WoW: No. 1 online game

"WoW" stands for World of Warcraft, an Irvine, Calif.-based online game that, with nearly 7 million subscribers worldwide, is expected to make more than $1 billion this year. "That makes it one of the most lucrative entertainment media properties of any kind," the New York Times reports. "Like the iPod, World of Warcraft has essentially taken over and redefined an entire product category." WoW launched less than two years ago and is now played in five languages, with a sixth in development. Unlike other US-based games, such as Grand Theft Auto, this one seems to connect with and connect people across cultural barriers. Here's one fascinating cultural difference, though it seems to be collapsing: "It is rare for guilds [in-game groups of member-characters] in North America and Europe to get together in real life, partly because of geographic distance and partly because of the social stigma often associated with gaming in the West. In Asia, however, online players … want to meet in the flesh to put a real face on the digital characters they have been having fun with. Even in the United States, more and more players are coming to see online games as a way to preserve and build human connections, even if it is mostly through a keyboard or microphone." Here's CNET on WoW, including comments from the Rob Pardo, VP game design at Blizzard, the game's creators.