a sum of $335,000 For Virtual Property

Sometimes you just read it again, to make sure you haven't missed something, or maybe it was a trick of the mind. But no. Turns out someone actually paid hundreds of thousands of U.S$ for virtual property. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm a technophile. I am well aware of the east-europian and south-asian sweat shops where people are playing hard to make a poor living, by selling advanced-stages characters in virtual reality games to lazy gamers.  I am also well aware to the fact that virtual games, in addition to the fun and company they provide, sometimes even benefit the real side of life. But lets consider 2 facts:

1. ~300K$ could have been used to buy a real-life real-estate asset, in one of the periods of real-estate history when prices are REALLY low.
2. Gaming and computing trends are frequently victims of fashions, and yesterdays great asset is today's midwives horror story for the newcomer entrepreneur/investor .

And yes, I know, it might very well be that in a year or two he will sell this asset and double his money. But I'd hate to be the last one stuck with this asset. I for one, belong to those who believe we should learn from history. Did anyone yell "bubble!"  ?