Converting virtual cash to real

Ok, parents of gamers, wrap your synapses around this: an ATM card that allows you to withdraw real money from your cache of virtual money in your favorite online game world. It's here, and it's not a huge leap when you consider that people are paying real money for virtual weapons, artifacts, and real estate in online games (see "Virtual real estate mogul" and "Games' shadow economy"). The New York Times reports that "today the makers of Entropia Universe, a popular online science-fiction game, plan to introduce a real-world A.T.M. card that will allow players instantly to withdraw hard cash automatically converted from their virtual game treasury. So a player with, say, 2,000 spare P.E.D.'s (Project Entropia Dollars) left over after purchasing a new laser rifle in the game could withdraw $200 and take a date to a real-life ballgame." Sweden-based Project Entropia has about 250,000 players, the Times mentions. BTW, this is the kind of game (alternate-reality) that attracts more equal numbers of male and female players. For a female game developer's perspective check out this piece from the Detroit Free Press. As for games' breaking news: "In a highly unusual move, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board changed the rating of a popular Xbox 360 and PC game [Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion] from T (Teen) to M (Mature) based on hidden and not-so-hidden blood, gore and nudity built into the game," the Detroit Free Press reported, adding that Elder Scrolls IV is "a critically acclaimed role-playing game."