Net Entertainment, the world’s leading provider of high-quality online casino games, launches its latest branded slot Aliens™ for desktop and Touch™ portfolio.

Hatched from the cult sci-fi horror franchise, using innovative real-time 3D graphics, Aliens™ plunges players deep into space on a mission to shoot through waves of attacks in infested premises to reach the Queen Hive.

There are three thrilling levels to survive that feature re-spins, wild substitutions, collectable multipliers and a huge bonus win for eliminating the Queen to keep players battling to the gory end.

The Search, The Encounter and The Hive make up the three stages and each one passed sets the scene for potentially huge wins. If the Queen is eliminated and the Hive destroyed then a 240 x bet is the ultimate reward.

A first-hand view from the Marine’s helmet camera means players are completely submersed into the action and the stunning soundtrack attributes to the high intensity and tension that makes this offering the ultimate gaming experience.

This 5-reel, 3-row, 15-line video slot joins Net Entertainment’s standout branded content portfolio that features Creature from the Black Lagoon™, South Park™, Scarface™ and Frankenstein™

"Following on from the successful AliensTM unveiling at ICE, it’s a pleasure to announce players can now enjoy this epic game on desktop and mobile. Real-time 3D graphics and rich sound help deliver a truly innovative slot that continues our mission to drive the online casino market through better games," comments Simon Hammon, Chief Product Officer at Net Entertainment.

We often read about the concerns certain groups have regarding the proliferation of online gambling, and its effect on problem gamblers. The real problem is not internet gambling websites, the problem is people. Some people are simply don’t have the moral compass to know when to stop. Be this addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex or cheating others out of their hard earned money. It is a people problem, not a gambling problem.

One Utrecht, Netherlands woman, who was recently investigated by the Public Prosecution Authority, was found to have spent as much as €557,000 on internet gambling sites. To make matters worse, she was the "supposed" founder of a non-profit organisation designed to help children who displayed behavioural problems. Now, if this woman does not have a behavioural problem, we certainly don’t know who does.

A foundation named "Vriended van Tom"in English – Friends of Tom – was the source of her funding. So, after intricate investigations made into her spending habits from 2008 up till 2013, she appeared in court, charged with the embezzlement of €700,000. This money was PGB-funding which in the Netherlands should be used to help people in need of extra care. The money came from funds allocated to parents of problem children by the Government.

The problem is, that this lass still has a problem – she admits that she has gambled before, but denies the amount spent. Anyone with half an ounce of sense knows that people in denial won’t admit to any problems. Responsibility is stressed at all good online gambling site, and she could have been gambling at many. So it is as our opening paragraph states. People are the problems, not the games or websites.

In this particular instance, the guilty party was stealing from needy children, and their parents who desperately needed help. Admitting that she has a problem, is the only way she will ever get help. It is about being realistic, rather than living life in "La-La Land". The majority of online players don’t have problems such as this, and even if they are considered to be problem gamblers, would not steal from others to fund their habit.

Addictions always affect our own lives, and the lives of our families. But rarely are they so severe that the lives of needy children are affected, as in this particular case. Right now we do not know what the outcome of the court matter will be, but we trust that the judge will see that this young miss needs much more than mere counselling for a gambling habit.

Multi- millionaires and even multi- billionaires have been made by the online gambling industry, and here we do no refer to players who have won big money. Although more than a few online multi-millionaires have been made when playing these games, the real winners are the people who dared to take a gamble, and offer casinos, bingo clubs, poker rooms, and sports-betting websites online.

Social gaming is a category that has long been popular online, but this popularity has recently expanded in to the online gambling arena. Basically this means that gambling-type games are being played on social media websites, and social media gaming designers are delving into the gambling genre. One of the latest of these social gaming developers – Playtika – has joined in the fray.

This Tel Aviv based developer is not to be confused with Playtech, also an Israeli-based online gambling game developer. Playtika aims to allow fans of their games a taste of what it might be like to enjoy gambling online, but at this point only for fun. In other words games will be developed in demo” mode where real money is not exchanged!

They are already creators of some of the most widely played social gaming titles – over five million people play these games daily – from one-hundred and ninety countries. Their online video slot title – Slotomania – is the current jewel I n the crown – introduced in 2010. It became an almost immediate hit, and immediately a big hit with web-based gaming enthusiasts. Its execution was soremarkable that Interactive Entertainment giant Caesar’s snapped it up just one year later. They became a 51% shareholder of the company in 2011, and we all know how big Caesar’s is.

Despite the fact that Caesar’s is a gambling brand, they are also predominantly a US land gambling brand. There are still currently all kinds of regulatory issues regarding the legality of Internet gambling in this country, so, Playtika, and their new major partner do not offer slots where money is involved. These games are considered to be normal online apps where the player accumulates points to earn virtual rewards.

Obviously there has to be some (rather large) money it in the system, or CIE would have never become involve. So, players effectively enhance their “freemium” gaming experience, by purchasing upgrades, but no player expects to win money. Playtika has essentially become Caesar’s Interactive Entertainments’ lynchpin in the social gaming industry. They even have taken the title of “largest in the world”, away from Zynga.

The regulatory landscape for online gambling websites ishugely diverse. However offshore websites are popularly used by millions of fans, even in countries where ostensibly real money gambling activities are not allowed. Most Western European countries have regulatory systems in place, while the majority of the USA, as well as Asian countries don’t have much going in terms of regulation.

Russian courts have made ISP’s responsible for blocking internet gambling websites that are "illegally" offering this form of online gaming, and the latest website to bite the dust is the almighty PokerStars. Here is pays to remember that like most people in the world –the Russians love playing poker. Some of the best WPT, and WSOP players are Russians who first started playing online. Now a November 2012 ruling by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has put a spoke in that wheel. But it does not stop here, some major type of censorship pogrom appears to be on the cards, with opposition news groups and others being affected.

According to the press, this ruling has not been properly enforced since its inception, but things are starting to change. Although land gambling is restricted to special zones, online gambling is strictly speaking – illegal. Access to PokerStars has now been blocked, together with a host of other gambling websites, and even some sites that do not offer real money gambling games.

PokerStars has the lions’ share of the market for online poker globally. The Russian Federation cutting them out of the equation will obviously have an impact on numbers. It is a very large country, with a very large poker following. While we doubt the effects of a ban will put this mammoth poker brand out of business, it could well be a hard knock.

Other A-listed gambling brands to come under the ban include; Ladbrokes, SportingBet, Unibet, Carbon Poker, and the dedicated Russian PartyPoker.net website. Affiliate sites have been included in the ban and in total,approximately fifty websites have been affected. Although some players are reporting that they are unable to access these websites, but somehow still manage to access tables. Not quite sure how that works, but PokerStars remains positive, and has offered reassurance to fans stating ~ "at this time we do not believe this changes our ability to offer services to Russian players. As such our operations continue as usual."

The latest trends in online marketplaces are regularly placed in the spotlight, none more so than trends in online gambling. This massive marketplace has continued to surprised researchers for years, and with development in mobile channels, continues to surprise even more. The latest trends and development findings from yStats.com has found that this sector continues to grow. No BIG surprises there! Even gambling on social networking sites such as Facebook is getting a good deal of attention.

The increase in use of smartphones and tablets is topping the charts, so too is the use of this technology, increasing both gambling and sports-betting numbers. Currently live, or what we call "brick and mortar" casinos, are still dominating this scene, however, real money gambling online is expected to grow at double-digit rates into the future. Experts are predicting a growth rate of 40% or more by the year 2018, which is not so terribly far down the line.

Besides smartphones, tablets, and the growth spurt that this technology has engendered. There is ever increasing pressure for countries that ban online gambling, to change their regulatory landscapes. Regulations are varied throughout the world, with North America lagging way behind in an industry that in the UK has been legal for years. In fact the UK leads the way’ miles ahead of the rest of the world! Western European countries have some regulations in place, while Asia also lags behind. The pressure is on from both the industry and people who wish to gamble online, to lift anti-online gambling laws, as well as regulate this industry. The argument for regulation is not so that only Governments have better controls, but that players enjoy more protection too.

When speaking about the growth in popularity of gambling online, and its continued success as an online industry leader, we are talking in numbers off Billions of Dollars. It is precisely for this reason that many Governments do not want to legalise and regulate. Why? Well, despite the fact that "moral" arguments are most often espoused, the real reason seems to be Government greed. Online industry is slightly more difficult to control in terms of taxation, as the British Government have found out to their great loss.

But as more advanced tech becomes available, it makes the industry easier to audit and control. However, it seems that most governments around the world would rather have no taxable income from this industry at all, rather than a small slice of something huge.