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If I asked you this, would you believe me? Try doing so, because its the truth. And also, in this strange and perverse world, young people are busy killing each other at an alarming rate. Do we really need something like a pseudo Mafia causing the same sorts of problems? Gangsterism, in other words, on our childrens beloved video games?

According to Wikipedia, the Webs foremost online encyclopedia, ever since 9/11 the FBI hasnt had much in time or resources to handle organized crime, and there has been a sudden resurgence in its activities.

Right now, the online game The Sims Online– which is labeled a T for Teens game — has been overrun by several obviously Mafia named families. These people dont seem to have enough imagination to be Mexican Mafia, Chinese Mafia or Japanese Mafia (yet), which also exist in real life. They are very aggressive and very obvious.

Whether or not they are the real Mafia is a question which I cannot answer. They may be a bunch of errant teenage boys and girls but ones with some very eclectic adult tastes and also many violent and weird high tech tendencies. You should see the Playboy style icons they paste on top of their houses from certain views of the TSO video game.

And one thing these kids, if they are kids, really do, even though it is to virtual and not real houses: they trash peoples paid-for beautiful properties. The kind of properties that people would like to build, taking a lifetime to achieve. Beautiful, sprawling mansions you cant own in real life, the kind that are totally out of reach for the vast majority of people. And no one could tell if it was part of the game, or something far worse.

I am so tired, I dont know. Values are very hard to gauge in life, anyway.

To green up on The Sims Online at all, or to keep your simulated character going, you must do interactions that are similar to having sex with animals (wrestle with your dog, but you should see what it looks like if you really see it) and thats bad enough, but rather bearable. Sigmund Freud would have told us that such behavior is relatively normal, that having an orgy session involving heavy petting with your own puppy where it loves you and licks your face and you are all over each other, is fun. Also, there is sexy dancing, heavy kissing and hugging, and so forth, which works for most people — including twelve year old kids. This is done with your fellow characters, real life people in the game whom you can become acquainted with, work with, and even marry. The marriages are not legal of course, and tend to dissolve fairly quickly.

Meanwhile, your town is crawling with De Corleoni Territori, the Italian Mafia Empire, The Vito Family Territory and so forth. I am not talking Anti-Italian Defamation. I had several Italian friends on the game, whom I am now stuck missing in my daily life. I am talking about a bunch of people either acting like the Mafia, or worse yet, actually being connected with them somehow and taking over a childrens video game. Possibly, several childrens video games. Or were they involved in the first place, and is Maxis a Mafia held game company? Look at the names.

Maxis, Mafia. Why doesnt Entertainment Arts do something about the house trashing problem, for example, even though people have repeatedly complained about it? What is it exactly that they are trying to hide? Apparently not much; you can easily find the Mob everywhere on that game. And their version of the cops does absolutely nothing at all. Meanwhile, I have talked to Maxis, and they have repeatedly claimed we are taking care of the problem.

The game is labeled T for Teens and is connected with what looks like some harmless fake gambling. The money being exchanged seems to be Simoleans at first. Fake money, which you get by working at odd jobs on the game, and you may also acquire skills so you can make more of the fake money. But there are payoffs, and you can also buy blocks of the money on EBay, roughly $15-25 for 1 million Simoleans. I heard of one lady who blew thousands of real life dollars on this. Its possible that the teenagers who are playing it are making money from performing vaguely illicit sexual acts on this game for real agen idn poker online money.

Is this what you want your teenager to be doing? For 6-10 hours a day, five-seven days a week? Eventually, obviously, after I spent about a month on the game, it was so that the money was swiftly turning real.

Okay, video addiction is bad enough, but were talking about Organized Crime here as well. Remember a little place called Columbine High School? What if theres some sort of eerie connection to that sort of business? I had to join this game to find out, kind of as a lark, but I did some real exploring too.

And the Mafia is in and roughly controlling every town that Ive visited on The Sims Online, and Ive reasonably checked them all over. Dans Grove, Jolly Pines, Blazing Falls, Alphaville. The Mafia iseverywhere.

I have talked to these Mafia gentlemen and ladies, and visited their houses. They dont have very much to do at them but the usual Sims stuff. Im afraid they have discovered game cheats and, being bored, are using them to destroy other game players properties. And yes, I have evidence, not hard unfortunately, that they have watched people play the game from a distance. One of them knew about something he shouldnt have known. And another friend of mine who regularly plays video games has noticed these tendencies toward having strange game powers that other players dont have in yet other video games. He says its pretty common. Hackers, he calls it, but in the TSO case, its hitting a little too close to home.

For example, a gay bashing was set up right in front of me. I rode it out, but I had to comfort the gay being bashed. Of course, it was his simulated character, not he who was hurt. TSO is real people playing games. Im not gay, but it was getting a little peculiar that such stuff is allowable on a T for Teens video game. I was more than a little confused.

A lady in fun fired a game Civil War cannon at me, in private, and this Mafia guy named Riccardo knew that it had happened. I dont think she told him about it. How did he know? She did it just for laughs, and it was a harmless game event (I peed my pants as the game character, and it seemed okay), but its not very funny that he knew about it. I didnt exactly care, and it was sort of humorous. He couldnt have known about it unless hed seen it happen, in all probability. And he wasnt anywhere on the property or onscreen at the time. He had a private view of it going on.

The same Mafia dude, who kept denying he was Mafia — while dressed in an obvious game-style Mafia suit and with the name Riccardo — also told me you cant trash houses unless youre a roommate or the home owner. This should indeed be the case; it involves building permissions. But one of the house trashing victims had no roommates whatsoever. And she wasnt motivated to trash her houseno insurance money is involved.

Game players on this game can be quite friendly. I made a lot of good friends doing things like making pizzas, opening up my own skills house business, doing minor gambling (legal for adults and Im over 40) and in general — partying. You can play high tech, beautiful looking musical instruments and feel like youre there. Its a great game. You should see some of the wild and crazy characters on this game! Or should you?

Except that I cant play it anymore. I quit the game solely because of the

extremely heavy Mafia presence that was starting to visit my house and breathe hotly down my neck. That, and the game was cutting into my work routine as a full-time writer quite a little bit, too.

First, Riccardo showed up. Out of nowhere, after I had used the Maxis device to screen all apparent Mafia members out of my house. He showed up at my house. The same day my friends house was trashed. It was the second such trashing since I had started playing there. Obvious Mafia guy, obviously scouting me. Denied everything completely. This was after two of my friends houses had been trashed.

Want to know anything about terrorism? Now I know what it is. A little too thoroughly for my tastes. The Mob was making it obvious that I could be next. Why is that exactly? And what sort of next would it bereal, or simulated game activity? These people looked capable of tracking down my actual computers IP address, my ISP — and finally, my real life house.

And all I could do was flee. I quit playing the game for good. I dont feel much like a serious game player after that. I feel rather like an inebriated cipher.

Yeah, theyre just a bunch of teenagers who like to trash houses Theyre not the real Mafia, theyre just kids. I heard a lot of that from people both on and off the game, even my fellow writers. Harmless kids.

Like the ones at Columbine? That bunch even called themselves The Trench Coat Mafia. Whats with this strange fascination of teenage kids with the Mob? Does gangsta rap, or something even worse, have anything to do with it?

The Sims Online is conceivably the haven for a slinking beast with no better name than the Neo Mafia: My New Family. And for the last time, if youre Italian, I am not picking on you. Im worried about you instead. And do you need to be affiliated with these mysterious strangers, who maybe think all organized crime is still from Italy? Are you, like me, a parent? Ma fia? Neo ma fia

Yes, parents, that is what it means in Italian-American. My new family. Still feel comfortable with the concept?

Trust me. Im only Italian. Im not a Mafia member. You must be a bigot. Its because my skin is brown. Yadayadayaday. You can be whatever skin color you want to be on TSO, and either sex for that matter. Everybody kept going, Its only kids, calm down, and its only kids. Yeah, pretty old kids.

Maybe I was a fool for ever playing that game. I assumed it was just a game, and someone was being silly about the Mafia on it. Later, I found a very professional looking website dedicated to The Sims Mafia. Dont enter here if youre under thirteen is a quote from it. Maxis is doing nothing whatsoever to stop these people, which is getting to be sickeningly obvious.

Im sure that if this story is ever widely promoted, people will join The Sims Online (TSO) after having read it. Its an extremely download, a free two week trial, $10 per month and bam, youre in it. News items like the War belittle this pretty much. But thats somebody elses problem. The Federal Bureau of Investigation should be looking into at least our nations video games. You can buy money on EBay to sell on that TSO game, kids are on that game, and they are being threatened into being recruited into the, I would assume, mostly swarthy white people Mafiaright nowsince they keep mentioning the Italian one so much

the real one or the virtual one?

Who knows?

Sometimes work can be the worst thing in life, it is generally viewed as nothing more than a means to an end. Most of the time the only thing that you really think about is, what am I going to do when I get out of this damm place. Then every now and again something very funny happens in work, and it changes your attitude, you realise work sometimes really can be enjoyable.

The following extract is a true story that happened about 5 years ago.

I worked as a vehicle engineer in the Army; I had slowly progressed through the ranks and eventually after 18 years had reached the rank of Staff Sergeant. I was responsible for the day to day repair of about 200 vehicles and 20 tradesmen.

One morning I was called into the ASMs (Boss) office, he must have been bored as he informed me he was going to test the guys engineering and adaptability skills, I could feel myself starting to daydream. He had decided to test out the guys skills by having A Great Egg Race. The idea was for the tradesmen to manufacture a self powered machine, that must not contain anything metallic, that would carry an egg the furthest distance across the shop floor.. I tried to appear keen, however deep down I was wondering who would be in the snooker club that night.

The next morning I went into the ASMs office and found him covered in cardboard and tape, I will show the boys who can design a machine he said, I left him to it. All day his meetings were cancelled and I was told not to bother him.

I must admit to being surprised how much interest The Great Egg Race had attracted. The young tradesmen had been split into groups of 3 and were busy designing and manufacturing all sorts of wonderful inventions. I went into the Bosss office he was sat behind his desk with a smug look on his face. Its ready he said, he opened his locker and showed me this cardboard Thing. He smiled so much I was sure he had fallen in love with the contraption, Thats the winner, he exclaimed.

The day had eventually arrived, morale was high as the afternoon would be spent drinking beer, also, the race was eagerly anticipated. After lunch the beer was flowing. It was nice to see the guys enjoying themselves. A few hours later the ASM called all the entries forward for the race. I must admit although not taking part myself I was very impressed by the intricate designs of the self propelled machines. The boss disappeared into his office, and came out beaming holding his baby. He was sure to win, a lifetime of engineering experience surely he would win the race. The eggs were issued to team captains. I will go first said the Boss this was greeted by moans from everyone. His egg was placed in the cardboard cockpit; it looked like a cardboard drag racer, powered by a very strong elastic band. The band was fully charged and we were ready. The time keeper screamed, Stand by.GO.

The boss released the beast, the cardboard wheels nearly set on fire they were situs idn poker online spinning so fast, however the machine stayed stationary, eventually the Beast did move, it flipped upside down and cracked the egg.

I tried for a second to control myself, however it really was no use – I fell on the floor laughing, I simply could not control myself. What made it worse was when the Boss started screaming he was having another go. He was however informed his rules stated contestants were only issued with one egg.

Eventually for fear of repercussions a new egg was issued to the boss, he would get another go at the end. Take 2 for The Beast, this time the rubber band was charged even tighter. With a new egg strapped in the cockpit the fully charged machine was released. This time it jumped forward and the took off, in fact it screamed forward, all I recollect of the second attempt was this thing screaming across the shop floor being chased by over 50 people, in the middle of them was the boss, jumping up and down like a schoolboy screaming Go on you beauty.

The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking more beer, every time I looked at the bosss beaming face I cracked up with laughter. This small incident reminded me that I should not really take work so seriously, at times it can actually be fun.

When the Xbox 360 was first released there were a large number of individuals who waited for hours in hopes of being able to purchase one. In fact, Xbox 360s are so popular that is likely that you have one inside your home right now. No matter how old you are it is always fun to play video games on an Xbox 360.

Despite the fact that individuals of all ages play Xbox 360 games, the majority of players are teenagers. Teenagers love video games and the Xbox 360 is one of the most popular ways to play those games. Many teens and parents of teenagers wonder which Xbox games they should purchase. Below is a list and summary of ten of the most popular Xbox 360 games for teens.

1. The Elder Scrolls: IV Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls: IV Oblivion is the sequel to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The third game in the series won multiple awards and it is apparent with Oblivion’s popularity that the fourth installment is just as good, if not better. The Elder Scrolls is role playing at its best. This one player game allows players to choose exactly who they want to be, whether it be good or evil.

2. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter

Set in the future, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced allows teen players to use new weapons to avoid the traps that are set for soldiers. Standard Xbox 360 setup allows one to four players, but Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighters is also compatible with Xbox Live. Xbox Live makes it possible for up to sixteen players to play a game together, even when they are located on opposite sides of the world.

3. Call of Duty 2

Call of Duty 2, the sequel to the original Call of Duty, is an amazing war game with outstanding visuals. The game is based around World War II and players must overcome enemies and other obstacles. Due to a split screen feature, Call of Duty 2 can be a multiplayer game. Up to eight players can play together via Xbox Live.

4. EA Sports: Fight Night Round 3

Sports fans will enjoy playing the popular game from EA Sports that is titled Fight Night Round 3. Fight Night Round 3 allows players to become their favorite boxer. Boxers can be customized and fights from the past can be reenacted with changed outcomes. EA Sports: Fight Night Round 3 is designed for one or two players; however, it is also compatible with Xbox Live.

5. Project Gotham Racing 3

Unlike the above mentioned Xbox 360 games, Project Gotham Racing 3 is not rated T for Teen. The game idn poker online is rated E for Everyone, but it still has teenagers in mind and is a great alternative for those who dislike fighting games. Players are able to select and customize their own cars to race around the world in multiple race settings. Project Gotham Racing 3 is a one or two player game, but it also works with Xbox Live. In addition to more players, Xbox Live also introduces new racing challenges that are not available offline.

6. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat

In Battlefield 2 Modern Combat players are literally dropped into the middle of disaster. Players must decide which side they want to be on and then fight to win. The game is designed for one player, but additional players can be added with the use of Xbox Live. In fact, up to twenty-four players can compete with or against each other online.

7. Burnout Revenge

A large number of teenagers are unable to drive, but even if they were there are some things that you just can’t do in a car that is unless you are playing Burnout Revenge. In Burnout Revenge players select the car of their choice and set up car crashes. With Xbox Live four drivers can pit their cars against each other and with offline play up to two players can compete. Burnout Revenge is rated E for Everyone.

8. Kameo: Elements of Power

Kameo: Elements of Power is a game that combines action, adventure, and fantasy all into one. Players become Kameo. The goal of the game is to help save her family from an evil troll king. Players can change their character in to multiple monsters to defeat enemies. Kameo: Elements of Power is a one or two player game that can be played on or offline.

9. NBA 2K6

NBA 2K6 is rated E for Everyone, but it is a game that is highly popular among teenagers. At first glance, NBA 2K6 appears to be another sports game, but the reality is that it is so much more. In addition to playing basketball, it is the player’s responsibility to generate extra income through product endorsements. Once money is made players can use to it purchase new items for their homes. NBA 2K6 can be played with one or two players.

10. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

Players, whether they enjoyed the King Kong movie or not, are sure to love playing Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. When playing the game, players are able to be the human character, Jack, or the gorilla, Kong. Whichever player a character chooses to be there is excitement, battles, and enemies waiting on the other side. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie is a one player Xbox 360 game.

All of the above mentioned Xbox 360 games are highly rated among teenage gamers. Do you need a gift for a teenager or do want to purchase a game yourself? If so, then check out the large collection of Xbox 360 games designed for teens.

In the world of Azeroth, life can be cheap but saving up for that much desired epic mount can take months of labour. Welcome to the World of Warcraft, currently the worlds largest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). In the World of Warcraft, the auction house presents the avid window shopper with a cornucopia of wonders, from fabulous swords to armour guaranteed to make you the hardest elf in your neck of the woods. To purchase such wonders, the player needs gold, something that requires quite literally hours, days or weeks of in-game labour. However visit Ebay or Eye on MOGs, a price comparison engine for virtual commodities, and you have the opportunity to convert real life earnings into virtual gold, platinum, ISK or Credits, depending on the virtual world that you alter ego(s) inhabits.

The world of Real Money Trading has come a long way since its fledgling days when gamers departing from a virtual world would use websites like Ebay to convert their in-game assets into real world money. Today it is a multi-billion dollar industry, with industry insiders like Steve Sayler of IGE estimating that as much as $2.7 billion will change hands within this secondary market during the course of 2006. This lucrative industry is now catered for by companies like MMORPG SHOP, Mogmine and MOGS, which have entire infrastructures set up to farm for in-game gold and valuable items. Not only can you purchase in-game spending power with real world money from such sites, but many are service driven, for example offering power levelling to fast-track your avatar to new heights of maturity, turn you into a master craftsman in days rather than months, or boost your reputation within the world you inhabit. Sites like Mogmine offer specialised services like fruit picking, specified item farming, or will take your character through that instance thats been weighing so heavily on your mind.

What we are experiencing here is a whole new type of economy where the border between the real and virtual world is blurring. There are currently hundreds of companies catering to this phenomenon, with some virtual items being sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Virtual real estate is earning real world money, with people like 43-year-old Wonder Bread deliveryman John Dugger purchasing a virtual castle for $750, setting him back more than a weeks wages. According to Edward Castronova, an economics professor at Indiana University who has performed extensive research into online economies, Norrath, the world in which EverQuest takes place, would be the 77th richest nation on the planet if it existed in real space, with players enjoying an annual income better than that of the citizens of Bulgaria or India. A visit to GameUSD indicates the current state of virtual currencies against the US dollar, demonstrating that some virtual world currencies are currently performing better than real world currencies like the Iraqi Dinar.

Real Money Trading and gold farming are met with mixed feelings in the gaming world, with some gamers criticizing the fact that real world wealth can affect in-game prestige and capabilities. Critics of the secondary market believe that such activities within the virtual economies intrude on the fantasy and provide the more economically empowered with an unfair in-game advantage. However this ignores the real world fact that earning money and advancing ones character within a virtual world takes a good deal of time, and some gamers have more money than time on their hands. The average age for gamers is 27, and approximately half of all gamers are in full time employment. For a group of friends playing together, it can thus be relatively easy for the cash rich to fall behind the time rich in terms of gameplay, as they are obliged to spend the lions share of their time working their real world jobs while friends are spending time levelling their characters. For such individuals, for whom time translates into money, a few dollars is a small price to pay to ensure virtual survival the next time they enter an instance with their high level friends.

Companies set up to farm virtual commodities are furthermore criticised as being little more than sweatshops, an attitude encouraged by the fact that many of these companies reside in low wage economies like China. However, pay and work conditions in such companies, where workers are paid to spend their days playing enjoyable, stimulating games, cannot compare to that of their compatriots who spend their days mindlessly producing the components that go into our computers, or the trainers that we wear while playing. Essentially the objection is a moral one, with many Westerners objecting to low wage economies catering to this type of leisure activity. Often workers are paid partly in kind, with food and accommodation included in remuneration packages, with the pay received thus presenting largely surplus. While pay may not equate to Western standards, this type of economic activity reminds us that we are living in a continually globalising economic environment where quality of life and spending power should be taken into account as much if not more so than say a straight dollar for yen exchange rate. Companies like Mogmine provide their staff with health benefits, holiday pay and share options, idn poker online along with the chance for advancement within the organisation. Brian Lim, CEO of Mogmine, comments that many mid- and high-level management started out as gamers and now they have equal or more pay than respectable managers in more conventional businesses. Within these lower wage economies, these thus represent desirable jobs.

Other complaints centre around the negative effect of such farming activities on in-game economies. At Mogmine, Brian Lims gamers play the game as it is meant to be played, but hone good techniques for gold generation along the way, thus ensuring that the work remains interesting to staff. Jonathan Driscoll comments that competition for resources has always been a feature of gameplay, and points out that his World of Warcraft farmers do their work within instances, and thus do not impact on others gaming experiences in the least. Complaints that farmers are responsible for in-game inflation smack of sour grapes when compared to common factors like players with high level characters acting as benefactors for their low-level alts, and thus facilitating the unrealistic in-game spending power of such low level characters. While some developers do not condone real money trade on their servers, others like MindArk, with their game Project Entropia, have included the secondary market as a part of their services. Even Sony Online Entertainment, who until recently stood staunchly against real money trade, have jumped on the band-wagon with the release of their Station Exchange service, actively facilitating Real Money Trading in Everquest 2. Other games, like the upcoming Roma Victor, embed the secondary market as part of their financial model rather than relying on the common subscription model, with players purchasing Sesterces to play and advance in the game.

Such trading of virtual goods for real world money is potentially just the tip of the iceberg for the development of virtual economies where people come together within virtual worlds to promote and trade real world products. Games like The Matrix Online already sell advertising space to real world companies to promote their products to gamers who spend their leisure time within the world.

We are thus embarking on an entirely new type of economic activity, where real and virtual worlds are meeting within an economic sphere. As a fledgling economy, it is difficult to chart where this phenomenon may take us, but the sheer weight of currency being spent and earned within these economies and the development of services to monitor real to virtual exchange rates and market prices indicates that they are here to stay.