We are not immune. This statement can not go any clearer than this. CBS, mother company of media company CNET, has brought down the ax on several of its subsidiary companies, merging newsrooms, including TV.com, MP3.com and gaming website Gamespot.

Over the past year, more than US$ 1 billion have been pumped into 35 virtual worlds companies by venture capital, technology and media firms. This information comes from Virtual World Management, a leading media company that tracks the virtual worlds industry.

The biggest chunk of the US$1 billion came from Disney's acquisition of Club Penguin, an online game from New Horizon Interactive where kids take control of cartoon penguin avatars to waddle around, play minigames and chat with their friends. This acquisition cost Disney US$ 700 million.

Intel's US$ 110-million acquisition of 3D virtual worlds graphics technology company Havok made up the second-biggest part of the figure. A total of US$ 196.8 million came from investments in 33 different companies. Investors included Intel, Redpoint ventures, Disney, CBS and Time Warner.

Tomorrow may be a big moment on the history of gaming as broadcast giant CBS formally becomes the first network of its class to show a video game tournament as a regular sporting event like other athletic spectacles such as the Masters and March Madness.

"There are an enormous amount of people of all ages who play video games these days, so we’re going to try to see if video games’ popularity can translate into a viable television audience," says CBS Sports Vice-President Rob Correa as he explores the possibility of people looking at this moment as a poignant event after a decade or so.

The tournament concerned is the World Series of Video Games which will be held in Louisville, Kentucky. Edited footage from the event will show highlights of face-offs between players in games such as Fight Night Round 3, Guitar Hero and other non-violent titles. First-person shootouts in Halo and Quake will sadly not make it on air because of the nature of the content.

The idea of the tournament and the coverage by CBS is pegged on the South Korean model which has an entire nation embracing gaming and making it a part of pop culture. A full-time coverage in the manner that ESPN covers sports isn't possible for video games just yet but for now, this is the biggest step game broadcasting can take in the US.

The CBS coverage is also a pilot test of sorts on how game programming in cable TV initiated by G4 and Gameplay HD can work in a bigger scale. The response of viewers will determine future plans on the coverage of electronic gaming as a sport on the network.

World of Warcraft players, here's you and your avatar's chance to be featured on MTV.

MTV True Life is looking for players aged 16 to 28 to feature in a showcase about how the MMORPG has affected their lives. Here's their pitch:

MTV True Life is doing a documentary for the series True Life about you in the virtual world. We want to see you and your avatars. Does your virtual avatar make you feel confident behind your computer screen? Is there something interesting or unique about your life online? Are you able to lead hundreds of people in World of Warcraft but find yourself shy in real life? Did you meet your significant other online? Is your online avatar completely different from who you are in real life? If so, we would love to hear your story.

MTV True Life is a series that follows unique and varied subcultures. Interested folk can head on over to the Read link below to get more details on requirements and submission locations. This will be another one of World of Warcraft's television events after the CBS battle event on July 29.

On July 29, CBS will be showing some of the best World of Warcraft teams in North America battle it out in 3v3 PvP at 12pm ET or 9AM PT. Among the teams featured will be Team Pandemic, Insurrection, Mob TurtlePower, and fnatic.

This hour-long special is the network television debut of WoW. This event is being held as part of The World Series of Video Games where players compete for the whopping US$ 90,000 prize pot. This is the perfect time for other competitive WoW players to sit down and take notes on the strategies being employed by the top teams in the nation.

So will Team Pandemic walk away as the champion of the WoW arena, or will a new team be taking that title from them? We'll have to wait and see how this pans out. If you're a fan of WoW PvP, then you really should watch this event and pick up a few pointers. Before you go, be sure to check out the commercial for the event below.

This week it's another new stretch for the World Series of Video Games tour, as the WSVG 2007 hits Dallas, Texas for another round up for Counter-Strike, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero II, Call of Duty 2, Gears of War, Quake 4 and Fight Night Round 3 competitive players.

Prizes totalling up to US$ 90,000 will be given away at the event, starting July 5, Thursday up to July 8, Sunday. The highlight of Dallas is the inclusion of Xbox 360 titles Gears of War from Epic Games and Guitar Hero II from Red Octane, so the event might be worth checking out for the Xbox 360 gamer.

And if you can shrug off the US$ 10 admission fee, you might want to pick up a few tips from James ‘2GD’ Harding on dominating with your trusty Quake 4 railgun. Listen carefully, and see tips being put to practice on the grand arena floors.

Cheer for your select team or players and get your face plastered all over CBS Sports news, while demoing some of the industry's latest games and winning some free swag. But first things first: you'd have to figure out how to get to the Gaylord Texan Resort on time.

Online games are fun and all, and those who have never been addicted to anything in their life could never hope to understand what it feels like to be totally immersed in a virtual world. In a report titled "Online Gaming Isn't Just Child's Play," CBS described the harrowing story of how a former Final Fantasy XI junkie escaped the habit that tore her family apart.

Johnson, a mother of two teenage boys, says she was hooked to Square Enix's online adventure and embarked on a four-year quest to self-destruction before she finally got sick and tired of being sick and tired. The aftermath was a divorce with a husband who was more addicted to the game than she was.

"My children would come up to talk to me and I'd say, 'wait, wait, Mom's busy. I'll be done in a minute … just give Mommy another minute,'" confesses Johnson. She said she was averaging about 50 hours a week in game time, leaving little time for everything else.

The last straw was when she and her husband quit working to have a more game-driven life. They laid all their expenses on their credit cards and waited until everything blew up in a glob of rage and financial trouble.

Right then and there, Kay crushed the game discs and ended her involvement with gaming. She says the reminders of game companies to "have a life" cannot be more futile.

Google is apparently looking to move its advertising business into the realm of video games. CNN Money reports that Google Inc. is in talks to acquire Adscape Media Inc, a closely held San Francisco firm who has developed technology that allows for the placement of ads over the Web in video games.

The Wall Street Journal cites several people familiar with the mater and reports that Google is negotiating to buy Adscape and that a deal could be reached as early as next week. For now, here's what a Google spokesperson said:

We are always considering new ways to extend Google's advertising program to benefit our users, advertisers and publishers. In-game advertising offers one such possible extension among many others.

Some members of the industry note that Google is eying Adscape because of its AdverPlay technology which enables "two-way communication between in-game ads and the outside world."

Terms being discussed are still not known. However, there was a similar deal sometime ago that we can look at to get an idea of how things will shape up. Last year, Microsoft acquired Massive Inc, a company known for the delivery of in-game ads, for almost US$ 200 million.

It is also reported that Google is discussing a possible agreement with CBS Corp that would include brokering TV and radio advertisements.

Google has declined to comment on any talks.

Showtime is expanding their horizons with this recent move. The CBS Corporation owned cable channel is going to work with game publisher Broadband Libraries LLC to form "On Broadband". What is it? Think of GameTap and you'll probably have an idea what On Broadband would be about.

Anyhow, the company will be offering a private label game service for cable TV companies and DSL broadband providers come  the second quarter of this year. They will be offering a collection of games that can be downloaded or played online, some will be free and some will be available for purchase.

A subscription option will also be available. Aside from that, game-related content such as reviews and cheats and tricks will also be offered. In parting, Peter Von Schlossberg of Broadband Libraries has this to say:

Cable operators have tried to populate their home pages with any sort of entertainment they can...We believe (the service) should be in their name and be delivered to them and passed along to consumers as they like.

Well, there's the Super Bowl for football fans, the NBA All-Star Weekend for basketball junkies, and the World Series for baseball fanatics. These are major television events, getting airtime, oodles of advertisements, and raking in network ratings. Now here's something for gamers. CBS aired Video Game Super Stars, presented by Intel, featuring five of the best pro gamers around.

The special focuses on the likes of Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel (a.k.a. "the Michael Jordan of gaming"), Rafik "LoSt-CaUzE" Bryant, David "Moto" Geffon who defied his family and denounced the profession of law to be a pro gamer, the minister's daughter Shannon "Mary Jane" Ridge, and Matt "Ballistics" Powers who is a seasoned Sergeant at maximum security prison.

You can watch the World Series of Video Games Finals, also presented by Intel  on College Sports Television starting January 21.