Margin check: MySpace, social networking, ‘Manhunt 2’ and more

Editor’s Note: Welcome to On the Margins, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week, the RCR Wireless News staff considers events in the larger wider business world and how they could affect the wireless industry.
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–News Corp.’s MySpace officially launched a beta version of its instant messaging service, MySpaceIM though it has been unofficially available for nearly a year and has a reported 17 million users. The service is currently available only through a personal computer and allows MySpacers to add their network of friends. The reach of the service currently pales in comparison to more established IM services from Microsoft Corp., AOL L.L.C., Yahoo Inc. and others, but with the viral nature of MySpace and its users, that might only be temporary. Time will tell if MySpace plans to port the service to its mobile offering.
–Speaking of News Corp., the multinational is reportedly in talks with Yahoo to exchange its MySpace division for a 25% stake in the online portal. Yahoo, which has been in an online battle with Google, has recently made some management changes in an attempt to bolster investor confidence. One area Yahoo has had some success is in the wireless space, and a hook up with MySpace could bolster that success.
–A study by Alloy Media & Marketing found that 96% of online tweens and teens access social-networking sites . This should bode well for wireless companies looking to enter the space with social networking apps, or mobile virtual network operators like Helio that are making a big push through such services. The market does have its pitfalls however; Yahoo recently killed its social-networking effort.
–After being banned for sale in Britain, Take-Two Interactive plans to suspend the domestic release of its “Manhunt 2” video game. The game was to have an Adults Only rating, which is the video-game equivalent of an NC-17 rating for a motion picture, for gore and violence. The wireless industry has so far managed to avoid any rating issues with made-for-mobile games, but with an increasing selection of off-deck content, that could soon change.