Samantha Christian trains hard, 8 to 10 hours some days, honing her craft. She plays Bejeweled 2. As a result, she's bagged almost $400,000 in the past three years. I've heard of hyperactive twitch freaks competing for big money prizes on the pro gaming circuit for big money--but turning casual gaming into cash?

Starting March 2nd, WorldWinner.com kicks off its 2009 WorldWide Web Games (W3Games) championship series, and Christian, aka GamerGoddess, is one of the elite gamers hoping to walk away with a big piece of the $500,000 prize pool. Broken out into several tournament brackets, players square off in a number of games--Solitaire Rush, Wheel of Fortune, Bejeweled 2, and Big Money--with the 32 top scorers earning top coin. Sounds simple enough, right?

"Die, GameStop, Die!" You won't see game developers saying that for publication--but they're all thinking it. Trust me. Get a few drinks in them (as I did this week at the DICE summit), and they'll vent about how the game retail giant is old news. But on the record, never is heard a disparaging word.

This very easily could have been some tirade about the evils of second-hand games and how the resale market bleeds money from the game development community. After all, a retail chain that makes millions by selling used games and doesn't pay a dime in royalties to the game makers on those sales is slowly killing some game makers. It almost was that rant, but in chatting with developers and executives at the summit, I got to thinking. Between the recession and advances in digital distribution, 2009 will be the year that everything changes. Let me count the ways...

Games are not art -- they're better. It just depends on whom you ask.

There's this on-again, off-again argument within the intelligentsia as to whether games should be placed on the same pedestal as books, movies, music, and paintings. But even the newest of the accepted fine arts, movies, have had at least a century to develop.

"Organized and led my 50-member guild through three successful back-to-back Nexus runs." You don't see that written on anyone's résumé, but apparently some folks do list the level and class of their World of Warcraft characters. This might seem a little far-fetched, but associate professor--and director of MIT's Education Arcade Program--Eric Klopfer says that a number of recent studies have examined what practical skills a person can pick up by playing electronic games. Can you legitimately learn something from WoW besides efficient techniques for slinging fireballs at foes?

Klopfer points to Constance Steinkeuhler's work at UW Wisconsin. She is "showing that people are developing and applying all kinds of useful skills in World of Warcraft--data collection and analysis, collaboration, planning, resource management and even team management." Remove the "WoW" identification from the place of employment, and all of these accomplishments look fantastic on a résumé.

It's been a lousy week. Read the news and you can't help but want to just bury your head in the sand. Well, due to overlapping deadlines and a long-overdue need for a laugh, I cobbled together several goofy videos for gamers, nerds, and gamer nerds (like myself). But first, a nod of thanks goes to barelydigital.com, which gave me the idea to scour the Web for videos. This new site, created by the team behind Obama Girl, is built around the idea of lampooning tech. Currently in beta, they have a couple original clips up--and a growing collection of stuff assembled from all over the Web. (They promise more original programming in the coming weeks.) What I've seen is hit or miss, but, hey, props to those guys for trying. In the meantime, for your viewing pleasure, keep scrolling for a few of the better finds.

Batman Gets Pwned -- A behind-the-scenes look at the Batcave and playing Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

So a fat pig jumps into my cab, and then he busts out into song while I carve through city streets. Nope, this isn't some deleted scene from the end of Slumdog Millionaire. I'm playing Karma Cab--a goofball mod for Half-Life 2.

What the heck is a mod? User-created game content--it's been around since long before YouTube ever made do-it-yourself entertainment a household concept. Old-school gaming nerds crafted game levels, weapons, character models--heck, entire games have been built using the guts of game engines for ages. (In fact, I highly recommend that you check out Mod DB for a huge selection of game mods.) That means lots of extra, free games derived from what you've already bought. The mod scene also happens to be a breeding ground for tomorrow's great game designers. To wit, the 2009 Independent Games Festival recently announced the ten student-showcase winners, some of which are based on mods. However, I wanted to showcase a couple of my own picks. I've found some really odd Half-Life 2 mods that, coincidentally, all came from the same academic program: the National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment in Denmark (DADIU, in their native tongue).

Disclaimer: After hearing about Steve Jobs's taking a medical leave of absence--and after my dealing with some of my own inner demons--I'm waxing a little nostalgic for this week's Casual Friday.

It was my birthday, 1984. I'd spent the better part of a month convincing Dad that a new computer would help me. I'd use it for homework. I'd learn how to program. Oh, who was I kidding? I wanted to play games like my neighbor, like I'd been reading about in gaming magazines.

Nintendo, Sony: Let's talk for a sec--just you and me. Look, guys, over the past couple of years, you've had a great run. Nintendo, your DS has tons of games, a wide variety of unique stuff that's a blast to play. Sony, your PSP is a gadget-lover's gaming tool, with everything from Skype to Internet-radio support (oh, yeah, and you have some cool games, as well). But unless you both do something in 2009, the iPhone and iPod Touch will soon become the top dogs in handheld gaming.

Apple, the same folks who have pretty much ignored games since I played Marathon on a Mac, came on strong in 2008--and now Nintendo and Sony must consider the iPhone a legit competitor. The proof: Apple's iPhone/iPod Touch games start at a buck (going up as high as $10), and games have flooded Apple's App Store since it opened its digital doors in July.

PC World has been going nuts, putting together gift guides for the holidays. "Buy this!" "Consume that!" Or just "Look at how crazy-cool (and crazy-expensive) some of this tech is!" Hey, I'm all for helping the economy along. Problem is, I can't afford to buy everyone on my list a gold-plated, jewel-encrusted cell phone this year. Sorry, Mom. So, I'm making some people PC mixtapes.

A PC Mixtape?

You heard me. Maybe I'm dating myself, but back in the day I'd load up olde-tyme magnetic tapes with songs from my collection, samples, and sound bites from the radio; it was a lot of work, but something I put a lot of thought into. Computers killed the art of making mixtapes ages ago--damn you, MP3s!-- but I'm bringing it back to life. (Okay, I'll give Muxtape props for trying.)

Twenty bucks doesn't buy much these days. Two tickets to a new movie. Maybe a dinner at TGI Friday's. But what about cheap games? Sure, you can go over to Web sites such as Cheapassgamer.com to find great deals on some stuff that came out earlier this year, but what about all the games that regularly go for $20?

That's how I wound up becoming a videogame bull. Huh? Out of the Chute, branded by Professional Bull Riders, is currently playing on my Wii. Why? Well, when I saw the $20 title on a store shelf, curiosity got the better of me. I mean, how do you make a game like this even remotely fun? Just flip the box over. It reads: "Climb on the back of....blah, blah, blah...yippe ki-yay"--wait a sec--"...Or become 2000 pounds of fury and try to buck off the best riders in the world..." I get to play as a surly side of beef? SOLD!

Let's get one thing straight: Second Life is not a game. Not unless you play games that include thumb twiddling for an afternoon and playing with pixelated paper dolls. To me, it's an aimless MMO. No, I take that back. It's a 3D chat room. The oddest or most boring chat room, depending on where you go. (And Sony wants to emulate this on the PlayStation 3 with its own virtual world, PlayStation Home? Yay.) It has no point, no quests. Then again, I'm a gamer--if I'm socializing with someone, a rocket launcher or sword is usually involved. Okay, okay...maybe a round of virtual Scrabble couldn't hurt. So where can one go to socialize and sneak in a quick game? Let's find out.

Second Life: Getting a Life

I decided to give Second Life a second chance (more like fifth, but who's counting?), and to help me I had Dierdre Gausman, a reporter for Second Life News Network (SLNN). She shows up, ready to play a couple games, in a snappy black ensemble and a pashmina scarf. Hey, if you have the Lindys to burn, flaunt it, right? Our first stop is a Tringo parlor. Think bingo meets Tetris. It's actually a neat idea, trying to match shapes on the big board as numbers are called. Next we go to an arcade. But as much fun as the games are, they all follow the same rules: Plunk down real world money to get Linden bucks, and then pay to win bucks back.

Right now, I'm logging onto AIM, chatting with friends, copying YouTube videos, and visiting Web sites that would set off red flags in Playboy's IT department. I should be writing my column. So why am I admitting anything? Because nobody will catch me. I hope.

Normally, this slacker's soapbox covers games and goofing around that you presumably do when you're off the clock. And this time of year, we've all got plenty to do after hours. In the past week alone, the awesome Gears of War 2 and Mirror's Edge have hit the scene. (Trust me--buy both.) The World of WarCraft gets even bigger with a new expansion. You get the idea. But this week's column is serious business! I found a great way to get away with goofing off during working hours, and I had to share it with you guys. Just don't show your boss--or my boss--this story.