Should Virtual Theft Carry A Real-World Penalty?
February 25, 2008
This article on Kotaku talks about the theft of Second Life items or epic gear, and whether it should have a real-world penalty. If you follow gaming news, you’ve heard horror stories about the divorcing couple fighting over in-game assets, or the college roommates who got into a fistfight over a virtual sword. Should a virtual item carry a real world value? And should the theft of an item have a real-world penalty?
From the article:
Is it relevant for the qualification as theft whether the stolen fortune stays officially in game? Well, not to me. I see no reason for distinguishing between virtual and physical theft. The original owners of the stolen Habbo furniture obtained the items after they bought credits with real money, and do attach value to those items. As long as the original owner looses something of value (such as virtual items) due to the act of another individual who gains possession over the item, it should in my opinion be qualified as theft, no matter whether the locus delicti is in the physical or the virtual world.
What do you think? Should ninja-looters be sentenced to community service? Or is it just imaginary stuff in a pretend game world?
Fashion Solitaire From Large Animal Games
February 19, 2008
Large Animal Games, the people behind Diner Dash and Penny’s Vegas Adventure, just launched a new game in connection with Lifetime. This new game, Fashion Solitaire is a cartoony casual game, which wins huge points in my mind for being a girls’ game that isn’t pink.
Each model needs to be decent (a top, a bottom, shoes and hair), and then you can add optional accessories like jackets and jewelry. But models want to wear certain things. One might want to wear a skirt, or something red, or something plaid, and you get bonus points for dressing them in what makes them happy. Your bonus points become money, and you can spend your money making new clothes. This is the part where Stick came over to kibbutz.
The game rewards you for dressing your girls like freaks. You recieve bonus points for dressing your models in their chosen color or pattern, so it’s better to put as many colors as possible on one item when you make your clothes. You also receive bonus points for grabbing as many clothes cards at once as possible, so you should throw the first thing you see on your models, resulting in “got dressed in the dark” chic. Sometimes disaster play is more fun than trying for success.
Read the whole article here.
You can download an hour’s trial of Fashion Solitaire right here and see what you think!
Wow Causes Divorce
February 17, 2008
This post on Kotaku tells how WarCraft caused the wreck of a 6-year marraige.
It seems that World of Warcraft is the cause of yet another relationship breakdown. A gal named Jocelyn has divorced her husband of six years citing a crippling Warcraft addiction as the main cause.
“He would get home from work at 6:00, start playing at 6:30, and he’d play until three a.m. Weekends were worse — it was from morning straight through until the middle of the night,” she told Yahoo! Games in an interview. “It took away all of our time that we spent together. I ceased to exist in his life.”
Look, I think playing WarCraft is a fun hobby. I like questing, I love crafting, I have a good time playing with my friends. But some people take it too far, and any hobby that’s pursued to the exclusion of spending time with your loved ones is no good! Whether it’s spending all weekend golfing or shopping or sitting in front of the TV, save some time for your signifigant other.
A commenter on the Kotaku post mentioned WoW Detox, which is a site entirely for people posting why they’re lives are better WITHOUT WarCraft in it. Weird!
In my mind, videogaming is a lot like drinking. Most people can have a drink, or a few drinks, or drink socially, but alcoholism can also ruin lives. Most people can get a lot of enjoyment from playing games, but others lose their girlfriends, forget to bathe, and fail out of school.
My Little Pwnie!
February 17, 2008
PlayGirlz Blog tipped me off to this shirt from ThinkGeek. It’s an awesome t-shirt for a girl gamer, especially any one who had My Little Ponies as a kid.
This would be a cute shirt to wear to game night, or anywhere else, for that matter. If my boyfriend’s reading, this would make a thoughtful gift for the girl gamer in your life!
