Parents have been telling kids for years that they need to grow up and stop playing those damn video games. If 21-year-old Joe Chedburn had listened to his parents, he'd be a lot less happy and a lot less rich.

Joe created an online nongraphical game called Torn, which sounds a bit like an MMO version of Grand Theft Auto's Liberty City -- just without the pesky visuals. Torn boasts more than 40,000 active players, who delve into the game's seamy underbelly to rob banks, attack other players, and experiment with drugs.

Players can also engage in more wholesome activities like gambling, working out, forming factions, and marrying your favorite lady gangsta. Basically, Torn offers all the interaction you might find in a fancy "graphical" game like World of Warcraft -- but it's free! [Via UK Telegraph]

So how do you become a millionaire creating a free game? It's all about the bling, yo. For 3 pounds a month (almost $4.50), you can pay for points and status upgrades that will help you in the game. Enough people pay the extra fee that Joe pulls in almost $75,000 every month.

Just think -- if he'd been born 15 years earlier, he'd probably have gone off to college to prepare for a lifetime of boring work like his parents wanted him to do. Technology: It's a good thing.