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"Sony is in advanced talks to acquire ClubPenguin, the social gaming network geared towards kids.  The price is reported at the $450 million range.\nClubPenguin is an online, multi-player game for children, developed by Canadian software firm New Horizon Interactive.  Launched in October 2005, ClubPenguin has grown to about 4.5 million visitors in March.  With animated penguin avatars, users can converse with other players, interact with mini-games, along with other activities in the virtual world.  ClubPenguin is subscription based, costing about $6 per month, and earns additional revenue from their e-commerce shops. \nClubPenguin has no known investors, and looks to be a good distribution channel for Sony Pictures' advertising and Sony games.  Sony already has virtual avatar worlds in development with their Sony Playstation Home, which could prove to be a viable competitor to SecondLife.  Considering the popularity of Nintendo's Wii game console and community, ClubPenguin's cartoony nature may be an avenue that Sony is considering for their own Playstation.  In related news, Disney's Xtreme Digital community for children relaunched earlier this year.\n[via]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2007/05/16/clubpenguin/>