"Gamers can't tell real-world from fantasy," screamed the headline in the Metro on Wednesday morning. Dr Mark Griffiths, who heads up Nottingham Trent University's International Gaming Research Unit, must have slumped back in his chair with incredulous horror when he read that.

His team had been carrying out another video game study when they discovered that many of their 42 interviewees were talking about a similar experience. Often, after playing a game for a long time, they would momentarily transfer elements of the game content, or the interface, into their real-lives, usually harmlessly.

Griffiths knew it was a common phenomenon – he'd experienced it himself playing Tetris – but it hadn't been named or categorised. So the department came up with a term – Game Transfer Phenomenon – and started looking into it. The resulting report has just been published in the International Journal of Cyber Behaviour, Psychology and Learning.

Chinese inmates in Jixi labor camp are reportedly forced to slay demons, battle goblins and cast spells in online games to farm credits for prison guards who trade virtual currencies for real money.

A former prison guard turned inmate, told The Guardian that the operation was even more lucrative than the physical labor that prisoners were also forced to do. He shares:

“There were 300 prisoners forced to play games. We worked 12-hour shifts in the camp. I heard them say they could earn 5,000-6,000rmb [US $770-$925] a day. We didn’t see any of the money. The computers were never turned off.”

He adds that the inmates were kept playing until they could barely see things and missing the daily quota would result in physical punishment and abuse.

Bringing our economy down...in World of Warcraft.

One of the most popular games in the history of computer gaming is making its way over to Facebook this summer, as Sid Meier attempts to transform his ultra-popular Civilization series into Civ World. All of the core components of Meier’s original Civilization series, which earned him the title of “Father of Computer Gaming,” will still be present in Civ World, but the Facebook environment in which the game will be played will fundamentally change the game, said Meier.

A Facebook game I might actually play.

Surely you’ve heard of Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP by now. We’ve talked about this exquisite graphical adventure for many moons. But as of right now, thankfully, the point and touch adventure experience, rich in wondrous sights and sounds, is available for a wider audience.

Already released on the iPad, Sword & Sworcery EP has completed its journey to iPhone and iPod touch (newer versions of those platforms, anyway), the smaller sized iOS device for which it was originally designed.

If you’re an owner of one of those platforms, consider yourself lucky. This is a rare must-have game for the iPhone and may change your mind about the quality and capability of gaming apps.

For those without foreknowledge, Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP is the adventure of the Scythian, on a quest to acquire mystical artifacts, dispel evil and so on and so forth. To tell too much of what this game is about would be a disservice. But it is a relatively straightforward tale, Zelda-esque, told beautifully with stunningly detailed graphics, an impeccable score by musician Jim Guthrie and amusingly obtuse prose.

(That prose, should it strike you funny, can easily be tweeted out at any time thanks to the game’s ties to Twitter. Go on, annoy your friends!)

Players will adventure through Sword & Sworcery’s detailed lands with taps of the touchscreen, walking to and fro, studying the environment for clues, gazing upon its scenery, moving briskly through detailed forests and temples.

There’s a smattering of action here too, mostly in the form of Punch-Out!! style fights that require light timing and strategic thinking. Players will need to rotate their iPhones from landscape to portrait orientation, then tap icons for shield and sword to battle wolves, swordsmen and otherworldly creatures.

Along the way, you’ll solve puzzles, learn magic and treat your ears to one of the grandest sounding iPhone games in the App Store. Seriously, put on some headphones – good ones – if you plan on playing Sword & Sworcery. You won’t want to miss out on this game’s ambient sounds or its brilliant soundtrack.

One consideration for those who may prefer to blow through their iPhone content: Sword & Sworcery EP ties some of its game events to the real-world cycle of the moon. You may find that exceedingly cool or slightly bothersome.

Unlike the forgettable and disposable games for which the iPhone is better known, Sword & Sworcery is smart, funny, beautifully layered and worth the hours you may invest in its world. Its unique pixelated art style and robust music easily make it worth the download.

I spent all of my time with the iPhone version and found it a highly enjoyable experience, seemingly more conducive to the needed rotation of the device to play the game’s action and adventure portions. My only complaint with the smaller screen was obscuring more of the game’s scenery with my portly fingers.

To mark the occasion of Sword & Sworcery EPs transition to iPhone and iPod touch, Superbrothers and Capy have assembled a new trailer, which they warn is spoiler-laden. If you’d like to tread those dangerous spoiled waters for a new look at Sword & Sworcery, click play.

Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP, developed by Capybara Games and Superbrothers, is now available at the iTunes App Store. The iPhone and iPod touch version will set you back $US2.99 USD. A universal app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is $US5.99 USD.

Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP Micro [iTunes]

If I had an iPad I'd be playing this game. I just haven't found a good enough reason to buy one yet. Maybe once my house is perfect it can be the ideal 'sit on couch' device. But for now I think it's going to be mobile device / laptop.

Let me know if you're interested in playing on Battlenet.

Blizzard Entertainment announced today that it will integrate Facebook into its online gaming service Battle.net. That means that players of the upcoming long-awaited StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty game will include the ability to tell your Facebook friends when you’re playing the game and what your doing in it.

The announcement shows how the social network is infiltrating the deepest parts of the hardcore game industry, which has been slow to adapt to the phenomenon of social gaming. But the integration shouldn’t be that hard for Blizzard to implement and it could make it a lot easier for gamers to find their friends and keep up with them in the game

Wicked.