Chengdu Police Arrest Two Gold Farmers

Steve at PlayNoEvil noted this little news story, which involves two Chinese gold farmers who have pulled in over $200K USD being arrested in China. Why? How, exactly? Well, it would appear that one of the pair felt they were being swindled out of profits and reported his partner to the police:

Chengdu's Shuangliu county has arrested two virtual item and currency traders, surnamed Li and Zhang, focused on tapping out The9's (Nasdaq: NCTY) licensed MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW), reports Chengdu Evening News. Police arrested the pair after Li reported Zhang for unfair revenue distribution. Going into business last August, the gold miners accumulated more than 20 employees with 20 computers to generate RMB 1.6 million in seven months of dealing.

Oopsies. I'll be nosing around for more on this story (like exactly what the pair was arrested for), but if any intrepid readers come across anything, send it my way. As Steve at PlayNoEvil notes, "Turn up the Irony Meter to 11. After all, with all of the complaints in the US about gold farming, it takes the Chinese to stand up and do something about it."

WoW Gold Miner Offers Himself Up To Police [Pacific Epoch via PlayNoEvil

Fla Supreme Court Hears Xbox Killers' Appeal

The three man convicted of slaughtering six people in 2004 with baseball bats in a Florida home because of an Xbox should have been tried separately, a lawyer told the Florida Supreme Court on Monday.

Jerone Hunter and Troy Victorino were both sentenced to death by electric chair or lethal injection in 2006, the third man received a life sentence without parole.

Hunter's attorney argued earlier this week that his client should be spared from execution because he was acting under the "domination" of Victorino, that he had no prior criminal record and suffers from schizophrenia.

The supreme court will make their decision at a later date, but I'd like to think that this is just the last desperate attempt of a vicious killer to escape his just punishment and that the court will be quick in crushing this man's last hopes.

For those of you who don't recall the case, Victorino was angry because one of the victims took his Xbox and clothing from her grandparents vacant home, where he had been squatting, so he crept into her home and bludgeoned her and five others to death with baseball bats as they lay sleeping in bed.

Supreme Court hears death sentence appeal in Xbox slayings [AP]

Report Casts Doubt On GTA IV Related Stabbing

A stabbing reported by the BBC to have occurred by a perpetrator waiting in line for a midnight UK launch of Grand Theft Auto IV may be completely unrelated and the result of "media panic" according to conflicting reports. VNU cites GamesRadar as the source, which credits a GameStation employee who told the outlet that the crime committed against a passer-by "had categorically not pre-ordered the game" and that the victim was not in the store's queue.

Theories abound that drunken pub goers nearby had been the ones getting all stabby. We're not sure who to believe in this case, the BBC (sorry, who?) or some guy who works at GameStation who cracked the case for GamesRadar. It's all so confusing and tangential, but at least we got a fun story out of it! :(

Grand Theft Auto stabbing disputed [VNU]
GTA stabbing "nothing to do with GTA" [GamesRadar]

Art Imitates Life - Man Stabbed In GTA IV Queue

A queue of gamers waiting in line at a Gamestation store in South London were treated to a gruesome preview of the game they would soon be playing when a hooded man who had seemingly been waiting in line for the game repeatedly stabbed a 23-year-old male who had been passing by. Around 50-100 people were present at the Gamestation in Croyden when the attack occurred, with members of the queuing public contact the police. The victim was discovered a short distance from the store and was taken to a hospital and treated for multiple stab wounds.

Authorities are currently looking for "a light skinned black man aged about 21, 6ft 5ins tall, of medium build wearing a light grey hooded top," while the mainstream media is currently seeking the best possible way to shock the living hell out of the non-gaming public with the headline for this story. I think we're going to have to give them this one. The assailant just picked a really inconvenient time to go apeshit.

Stab attack at Grand Theft queue [BBC News - Thanks g2dat]

Report: UPS Is Stealin' Ur GTA IV

As we're about to crest on the Grand Theft Auto IV hype wave, Ars Technica passes on a somewhat amusing, definitely puzzling anecdote, writing that UPS may be experiencing an upswing in employee theft, with GTA IV to blame. Hearsay? Oh, totally, but Ars passes on that "In one 24-hour period, three workers were fired, and more interviews were scheduled for today that would likely end in termination."

The story comes from someone who appears to work in human resources or security, claiming that tracking down the offending GTA IV package thief isn't hard. Want to learn how you're going to be snatched, sticky fingered UPS man? Ars has the details.

Grand Theft UPS: copies of GTA stolen en route to retailers [Ars Technica]

Akihabara Ass Flasher Arrested!

Butt Flasher Lady Returns For More Butt Flashing!

Even cops can't stop Ass Flasher. Tush thong lady Asuka Sawamoto hit Akihabara this week and hit it hard — two cheeks at a time. Previously, Sawamoto mooned all of nerdom, causing a mob scene of sweaty dorks with cameras and boners. The act hit Yahoo! News Japan. While the cops have been cracking down on Akihabara street performances to hopes of avoiding such shameful (and potentially dangerous) displays. The "singer" was back for the hat trick this Sunday, putting her arse out for the third time. This time TV crews were on hand to catch the cheeky act and butt in for a quick interview or two.

Hit the jump for a pic of the ass flashery madness! It's somewhat safe for work. But creepy as hell.

GTA Will "Knock Me Out And Take My Gold Jesus Cross"

Pokemon Event Threatened, Event So Cancelled

We thought the safety of our customers is our top priority. We deeply apologize for the cancellation.

NCsoft Shuts Down Illegal Servers

Don't Blame Sonic For Hedgehog Violence

We have to nip this story in the bud before the mainstream media get a hold of it, though it may already be too late! There is absolutely no connection between Sonic the Hedgehog and the New Zealand man who allegedly assaulted a 15-year-old boy with a flying erinaceus europaeus.

"It hit the victim in the leg, causing a large, red welt and several puncture marks," said Senior Sgt Bruce Jenkins, in the North Island town of Whakatane.

NZ man 'used hedgehog as weapon' [BBC - Ninja Girlden]

Tiger Mauling Victim Becomes Wii Remote Thief

It's the same old story. One day you're getting mauled by a tiger with your buddies, the next you're suing the city of San Francisco and (allegedly!) shoplifting Wii controllers. That's the case for 19 year old Paul Dhaliwal who was arrested last week on shoplifting charges, nabbed by security personnel who claim he had stuffed two Wii remotes down his pants at a San Leandro Target store.

Yes, it's weird. You'd think that having your 17-year old buddy clawed to death by a wild tiger would scare you straight on just about everything, but it doesn't appear that alleged Wii remote thievery is Mr. Dhaliwal's first offense. At least Nintendo can say they've cornered the market on Alpha Tiger Mauled Teens. No one's done that before.

San Jose brothers maimed by zoo tiger allege negligence, defamation [San Jose Mercury News - thanks, Adam!]

It wasn't until Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi stepped off the plane in the States this week that he heard about the connection some in the Japanese media were trying to draw between his recently released Ninja Gaiden game and the rampage of a disenfranchised gamer at a shopping center near Tokyo.

"We were just talking about it. We didn't fly in until last night and I didn't know about it until I got off the plane," Hayashi said through a translator Wednesday afternoon. "They told me there is stuff going on in the media in Japan, there is a game that was involved and it just so happens it was Ninja Gaiden DS."

Masahiro Kanagawa, 24, told police that on March 19 he decided he wanted to attack his sister and a local elementary school, but changed his mind and instead randomly picked a home and went inside and killed a 72-year-old man. Four days later, police say Kanagawa went to a shopping center and stabbed eight people, one of which later died.

The day after the stabbings, at least one television station pointed out that Kanagawa had a copy of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword in his bag when he was arrested. The game went on sale in Japan on March 20 and police told at least one outlet they are looking into a possible connection.

Nintendo Spooks Retailers Into Pulling R4 Carts

15-Year-Old Killed For Not Passing Game

When 15-year-old Olivier Baptiste refused to hand over the video game he was playing to his 18-year-old friend William Suarez, Suarez pulled out a .32-caliber Smith and Wesson from his waistband and shot Baptiste in the head. This according to police, who have charged the alleged killer with manslaughter, illegal possession of a firearm, assault with a dangerous weapon, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

Witnesses told authorities that Suarez then put the gun down on the kitchen counter and began saying, "This just didn't happen," according to court documents.

The Internet's got Jesse McPherson's back.

On March 12 McPherson returned from SXSW to discover that his home had been broken into and that the burglar had made off with his Xbox 360, an old Powerbook and a television.

Familiar with the competence of the Philadelphia police, McPherson decided to hunt for the items himself and soon found that the burglar had tried to sell his laptop at a local pawn shop, which has images of the guy from their camera. He tries to give the info to police, but never hears back.

Fast forward to Friday when McPherson's workmates present him with a replacement Xbox 360. He goes home, hooks it up and discovers a voice message on his 360 from some guy saying he has his 360 and wants cash to give it back. Better still the idiot uses his current account to leave the message.

McPherson calls police again and is hung up on... so he turns things over to the Internet and business is handled.

Killer Murders 2, Stabs Seven, Played Sexy Game

I just wanted to see what it was like to kill. It could have been anyone.