Mercury News

Hey Tony, outta the way, mob moves on `Sims Online'


Tony Soprano can keep Jersey (who wants it, anyways?) A new family is movin' in on unclaimed turf -- online. An underground group known as the Sims Shadow Government has taken over the fantasy world that is ``The Sims Online,'' meting out mob justice. It's a violent twist for ``The Sims,'' the dollhouse-inspired computer game that has long been portrayed as the antithesis to guns-'n-gore bestsellers like ``Grand Theft Auto.'' The emergence of a seedy underbelly in the online game may reveal more about the dark fantasies of middle-aged suburbanites than anyone suspected.