Posted: 9/7/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Screen capture courtesy of MochaSoft LLC. [Click to enlarge]

Sometimes a "poke" on Facebook just doesn't do it. Once in a while, a punch in the face may be in order. This upgraded interaction is what Zao Yang and Joel Poloney offer with their new SimCity/Facebook hybrid, MyMiniLife.com.

"People post comments on people's walls," Poloney said. "And I'm getting tired of it. Why can't I just go online and punch them in the face or give them a hug?"

The monotony of Facebook and MySpace brought these University computer science students, founders of MochaSoft, LLC, to develop something mixing the enormously successful massive multiplayer online gaming market with the social appeal of networking Web sites.

"You don't just want to be another Facebook or MySpace knock off," Yang said. "It's this entire Sim City-like world online."

The site may feel just like a day with a Sim family, but it goes much deeper.

Yang's character, or "MiniMe", walked across the white linoleum floor to his full size, leopard-print bed. His virtual apartment, nicknamed "Zamland," is a perfect representation of his actual apartment on the corner of Sixth and Stoughton streets. MiniMe's are fully customizable, from clothes to hair colors and styles.

Instead of simply surfing to a friend's Facebook page to read some text, MiniMe's explore their friends' homes. Almost anything can become interactive with the click of a mouse through the embedded media. Users can integrate videos, slide shows, games, pictures and music into their virtual laps of luxury.

"The best part," Yang said, "is you can embed all of these things (from MyMiniLife) into your MySpace."

Yang clicks on a small computer-looking icon on the table and a slide show of Poloney's vacation pops up. Multi-colored sticky notes left from friends are hung on the walls, chairs and tables. In Poloney's "Arnold's Pizza Shop," a note reads "What a freaking mess! Where's the pizza? Where's the bullets?".

"Massive multiplayer online games are most successful because of the social interaction, not the game," Yang said. "What makes Xbox Live good? The people."

But ushering in the new does not mean the team has gone out with the old. There is still a classic profile page with pictures and biography sections.

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