There developers creating "Virtual Earth"
 

The Department of Defense is commissioning a re-creation of the entire planet from online-sim maker.

As a rule, the developers of There prefer calling their creation a "virtual world" rather than a "game."

Now it looks like that statement will no longer be hyperbole.

According to a report on the BBC and HomeLAN Fed, the Department of Defense has commissioned the Menlo Park, California, company to create a replica of the entire planet. According to the report, the Earth sim will be to scale, featuring real-world distances--so if a user's avatar wanted to spend three months riding a bike around the Australian coastline, it could.

Besides offering simulated warfare, the virtual Earth will also help soldiers hone their social interaction skills and practice noncombat duties like
peacekeeping, policing, and reconnaissance. Although the only city currently in the sim is Kuwait City, the Defense Department plans to add many major metropolises by the time the Earth simulation goes live in September 2004.


http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/there/news_6089821.html

Any screenshots? I couldn't find any. :(

Go to www.there.com
There was a beta test... one of my friends was in it.

This is a horrible thing, our world is changing too fast and now we're reliling on computer, this is like the matrix ... or Minority Report...

D3V, I'm going to break something to you in a clever, yet witty, way. You come across as an ignorant jackass. That is all.

Don't expect too much... I was in There beta, and I thought it was fucking stupid.

Also, they seem desperate, as after beta, I got like 6 emails asking for me to make an account. They said I could get a lifetime account for a one-time payment of like $20. I was like........ mmm... nah.

I've been noticing alot of these Sims online games popping up...Its very scary

We aren't relying on it, we are using it as a tool, no different from the first hammer, this is just much more complex.

This could be REALLY useful. You can speed up time to see how stuff would develop (say, you can build a bridge in 3 seconds) and run simulations on that. Combat training is probably going to be the least of it, I think - can't wait for this kind of thing to hit the private sector (at least, the technology - it probably won't contain the entire world, maybe just your neighborhood or something)

Although, putting it into the hands of the public might be a bad thing - considering that the internet started as a military thing, and it's flooded with geocities sites like "AmEeEs HoUsE oF kItTeNz" and "RJ'S COOL SIGHT". Knowing that you'll be able to download other people's "worlds" eventually (everything goes online nowadays) there are going to be people who build virtual monuments to themselves.. Like "BOBBYZ LEET WORLD"..

ZING.

FUCKING TEN CHARACTER LIMIT.