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Photos: Second Life - whose HQ can you view?
Adidas, Nissan, Reebok, Sony, Reuters - how big brands look in a virtual world...

By Steve Ranger

Published: Wednesday 01 November 2006

Second Life, the virtual world created by Linden Labs now has nearly 1.2 million players (or 'residents') and $500,000 is spent on products and services there every day.

Unsurprisingly big businesses in the real world have been looking with interest at this and now a constant stream are setting up their own offices, stores and even hotels inside Second Life. You can click through this photo story to see some of the virtual outposts built by big brands.

For example Nissan recently launched its own Second Life presence. If an avatar types in the right code on this giant vending machine they can then choose a car to drive around. There's also mini radio-controlled cars to play with here.

Picture credit: Second Life/Linden Labs