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

A few years ago my PS2 got stolen out of my bag on a flight into Newark, NJ. If I’d known I could sue for $1 million instead of sucking it up and buying a new one, I would have.

That’s what this Yale student from Ohio is doing now. Someone stole his Xbox 360 from his luggage and he’s not sueing US Airways for up to $1 million in damages.

In what planet is an Xbox 360 worth that amount of money? Is he sueing for emotional distress over the loss of a video game console?

Ah, well at least he’s made the news.

Via | WEWS

Image: Microsoft

I like to think that nothing surprises me anymore, and then I read the news. The latest in OMGWTF moments from the world of real life stuff is the following: a six year old kid from Virginia missed the bus to school. Fully determined to get to school, the kid took his family’s car and drove himself there.

He made it six miles before getting into an accident.

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt, which is somewhat surprising considering:

He made at least two 90-degree turns, passed several cars and ran off the rural two-lane road several times before hitting an embankment and utility pole about a mile and a half from school.

Impressive.

Now what’s this piece of news doing on a blog about video games? Well, it seems that our dear stunt kid learned to “drive” thanks to GTA and Monster Truck Jam.

You have to hand it to this kid for seriously, seriously wanting to get to school. I mean, that’s some crazy determination. Of course, he could’ve just woken his parents up and asked them to drive.

More seriously though, the parents are being charged with child endangerment, and both the six year old and his four year old brother have been put under protective custody.

Watch those car keys, people.

Via | QJ

Image: Rockstar

Once again, the U.S. Army’s training and recruitment tool/video game America’s Army is making headlines. Last year I wrote about how they came under fire for providing potential recruits with “a sanitized view of violence“, and subsequently…released a set of action figures. You’ll note at the bottom of that post that I blithely joked “Maybe they can arrange Army play dates for 6 year olds; never can start too young.”

Turns out the Army was way ahead of me. They’ve recently announced a partnership with Project Lead The Way, a NPO that “educational program that helps give middle and high school students the rigorous ground-level education they need to develop strong backgrounds in science and engineering”. They think tat America’s Army might be just the ticket and are working with the Army to get it into America’s schools.

Sketch.

Especially considering the amount of blasting the game and Army as a whole has been taking as a result of what critics call a glamorization of violence and blatant pro-Army recruitment. If I were a parent, I would be none too happy that the military could be laying stakes in a chunk of my children’s education.

Water Cooler Games Via GamePolitics

I had to actually check the publish date on this post at Sarcastic Gamer to make sure that it wasn’t Friday, a day when they regularly ply outright lies masquerading as genuine gaming news, both because they’re sick bastards and because it’s fun to see how far plonk will circulate on the internets.

But no, it was posted today.

You can now live your virtual dream of becoming *drumroll* a DQ Tycoon. Oh yes, the peanut buster parfait, the simple chocolate dipped cone, the endless franchising opportunities, all this can be yours thanks to GameMill Entertainment and Sparkplug Games. Expect to:

Dairy Queen Tycoon will be one of the first time management games to have a strong brand behind it on the PC. Throughout the game, players will create Blizzard® treats, dip Dilly® Bars, and decorate the popular DQ Cakes. After hours, the player will manage the operation of up to four DQ stores, upgrading machines, managing staff, and keeping business running smoothly.

Erm…okay. I guess it’s like Papa’s Pizzeria, but with icecream?

Via | Sarcastic Gamer

Ah I love the smell of social responsibility in the morning…

THQ and Volition, the publisher-developer team behind the controversial Saints Row games, have announced a very special Collector’s Edition for Xbox 360 owners interested in getting their game on and showing off their faux thug aspirations.

Now you too can buy the game in a box with a thrilling gun motif, a limited edition art book and even, oh dare I say it, a free USB key shaped like a golden bullet. But that’s not all! You also get a map of lovely Stilwater (handy for marking your turf as you rise through the ranks, and a sexah shot of a woman blowing smoke away from the barrel of her hubby’s gun.

Keep an eye out on October 17th for retail and online available. Gee, you know, I can hardly wait.

Via | Eurogamer

Nothing shocks me anymore. I realized that while reading this story and thinking, “Well yes. That makes perfect sense.”

Apparently, a twelve-year-old Norweigian boy put his World of Warcraft skills to the test when he and his sister accidentally angered a local moose. The boy dug deep and came up with some survival skills learned from his years in Azeroth.

He distracted the moose away from his sister and then cast feign death, “just like you learn at level 30 in World of Warcraft.” And it seems the moose was like, “Wow, I’m getting good at killing things by merely looking at them,” because both boy and girl survived the encounter with nary a scratch.

I woudn’t recommend trying this on all wildlife…

Via | Wired

Image courtesy of SXC.

It seems like GTA and Saints Row are really just trying to up each other in the “instantaneously offensive” category. Not that Tera Patrick, the adult film star who has just been named to the development team for Saints Row 2, is offensive in and of herself, but really, we’ve got guns, drugs, hookers, beatings, theft…the only thing missing was an insider’s accurate view of the porn industry.

Patrick, who can boast to be among the porn industry’s century club (more than 100 movies), is set to “bring her one-of-a-kind special touch to the project as the game nears release on October 14th”. I’m just barely refraining from inserting [gah] some rather uncomfortable [oops] comments about her particular brand of ’special touches’. Who knows, maybe SR2 will actually embrace a Hot Coffee scenario that is part of actual game play…

Publisher THQ didn’t have much else to say, other than that Tera will be making some PR experiences, so that gamers can kill two birds with one stone and get their game on, and get their pr0n on at the same time.

I have to wonder what the next step is for Rockstar and THQ. How do they top this one? Perhaps we’ll be able to execute combos consisting of doing a line of coke off the back of a Playboy bunny while doing the nasty and using a free hand to gun down a pimp who isn’t paying into your little prostitution empire. Gee, that’d be fun.

Via | CVG

Image courtesy of THQ

Wow, to be young, nerdy, crafty and possessing far too much free time.

This fine young gentleman apparently likes Halo. He likes Halo a lot. So much so in fact that he’s raided the recycling bin and built himself an armor outfit and every single weapon in the game out of cardboard. Some of the designs are quite complex, with openable chambers, detachable clips, and plans for actual projectiles.

Even if his obsession with Halo passes, he’ll be a fine craft show participant one day, so long as he can detach himself from the screen long enough to leave the house.

I think this kid is single-handedly keeping packing tape companies in business, there’s enough crinkle factor there to keep a whole troupe of kittens happy for several years.

If you’ve ever been described as the “life of the party” or someone’s “happy pill”, then you now have the opportunity to strut your stuff proudly and openly in Second Life, where some creatively misguided avatar designer has come up with a Prozac outfit just for you!

For a mere $150L you too can parade around as 1000mg of contentment, spreading your branded, white and green happiness to one and all. Rather than doing things while on Prozac, you can now do things with Prozac, or as Prozac, like go on a date, drink (*gasp*), shop, model, and travel.

Just be careful, side effects of being Prozac may include: anxiety, insomnia, nausea and worst of all, sexual dysfunction. Egads!

SLDiscoveries Via New World Notes