Game theft gets Serious

Okay. You've all heard about software piracy and what a threat it is to the industry. Microsoft is spending money hand over fist to put a dent into the pirates (arrrg?), but now, in England at least, things seem to be getting really out of hand. No

Okay. You've all heard about software piracy and what a threat it is to the industry. Microsoft is spending money hand over fist to put a dent into the pirates (arrrg?), but now, in England at least, things seem to be getting really out of hand. No longer content to merely copy material, a band of enterprising thieves has decided to do away with the laborious task of bootlegging games, and is instead stealing truckloads of them.

The thieves, who may or may not be a band of amusing cockney ne'er-do-wells with a heart of gold trying to raise capital after being swindled by a colourful London underworld figure, have been nicking trucks from service stations while unattended. The thieves' last big steal, which may or may not have happened in slow motion to a groovy soundtrack of classic funk tunes and cutting edge pop, was of a truckload of Serious Sam, the yet to be released FPS that has already taken half of the atomic office by storm.

The last shipment had a street value of about £120,000, and there is absolutely no truth to the rumour that it has changed hands a dozen times since its theft in an uproarious comedy of errors.