Second Skin is an upcoming documentary by Pure West Films that focuses on the lives of seven MMO gamers, exploring how their games of choice have affected their lives. It touches on many popular MMO topics, such as falling in love, becoming addicted, gold farming, and the effects virtual worlds can have on the handicapped. It’s really easy to make fun of the people you see in this, the first trailer for the film, but not so much when you’ve been there. Having been addicted to MMO’s in the past, I see a bit of myself in the film’s subjects. In the past I’ve spent weeks at a time rolling out of bed into my computer chair (if I even made it to bed) and immediately logging into Everquest, to the point where it was really the only thing that mattered in my life, and yeah - I’ve fallen in love online as well. Maybe one day I’ll tell you folks all about it. For now, enjoy the trailer.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re an unexperienced driver, it’s not worth getting in one of the world’s top cars and taking it for a test drive. Get a look at how this noob driver handles a $1.4 million Bugatti Veyron.

Selling and buying accounts is something very common in World of Warcraft, even though it’s strictly forbidden by Blizzard. Good geared characters are often sold for a few houndred dollars although a few weeks ago one of the currently best geared rogues available was sold - for 7,000 Euro (~$9,700).

The original owner, a Night Elf Rogue named Zeuzo from the guild Method on Sylvanas(EU) was one of the two only people in the world wielding both legendary swords dropping off Illidan Stormrage, final boss of the Black Temple. He also had 4/5 parts of the tier6 armor set, together with various other drops from Black Temple and Mount Hyjal, which could be considered as the best gear available in the game right now.

The new owner goes under the name Shaks and has moved the character to the Kazzak(EU) realm.
Zeuzo, here’s a few tips on what you can buy for 7,000€.

A Rolex watch

A Car

A VTL Pre-Amplifier

250,000 WoW Gold

3 nights in a suite at the Palms in Las Vegas

A nice vacation for you and 4 friends in Australia

2 Alienware Area-51 ALX Desktops

209 Steelpad S&S SK Edition

SK Gaming

Quite a few BioShock gamers should already be acquainted with the game’s various glitches. For such a promising title, BioShock not only has a lot of bugs, but some very obscene ones as well. For example, the game’s “masturbation glitch“. It’s all over the Internet and if you care to take a look (just in case you haven’t noticed it during gameplay), it’s right at the bottom of this article.
Read the rest of this entry »

Official First Look at Need for Speed Pro Street
Read the rest of this entry »

The first message looks like this:

Date: 2007-04-08, 8:07PM EDT

Hello I need 5000 world of gold for my epic flying mount. In return you can mount me.

You have to have an account on the laughing skull server and I want the 5000 gold BEFORE we do anything, we can make the trade at your place since I can’t host. EDIT: Because I am having a lot of dumb guys message me who clearly don’t have the gold make SURE to send: a picture of yourself and a screenshot of your character with the 5000g, I will be checking armory profiles, thanks.

I play a level 70 night elf druid and would prefer someone who was into roleplaying (I have a costume!) but honestly anyone will do, as long as you have the gold. I would also be ok with a woman too, as long as you have the gold! Also not adverse to the idea of groups\anal.

Please send a pic and be real and drug\disease free with 5000 gold on the laughing skull server.

After a single day, she was pleased ( deeply):

Check out the next message:

Date: 2007 - 04- 09 2:25 PM EDT

Hi, I’d just like to thank to alljackasses that thought it will be funnyto post my picture all over the internet and make 50000 threads about me on the WOW forums. I got my epic mount in about an hour that was very enjoyable for both parties while all of you idiots probably spent houndreds of hours farming for yours or don’t have them. I won’t be revealing my name or his, but suffice to say if I find any of you in-game I will be killing you 280 % faster. Also my new friend would also like to tell you PUNKS to take a hike, PUNKS. I’m planning to meet him again later this week, he’s getting double value for his gold :D.

So, talk all the trash you want, I got MY Epic flying mount AND i got laid which is more than most of you failures can ever hope for.

And here it is the source:

click to enlarge

A Chinese student was removed from Clements High School in Fort Bend, Texas after parents complained he had re-created the school grounds in a game and uploaded the map for his friends to play. The boy was placed in the district’s alternate education school and later arrested, as the police considered him a “terroristic threat”.

“They arrested him, Chen said of FBISD police, and also went to the house to search”.The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy’s room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn’t in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.

The Chinese community and the boy’s mother have rallied behind him, saying the school has acted too harshly in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. No charges were filed, though the boy won’t be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies.

Photos of the CS map can be found here: (what a shame! this map looks pretty good!)

And here’s the actual map, minus the textures:

www.megaupload.com/?d=F48893HJ
rapidshare.com/files/29195663/clmbsp.rar.html
www.megashare.com/165325

Later Update:

I found the whole story (originally hosted on Fort Bend Now):

A Chinese student has been arrested in Texas, charged with “Suspected Terrorist Activity”. This student was apprehended after parents discovered that he had used plans of his High School in the creation of a map for an online first person shooter. The authorities were notified after parents learned of the map from their children, who had downloaded it off of the internet.

“They arrested him,” Chen said of FBISD police, “and also went to the house to search.” The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy’s room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn’t in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.

While no charges have been filed against the student, he has been removed from Clements High School and will not be allowed to graduate with his former classmates.

I don’t know what to say. For most of us who have ever designed a 3d environment, using familiar surroundings is very commonplace. With no sinister motive, designers use plans for all sorts of different areas to add variety to their designs. I don’t understand the punishment given to this student, who has been cleared of any premonitions for violence.

He has been convicted of no crime but then the school expels him? I guess “innocent until proven guilty” has no merit with the school board. Even with the authorities finding no evidence of gaming-related causes for the Virginia Tech shootings… It seems that we, as gamers, still are targeted as warped killers.

Starcraft 2 will be announced to the public on May 19th at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitation (WWI). On April 25th, according to the game company Blizzard Korea Entertainment, it is confirmed that they will announce Starcraft 2 demonstrating it with both videos and images. Furthermore, the developers of Starcraft 2 will be there, and have time to answer the questions. Starcraft 2 is being developed in 3D and there will be new race and some specific changes to remaining races. Details of only minor parts will be released at WWI. Blizzard invited more than a hundred of broadcasting teams from around the world for this announcement. Prior to this very secret moment on May 19th, they will not release any information. However, from the people who previously worked with Blizzard, there is trusted word about this information. A person who recently retired from Blizzard said there is development of Starcraft 2 and there will be an announcement. The chairman of Blizzard Korea said “we cannot answer anything about Starcraft 2, we will have a new game on 19th so please come and find out”. He refused to answer if new game is Starcraft 2. The shout caster “Um Jae Kyung” said “I expect it to be very balanced but have concerns regarding E-Sports, but I doubt there will be changes about E-sports in regards to Starcraft I. However, there will be most likely be another league for Starcraft II and e-sports will be much bigger. Since I’m one of the gamers, I’m very excited about this”. The 3rd WWI will be on May 19th ~ 20th in Seoul, and it seems there will be a lot taking place.”

link 

Dutch Television 20 february 2007:

Quotes:

“According to Linden Lab: Innocently sexual role game”

“Participants do things sexual with children”

“This is a learning school for pedophiles? - Yes absolute”

“Children who let itself for a couple hundred Linden dollars as prostitute”

“It concerns still children. Or that nou real is, that it are no real people, or are made on exactly three-dimensional”

“This is simply a game in which your children are abused“

Watch the movie, don’t mind the words, pictures speaks by themselfs!

What the hell is all about in this game? There is no real Police Department? Nobody can trace them?
Source

A LAN Party is a temporary, sometimes spontaneous, gathering of people together with their computers, which they network together primarily for the purpose of playing multiplayer computer games. These local area networks (LANs) come in various sizes, from very small (two people) to very large (more than 7,500 people). Small parties can form spontaneously, but large ones usually require a fair amount of planning and preparation on the part of the organizer.
I know that you’re all big fans of this kind of things. That’s why i thought that i better show you some large lan party photos. Can anyone count the number of computers or people in those pictures?
Nooooooooot!!
(Just click on each thumbnail to view large size)

The Gathering 1998

The Gathering 2002

Assembly 2003

The Gathering 2003

The Gathering 2004

Lan Party DE

LAN party events differ significantly from gaming centers and Internet cafes in that they are generally BYOC based ( bring your own computer) and are not permanent installations, often taking place in general meeting places or residences.
LAN party attendees tend to be more experienced gamers, as the setup required turns most casual gamers away. People who prefer LAN party gaming to Internet or other multiplayer gaming types favor the term “LANner”.
Many commercialized parties offer various tournaments, with competitions in such games as StarCraft, Quake III, Warcraft III, Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament, Battlefield 2 and the Doom series, sometimes awarding prizes to the winners. Prizes can include computer hardware such as overclocking kits, cases, lights, fans, graphic cards and sometimes even complete computers.
The duration of the event is not standardized; many organized parties last for a weekend, while there have also been longer and shorter parties.
Big LAN parties often offer a quiet place to sleep, shower, and eat, as well as hired security, alternative entertainment (such as music), and a dedicated support crew, as well as a professionally managed network including a connection to the Internet. Catering might come in the form of a bar, delivered food such as pizza, or nearby shops. Some parties come fully catered in the form of regular barbecues or even employment of a catering staff running a public canteen
Gaming clans are groups of gamers that often play in team games and often use these gatherings to meet one another, since they typically play together over the Internet between other parties with little real-world contact. Their goal is often to win tournaments. Clans are often in “ladders” where they move up after winning a match.
Links: 1 2 3