Just as Monopoly the board game can be digitized and ported into a computer program, so did SOE take the multiplayer Pirates Constructible Strategy Game (CSG) and take it online. Yeah, we've been a wee bit remiss in checking up on this, er, Pirates of the Burning Sea-lite (kiddie-lite, if you ask us), but we're glad to report that the game's definitely now active (could be for quite some time already!). You can grab a demo or purchase the full game online, and see that even these pirates celebrate Christmas!

You can grab the demo client at their site - may need a Station.com account, no biggie if you or a member of your family is already playing EQ2. Piece your ships together from the starter pack, and dang the torpedoes, full speed ahead, and crush the online opposition. Download the online game now, and you also receive a redeemable coupon code for the Pirates: Quest for Davy Jones' Gold Digital Board Game (I thought we were looking for his heart, Jack?).

Ah, and now Christmas. Purchase six digital game packs in the Pirates CSG Online Store, between now and January 2 next year, and receive a digital copy of "Santa's Sleigh" Holiday Promotional Ship, which will be berthed into the player's fleet when he/she logs into the CSG Online game. Yes, we can already hear the Pirate Santa jokes right now. Yo-ho-ho-HO and a bottle of eggnog!

The real world is seeping through the World of Warcraft as we speak. And seeping along with that reality are The Benjamins. Lots and lots of it.

Just how profitable is World of Warcraft? A multinational company and household name like Coca Cola, has teamed up with the immensely popular MMORPG, with hopes of selling their brand to the 7 million subscribers of the game. In China, Coca-Cola put World of Warcraft figures on 600m Coke cans and even released a series of commercials that stars Taiwanese superstar group S.H.E. There are hats, T-shirts, a board game, seven novels and a movie in the works.

Vivendi's brainchild has also spawned sweatshops packed with 500,000 people "gold farming" or accumulating in-game currency and selling it. These days a level-60 night elf with “great gear, skills and 100 gold to spend” is fetching for $289.99. Most of these players are Chinese, Mexican and Russian players.

If you're not really familiar with the MMORPG world, you'd think it ridiculous how these enthusiasts have become like a slave almost of the game. Professor Edward Castronova, Comolan’s creator explains the phenomenon as succinctly, "The real draw is the map of meaning the game provides. In the real world if you work in a coffee shop, that has no meaning. In the game if you are told to take this box from this village to this castle because something really important will happen, then that has more meaning than making a latte for some customer.”

WizKids introduced the constructible strategy game (CSG) genre with the launch of "Pirates" in 2004. That game sold out a month before it was released (they initially produced enough sets to last them two years, or so they thought). After it sold out, it went on to the mass market.

Packaged like a collectible card game, "Pirates" had players use die-cut parts from each card to construct 3D galleons, schooners, and pirate ships, seeking treasure on the high seas while fending off enemy attacks, arrrrr. The game is quite easy to learn and fast to play. Each game pack contains everything a person needs to play, including two ships, crew and treasure, an island, complete rules, and a die.

Pirates CSG Online is expected to launch this fall, featuring sea monsters and the supernatural with the Pirates of Davy Jones Curse and an online version of WizKid's upcoming Pirates board game, "The Quest for Davy Jones Gold."

Why this fall? We're guessing it's because September 19 is "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" (we kid you not, that's a real day and some of us here will celebrate that day by writing like pirates, hearken me hearties, arrrrr).

Anyway, about the game. The online game will feature tools to manage offline and online Pirates CSG collections, as well as quick and easy match-making for a variety of two-player and multiplayer game formats and scenarios, a robust fleet-building utility, secure ship trading, league and tournament play, and great promotional tie-ins between the offline and online versions of the game.

Considering the buzz over other pirate games, this game should prove to be treasure chest.