were rolled out the performance of full sims dropped to more than 20 avis kill the sim. Coincidence? Perhaps full sims are just homesteads with a raised prim limit lol. Anyway holding a obviously going to be popular event in a sim set to 40 avatars is kind of... whatever.

Maybe he needed to go DJ at the SL8B auditorium instead.

[JoJa Dhara]

That would have been clever to promote the sims and their opening!

It made me wonder yesterday if the project leaders knows what is going on. And I mean the band themselves. Are they involved?

Indeed simple the solution could be so more fans could enjoy....

sigh.. I shut up I am insane as someone said ;-)