Patent ID: 7686691

Claim:
A method performed by a computer, the method comprising: providing, by a Video Game Central Server, a virtual environment that is accessible to one or more players; receiving, by the Video Game Central Server, real world financial information from a player; maintaining, by the Video Game Central Server, the real world financial information in a player account associated with the player; receiving, by the Video Game Central Server, a request to incur a financial obligation from the player; providing, by the Video Game Central Server, the player with the option to satisfy the financial obligation with virtual funds or real world funds providing, by the Video Game Central Server, the player with a virtual price for the item, wherein the virtual price indicates the cost of the item in virtual funds; providing, by the Video Game Central Server, the player with a real world price for the item, wherein the real world price indicates the cost of the item in real world funds; maintaining, by the Video Game Central Server, a virtual account balance in the player account and wherein if the player opts to purchase the virtual item with virtual funds, the method further comprises deducting, by the Video Game Central Server, the virtual price from the virtual account balance.