newsweek.com — If you've spent time on Facebook, you might be mystified by all the people tending to their virtual farms and virtual pets. Not only does this seem a strange way to spend time, but here's the even weirder part: a lot of these people are spending real money to buy virtual products to gain advantage in these Web-based games.
Mar 23, 2010 View in Crawl 4
sgerwel1985Mar 24, 2010
Truth be told, the virtual world is always more enjoyable than the real world. Probably why i'd rather spend all day on xbox than anywhere else... *sigh*
strictneinMar 24, 2010
Meanwhile, the "normal" people in the real world watch TV shows that exist in fantasy worlds and pay large cable bills for the right to do so.
tmonster1Mar 24, 2010
Matrix?
asherpMar 24, 2010
Jesse Schell's Dice 2010 talk is a far more entertaining description of this phenomenon, and it's from the perspective of game developers. <a class="user" href="http://fury.com/2010/02/jesse-shells-mindblowing-talk-on-the-future-of-games-dice-2010/" rel="nofollow">http://fury.com/2010/02/jesse-shells-mindblowing-t ...</a>
scavMar 24, 2010
True, but the real world has one advantage. If your xbox red rings, you can still go outside. If you red ring, you probably can't play xbox anymore ;)
scavMar 24, 2010
I think the news is that it's finally breaking out of MMOs. People have been saying for years that virtual goods would become huge moneymakers. Now it's finally going mainstream with Facebook.
diggduggdoomMar 24, 2010
Seems people don't appreciate a good Monty Python quote.
tru7hMar 24, 2010
I just read a novel called Sleepless that extrapolates on this idea. In a VERY near (and alternate) future - late 2010 - a plague of insomnia has caused much of the infected populace to spend more time and energy in a very WoW-like game world, the currency of which becomes second only to the American dollar.
brokenwolfMar 24, 2010
While Farmville or Mafia wars doesn't appeal much to me personally, I don't see anything noteworthy about people pissing away their money on entertainment. The difference between a virtual game and a "real" one is purely about the medium and the method. Either one can relieve you of money for, apparently, nothing in return. I spent a lot of money on "virtual" battles with space invaders and asteroids as a teen...had nothing to show for that either. This article over-dignifies something pretty mundane.
thuornMar 25, 2010
I dont get it. Dont we all pay with real money to go on fictional adventures all the time? Books, movies, games.... How is this a new thing?