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| GameStop Visits the "Other" Tournament
in San Diego |
| June 26, 2008 at 4:04pm |
Lead Fight Designer for The Bourne Conspiracy Travis Hoffstetter poses with
a couple of fans.
Sergio Martinez shows off the $400 GameStop gift card and
the copy of NASCAR 09 that he won.
The U.S. Open Golf Championship wasn't the only place
in San Diego to find the best of the best locked in thrilling competition
a couple of weekends ago. The city was also home to the most recent Major League Gaming
Tournament — and GameStop was there every step of the way.
Instead of watching Tiger Woods wince in pain and grab his knee
after every shot, we chose to watch the top professional gamers
square off against each other. Not wanting the pros to have all the
fun, we kicked things off on Friday, June 13th with Travis Hoffstetter,
the Lead Fight Designer of
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Conspiracy.
Travis blew everyone away as he demonstrated his most recent work and
showed gamers how to become Jason Bourne. He even autographed copies
of the game for a few lucky GameStop winners, shortly before giving
them roundhouse kicks to their faces. Well, maybe it didn't happen exactly
like that, but he did show off some great fight moves within the
game.
The hits kept coming Saturday when Sergio Martinez took home a $400 GameStop gift card
and a copy of the brand new NASCAR 09.
Throughout the weekend, players took the GameStop challenge and showed off their gaming
skills to earn bragging rights and the chance to take home some great swag, including
custom MLG/GameStop T-shirts, Bourne Conspiracy T-shirts and free games.
If you want to get
in on the action, GameStop will be at the next Major League Gaming event in
Orlando, Florida July 11th-13th. |
| A Not-So-Deadly Catch at the Redmond,
Washington GameStop |
| June 25, 2008 at 5:03pm |
Josh, Edgar and Sig showed up at the Redmond GameStop to
pose with fans and sign autographs.
Normally if you wanted to hang out with
Captain Sig Hansen, Edgar Hansen or Josh Harris from the Discovery
Channel's top-rated Deadliest Catch series, you'd have to land
a job on the Fishing Vessel Northwestern or the Fishing
Vessel Cornelia Marie and face the grueling task of
fishing for King Crab on the icy, unforgiving Bering Sea. However,
customers at the Redmond, Washington GameStop found a much easier
and safer way to meet them.
To celebrate the release of
Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm
for Xbox
360 last week, Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb of Microsoft fame invited
Josh, Edgar and Sig to
join him at the Redmond Town Center GameStop, and they graciously
accepted, signing autographs and posing for pictures with more than
140 fans who lined up to see them.
Unfortunately, the store quickly sold out of all of its copies of Deadliest Catch:
Alaskan Storm, but fans still enjoyed hanging out with the guys.
We'll let you
know if we spot Captain Sig, Edgar or Josh in any more GameStop stores. We're trying to talk our Real Estate
Department into putting up a GameStop on Little Diomede Island in
the Bering Strait to make it easier for them to drop by. |
| Fitness is not a Game at GameStop Headquarters |
| June 24, 2008 at 4:54pm |
Curt, from our E-Commerce Department,
shows off his cat-like reflexes on the Wii Fit Balance Board.
If you look like this guy, then you
need to seriously look into some healthier snack options.
Recent studies reveal that a healthy employee
is a happy, productive employee. To be perfectly honest, some of us
around here at the GameStop Store Support
Center in Grapevine, Texas could stand to be a little less famine
resistant, and it never hurts to check up on one's cholesterol
level. So last week we held a Wii Fit Health Fair at our little fortress of
solitude.
We played Wii Fit Soccer and Ski Slalom, received free cholesterol
screenings and blood-pressure checks, played a healthy eating
trivia game and enjoyed a variety of healthy snacks. When we heard
that healthy snacks were being offered, we pictured celery on a rice
cake, or "Nachos: Flanders Style" (cottage cheese on a cucumber
slice.) We were pleasantly surprised to find that the vendors who
visited our fair brought out free samples of turkey breast, baked
chicken wings, trail mix, granola bars, fruit and even some real
nachos.
In the interest of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, here are
some signs that may indicate you need to contact your physician. If
blood shoots out of your eyeballs when you get angry, you may want to
have your blood pressure checked, or you may have developed super
powers after being bitten by a mutant Texas Horned Lizard. If you get
a paper cut and bacon grease comes out, you may want to have your
cholesterol checked. If you get winded just by reading too fast, you
may want to look into an exercise program.
Remember, we're not doctors — we just like to pretend we know
stuff. You should always consult a physician before taking the
medical advice of a video-game retailer. Of course, there are a few
game titles that can help with your fitness regimen, like
My Weight
Loss Coach and
Quick Yoga Training for DS, or the
Wii Fit Bundle,
if you can get your hands on one before we sell out.
We put them up for sale as soon as we get more; so check back often. Whatever you do, take care of yourself. The world is a better place
with healthy, gaming GameStop blog readers. |
| Get Creative with Spore Creature
Creator |
| June 20, 2008 at 2:59pm |
Get creative with the Spore Creature
Creator because the world needs more weirdness.
More than 2 million species of animal life
have been identified on the earth, but scientists estimate that
there are at least 3 million, and possibly 100 million, left to
discover. And when we say
"scientists," we mean the guy two cubicles over who watches a lot of
Jeopardy. When you add it all up, that officially comes to a
"whole bunch" of creatures on the planet.
Just in case you can't pick a favorite from our assortment of
unusual creatures, like the Duckbill Platypus, Three-Toed Sloth or
"Weird Al" Yankovic,
Spore Creature Creator is now available to help you create your own
species. Creativity is what sets us apart from
the other millions of species and puts us at the top of the food chain. We tamed fire, invented the wheel and came up with
Celebrity Circus. Surely we can come up with some interesting
creatures to play with and share. So pick up your copy of
Spore Creature Creature Creator
and start creating! Send your best creation to
editor@gamestop.com, and it
just might show up on the blog.
|
| Head to Your Local GameStop the Next
Two Weekends to get Deoxys |
| June 18, 2008 at 3:30pm |
Bring your Nintendo DS™ and Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl to GameStop
the next 2 weekends.
To the uninformed, "Deoxys" might sound like
a revolutionary new hair-growth medication, like you'd see in one of
those infomercials in which the guy says, "I used to be embarrassed
to take off my hat until I discovered Deoxys." But all of you
Pokémon masters out there know that Deoxys is actually a rare DNA
Pokémon who, while quite mysterious and powerful, probably
does not have the power to reverse male pattern baldness.
If you have a copy of Pokémon Diamond
or Pokémon Pearl,
we'd like to help you capture the elusive Pokémon Deoxys.
Bring your Nintendo DS™ and Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl to
your local GameStop on the weekends of June 20th-22nd or June 27th-29th, and you can
get Pokémon Deoxys for your game! You need to have already
obtained the Pokédex in your game to receive Pokémon Deoxys, but otherwise, just
bring your Nintendo DS™ and Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl to
the store on either of the next two weekends, and your friendly neighborhood GameStop associate will take care of the rest. You can find more information about getting Pokémon Deoxys here. |
| GameStop-Sponsored Joey Logano Makes Nationwide Series History |
| June 16, 2008 at 5:14pm |
Joey celebrates his victory Saturday at the Meijer 300.
When 18-year old Joey Logano began his NASCAR
career in the GameStop No. 20 Toyota Camry, we hoped that he would
remain safe as he learned his way around the series. He quickly
learned that the best way to remain safe is to stay out in front of everyone else, as he led the pack for the last 37 laps to win the Meijer 300 on Saturday.
The victory at Kentucky Speedway, only his third series start, made him the youngest winner in Nationwide Series
history, at 18 years, 21 days old. In our humble opinion, he was also the best-dressed driver in
history in his GameStop driving suit. Plus, perhaps it was the
aerodynamic design of the GameStop logo on his car that gave him
that competitive edge. Most likely it was the hard work of the
entire crew coupled with Joey's driving skill and instincts that brought the
win, but we'd like to think we had something to do with it.
We are proud to sponsor Joey "Sliced Bread" Logano, and we'd like to
congratulate him on an amazing beginning to what promises to be a
long, successful career. We think he's the greatest thing since,
well, sliced bread. Keep checking the GameStop blog for more news
about Joey Logano, and brush up on your own driving skills with
NASCAR 09,
which released last week. |
| Further Proof that Pre-ordering Makes
the World a Better Place |
| June 13, 2008 at 5:40pm |
Benjamin Ortiz displays his Kanye West
tickets outside Madison Square Garden in NYC.
When West-Coast gamer Bejamin Ortiz picked up
his pre-ordered copy of Grand Theft Auto IV
at his local GameStop,
he also received a card with a code for two free downloads from the Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack,
just like everyone who else who pre-ordered the game. Pretty cool, huh?
Just wait — it gets better.
When Benjamin logged onto our web site to redeem his tracks, he noticed that GameStop was also giving away a trip for two to Liberty City (aka New York City) to see Kanye West perform live at Madison Square Garden on his "Glow in the Dark Tour" with Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco.
He decided to enter, and he won!
Benjamin said when he first saw the sweepstakes he thought, "You see these things offered all the time, and you might enter them on the off chance you could be a winner, but you never in a million years think it'll happen. Well, it was my lucky day."
Benjamin put down his Xbox 360 controller long enough to pack a bag and hop a flight to Liberty City. He said he was excited for his first trip to the Big Apple, not
only because he would get to see Kanye West, but also to see the storied Madison Square Garden.
And what did he think once the lights went out?
"The concert was amazing," said Benjamin. "Kanye West brought the house down for a full two hours in a show that really was unlike any concert I'd seen before. The seats were perfect, if only because seated off to my right were some of the biggest acts in the hip-hop industry, like John Legend, The Roots, Sean Combs and Jay-Z."
It sounds like Benjamin had a great time at the show. He said, "In the end, I want to thank everyone who made this trip possible. I couldn't have had a better time. It all ended up perfect and better than I could ever have imagined. Most of all, I want to thank GameStop for offering up such an amazing contest."
No problem, Benjamin. Now you can un-pause your copy of the game and recreate your trip with Niko, playing the role of Grand-Prize-Winner Benjamin
Ortiz. Remember to check our Sweepstakes Page periodically for your
chance to enter and win each time a new sweepstakes is posted. |
| Disney/Pixar Movie Quote Answers |
| June 12, 2008 at 11:23pm |
Mrs. Potato Head packs angry eyes, just in case.
Just in case you weren't sure about some of the quotes, here are the
answers to yesterday's Disney/Pixar quiz.
Quotes:
1. "We're rehearsing a - a scene for the upcoming company play
called, uh, Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me.
It's a musical."
D. Monsters, Inc.
2. "Hey, I know this may be a bad time right now, but you owe me
$32,000 in legal fees." G. Cars
3. "You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity." A. Toy Story
4. "Oh, oh, oh, oh! Pick me! Pick me! C'mon, I'm asking you with my brain." C. Bug's Life
5. "'Cause we were like, 'Woaaaah!', and I was like, 'Woaaaah!' and
you were like, 'Woaaahh...'"
E. Finding Nemo
6. "I hate to be rude, but we're French! H. Ratatouille
7. "You tell me where my suit is, woman! We are talking about the
greater good! " F. The Incredibles
8. "I'm packing your extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes, just
in case." B. Toy Story 2
Don't forget to pre-order the Wall-e video game
before Tuesday, June 24th. In the meantime, you can enjoy the Wall-e mini-game.
|
| For Those who Can't get Enough of that
Pixar-y Goodness |
| June 12, 2008 at 12:18pm |
Click the picture to play the Wall-e
mini game.
The new Disney/Pixar movie Wall-e
doesn't open in theaters until Friday, June 27th, but you can get
your hands on the Wall-e video game Tuesday, June 24th. If you just
can't wait that long, this Wall-e mini-game should tide you over
until then. Just use your mouse to match up the icons and bring
order to the universe.
We also put together this mini-mini game that requires no
button-mashing or mouse-clicking. You will score no points at all
but it will help you kill a minute or two while you're waiting for
the release of Wall-e. See if you can match up the Disney/Pixar movie with
the movie quote.
Quotes:
1. "We're rehearsing a - a scene for the upcoming company play
called, uh, Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me.
It's a musical."
2. "Hey, I know this may be a bad time right now, but you owe me
$32,000 in legal fees."
3. "You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity."
4. "Oh, oh, oh, oh! Pick me! Pick me! C'mon, I'm asking you with my brain."
5. "'Cause we were like, 'Woaaaah!', and I was like, 'Woaaaah!' and
you were like, 'Woaaahh...'"
6. "I hate to be rude, but we're French!
7. "You tell me where my suit is, woman! We are talking about the
greater good! "
8. "I'm packing your extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes, just
in case."
Movies:
A. Toy Story B. Toy Story 2
C. Bug's Life D. Monsters, Inc.
E. Finding Nemo F. The Incredibles
G. Cars H. Ratatouille
We're sure you can easily match these up, but we'll show you the answers tomorrow,
just in case. |
| You Will Like
Your Xbox 360 When it's Angry |
| June 10, 2008 at 5:59pm |
The Red Hulk is more than a colored
Green Hulk.
The Red Hulk is based on the Marvel
Comics series. Click the photo for the
larger version.
The Incredible Hulk opens in theaters this
Friday, but you can already play as the angry green guy in
The
Incredible Hulk video games. If you happen to order the Xbox 360
version from us online, or if you pick up a copy at your local
GameStop, you'll be able to play as the mysterious Red Hulk, who
recently appeared in the Marvel Comics series.
At first glance, it may appear that the developers just took a red
Sharpie pen and colored the Green Hulk, but the Red Hulk has his own
personality, his own facial
expressions and even his own Supercuts haircut. It looks like they used a No. 6
attachment on the sides and spiked up the top a bit with some gel,
while Green Hulk goes for the longer bangs for a more emo look, or
at least a super-enraged emo look.
The Red Hulk made his first Marvel Comics appearance in March,
and he is still shrouded in mystery. Even his alter-ego, like the Green Hulk's
Dr. Bruce Banner, has yet to be officially revealed. However, here is a short list of some things we do
know about him.
- He was first spotted in the Bering Strait, between
Russia and Alaska.
- He gives off Gamma radiation, and the madder he gets, the more he emits.
- He apparently has technical and tactical training.
- He is red.
- He and She-Hulk were recently spotted outside Coco
de Ville in LA. They said they're "just friends."
- If you see Red Hulk standing at an intersection
and blinking, you must come to a full stop and look both
ways before proceeding.
- He would go through fewer pairs of pants if he would just wear jorts.
- When he's really, really happy, the Red Hulk turns purple and sings show tunes.
You won't have to unlock the Red Hulk because he's immediately available for gameplay.
But remember, you can only get him in the Xbox 360 version of The Incredible Hulk, and
you can only get him at GameStop, either online
or at your local store. If you play on
a different console, we hope this doesn't make you so angry that you transform into a city-smashing behemoth.
But then you wouldn't need the game because you'd be living it. You
can see all of the versions here. |
| Become the Supreme Commander of Your
Domain |
| June 06, 2008 at 5:42pm |
Click the picture above to enter the Supreme Commander
Sweepstakes for your chance to win.
The Supreme Commander series has been a long-time favorite among PC gamers, and
now it's making its debut on
Xbox 360.
Real-time strategy games
like Supreme Commander have often been relegated to the PC because
of their complexity, but next-generation technology and development
advances have made it possible to port the same kind of full-scale
warfare to consoles. So whether you take control of
the Cybran Nation, the Aeon Illuminate or the United Earth
Federation, you'll have plenty of real estate to defend over land,
air or sea.
If you don't have an Xbox 360, or if you'd just like to have a spare, you should enter
the Supreme Commander Sweepstakes.
The Grand Prize is an Xbox 360
Elite with a limited-edition Supreme Commander faceplate; a copy of
Supreme Commander, signed by Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor;
and a signed Supreme Commander poster. Three First-Prize winners
will receive an Xbox 360 Pro with the limited-edition Supreme Commander
faceplate, a signed copy of Supreme Commander and a signed
Supreme Commander poster. Ten Second-Prize winners will receive the
limited-edition Supreme Commander faceplate, a copy of Supreme Commander
and a Supreme Commander poster. The Second-Prize game and
poster are not signed, but that leaves you the option to have them
signed by anyone you want, like David Hasselhoff or Leonard Nimoy.
You may enter the Supreme Commander Sweepstakes until 5 pm CST on July 3rd.
Details and official rules may be found
here.
Supreme Commander for
Xbox 360 ships June 23rd. Pre-order your copy
online or at your
local GameStop. |
| Big Air, Big Gaming, Big Prizes |
| June 05, 2008 at 11:26am |
Mark Sollors shows off the Big Air
snowboard he won by showing off his Guitar Hero skills.
People who enjoy sports that involve catching
big air, like snowboarding, skateboarding, freestyle BMX, surfing
and competitive hot-dog eating, also tend to enjoy gaming. Wouldn't
the world be a better place if there were some way to combine these
two pastimes? That's where the Big Air Gaming League comes in. We've
partnered with them to provide gaming-tournament venues for those
who compete in or follow big-air sports.
When pro snowboarder Mark Sollors came to Vail, Colorado in February
to compete in the 2008 Honda Session, he decided to stop by the
GameStop Lounge and enter the Guitar Hero III tournament. He ended
up winning, once again proving our theory that it pays to be good at
stuff. He was awarded a Big Air/ GameStop snowboard, a Headplay
Personal Cinema System and 1,000 bucks — not bad for someone taking
a break from competitive snowboarding.
But seriously, somebody needs to make
sure these guys don't have all the fun, and that somebody could be
you. Visit the Big Air Gaming League, powered by GameStop, and enter
the One vs. One Guitar Hero III Tournament. If your
axe-grinding is sharp enough, you could win a
trip for two to the 2009 Honda Session! Until June 22nd, you can compete
in the ladder phase of the tournament, in which the top scores will
occupy the top rungs of the ladder. The top 32
players from the ladder will advance to a bracket phase, which runs June 25th
through July 13th.
One grand prize winner will receive two tickets to the 2009 Honda Session,
including round trip airfare, ground transportation, hotel accommodations
and two full-day lift tickets.
There is no entry fee to participate or win. Visit www.bagl.ggl.com for more
information. |
| Clearing our Warehouse Means Big
Savings for You |
| June 04, 2008 at 5:31pm |
Please think of the poor fawns, and
help us clear out our warehouse. Click the photo for details.
We were cleaning out the warehouse the other
day, and we discovered that a small fawn had been trapped behind
some old copies of
Puppy Luv Spa & Resort Tycoon.
So we decided it
was probably time to clear the place out. Visit our
Game Days Sale
page or the Game Days Sale bin at your local GameStop to save up to
50% on select games.You'll get a great deal and you'll also help us
reduce the clutter in the warehouse.
You can save on games and accessories, like Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
for your Wii, Timeshift for your Xbox 360,
a BluWave remote control for your PS3, or even a UMD of
Joe Dirt for your PSP.
And that's just a small sample. For even more deals, check out the
savings online, or dig through the fawn-free bins at your local
GameStop. Either way, you'll be doing your part to help
warehouse-indigenous wildlife. |
| Madden Mondays
Final Week: Mother Nature Strikes Back! |
| June 2, 2008 at 5:34pm |
CAUTION: Slippery when wet.
Click the photo for the
larger version.
Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!
Click the photo for the
larger version.
On Monday, November 26, 2007, the Pittsburgh Steelers played host to the Miami Dolphins in what can only be described as an utter debacle. In a thrilling 3-0 Steelers triumph, Heinz Field looked like it had just hosted a monster truck rally as rain poured down mercilessly, making the field virtually unplayable.
We learned two things that night. Number 1: our GameStop fantasy
football team would miss the play-offs because we couldn’t get a measly 3 points out of Ben Roethlisberger and Heath Miller. Number 2: weather can have a serious impact on the results of a football game.
In fact, some of the more historic games in NFL history have been made so by Mother Nature,
i.e. the Patriots and Dolphins “Snow Plow Game” in 1982, Bears and Eagles “Fog Bowl” from 1988, and the snow-laden
Patriots and Raiders “Tuck Rule” game in 2002, just to name a few.
What does all of this have to do with Madden NFL 09? Well, clearly
weather has always been IN the game, but up until now, it had little impact ON the game. For the first time, weather will affect how your players move and perform on the field. When precipitation is heavy, elusive runners like Adrian Peterson will be more likely to put the ball on the turf when juking and spinning.
So you'd better cover up! Receivers who rely on a quick release, like Steve Smith, could slip coming out of the gates. QBs diving for a first down on a rain-drenched field may suddenly rekindle memories of a summer Slip N Slide, not to mention they won’t have the same accuracy as you're used to. For icing (pun intended) on the cake, Madden NFL 09 will also feature some weather specific celebrations…can you say snow angels at Lambeau?! Mix in a little rain-puddle splashing, some dynamic player breath, and you’ve got yourself a virtual weather wonderland, which,
if you recall from Week 2’s Madden Monday, the weather and lighting have been completely overhauled, making Madden more immersive than ever before.
Now it should be noted, just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you should expect results similar to the aforementioned Steelers game of last year. Although these weather “tweaks” will require you to think twice about the moves and calls you make, they won’t completely render offenses
useless.
So there you have it. Madden Mondays is a wrap. The good news is, because you,
our faithful reader, have made this feature a great success, we’re looking to partner with EA SPORTS to give Madden fans more exclusive content in the weeks leading up to the launch on August 12th; so stay tuned.
Madden NFL 09
is available now for pre-order, including the historic 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition that features
Madden NFL 09, NFL Head Coach 09 and more.
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