ShockRave, Macromedia's entertainment site, has launched "the Web's first interactive dance club." Basically, it consists of music accompanied by dancing figures and a slide show. The user can choose various icons, such as animated figures, to dance to the music. Ooooh, what will they think of next?

The idea is that users in the advertising-pleasing 18- to 24- year-old demographic will sit in front of their computers, listening to tunes, clicking the icons, and maybe tapping their toes (getting out of one's chair to dance along presumably would prohibit a person from interacting with the screen).

The dance club is part of ShockRave's larger site, which is filled with message boards and games. "We want people to come and sit and within three to five minutes, have a lot of fun," said Jocelyn McArthur, director of Internet marketing in the Web traffic division for Macromedia. The only problem is that as a Web genre, pure entertainment has pretty much failed&£45;-with the notable exception of gaming. Gaming is a different, however, in that it requires active involvement from the user rather than passive enjoyment such as one experiences when watching a movie or listening to music.

All that said, full props go to the Marcomedia made interactive music video from the French funksters Air. The "Shocked Safari" is a journey into the world of Air with some clever code.

http://www.shockrave.com/