Mob Wars beware: Cisco's got its game on

Because teens in basements across the nation have wondered what a day in the life of a telecommunications service provider CEO would be like, Cisco has created an online game called myPlanNet to let them step in the shoes of an industry titan like John Chambers, Randall Stephenson or Ivan Seidenberg.

It was actually created for the 1 million people on Cisco's Learning Network, who come for certification in certain networking technology expertise among other things. So, no. It's wasn't exactly intended to give Mob Wars and Age of Empires a run for their money.

The game is intended to teach users how to figure out vexing Internet network problems, like broadband deployment. Among the things a user will do: choose network equipment and build the IP NGN for the medianet era.

"You manage your business as it evolves from the stone age of dial up, through the broadband and mobile connected eras, and into the dawning of the medianet age," is how Cisco describes the game.