Now, virtual worlds are going mobile.

Gemini Mobile, a San Mateo company, says that hundreds of thousands of Japanese are subscribers to S!Town, a mobile virtual world with a 3D interface it has built that lets users shop, chat and build custom property, among other things — all with an avatar of course.

Gemini (no relation to the Canadian Television awards of the same name) is gearing up a whole new mobile solution for Japan. Dubbed eXplo, this "premier software platform" will act as the basis for the unique S! Town 3D user interface found on new SoftBank Mobile cell phones. SoftBank Japan (previously Vodafone Japan) will be offering its subscribers a "rich graphical community to chat, communicate and shop across their wireless devices."

With S! Town, apparently you can waltz around as your online avatar, entering and leaving "rooms" as you please to perform various tasks like interacting with other users, purchasing merchandise in virtual stores, and sharing multimedia content with friends and family. There's even games to enjoy "by exploring new zones on their device."