Next-Gen has a nice little article up on what they believe to be the 50 top world records in the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition. I really must thank them for this because even picking up that glossy piece of trash would probably make my hands melt, and then how would I play my videogames? Does anyone else remember when the Guinness books were just paper back lists of records with tiny little black and white photos? Those were the good ol’ days, before FOX came in and turned world records into a freak show. I mean “Hottest” Female Fighting Game Character (Nina Williams from Tekken) isn’t even a record, it’s just an excuse to show breasts which is…breasts. I’ve lost my train of thought.

I’ll collect myself and we can meet after the jump.

Moving on. The top 50 are actually pretty interesting, especially since Next-Gen chose ones that aren’t just high scores but represent how much of an impact gaming has had on our culture throughout the years. Sure there are obvious ones like Super Mario Bro. being the number one selling game of all time (bundles included) or the PS3’s Folding@home being the most powerful computing network on game consoles. And there are also the famous moments in time like the release of the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey back in 1972, or the first game to ever have combos (Street Fighter II, as if I have to say). But that isn’t why we care about world records.

We care about the freaks and the weirdos. So what are gamings freaks and weirdos? Well there aren’t any insanely obese twins riding motorcycles but how about Anshe Chung, who is Second Life’s first millionaire? There is also Joe Kucan who has played the part of Kane in the Command & Conquer series for the past 14 years, garnering him the longest acting role in gaming history. Still that’s nothing too the over 1,000 “actions per minute” that elite Starcraft players can perform, or the three players that broke their arms playing Arm Sprint, garnering it the “most broken bones by a sim game” award.

But I think the oddest “record” has to go to the youngest supermarket consultant, 7-year-old Laurie Sleator from Hertfordshire, UK, who was hired by supermarket chain Tesco. What does this have to with gaming? They hired her to advise senior executives at the company on the Pokémon craze. How was she paid, you ask? In Pokémon products of course. Hell, they’re probably stronger than the U.S. dollar, I would have asked for that too. On second though, though, this isn’t the weirdest. Mie Kumagai, the first female head of a videogame studio, is. Girls don’t play videogames, that’s crazy talk.