Online Games

As Pennsylvania introduces its first slots casinos, the issue of problem gambling may come to the forefront. In the first of two commentaries on this subject, we learn who is abusing gambling, why, and what can be done to help. More than 80 percent of Americans engage in some form of gambling: buying lottery tickets, betting on horse races, playing bingo, or visiting casinos. Most have no problems. They set limits for their time and money - and stick to them. Then there are the problem gamblers, people with difficulties ranging from mild to very severe.

Lee Rainie wants to know what you did online yesterday, but he isn't stealing your cookies to find out. He comes right out and asks. Beleaguered e-commerce market researchers may fret over Web-site hit counts, worry about abandoned online "shopping carts," and secretly pluck at the data files called cookies on individuals' hard drives - all in efforts to sell more to wired consumers. But Rainie, director of the year-old, nonprofit Pew Internet and American Life Project, is more interested in such social questions as, why don't some people like the Internet at all?

LAS VEGAS - Bally Technologies Inc. showcased its most popular games, including Cash Spin, on several platforms here this month at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E). There was Cash Spin as a traditional slot machine; Cash Spin on an iPod, Droid, BlackBerry, and iTouch tablet; and Cash Spin as an online game at the Bally Interactive booth at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. As one of the world's largest suppliers of slot machines and systems that operate casinos, Bally and companies like it are gearing up for what many say will be gambling's next frontier: the Internet.

If searching for hidden treasure conjures images of a one-legged pirate and a mysterious island map marked with an "X," your imagination may be ready for an upgrade. Go to www.Geocaching.com, plug in your zip code, and select a treasure that sounds intriguing - say, "Alien Transport Portal #2. " Now enter the coordinates into your handheld GPS and head outdoors, where you'll use satellite navigation to find it. With a little luck, you will. Then you'll take something out of "cache," put something in for the next guy, hike home, and log back on to the Web to share your experience with a virtual community worldwide.

WOULDN'T it be great to have Wi-Fi wireless Internet connectivity everywhere for our gadgets? Someday maybe we will - if big guns like Google and Comcast and forward-thinking municipalities ever decide to build hot spots to totally blanket the town. But at the moment, we can make do with freedom-breeding, Wi-Fi signal-spreading devices such as the D-Link DAP-1320 Wireless Range Extender and Novatel's aptly named MiFi Liberate mobile hot spot.   Plug 'n' Play Designed for home use, the tiny D-Link plug-in booster does a pretty decent job of extending the signal range of your current wireless router, which improves the speed and stability of signal reception at "fringe" zones far removed from the wireless router.

CSTV Networks and the Atlantic Ten Conference kick off their live video online coverage this weekend and through March 10 will feature 18 men's and five women's basketball games. CSTV is making games available as part of CSTV.com's XXL broadband package, for $14.95 per month, and will give access to Atlantic Ten games as well as sports from more than 90 other schools. In September, CSTV will begin carrying Atlantic Ten sports on television and broadband from all 14 schools.

THE GIZMO: Sega Dreamcast and SegaNet online service; $149 for console, $21.95 per month for service. Hardware rebate and free keyboard with 18-month service commitment. Sega of America, 650 Townsend St., San Francisco, Calif. 94103-4908. www.sega.com WHY WE CARE: Mirror, mirror on the wall. What really is the future of home video game systems? Is it a higher-resolution player that runs past and new-generation games and also doubles as a DVD movie spinner, like the Sony PlayStation 2, coming Oct. 26?

A bill that would legalize Internet wagering in Pennsylvania is to be introduced next week by State Rep. Tina Davis. The Bucks County Democrat confirmed Thursday that she might introduce the measure in Harrisburg as early as Wednesday. Davis - whose district includes Parx, the state's top-grossing casino - cited recent moves by New Jersey and Delaware as the reason Pennsylvania needed to get started on the issue. "We wanted to get the conversation going," she said. "We're working on some changes" to the bill.

When Tim Quirino needed cash to help him get through his senior year at Drexel University, he knew what to sell. His ad on eBay read something like this - Available: World of Warcraft avatar ranked second in his realm, plus his castle, virtual gold, weapons, and other accessories. Within a week, he pocketed a very real $1,000 for a very unreal set of assets. Fortunately for Quirino, now 26, the transaction was a smooth one. He got his money, graduated with a degree in graphic design, and went on to cofound the popular-culture blog Geekadelphia.

Whoever thought a little game of bingo might interest a venture-backed San Francisco social media company? Well, RockYou Inc. liked the online growth of Bingo by Ryzing enough to buy the Center City social gaming developer Ryzing L.L.C. for an undisclosed amount last week. A statement released by one of Ryzing's investors indicated that Ryzing's team, headed by Manu Gambhir, will join RockYou, which intends to maintain and expand the Philadelphia office. Wayne Kimmel, a partner in the Artists & Instigators venture fund, said Ryzing currently has 10 full-time equivalent employees, including six in Philadelphia.