If anyone ever tries to tell you that computer games aren’t addictive laugh in their face. Then tell them about the man in China who paid $16,000 for a virtual sword – for a game that isn’t even available where he lives.
In his defense the game, Age of Wulin, will be available in mainland China at some point however, the point still stands that he has paid money for the sword before he can use it and he’s paid a ridiculously large sum of money for this sword he can never touch.
Age of Wulin, a role playing game created by Snail Games based in California, is a MMORPG (translation a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.) The money made off of MMORPGs is huge – roughly 3 billion dollars in 2011 and with people spending $16,000 on a virtual sword, it’s not surprising.
If you are a gamer and think $16,000 is a fair price to pay let’s break it down into Chinese currency. It’s almost 99,000 Chinese yuan – in a country where the average yearly salary is roughly 6,500 yuan in urban areas and 2,466 yuan in rural areas. Looking at it that way makes it seem a wee bit excessive.
Nonetheless, if he has the money to so be it. All I can say is I really wish I had that kind of money to waste, I mean spend. Source.
