Earlier this month, a man walked into an EB Games outside St. Louis, pulled a gun and told the clerk his family was being held hostage and that he needed a PS3 to set them free. Good news! The police have apprended the man, his gun and the PS3. According to the police, the man's family was never in danger. According to us, the man is bonkers.

What else we learned: When the police originally were called about the crime, they arrived on the scene 37 seconds later as they have a station near that particular EB Games. 37 seconds? That's fast, but not crazy fast as the man, his gun and the PS3 had already fled the scene.

Man Who Claimed He Stole Playstation To Save His Family Arrested [KSDK Thanks, dae_giovanni!]

The Entertainment Software Association issued a press release today that for once wasn't scolding a U.S. state for pursuing unconstitutional game legislation. Instead, they take a moment to applaud the sentencing of two convicted software pirates - Kevin Fuchs of New York and Kifah Maswadi of Florida, both of whom received prison terms for their efforts at taking away money from hardworking developers and publishers.

"We commend the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the U.S. Attorney's Offices for the Western District of North Carolina and the Eastern District of Virginia and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work in bringing these criminals to justice," said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA... "These decisions illustrate, once again, that game piracy will not be tolerated and the extent at which these criminals will be prosecuted. The ESA and its members will continue to support law enforcement's efforts to protect the intellectual property of our industry."

It's just another friendly way of saying don't f*** with the ESA.

Pittsburgh police were looking for four people who beat and kicked a teen to the ground during an argument over a Playstation 3.

Police say the 18-year-old walked up to a group of 30 or so people Friday night in Greensburgh and when he started to talk to them, four attacked him.

One of the men punched the teen in the face with brass knuckles, breaking a bone near his eye. When the teen fell to the ground the men started kicking him.

Police say the attack was the result of an argument over ownership of a Playstation 3.

Victim says assault in Greensburg was over PlayStation 3 [Tribune Review]

Some idiot in Utah wrecked his so-called "bullet bike" into an SUV carrying a family of four. Everyone's alive, including the no-shirt, no-helmet cyclist, but of course vidja games are the cause. I swear, there must be a check-block for it on police investigation forms:

As for motive, Savino told troopers this was his own video game adventure. "I don't know whether he was trying to act out a scene in a video game or what he was trying to do, but he said it always worked for him in video games", Roden said.

OK, gang, so what exactly was he trying to emulate? And since this dumbass seems hellbent on removing himself from the gene pool, what's the next thing he should try?

High-Speed Chase and Crash Caught on Tape [KSL-TV]

Kimberly Jernigan isn't much of a dog person. Lions are more her speed. In fact one was her boyfriend. In Second Life, of course, but never mind, it felt real. And when the romance went down the crapper in their virtual world, it got even weirder in the real one. No surprise that someone ends up locked in the bathroom with their snout duct-taped shut. And probably not much of a surprise it wasn't either of the humans, but the dog.

An unnamed British woman looks set to be out £16,086.56 ($US 29,950) after being ordered by London's Patents County Court to pay American developer Topware Interactive. Apparently, the woman shared Topware's Dream Pinball 3D on a person-to-person file-sharing site. Says prosecutor David Gore, a partner at law firm Davenport Lyons:

llegal filesharing is a very serious issue resulting in millions of pounds of losses to copyright owners... As downloading speeds and internet penetration increase, this continues to be a worldwide problem across the media industry which increasingly relies on digital revenues...The damages and costs ordered by the court are significant and should act as a deterrent. This shows that taking direct steps against infringers is an important and effective weapon in the battle against online piracy.

The woman must pay damages of £6,086.56 and costs and disbursements of £10,000. Davenport Lyons isn't finished — the law firm is going after 100 people believed to have also illegally uploading Topware's IP. Dream Pinball 3D? More like Nightmare Pinball 3D.

Illegal file-sharers face fines after copyright case [Telegraph via MCVUK]

I find security issues facing games pretty interesting; PlayNoEvil is one of my favourite spots for discussion about security related issues. Gamasutra sat down with Gene Hoffman, CEO of Vindicia, a billing and fraud management company, about the issues facing MMOs and ways to mitigate those issues. Of particular concern are the RMT resale markets (if it exists), and chargebacks. And what of the mingling of real and virtual economies? Hoffman has this to say:

Lamar Roberts, one of the two teenagers implicated in the death of seven year old Zoe Garcia, entered a plea of "not guilty" today, according to Colourado's 9 News. Roberts, who told police that Garcia's death was the result of him and Heather Trujillo recreating moments from Mortal Kombat and claimed to be drunk at the time, is charged with child abuse resulting in death.

Trujillo was sentenced in July and will not face time in prison. Roberts' trial date was set for January 12 of next year.

Sorry, but this likely won't be the last time you'll hear from these two little monsters.

Teen charged in 'Mortal Kombat' death pleads not guilty [9 News]

Just outside St. Louis, a man robbed an EB Games store a gun point (pictured). The man walked into the shop, picked out a game, and pulled a small handgun on the clerk. Here's the kooky part: He told the clerk that his family was being held hostage and needed a PS3 to set them free. Then, the man told the clerk to call the police after he left the store because his family needed help. Well, that's original. And crazy.

Police: Man Steals Playstation 3, Says It's to Save His Family [KSDK via PS3 Fanboy]