Hot on the heels of the US$330,000.00 sale of the Crystal Palace Station, the folks behind Planet Calypso that particular record-breaking, real-money-for-imaginary-goods transaction have announced another.

This time, Jon "NEVERDIE" Jacobs held a public auction with the Planet Calypso game itself and sold the "Atrox Queen Egg" (pictured) - an in-game item he originally purchased for a measly $10,000.00 from another gamer who simply earned the virtual egg as reward for completing a unique quest - to David Storey, aka "Deathifier."

Not new to this imaginary commodities exchange, Storey also owns the "Treasure Island" asteroid in the game, a Virtual World Destination that generates real revenue from Hunting and Mineral Rights surcharges gleaned from other players. Reportedly, he purchased the giant space rock for $27,500.00 back in 2004 and earned his investment back within the year.

While a commodity in itself, like a Faberge, the Atrox Queen Egg is expected to actually hatch something, presumably of greater value still.

"The sale of the Atrox Queen Egg is another example of the incredibly unique world and economy we offer in our game," insisted Marco Behrmann, CEO of First Planet Company. "While you don't need thousands of dollars, or even tens of dollars to play Planet Calypso, it's sales like these that truly separate our virtual world from any other on the (real) planet."

Planet Calypso is a free PC game available for download at www.planetcalypso.com.
 
 

It's true: Quality kids games are hard to find. Sure, there's lots out there, but few that are both good and genuinely kid-friendly. Fortunately, GamersGate online games portal has an entire section dedicated to quality family fare. Go ahead, check it out!