Last week I reported on something new so this week I'm focusing on something that's been around for a while -- Comcast Island (aka, Comcastic!).

Most corporate regions are pretty tame; an impressive building or two, some information booths, maybe a few souvenir kiosks, and a meeting area (auditorium or conference rooms). Decidedly different, Comcastic! is all about two things: entertainment and SPEED. Not surprisingly, the focus of all the attractions on Comcastic! is going fast. Their mission, after all, is to associate their brand with speed in your mind. To that end they have provided a variety of attractions all focused on racing competitions.

From a distance you can see that most of the region is covered by an enormous twisting tubular track. The landing zone has the first of many teleport boards that are scattered about the island. From these you can instantly be zipped to the attraction of your choice by left-clicking the name on the board.

Not far from the landing point is a building that appears at ground level to be a drugstore/soda fountain, but which is actually the front for the formerly secret underground laboratory of the notorious Dr. Neubauri, inventor of the famous LIQUID Faster! fuel. Using this liquid enabled the mad scientist to create a vehicle that can travel faster than the speed of light. To demonstrate the effect there is a capsule (the PneuMADitron) you can enter in the laboratory area that will whisk you all around the Earth in a matter of seconds. No, really. I tried it and it works!

Once outside again you will notice a tall orange tower nestled amongst the racing tubes. Other than as platforms for viewing the surroundings, or as art, it doesn't serve much purpose, but there is a nice plaza at the base for relaxing surrounded by the race track.

Not far away is a dock where you and your friends can rez jet ski bikes to race around a water course indicated by buoy flags. Personally, I'm not a big fan of these as the driving animation is "loose" causing the vehicle to slip and slide around and be hard to control. But with a little practice I got the hang of it.

If you need a break from the speed competitions there are a few other entertainments around the sim; arm wrestling, a human cannon (which, I'm sorry to say, I couldn't get to shoot me across the sim, although it made a nice boom and creates a great deal of smoke!), and some gathering places to relax in.

The central tower on the island has a platform part way up that is the starting place for jet pack races. First everyone buys a jet pack (they are $L0 - free) and wears it, then someone clicks the START button. Giant rotating rings will rez at different levels around the region and the goal is to be the first one to fly through all the rings. If you need practice with flying skills this is a great way to do it, by the way.

Last, but definitely not least, is the real reason I like visiting Comcastic! -- the race track. Inside the main building is a control board where each racer picks a colored jet car. Up to four racers can compete at one time. Once everyone is on the track the countdown begins and the race is on. What's fun about these is that they require practice and a little skill, but are also forgiving since the race is contained inside a giant tube and you can't shoot off the track. The best part, though, is that they are FASSSSST. Super fast.

Comcastic! has been around for quite a few months and frankly I'm surprised it is still open, as it is usually empty of visitors until someone brings a group for some racing fun. However, that's also why I wanted to mention it, so that folks could give it a look while it is still up.

SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Comcast/17/231/23