by Phoenix, HSM team writer

VEEMEE has taken one of America’s iconic institutions and created a space in Home that brings the fun and flavor that Home users enjoy.

Their 50s diner space is a colorful salute to the highway dinner and the family dinning treat, before fast food ruined us all. Just looking at the space can awaken memories for some grayer Home users, allowing a fun stroll down memory lane, with a functioning jukebox to supply the tunes.

The funny thing with this space – as with many things in Home – is not only does this space have mass appeal for the grayer residents of Home, but it has a fun appeal to the less seasoned crowd. When VEEMEE first brought us the diner items they were a great seller. Home users placed them in their spaces, happily wishing there was a real diner space for such appealing items. Now we have the diner.

Is it because of the detail that VEEMEE put into the space? Is it perhaps the stories told about diners or movie depictions they may have seen? The Arnold ‘s of Happy Days fame, maybe, that makes it so irresistible?

A few things to know about diners, they were not fast food places. Diners were the closest things to home cooking when away from home. They sold more than dinner; you could get breakfast all day long in as well as lunch, ice cream and homemade desserts. From the early 30’s to the late 60’s they basked in popularity. It wasn’t until the 50s that the diner became synonymous with the American teen.

Diners were places to gather with friends, to talk and listen to music over a meal. A diner was sure to have the latest vinyl records, young and old alike could be seen in a diner across the country.

I have a friend on each end of the age scale that owns this space. For my older friend the answer was, “I simply love the diner!” For her, it was a great place to have friends visit. When I asked my other friend, who has the space and has less years under his belt then myself the same question, he cited the same reasons as my older friend; for him it was a great place for friends to gather and talk listen to music and he added he had always wanted to visit an old diner, so now he owns one. “It’s the retro thing! Everything old is new.”

Also from VEEMEE this week is the Personal Dining Experience: an active item that lets your avatar experience fine dining. This isn’t just some fancy alternative to the burger and fries or other decorative plates of food found in the ornament section of your furniture section. It is a fully functioning event. The owner can select from a full menu of four courses, each one of these will be given as a reward to your guest. You select the number of courses for your guest. Once done, you’re given the opportunity to consume your meal.

No really – you can watch as your avatar eats his or her meal.

Why is this something you or anyone in Home would want? Well, because it is another way of doing what we as humans do, socialize.

Getting together with friends old and new is what Home allows us to do. Friends far and away can share a meal in this virtual world, where they may not be able to otherwise. Sharing these little social pleasantries helps to deepen the friendship for most. A good many people in Home live, and play here. Once online they have lives where they work at event organizing, creating machinima, etc and some people in Home have real relationships that are deepened by these little experiences. We don’t share meals in the real world so much as we share the experience of good food and good friends. It’s that simple.

This year has been all about deepening the social experience in Home and VEEMEE has emerged as one of the developers at the forefront of that. Though they aren’t the first developers to bring us food related content, they have created somewhat lasting impressions with the 50s diner and its iconic visuals, as well as the Personal Dining Experience, and its appearance of fine dining.

Let’s face it, in a true virtual world the goal is to create the feel of the real world the way we would want it.

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One Response to “Virtual Dining by VEEMEE”

1. Kid Fleetfoot says:

   August 1, 2013 at 9:09 am

   It’s a nice, well written article. I bought it and enjoy it. When I walk in I almost expect to hear Rock Around the Clock playing. The tunes on the jukeboxes, 6 of them, are somewhat like 50’s rock or ballads.

   The setting outside is dark and maybe a bit scary but the inside is well lit up and looks like a good place to be. The dark outside can be sured somewhat by using the Loot spotlight or the BBC? spotlight. I have two, one if front and and one in back. Added in I put the stuffed bear by the dumpster and the carousel out front.

   Inside I haven’t done much. While I love it’s looks I am disappointed that I can’t put in LOOT’s jukebox which won’t play. I wish we could and that the jukebox provided was an option. Having small jukeboxes which play the same songs with a limited listening area is a nice touch.

   When I walk in I don’t expect Fonzie to be there but I wouldn’t be surprised if Elvis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash dropped in while on a Sun Records tour.

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