Webcarzz, the upcoming car-themed virtual world for boys, launched its first feature to the public today. The CarStructor lets users start off customizing their own vehicles from the ground up. The full virtual world is in private beta right now, but the company was originally aiming for an open test later this month. Users start with just a few basic shapes, but can twist and turn them to form a variety of cars, motorcycles, and planes.
When we spoke to CEO Chris Bergstresser previously, he stressed that, unlike Disney's anthropomorphic World of Cars, which is also letting users start building vehicles, the emphasis is on gameplay and socializing through activities rather than avatars.
That certainly seems to be the case here. The geometric modeling offers a lot of variety for different vehicle shapes and styles--branded and original decals will offer a little more personalization--but the cars are clearly cars, not people. Since Webcarrz is aims to target boys with more active play than dress-up, it makes sense. I'll be interested to see how users take to the cars as their avatars when more community options are available.
For now users can share their creations in a gallery and vote on others' cars as well. When the world opens up, the cars will be used to race, play, and explore.
“CarStructor provides a simplified introduction to modeling and modifying 3D shapes and also provides children with the basics of geometry,” said Nique Fajors, Executive Vice President of Webcarzz. “Children’s minds are full of imagination, and CarStructor opens up more roads for them to explore.”
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