World of Warcraft's operation finally resumed in China only recently, but it looks like Chinese gamers' celebration will be short-lived. Reuters reports that a Chinese regulatory authority has filed a cease and desist order upon WoW's Chinese licensing partner, NetEase, from continuing operations of the said game in the country.

Always quick with a comment, Michael Pachter has weighed in on the rumor about Microsoft buying Electronic Arts. As far as the Wedbush Morgan analyst is concerned, the rumor doesn't make any sense at all.

EVE Online has a reputation for having in-game crimes happen left and right. Most of it's even condoned since crime is an inherent part of the game's virtual economy. It's a different ball game when players actually take the virtual cash they steal and sell them for real world money, however.

Ohhhhh boy... Talk about flame bait. Reuters recently quizzed various stakeholders and analysts on their take on the recession benefiting the MMO scene. With jobs being lost, a lot of folks have more time on their hands now, and that points to more play time for MMO players. So where does Pachter come in? Find out in the full article.

At the request of MMORPG Second Life creator Linden Lab, FBI investigators have visited some of the virtual casinos in the virtual world, but just how gambling in Second Life stands from a legal viewpoint is still in question. This according to reports from Reuters.

Casinos offering poker, slot machines, and blackjack can be found pretty much everywhere in Second Life. Linden Lab is currently seeking guidance from the FBI regarding all of this virtual gaming activity in their virtual creation. The company has yet to receive any clear rules from U.S. authorities, however.

"It's not always clear to us whether a 3-D simulation of a casino is the same thing as a casino, legally speaking, and it's not clear to the law enforcement authorities we have asked," said Ginsu Yoon, who until recently was Linden Lab's general counsel and is currently the company's vice president for business affairs.

Reuters reports that while most lawyers agree that placing bets using Linden dollars - Second Life's own form of virtual currency - "likely violates U.S. anti-gambling statutes, which cover circumstances in which 'something of value' is wagered." What remains uncertain is the degree of Linden Lab's responsibility in the matter.

"If you're buying money on the Lindex (a virtual currency exchange) and utilizing it for gambling purposes, Linden could have a much higher level of responsibility," said Sean Kane, a lawyer at New York's Drakeford & Kane who has studied the legal issues of virtual worlds. "If they would be found in violation, that's difficult to say, but I can see a much stronger case being made."

Here's another piece of news regarding a videogame casualty, but surprisingly enough, this time it's not a shooting incident. According to a report from Reuters, an obese 26-year-old man in northeastern China died after a "marathon" online gaming session over the Lunar New Year holiday.

The 150-kilogram (330-pound) man from Jinzhou, in Liaoning province, collapsed on Saturday, the last day of the holiday, after spending "almost all" of the seven-day break playing online games, the China Daily said, citing his parents. No details yet on what specific games he was playing or if the guy was actually eating anything or even taking bathroom breaks.

Xu Yan, a local teacher, said the "dull life" during the holiday prompted many people to turn to computer games for entertainment. "There are only two options. TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV and cafeterias are shut down?" the paper quoted Xu as saying.

China is currently one of the biggest gaming markets in the world right now, and the country has seen an alarming rise in the number of Internet addicts in recent years, despite attempts to restrict minors from cyber cafes and limit online game playing times.

Writer Warren Ellis, author of comic books, graphic novels, and amazing drug-induced glimpses of the future is set to bring his "Second Life Sketches" to the Reuters Second Life News Center as a weekly column beginning January 9 next year.

Ellis has this to say about the virtual world that is Second Life:

Second Life is not only the biggest digital art installation in the world, but potentially the most radical shift yet in the way communities are formed online, and possibly also the germ of the next great operating system. It’s not only a place where people get as strange as they can, but an incubator for the future. As a writer who deals with both the strangeness of people and the state of the future, Second Life is like a lab for me

If you aren't familiar with Ellis' works and you want to get an idea of how he writes, keep in mind that he's mostly famous for his work "Transmetropolitan," a futuristic tale focusing on protagonist/antagonist Spider Jerusalem, and his quest to tell the world the TRUTH through gonzo journalism. Transmetropolitan is a future that is infested with nicotine-addicted three-headed cats, and multi-media-playing penile implants - pretty much an environment that is similar to SL.

Ellis' home in Second Life can be found at Integral bay. Do with that bit of information as you wish.

Adam Reuters, the bureau chief of Reuters, sat down with Reggie Fils-Aime in the Reuters Auditorium in Second Life. Or at least their avatars did, but let's disconnect from the real world for now. That's the right attitude because we're talking Second Life and Mii avatars and more:

Three things to do to stop flying remotes. Wipe off your sweaty hands. Properly attach the strap. Do not let go of the Wii remote when playing Wii Sports!!! DO NOT THROW YOUR WIIMOTE - IT IS NOT A BALL.

Second Life and Wii. The two agreed that there's a lot in common between the Second Life demographic (evenly split between genders) and the intended audience of the Wii. Also, Reggie said he will "absolutely" take another look at Second Life.

Mii. There's more use for them in future games. And there are more plans to add customizability and personality to the Miis. Soon, they'll be everywhere. "We have Miis showing up on MySpace, and other places, so I'd love to see it show up on Second Life." As Reggie put it, the Mii travels: "It can show up in the audience of a game going on in Germany or Australia."

MMO. "The Wii certainly has enough power to drive an MMO and make it totally interactive." Nintendo isn't looking at it yet, but developers are free to take the Wii remote and Nunchuck and run with it.

Opera. The Wii is a closed system. But they have been approached by developers who want Flash-enabled games for the Wii.

Region lock. The reason is the difference between TVs in different nations (e.g., PAL). "We needed to do this this way to manage the technology."

Wii for other platforms. No way. It's what differentiates the Wii from others. Reggie also asked nicely earlier in the interview: please don't hack into the Wii controller or the system. Still, he said that the technology is "robust" - it's a fully-three-dimensional thing after all. To open a door you push, twist, and pull back the Wiimote.

Disabled people. The Wii remote is sensitive enough not to need huge movements. Nintendo worked with charities on this.

The best thing about this inteview: big LOLs at the fact that people throw their Wiimotes as if they were real bowling balls or baseballs. So we'll end it at that. Oh, and how many nuns can a Nunchuck nun if a Nunchuck can chuck nuns?

The virtual world of Linden Lab's Second Life is indeed getting a lot of attention, not only from those people who wish to escape life's mundane happenings, but they are also catching the eye of big time companies. Endemol's Big Brother is already housed in the game, Reuters is in, and so are Sony, IBM, and GM. And now Dell has tossed its hat into the Second Life craze. Here are some screenshots of Dell's Second Life taken before the start of the company's press conference announcing its entry to the virtual world.

Dell Island visitors can even past the time away in one of the island's drafting tables to configure their XPS 1710 notebooks, which your avatars can buy and use in the virtual world; that made us wonder if Dell's battery exploding saga will be given room in the virtual world. In the future, Dell wants to let residents purchase real PCs that they could use in real life.

We give our props to Badam for sending this tip in. Thanks a lot!

   

When it comes to balance and honest news reporting, we have no doubts regarding the work ethics of several companies like Reuters among many others. As everybody knows, the news agency recently joined the growing ranks of real life companies entering Second Life's virtual world. They have to keep in mind though that 'round here, the rules are a bit different.

We haven't had the chance to check on Reuters' virtual work yet, but residents are on to The New York Times. While the newspaper is not yet in Second Life, it published a story about Linden Lab's MMO creation. The article did a good job of covering the bases and it focused on commerce. But one sentence reads, "Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, 50, a member of Second Life who in the real world is a Russian translator in Manhattan is a figure well-known to other participants called Prokofy Neva, who runs a business renting real estate to other players."

A good number of residents do not quite approve of the above mention of Prokofy Neva's real life. As they put it, it defeats the very reason and purpose of virtual freedom. They also believe that NY Times thinks having a nom de virtual is a form of aberration. While we here at QJ thinks that the newspaper do not have any ill intentions whatsoever, we suggest just the same that they observe the norms, rules and the culture of a virtual world.