This Week In PC Games: Sony Demolishes Star Wars Properties

By Greg McNevin

It seems that many Star Wars Galaxies MMO players have moved on to greener entertainment pastures leaving behind their virtual real estate behind. So many in fact, there are veritable ghost-towns in the game, prompting Sony to instigate a demolition program.

Old players can save their abodes if they re-activate their accounts by the end of May (they can also score an in-game painting of Obi-Wan Kenobi), but if they don’t – and this is where the genius comes in – Sony will be rewarding players for destroying condemned buildings instead of just hitting the delete key.

Each building razed earns a point that can be put towards in-game rewards such as:

- A rebel painting
- An imperial painting
- A pet droid
- A xeno couch
- A xeno rug

Amazing. Not only is Sony fixing an annoying problem, but it’s getting the 16 people still playing SWG to do it for free. But then again, if there is a better way of cleaning house I’d like to hear it. Everyone loves breaking stuff.

Blizzard Hiring
In more online gaming news, Blizzard is hiring staff for an unnamed next-gen MMO; announcing on its website that it is on the hunt for a Lead Engine Programmer, Lead Tools Programmer and Lead Technical Artist.

This has set the rumour mill into overdrive, particularly considering Blizzard is set to make a major announcement next month at the Worldwide Invitational tournament in Korea.

A StarCraft MMO would be as cool as the other side of the pillow, and what better place to announce it than the world epicentre of rabid StarCraft players.

First Person Shooter Sickness
And last, but certainly not least in the cool department, thanks to the boffins at MIT an affordable holographic display that is a “good fit” for current high-end PC graphics cards and gaming consoles is getting closer. Let’s see how those poor souls who suffer from first-person shooter motion sickness deal with this!

Warcraft Gets Real
Finally, “Pwning the newbs”^† in World of Warcraft is not without repercussions, at least in Mexico. According to funtechtalk.com, on Saturday WoW player Bronco Carson told local police that three men had broken into his home, assaulted him with clubs and smashed his computer in retaliation for Carson picking on the wife of one of the attackers in-game.

Carson admits to stalking and killing the lady’s character repeatedly but says he wasn’t expecting it to spill over into real life. “I knew that I might be messed with in the game but I didn’t really expect her husband to come looking for me,” he reportedly told the police.

Two broken fingers and a fractured wrist later no arrests have been made, but Carson is probably regretting his decision to give his attackers his home address.

^{†Look can we take a vote on this "pwning" business? Does anybody out there ever actually use the term? Head to the Forum below and make yourself heard.}