Syracuse University researchers have conducted a study that aims to suss out whether female avatars in games are actually women in real-life or just men role-playing as female characters.

Research that included work at Syracuse University considered 375 people playing a multi-player World of Warcraft quest. Researchers found that 23 percent of the men chose opposite-gender avatars, compared to 7 percent of women who played as male characters.

Washington D.C-based news station WIJA offers a report that tries to solicit anger from local policemen about the depiction of violence in Starbreeze Studios.

Electronic Arts and ISP Comcast are believed to be negotiating a game streaming deal, according to five independent sources speaking to Reuters. According to sources speaking to Reuters, Comcast will give some customers the ability to buy and stream EA titles through Comcast's new X1 operating system. X1 is only available in certain areas covered by Comcast at the moment.

Here's a bizarre bit of polling reported on by the Wall Street Journal about the correlation between tattoos and video gamers. Apparently those who have a tattoo are also more inclined to be video gamers, though the folks responsible for the polling don't really understand why.

Pollsters also found that "Tattooed Americans" are more likely to be uninsured, live in a Republican congressional district, and voted for President Barack Obama in the past. The polling data also showed that there are far more tattooed people than there were 15 years ago.

A new Time Magazine article notes that comedian John Oliver's new show on HBO, "Last Week Tonight" has done a better job of grilling the National Security Agency (NSA) about warrantless surveillance than the long-running CBS Sunday evening news program "60 Minutes."

Researchers at the University of Adelaide (Australia) are shedding light on the unique problems of supposed "gaming addiction," saying that there is "strong evidence" to suggest that new treatments should be developed for these conditions. One of the biggest problems researchers face is that both Internet and gaming addictions are not recognized globally by mental health professionals as "real addictions." Gambling and sex addictions, for example, are recognized and treatable conditions.

Electronic Arts has activated in-game items purchases with real money in Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare. The micro-transactions allow consumers to purchase in-game money from the game's Sticker Shop that can be spent on new packs of upgrades. EA announced the move on Friday night at the end of a blog post detailing the recently released free updates for the game, such as the Wild West-themed Zomboss Down pack. More free content is on the way, according to EA.

In what can only be described as an ill-conceived plan to garner attention and to earn an entire group of people a trip to the emergency room, members of EVE Online developer CCP Games plan to challenge (MMA) fighter Gunnar "Gunni" Nelson (who has a record of 12-0-1) in actual physical combat during the EVE Fanfest on May 2. The battle, which is appropriately billed as EVE OF DESTRUCTION, will happen on the night of Friday, May 2 and will be streamed live on www.twitch.tv/ccp.

Candy Crush maker King says that all games need to transition to the free-to-play business model. This, the company says, will ensure that gamers can play their favorite games for a long time and developers can make a living keeping those games alive.

"The micro-transaction is so strong and it’s definitely a much better model," King games guru Tommy Palm told IGN. "I think all companies have to transition over to that."

Veteran Halo and Destiny music composer Martin O'Donnell has been terminated from Bungie by the studio's board of directors, he announced today via Twitter.

O'Donnell has worked on every Halo title up until Halo Reach, and composed music trailers promoting Bungie's upcoming next-generation shooter Destiny. The composer announced his termination on Twitter earlier today, noting that (in his opinion) that it was "without cause."

World of Tanks and World of Planes maker Wargaming today announced its plans to join with its long-term partner the Russian Kubinka Tank Museum to reconstruct and put back in running condition the only remaining Panzer VIII Maus tank.

BioWare says that it can't offer downloadable character DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisitor because of the controversy surrounding on-disc downloadable content. Some see the excuse as a big FU to fans who have complained in the past that they shouldn't have to pay extra for content already on a game's disc.

Microsoft is inviting fans to join them as they unearth the urban legend surrounding the supposed “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” video game burial site. Excavation on the site will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014 from 9:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the Alamogordo Landfill (4276 Highway 54 S) in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Ubisoft is offering Uplay users all-expenses-paid trips to E3 in Los Angeles by becoming ambassadors for its (often mandatory) games platform Uplay. Ubisoft announced that 12 winning fans will "receive the VIP treatment" with paid travel, access to the E3 show floor, a ticket to the Ubisoft press conference and exclusive meetings with Ubisoft's development teams. One thousand fans will also be given an invitation to "the Uplay lounge", a pop-up event held near the Los Angeles Convention Center during E3.

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer told Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb during his latest podcast that last summer's controversy about Xbox One's DRM hurt him personally.

Spencer also said that he knows Microsoft could have done a better job communicating this last year.

If Republican California for Attorney General candidate Phil Wyman had his way State Senator Leland Yee (D) and two other lawmakers would be put to death if convicted of their crimes. He has put forward the idea that the best way to prevent government corruption is for those who put their constituents in harm's way with their dirty dealings should face the death penalty.

Seeing what Sony has done with the acquisition of Gaikai, Microsoft is considering the possibility of emulating Xbox 360 on the Xbox One. According to a report on Kotaku, Xbox partner development lead Frank Savage said that Microsoft does have some plans on emulation, but they are still "thinking things through."

"There are [plans]," he said. "But we're not done thinking them through yet, unfortunately."

Vlambeer studio co-founder Rami Ismail issued a statement today to address concerns that its hit 2D fighting game Luftrausers "implies" that players are controlling Nazi pilots and aircraft during World War II. The concerns likely stem from the name, which is similar to the "Luftwaffe," the air force of the German Wehrmacht during World War II; and the uniforms worn by commanders in the game that look similar to uniforms worn by German officers during the war.

It looks like the documentary seeking to find the lost dump containing thousands of copies of the worst Atari game ever made can dig in New Mexico. It has long been rumored that millions of copies of the Atari 2600 game, E.T.: Extra-Terrestrial were buried in a landfill in New Mexico.

For those who don't know, E.T. is considered the worst game ever made, and has been accused of helping to hasten the video game industry crash of 1983. Recently several film companies ran into a government road block when they located the landfill in question.

On the latest episode of Street Fighter Red Tape from The Pete Holmes Show, Ken Masters tries to explain how he's different from titular Street Fighter lead Ryu. As Pete points out, he and Ryu are EXACTLY the same and there is no room for so many tiger uppercuts and great hair.

"But, when I kick someone, it will look red," Ken says during his interview.

You can check out the latest video to your left. To check out all the video from The Pete Holmes Show on TBS, visit the show's YouTube page.

A bizarre story out of Japan details a lawsuit against the president of mobile and social gaming giant Gree. According to Sakura Financial News (by way of Kotaku) Gree's current president Yoshikazu Tanaka is being sued by a former girlfriend for allegedly forcing her to have an abortion. Gree is a household name in Japan.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest film, Sabotage, hits theaters today in the United States. The film, which is getting decent reviews, is about the head of a US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) whose members are viciously killed and mutilated after a cartel bust. Schwarzenegger plays the lead character. But in promoting the film, the aging action star and former Republican Governor of California defended the high levels of violence by taking a shot at video games.

Research firm IHS Inc. and game network WildTangent released research today that indicates consumers are willing to put up with "value exchange-style advertising" in games. IHS describes "value exchange advertising" as a method used by advertisers to reward gamers for viewing ads with items such as in-game items or free game sessions.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has launched The Internet Party in New Zealand. Dotcom, whose file-sharing site was shut down in 2012 by U.S. and New Zealand authorities, formed the political party to promote "freedom of the internet and technology, for privacy and political reform."

Dotcom is currently fighting extradition to the U.S. over charges of copyright infringement on a "massive scale." While a date for that to happen has not been announced, many expect that Dotcom will have his day in U.S. courts sometime this summer.

The head of the Tom Green County, Texas Juvenile Probation Dept. thinks that video games, music, and the general culture of entertainment are influencing children in negative ways. Mark Williams, the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer for Tom Green County, shared his insights into what he believes is influencing kids to break the law recently at the San Angelo Rotary Club. His speech was detailed at length by San Angelo Live.

Pirate Bay Founder Peter Sunde has been selected by the European Pirate Party as candidate for the European Commission presidency, according to TorrentFreak. In two months time citizens of all European Union member states will vote on who can represent them in the European Parliament and Finland's Pirate Party has put forth one of the most recognized candidates as a choice for voters.

Spike TV's Geoff Keighley recently conducted an interview with Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios Phil Spencer as part of South by Southwest 2014's Gaming Expo at the Long Center in Austin, Texas. While the conversation touches on a lot of topics, the most interesting thing discussed during the sit-down interview was fanboyism.

Speaking at SXSW this weekend, Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer said that Xbox’s Games with Gold program (it's free monthly game giveaway for Xbox 360 - and eventually Xbox One) is "fundamentally different" than "other programs" (we assume he is referring the PlayStation Plus for PS3 and PS4) because it allows members to keep the games regardless of whether they continue to pay for a subscription or not.

Capcom has addressed concerns that it offers no options for a female lead character in its upcoming hardcore RPG game, Deep Down. Producer Kazunori Sugiura addressed the issue and explained that an earlier report that there were "12 main characters in Deep Down, all of them male" was incorrect.

According to a report in the Washington Post written by political columnist Dana Milbank, former Reagan administration lawyer Bruce Fein has accused Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and former Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli of stealing his work.