Having a fun April Fools’ Day yet? I have to admit I really love traipsing through the Internets and trying to figure out what’s for serious and what’s not for serious. So here’s something that’s not real, but that’s pretty darn humorous. Cryptic has joined in the April Fools’ Day fun and dropped an announcement that Star Trek Online would be heading in a softer direction. Baby soft. With Star Trek Babies Online.

This sort of reminds me a bit of Tiny Toons and I was a big fan of that, so I’d actually not oppose to baby Star Trek characters. It’d be pretty funny. Like Star Trek gnomes.

Thanks for the laughs, Cryptic.

Via | Massively

Image: Cryptic

For those of you that care where your favorite video game manufacturers fall in the Love of the Earth campaign, here’s an update. Greenpeace has released their report on which brands care and which brands could care less about Mother Earth.

According to the report, Sony wins this round on the grounds of energy efficiency. They scored 5.5 out of a possible ten. Not a glorious score, but compared to its competition, it’s winning by a longshot. Depressing when you think about it.

Microsoft was pretty abysmal at 2.7 … but they’re regular tree huggers compared to Nintendo. Nintendo scored a 0.8! Let’s hope Nintendo decides to step it up. They all should, really.

Leading the race, overall, is Nokia. Grats, Nokia!  And Apple, while not doing so crunchy, managed to do better than before: 4.7 is an improvement. Well, improvement is better than nothing.

Via | QJ

Image: Sony

A 24-year-old man from Kentucky, Anthony Scott O’Shea (a.k.a. “Thunder-kid”) was charged with persuading an 11-year-old girl to send him naked pictures via the PS3.

The two met through Warhawk online and over some weeks O’Shea successfully convinced the young girl to send him nude photos of herself. In addition to photos, there’s evidence that the man also convinced the girl to “perform” for him over a webcam.

The girl finally went to her parents who pressed charges. O’Shea admitted that he’d been in contact with the girl and had received her photos. It was also discovered that the man sent the pictures to other people.

The sad thing is that he’s hardly the only sicko out there doing the same thing. Hopefully more kids will come forward.

Via | QJ

Image: Sony

Here’s some fun news: In celebration of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Resident Evil 5, the folks at the Guinness World Records have released a list of records set by both.

Enjoy some random video game trivia.

GTA Records:

• Most Successful Entertainment Product Launch
  On April 29, 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV generated $310 million of sales worldwide in one day, five times the revenue generated by The Dark Knight in its first 24 hours of release.
• Most Controversial Video Game Series
  The GTA franchise has been the most consistently controversial game franchise in history. Over 4,000 stories news stories have been published about it, with accusations ranging from glamorized violence, alleged connection with real-life crimes, and the presumed corruption of gamers. Numerous lawsuits have also been leveled against Rockstar Games. GTA IV was evened banned in Thailand!
• Largest Voice Cast in a Video Game
  GTA IV boasts a total credited cast of 861 voice actors, including 174 actors playing named characters, DJs, and TV voiceovers. Many of the additional 687 voices were volunteered by people who just wanted a chance to be heard in the game.
• Highest Production Budget
  In an interview with The Times in April 2008, GTA’s producer Leslie Benzies estimated that production costs on GTA IV reached $100 million, smashing the previous record of $70 million set by Sega’s Shenmue.
• Largest Grand Theft Auto Environment
  GTA: San Andreas features the largest playing area in the series. Up to four times larger than the other GTA titles, it contains three cities, 12 towns, and many miles of virtual countryside with an area of roughly 17 square miles.
• Largest In-Game Soundtrack
  GTA IV features 18 radio stations playing 218 licensed tracks, beating the previous record of 156 songs set in GTA: San Andreas.

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Prepare to be impressed. The following short film entitled ‘Escape from City 17′ is based on Half-Life 2 and was apparently created with a $500 budget, no script, and no crew.

Best fan movie ever made? Decide for yourself.

Escape from City 17 - Part One

For what they were working with, it’s pretty damn amazing.

Via | Kotaku

GAMEROX has developed a new chair that’s designed especially for young gamers. The idea behind the creation is to provide a seat that enhances posture development, core strength and balance skills.

GAMEROX promotes body movement during gaming. So for parents that are concerned about their kids staying stationary for long periods of time while playing, this might be something to look into.

Hard to say whether this actually does what it says it does, but it’s an interesting idea. The big question on my mind is whether kids will actually enjoy playing on it, or if it’s something they’ll try once and toss aside.

Check out the chair in action in the video after the cut.

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Writer Rhianna Pratchett was hired to help the self-called “infantile” developers at Triumph Studios tone down the “big boobs and violence” that had been initially put in the game.

As a female gamer this sounds like great news to me, though I’m sure there’s plenty of people that like the big boobs and extreme violence.

Regardless, Pratchett seems to have done her job and done it well, helping to shape the storyline of the game and bring a bit of maturity to the team.

Triumph Studios director, Lennart Sas said, “We sometimes have to tone down stuff we do because we are quite infantile guys who like stupid stuff like big boobs and violence, and Rhianna has to make it more subtle.”

What do you guys think? Good move or bring back the boobs?

Via | OXM

Image: Triumph Studios

I find it doubtful that many people choose their consoles on the basis of which would survive the most physical abuse. But in case you do find your console’s ability to withstand, say, getting bricked (in its most literal sense) an important part of your purchasing decision, the Pumphrey brothers are here to help.

In the following video, the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 get put to the ultimate bricking test. And which comes out the victor? Well, I won’t spoil you.

Warning: Console abuse to follow. If you can’t stand the idea of your favorite console getting hurt, don’t watch this!

Excuse me, I’m gonna go hug my consoles now and promise never to hurt them.

Via | QJ

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Microsoft had teamed up with Rock the Vote in an effort to promote the importance of voting and encourage gamers to hit the voting booth in November. Well, it looks like gamers had no qualms about getting political.

According to The Escapist, 100,000 Xbox Live users were polled and the results are as follows:

• Obama/Biden - 43%
• McCain/Palin - 31%
• Undecided - 13%
• Other - 13%

The Rock the Vote campaign managed to distribute more then 55,000 voter registration forms, 350,000 pierces of candidate schwag, and 25,000 video downloads of the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

Looks like the Microsoft promotion has been a huge success for Rock the Vote. Let’s hope it translates into more people voting on the big day.

Image courtesy of Microsoft.

A study out of the University of Southern California suggests that the stereotypical image of the gamer as a fat, lazy, slobbish creature may not be as accurate as once assumed. They polled 7,000 EverQuest II players and found that the average body mass index (BMI) of respondents was 25.2, versus 28 for the overall American populace. Both still fall into the overweight category. Additionally, gamers also exercise more than the average person, getting in some vigorous exercise (no, button mashing was not included) once or twice a week, sadly higher than most.

Interestingly, gamers were also found to have a higher occurrence of substance abuse than non-gamers. With the current questions surrounding the existence of an “addictive personality”, or a predisposition to addiction, and its role in video game addiction, it’s intriguing to note that video games aren’t the only things that gamers can struggle with. Unfortunately, gamers also seem to have a higher incidence of depression. Scott Caplan from the University of Delaware suggested that some gamers “may be drawn to use the game to help deal with emotional distress”.

Via | videogaming247