Honey, I blew a hundred grand on a virtual property

Darius Chang | Nov 15, 2005

According to CNN, Jon Jacobs from Miami purchased a space station for only US$100,000 (S$170,605). But before you think this is some sort of scam (think star-naming companies), the property in question exists only in the virtual game, Project Entropia. Actually, since you at least get a paper "certificate" after naming a star, some may think that Jocabs was not really playing with all his marbles when signing the deal.

Despite the seemingly inane investment choice, we can't really fault his line of thinking. With potential epidemics, natural disasters and bombings appearing in the news on a daily basis, putting money in a place which is essentially immune from physical damage could be the wave of the future. Jocabs intends to convert the space station into a resort populated with interesting dinosaur-like monsters. To further enhance the safari-like atmosphere, visitors are given the license to kill and keep the carcasses for profit. Jacobs estimates that his virtual resort should generate a real income of around US$20,000 monthly.

But this is not exactly revolutionary. Non-gold standard-based currency depends on society's perceived value in order to function as an unit of exchange. This unique form of virtual investment relies on the perception of value by other players in this imaginary world to make real profit. Hopefully, this erasing of the boundaries between reality and fantasy doesn't cross over to first person shooters. Otherwise, funeral homes will be making a tidy profit after every major gaming event.

Filed under: PC & Peripherals
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