The hunger games

INTERPOL police officers could soon be roaming around the metaverse on the hunt for cyber criminals.

The global agency is figuring out how to approach the brand new virtual world so officers are not left behind.

Experts have already warned the metaverse is a money laundering crime scene and believe it’ll become more rampant, complex and profitable.

The metaverse is an endless 3D virtual space where people could eventually work, socialise and play.

This could be with VR headsets but also via your smartphone or PC.

It’s been spearheaded by Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg as the future of communication.

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And police chiefs are all too aware that crooks love to hop onto trends quickly.

“Criminals are sophisticated and professional in very quickly adapting to any new technological tool that is available to commit crime,” Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock told BBC News .

“We need to sufficiently respond to that.

“Sometimes lawmakers, police, and our societies are running a little bit behind.

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“We have seen if we are doing it too late, it already impacts trust in the tools we are using, and therefore the metaverse.

“In similar platforms that already exist, criminals are using it.”

Interpol has already launched its very own metaverse space.

The secret area can only be accessed by police for training and virtual meetings.

One problem decision makers have to contend with is what actually constitutes a crime in the metaverse.

“There are crimes where I don’t know whether it can still be called a crime or not,” Dr Madan Oberoi, Interpol’s executive director of technology and innovation explained.

“For example, there have been reported cases of sexual harassment.

“If you look at the definitions of these crimes in physical space, and you try to apply it in the metaverse, there is a difficulty.

“We don’t know whether we can call them a crime or not, but those threats are definitely there, so those issues are yet to be resolved.”

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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

£9.99 approx (1200 MS points)

Xbox 360 (via XBLA)

505 Games

****

Owing much to Limbo and Journey, Starbreeze’s Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons depicts the brave struggle of a pair of siblings as they travel a fairy-tale world in search of a cure for their ailing father. With each brother controlled simultaneously – one mapped to each analogue stick – the possibility for synchronised puzzles is obvious, and is explored to its furthest extent as the duo progress across a series of beautiful environments.

At times, handling each brother is akin to patting your head while rubbing your stomach; but it all works well in general, helped by the fact that the puzzles are rarely set out so that failure can be wholly attributed to the control scheme. Elsewhere, vibrant visuals, an understated but well-conceived story and a stirring soundtrack complete a strong first entry into this year’s Summer of Arcade – though the omission of a two-player mode feels like a missed opportunity.

Michael Plant

Cloudberry Kingdom

£7.99

PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U

Ubisoft

***

Using procedural generation to provide infinite, randomly created levels, Cloudberry Kingdom is Pwnee Studios’ debut – and it certainly doesn’t skimp on the difficulty. Character customisation and adjustable physics take a step away from traditional platform fun, while a cute set of cut scenes provides welcome respite from the game’s trials. Multiplayer allows for four players at once – if you know that many masochists – completing a package that’s ideal for old-school platforming fans.

Sam Gill

Tales of Xillia

£49.99

PS3

Namco Bandai

***

Something’s troubling the spirits in the latest in Namco Bandai’s Tales series. So springs the story of a witch and an apprentice spiritual surgeon as they embark on an epic quest across the magical world of Rieze Maxia. Genre fans will recognise the hallmarks of the Japanese role-player, with Tales of Xillia even introducing streamlined real-time combat and a flexible levelling system. It’s no Skyrim, but anyone looking for a throwback to the good old days of the J-RPG should find themselves well served.

MP

A Swedish team of professional gamers has picked up the largest single-event prize in e-sports, claiming $1.43m (£924,000) after winning a tournament of Dota 2, an arena-based battle game.

Alliance secured their victory in the fifth and final match with Ukraine-based Na’Vi in front of 1,700 spectators in a concert hall in Seattle. In its third year and with 16 competing teams from 12 different countries, the tournament – known as The International – is one of the largest e-sports events in the world.

Live-streams of The International reportedly attracted an audience of more than half a million simultaneous viewers and, as a sign of the growing mainstream status of e-sports, the US government recently  began granting professional gamers with Visas designating them “ individual athletes .”

“It isn’t just about the ganks or the stuns – it’s about the emotions, the momentum swings, the competition, the excitement, the teams, the players, the people,” said the organisers of The International on their website. “This is a sporting event like no other you have witnessed.”

Dota 2 is a sequel to Defense of the Ancients – a fan-created mod for the real time strategy game, World of Warcraft III. The sequel was released by Valve in 2013 after spending two years in beta with a free-to-play business model – instead of charging to unlock characters or weapons, purely comestic items are sold to customize players’ avatars.

The game is perhaps the most successful amongst the popular battle-arena genre, and in May 2013 gaming platform Steam recorded that the title had a record-breaking 330,000 concurrent online players.

The prize money won at The International reached a total value of $2.9m with the developers putting up $1.6m and $1.3m raised by the sale of interactive pamphlets to fans. The final match itself was described by the organisers as “a slug fest of team fight”:

“In a Tournament filled with great games, it was the greatest game we have ever seen. Not one single action by one team went uncountered by the other.”

For those that missed the live streaming event (it finished at 6:30am this morning GMT) the hour-long final battle can be watched here , complete with commentary.