Online world mania

Following the success of kid virtual worlds like Club Penguin, Habbo and Webkinz, analysts predict 2008 will see more online playgrounds as kid and tween marketers catch onto the trend.

According to The New York Times, Disney — the parent company of Club Penguin — launched a "Pirates of the Caribbean" world for kids 10 and up, with worlds for the movie "Cars" and Tinkerbell coming soon.

Others jumping aboard the virtual train include Nickelodeon, owner of Neopets. Nickelodeon is pledging $100 million to the development of new worlds; meanwhile, Warner will develop worlds based on Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics. Toy companies Mattel and Lego have also tacked virtual worlds onto their marketing budgets.

On the other side of the pond, Britain's Mind Candy launched a world called Moshi Monsters last month, while a Swedish site called Stardoll signs up thousands of American users everyday.

The hype isn't all froth. Webkinz — which recently came under fire for advertising to kids — logged some six million unique visitors in November 2007, up 342 percent from the same time last year.

eMarketer estimates that the 8.2 million children who are members of a virtual world will jump to 20 million in 2011.