Facing real world debts, a trusted figure in a popular online game stole money from the virtual bank he ran and exchanged it for cash through the black market. It happened in EVE Online, where more than 300,000 subscribers pay $15 a month to play. They gain wealth through hard work, manipulating the market, or killing rivals in a distant future where humans have colonized the stars in an online game... 

The Nintendo Wii has beaten off the iPod to become the gadget that “makes people most happy”, says a new British poll.  According to the survey of over 2,500 callers to The Gadget Helpline, a phone service that consumers having problems with broken electrical equipment can call for help, the results underline the increasing popularity of games consoles, once considered a hobby for young... 

Dentsu Inc, Japan’s largest ad agency, said it would team up with game maker Nintendo Co Ltd to launch a video distribution service on Nintendo’s wildly popular Wii console. The two companies plan to offer programmes created for the service, a Dentsu spokesman said, in contrast to most online channels, which tend to carry existing TV shows and movies. Viewers will need to pay to see some...