The virtual sword stabbing

Two friends in China won a rare in-game sword in Legend of Mir 3 in 2005, worth around $1,100 today, but the prize quickly proved too much for them to share. When Zhu Caoyuan sold the sword online without telling Qiu Chengwei, authorities didn't know how to deal with the theft, since it was all virtual goods. Qui became impatient and murdered Zhu, stabbing him repeatedly, which did nothing to get the mystical imaginary sword back, and only sent Qui to prison. Mir 3 shut down permanently in 2012, so it was hardly worth it.

The toaster fire

For those suffering from muscular dystrophy, video games are often an escape from everyday difficulties, but in the case of Robert Chambers, a game literally saved his life. Stuck immobile in Spokane, Washington, Chambers was unable to escape when a toaster at his residence caught fire. Instead, he used Evony's in-game chat feature to call for help, and players from across the US called Spokane police and fire departments, who arrived in time to save Chambers' life form the growing blaze. Prior to this incident, Evony was only known for deceptive advertising and lawsuits.

Marriage proposals aplenty

There are literally dozens of geeky dudes who have proposed to their girlfriends using video games, whether they've used Chrono Trigger mods, customized Minecraft, or Little Big Planet levels, or even completely original games designed for the express purpose of getting their girl of choice to submit to the ring. You'll find just about all of these on YouTube, but none are more elaborate than Gary Hudston's proposal, which incorporated a custom Portal 2 level, including the original voice of GlaDOS. She said yes, but gentlemen, make sure your girlfriend actually likes games before you propose to her with one. Half of these ladies just seem perplexed.

Extra Life

Back in the days of the NES, watching someone play a video game was usually a punishment for having only one controller. These days, however, games are an international spectator sport. Extra Life is a charity organization that helps gamers broadcast these gaming marathons in order to earn donations for local children's hospitals. Born from the unfortunate death of Victoria Enmon, a gamer herself, Extra Life raises millions of dollars every year for charity, saving lives. And you don't even have to leave your couch.