Identity theft, fraud, virtual mugging and even virtual rape are among the crimes being committed in cyberspace as millions of people worldwide interact in virtual worlds and through online role-playing games.
We have come across this interesting phenomenon as part of our work, which includes studying the effect of technologies such as insecure wireless networking, mobile phones, iPods and the internet, and their links to crime.
Second Life, the virtual economy that can pay real-world dividends, is calling third-party software developers to build its greatest ever application or in-game project.
Makers Linden Lab will award one developer, or their team, $10,000 for the feature that best improves the lives of Second Life residents when they are offline. The application should help Second Lifers “work, learn and communicate” to be in with a chance of winning the “largest vendor-sponsored award in the virtual world.”
Blizzard has always taken a hard stand against hackers and cheaters. According to an announcement on the redesigned Battle.Net front page, 350,000 BNet accounts have been banned and a new policy has been implemented. See what it means to you:
Grand Theft Auto 4's Liberty City has been hit by a virus causing players to turn into zombies.
"There is a virus sweeping through Grand Theft Auto IV turning many unsuspecting players into Zombies," explains a release from publisher Rockstar.
At a press conference in Japan today, not only did Nintendo announce a barrage of new DS/Wii games and a new DS, they also announced something Wii fans have been wanting for a long time - A storage solution!
The controversial computer game Grand Theft Auto has been condemned for allowing players to deal drugs.
In a new version of the video game, Chinatown Wars, it will be possible for players to earn money by learning where to sell six types of drug. Players will be able to sell heroin, cocaine, weed, ecstasy, acid and downers to help to pay for weapons and body armour for use in the game.
Because people hated it so much they were giving the game foul ratings on Amazon. And no publisher can stand aloof from that in this connected age. Especially not when it has virtually bet the company on its game's success.
The problem began when Electronic Arts (EA), mindful of the game's production cost - estimated at between $50m and $80m - decided that it really needed to keep the pirates at bay. To break even, it needs to sell somewhere between 5m and 8m copies of the game.
Consumer electronics giant Sony Malaysia Sdn Bhd has officially launched the PlayStation 3 (PS3), with an 80GB version of the popular videogame console that sells for RM1,599.
Parents of video-gaming children, take heart: Your kid is not destined to become an anti-social hermit who lives at home until he’s 35. In fact, a new study shows that all that game time could actually be making him a better citizen.
EA and Maxis released Spore to the world last week, and while we still don't have sales information for the title, the big news wasn't the game play. In fact, we found the game itself rather lackluster in most ways. The issue that set the Internet on fire was the DRM, and gamers quickly let the world know of their anger. As Ars digs deeper into how EA actually handles the DRM, we have to wonder: was the controversy worth it?
