Enter Google Lively, perhaps one of the best and brightest 3-D chat experiences in the history of the Internet. Where IMVU once topped this chat niche, Google Lively comes along and raises the bar beyond anything the IM industry has ever seen.
In its July 2008 premiere release, Lively set new standards for a multi-dimensional, real-time experience; unlike competitors, Google’s product is web-based, promoting easier use of their application. Aesthetically, Lively exhibits a near-perfect visual experience with a beautiful palate of color and bold new worlds to explore. However, as with any new product, Lively has its cons as well.
Google's Lively Chat App
Living up to its name, Lively delivers a strong visual presentation and a great opportunity for users to venture into a new experience only Google could provide.
Keeping with the company’s trend on easy-to-use applications, the program provides easy access to a rich set of characters users can portray in addition to a bevy of themed chat rooms, including a high school, an homage to the Ewok Village in Star Wars and many tropical islands to call home. Once placed, users can use their avatar to begin meeting new friends, building alliances and adding contacts to their account for future encounters.
Hundreds of detail-rich chatrooms allow users the flexibility to jump from one world to the next, each boasting bold color palates and the same graphic quality that made Google Earth a success. In similar fashion, Lively’s simple interface and easy-to-use controls mirror user tools already well-known among other Google products.
However, despite good looks and an easy-to-use experience, sometimes the experience suffers from efficiency that is less than optimal.
Suffering from Slow Speed, Same ‘Ol
While we tested Lively on a late model computer, new users with older computers may find their experience delayed by long chatroom loading times and character development. Often, I encountered sluggish speed in loading new chatrooms as I moved from room to room. Several times during our tests, our computer would freeze for minutes at a time only to resume operation once the new theme had loaded.
During the initial start-up, users are given the opportunity to create their avatar with a small set of characters, including personalization options for hair and eye color, skin complexion, fashions and more. However, the program never alerted us to do this—we just sort of found it on our own. In fact, for much of the Lively experience, lack of direction was slightly aggravating as I had to learn to navigate on my own.
But, once efficiency issues and the learning curve were resolved, there was the obvious lack of personalization options and user-created content. Although there are many chatrooms to choose from and only a handful of avatar characteristics, Google admits the application is not ready, yet, for user-submitted content.
So, in the meantime, while everything looks delightful on screen, users must settle with less choices than their competitors currently offer.
The Verdict
Although there were a number of efficiency issues and few personalization options, I thoroughly believe Lively will be able to claim the title best 3-D IM experience on the web. Once Google addresses some of its first release challenges and opens the application to user-created communities, users will likely agree the product improves upon this communications niche.
Overall, a beautiful beginning for the vibrant Lively.
System Requirements:
- Windows XP or later
- a decent video card (at least 32 MB video memory
- P3 800
- 512 MB RAM
- DX 9
- 32 MB GPU (such as GeForce 2 or above)
- Flash 9 or later
- Broadband Internet connection
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What do you think about Google Lively? If you’ve tried the product, let us know what you think! E-mail Brandon De Hoyos, your Guide to IM, or consider posting your thoughts in our IM Forums.
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