Yahoo is reporting that GotGame, a networking portal for gamers, has released an independent browser application called Rogue. The newsworthiness doesn’t stem so much from the browser itself, but from the fact that insinuates itself into whatever game you’re playing and doesn’t require application-switching to use. So if you’re stuck doing some sandwich gaming, or just don’t feel like contributing to your PvP battleground (and don’t want to get caught), this is the application for you. It’s presently only compatible with a handful of games, but Rogue has it where it counts and integrates with several MMORPGs and other games where you frequently get stuck waiting.

This news comes at the same time as an interesting article over at Gamasutra about integrating YouTube video posting into game engines. The convergence of gaming, social networking, and user media may well swirl together into something fun.

No, Jack Tompson has not been granted a position on the writing staff. Instead, a 43 year old Japanese woman has been arrested for hacking the account of a 33 year old Japanese male. The catch is why she did it: their MMORPG characters had suffered a messy virtual divorce, so the spurned lover accessed her ex-husband’s Maple Story account and killed his character in a fit of vindictive rage.

The alleged hacking occurred after the pair had shared usernames and passwords, an accidental version of the social engineering that usually goes into MMORPG accounts. More interesting is the fact that this is a crime of passion. The woman has been quoted as saying, “I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry.” So, on impulse, she committed an act of (virtual) violence on her onetime partner. She has been transported 600 miles to be detained in the jurisdiction where her ex-husband lives, and faces fines up to $5000 or 5 years in jail.

With ponzi schemes, black market virtual economics, and now impulse murder in virtual space, it begs the question of how much crime we can stuff under the umbrella of hacking. Although the virtual murder resulted in no bodily harm for anyone, the victim in this case has lost time and resources. So at what point does virtual become physical injury? More importantly, how do we manage the legal ramifications of intersection between virtual and physical?