Nope, not a joke, this is really a thing CCP Games did.

Boy that's one for the history books. nVidia has cut a deal with CCP games, one which allows players to spend in-game EVE Online PLEX currency to buy their GeForce 560 graphics card. You can now buy graphics cards priced upwards of $150 by grinding in a video game. 

It's a bit more complicated than that - PLEX is Player License Extension, which can be bought with currency to net yourself a free month's subscription, and the cost is very high. There's also the fact that it really is only one specific video card that can be purchased, which will inevitably be outdated quickly. But this is yet another story that sets EVE Online apart from all other MMOs, for good or for ill.