Now for something completely unrelated to the PlayStation 3. Pogo.com, the casual gaming site, has come out with a new addition to their world of games: a virtual points system where you can purchase the points to buy in-game stuff.

Known as Pogo Gems, members of their core subscription package can go and purchase these Pogo Gems to buy additional items beyond their usual subscription packages. These items include Premium Badge Albums, which open up the chance to gain a new set of badges during play, Mix-n-Match Badge Albums, which lets them pick and choose which badges they've earned go into which album, and Pogo Mini add-ons that add new features to your avatar on their website. Gem packages range from US$ 4.99 to US$ 19.99.

Sounds like a simple bit of news, right? If the description above hasn't tipped you off yet to what's so interesting about this new scheme, ask yourself: who owns Pogo.com? That's right: Electronic Arts.

In addition to making themselves known as the microtransaction mavens of the Xbox 360, selling everything from tutorial videos for their football game to items meant for Collector's Edition buyers in Need for Speed: Carbon, they're now taking their very own casual gaming site and adding micropayment features into it as well. Time to let any of your family members who love casual gaming know about the entity known as EA.