Maybe Webkinz, the virtual pet craze, haven't completely taken over your life. But if you've got young kids, or know friends with them, then you're probably hip to this craze. As I've blogged before, Webkinz are stuffed animals that have a virtual life online. You get a serial number on the tag, punch in the code, then "care" for the critter in a game-like world.
With the product selling 2 million copies, the imitators are falling quickly in line. Funkeys is one of the more intriguing candidates. As Kotaku tells us, these are little collectible dolls that contain games. Plug in the big-headed character into your PC, and it unlocks a new chunk of a branded virtual world called Terrapinia. The more Funkeys you buy, the more parts of the world you can explore.
So what are these new kinds of toys that live both online and off? How about calling them eToys? I'd expect to hear a lot more about these things in the years ahead. eToy Barbies? eToy Wiggles? eToy baseball cards?
The possibilities are endless.
