Holiday Shopping for that Second Life-r

The Holiday Season has come upon us, while black Friday is only two days away, Holiday gift shopping for that special virtual world person can be a bit difficult. What do you get that person who lives in a virtual world? Do you get them virtual items or something more real? The answer, both! Every Second Lifer has different needs, either it’s a new video card to see the new Windlight effects better (or to replace the one that Second Life toasted), or maybe it’s a new wardrobe from OnRez. Through OnRez.com and Amazon.com I’m going to provide a quick list of items that you should consider getting that Second Lifer for the holiday season!

Generic Gifts

• $L! (Read as Virtual Money!) – This is the easiest choice, what’s better during the holiday season than giving away cash? It’s simple although it says “I have no clue what to get you… so here’s some money!” Nothing is at all any different in Second Life, purchase some Linden and drop it on the person you’re giving a gift to with a note that says “Happy Holidays!” Honestly, you can do much better than this!
• A New Skin – This sometimes is the hardest choice, but a skin update is a great gift, especially if you find something they will love. OnRez has a listing for both men and women skins, but be careful, before purchasing make sure you know their style, make sure you have tested it out AND make sure they haven’t purchased it already!
• Clothing! – Unlike in Real Life, you can never really go wrong with clothing in Second Life. There are many designers to choose from, but some of my favorites are Crucial Creations, Torrid Wear(for women), Nyte n Day (for women), Silent Sparrow, and Blaze.
• Huddles Animation Override and Quick Pose – I REALLY like the HUD based animation override by Huddles, I have one myself and think it’s a great and amazing way to organize animations, poses and access them on the fly. What is even cooler is that you can also incorporate any AO easily into it (just drop an AO set you bought, make sure the notecard is properly formatted and viola!). Starting at $L 599 with the Basic HUD, this gift will get PLENTY of use (or $L 1,500 for the Deluxe).

Specific Gifts

• For the Content Creator – If there is one thing that a content creator always needs is more land! While purchasing a sim may be out of many people’s budgets, getting your special virtual one an upgrade in a premium account along with a small amount of land (say at the 1/16 of a Sim level which is $25/month not including the price of land) is a relatively inexpensive way to give them enough room to build, possibly create a store, and who else knows?
• For the DJ – There’s one really important answer here, MUSIC! You could get your DJ software like SAM Broadcaster, but you’re better off with getting your DJ current a few CD’s (Kid-Rock, Jay-Z, Chemical Brothers all come to mind)
• For the Designer – Know someone who really gets a kick out of making clothing and textures in Second Life. There are some great things to get your them. You could get them Adobe Photoshop CS3 (which is hella expensive) or Corel Painter X or a Wacom Tablet (for freehand drawing)

Second Life Experience Gifts (i.e. Real Life Gifts)

• Second Life Books – Lets say that your Virtual Person doesn’t need a new skin or HUD attachment but really wants to make their Second Life experience better or has a budding virtual business, well run right over to Amazon and get them some really great books on Second Life. Second Life: The Official Guide, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Second Life and Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life are really great purchases for someone wanting to bone up on their Second Life.
• A New Graphics Card – Second Life is a BEAST, Period! There are some ways to better the Second Life experience, a) by purchasing an entirely new computer system, or two upgrading on some of the current parts. Say your budget for the person you’re getting a gift for cannot afford a new computer, you can get them a new NVidia 8800 Graphics card. This one is the cheapest found on Amazon.com, but I’m sure you can find one at a better price over on Newegg.
• A Fabjectory Figurine – These figurines are very cool, the guys over at Febjectory are able to recreate models of full avatars, and would make a cool gift! Prices vary on the complexity of an avatar, but the reaction of a mini-virtual-them is definitely worth the surprise. You can also make a virtual family by getting a figurine of their Mii as well!

There are plenty of other gift ideas that I did not post here, other great in world designers (perform a search for Armidi in Second Life), other cheaper options (if the NVidia 8800 card is too expensive, look for the 8600). This list is definitely a start to get your virtual one a really cool virtual or non-virtual gift for the holidays. If all else fails, just ask them what they want (or read their secret Journal!)