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| Seniors are Hip to the Wii |
| December 27, 2007 at 5:00pm |
You kids get off my virtual lawn!
The Wii seems to be a hit with the seniors.
If you weren't able to get your hands on a Wii this holiday season,
it may be because a senior citizen beat you to it. According to a
recent Washington Post article, retirees are foregoing the bocce balls and shuffleboard and turning
to the Wii for exercise and recreation.
They're finding it much easier to bowl on the Wii than to cart
around a 16-lb bowling ball. And playing a match of tennis on the
Wii is much easier than hitting the real courts after a hip
replacement. Many retirement centers are throwing out the bingo
cards and bringing in the Wii Nunchuks because it helps older joints
stay limber, stimulates the brain and encourages socialization.
So maybe you should be nice to that little, old blue-haired lady
down the street. If you rake her leaves or clean out her gutters,
maybe she'll bake you some cookies and let you have a turn on the
Wii. |
| Happy Holidays from GameStop |
| December 24, 2007 at 11:15am |
Happy Holidays from all of us at
GameStop.
|
| Crunch Time: Everybody Panic! |
| December 21, 2007 at 4:45pm |
The time for pleasantries has passed.
It's time to just find something and wrap it!
Okay, you've been telling yourself that you have plenty of time left
to finish your holiday shopping, but now it's time to get moving!
It's time to brave the masses and hit the streets! It's time to shop
or get off the pot!
We could give you a list of gift ideas, but then you'd waste
precious shopping time reading it. We'll make it easy on you. Just
hurry to your nearest GameStop and buy a gift card. It's the right
style. It's the right size. And as Wilford Brimley used to say about
Quaker Oatmeal, "It's the right thing to do."
So good luck with your last-minute shopping. Be careful out in the
traffic. Wear something warm. You can do it! |
| The Masses Have Spoken |
| December 20, 2007 at 4:39pm |
We're not sure if this alien babe
plays a role in Mass Effect's popularity, but it doesn't hurt.
A million RPG fans can't be wrong. Well, we suppose they could be wrong,
but the odds would be, like, a million to one. There must be something about
Mass Effect for Xbox 360 that's drawing in the
players. According to
a GameDaily.com interview with Jeff Bell, Corporate Vice President of Global Marketing
for Xbox 360, Mass Effect has sold more than a million copies since its November
20 release.
A number of factors could play into Mass Effect's popularity. Maybe
it's the glowing critiques. Perhaps it's the blend of
role-play and action that culminates in an intense finale. Or maybe
it's the thrill of interacting with alien species in form-fitting spacesuits,
which is one of the reasons this game has earned a "Mature" rating.
If you have someone on your gift list that's over 17 and has an Xbox
360, a million people out there are telling you Mass Effect would
score you big points in the gift-giving department, unless, of
course, your gift recipient is already one of the million who has
the game.
You can learn more about Mass Effect here. |
| Just in Time For Groundhog Day |
| December 19, 2007 at 3:07pm |
Give the gift of a festive Groundhog
Day this year.
If you've been knocking yourself out trying to find a Wii this
holiday season, we feel for you. Our
stores are still getting them in stock periodically, but you have to
be in the right place at the right time to score a Wii.
If you're not one of those lucky few this holiday, we'd like to help
you do the next best thing. This Friday, December 21, you can stop
by your local GameStop or EB Games store and purchase a reserved Wii for guaranteed pickup
by January 25. We'll give you a "Your Wii's on the Way" DVD case to
give to your gift-recipient. You'll receive a phone call to let
you know when your Wii has arrived at the store for you to pick up. We know it's not quite the same as
getting the actual Wii right then, but imagine their surprise when
they open the small gift box, and instead of finding a membership to
the Jelly of the Month Club, they find news
that the coveted Wii will soon be theirs.
So after the holiday rush has died down and the "new-gift smell" has worn off,
you can bring joy to someone again.You could even hang onto the Wii for a few days and give it as a Groundhog Day gift.
Maybe you could start a new Groundhog Day tradition. We think that holiday is underrated, anyway.
We're sure your "giftee" will get at least six weeks of fun, whether the
groundhog sees his shadow or not.
We do have a few rules and limitations for this offer. You can find more details here. |
| Don't be an iSheep: Check out the Zune |
| December 18, 2007 at 12:21pm |
There's no "i" in "Zune." The mighty Zune hurls lightning bolts at
the local villagers.
Although the masses tend to flock toward trendy items that elevate
their social status, you're smarter than that, aren't you? You like
to weigh the features and overall value of similar products before
you choose the one that best fits you, right? Then you should take a
serious look at the Zune before you go iCrazy.
According to a recent mp3.com article by Jim Welte, the Zune may be gaining a little bit of
momentum on its over-hyped cousin, the iPod.
He wrote, "Although it continues to trail Apple with just a pittance of the iPod's market share,
the new Zune line of MP3 players has made some inroads in recent
weeks…."
The Zune's meteoric rise to pittance status may have something to do
with the fact that it's easy to use, features wireless sharing and has a cool name.
Apparently, Apple's product-naming department consists of a
guy at a keyboard with every key except the "i" key removed,
bringing us names like iPod, iPhone and iSandwich. At least
Microsoft put forth some effort in coming up with the name "Zune."
It sounds like an ancient stone artifact that predicts the end of the
world or a god from Norse mythology who hurls lightning bolts at the
villagers whenever his ire is roused.
We have a variety of Zune Media Players available.
Choose the 4-GB player in
Red,
Pink,
Green or
Black,
or the 8-GB
player in Red,
Pink,
Green
or Black.
We also have the behemoth 80-GB-capacity Zune in your choice of
Black or
Very Dark Gray.
If you've been putting off that Xbox 360 purchase, now is a great time to familiarize
yourself with both the Zune and the Xbox 360. For a limited time, buy one of our
Xbox 360 Arcade, 4-GB Zune bundles,
and you'll also receive 1600 Xbox LIVE Marketplace
points. The Xbox Arcade has everything you need for fun right out of the box, including five
Xbox LIVE Arcade games, like PAC-MAN and UNO.Take the road less traveled, and check out the Zune for yourself.
You owe it to yourself to make an informed decision, instead of
merely following the flock of iSheep. The mighty Zune awaits you.
|
| So You Want to be a Rock 'n' Roll Star |
| December 14, 2007 at 5:49pm |
GameStop associates (l-r) Kelly on bass, Jinho on drums, Adam on vocals and Kisha on lead guitar.
About 40 years ago the Byrds told us in song, "So you want to be a
rock 'n' roll star; then listen now to what we say. Just get an
electric guitar, and take some time, and learn how to play." If the
band were to record that song today, they may have
substituted "Rock Band Bundle" for "electric guitar" because
Rock
Band is the modern way to experience the hard-rockin' lifestyle of some of
the biggest musicians of all time.
The Rock Band Shortcut to Stardom Tour Van made a stop at the GameStop Store Support
Center Thursday, and many of our associates were given the chance
to show off their rock-and-roll chops.
After a lunch-break of rockin', our associates decided to keep their
day jobs at GameStop, which is the third-happiest place on earth,
behind Walt Disney World® and Luby's® Cafeterias. But it was fun
to be a rock star for a little while.
Of course, if you don't want to wait for the tour bus to show up at
your house, you can always order your own copy of Rock Band here.
While you're visiting our product-info pages, check out some of our customer reviews, like
one from Anonymouswaffle, who said his mom used to give him a
hard time about video games, but Rock Band has the whole family joining in on the fun now.
And The Singer said, "Rock Band would be great for
a group of friends, a family or, best of all, parties." Better
stock up on the Funyuns®. You can let everyone know what you think
about Rock Band by leaving your own review on our web site. |
| An Idea Whose Time has Come: State Video Games |
| December 13, 2007 at 10:45am |
Having an official state video game would make state seals more appealing, as well.
Here at the GameStop Store Support Center in Grapevine, Texas, a
friendly debate broke out over whether or not Texas has an official
state fish. A quick perusal of the Official State of Texas web site
revealed that, not only does Texas have a state fish, (the Gaudalupe
Bass) but Texas also has a state flying mammal (the Mexican
Free-tailed Bat) and a state dinosaur (Pleurocoelus.)
Because everything around here centers around games, we started to
wonder why states don't have official video games. They have state
birds, flowers, insects, songs and even pastries, but no state has an official video game.
Birds seem to get most of the attention, but video games are much
more fun and don't spread West Nile Virus. Plus, it appears that the
states may not have put forward much effort in picking their state
birds. Seventeen states share the Cardinal, Meadowlark or
Mockingbird as their official state bird. We
think the remaining 33 states just gave up after they found out that
those three were taken, and they just used names of pro wrestlers.
We feel it is our patriotic duty to at least start a preliminary list of
potential state video games.
Florida: Brain Age 2 – This brain-sharpener might keep seniors in this popular retirement destination
from driving 20 in the fast lane.
Montana: Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour – They must be related.
Vermont: Dancing With the Stars – Vermont
easily has the best dancers of all the states.
Washington: Super Mario Galaxy – Although Mario sounds Italian, we have it on good authority that he was born in Redmond, Washington.
Arkansas: Imagine Fashion Designer – The perfect game for the birthplace of jorts.
Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Kansas: Tetris Evolution – It's a little known fact that all the blocks in Tetris are based on the shapes of these states.
This is just a start. Now it’s up to you to write your government
representatives and ask them to replace your state bird with one of
these cool video games.
|
| More Kitty Drama at GameStop
Headquarters |
| December 12, 2007 at 11:56am |
We R in ur kubikle, watchin u werk.
In the middle of planning our midnight openings and tournaments for
the release of Kitty Luv for Wii, some real-life kitty
drama interrupted our workday for a while at the GameStop
Store Support Center.
While walking to the building on a drizzly morning, Nick in our
Creative Services Department heard
the plaintive cries of "Mew, mew, meow," coming from one of the parking-lot storm
drains,
which is kitten for "We R in ur storm drane, waiting to be reskewed."
He enlisted the help of
GameStop associates Debra, John, Jason and Joseph, also known as the
League of Kitten Rescuers,
to extract the trapped kittens. (They have been training for months
for just such an opportunity.) They were rewarded with some ruined
clothes, the satisfaction of
helping some living
creatures and a Tetanus booster.
Debra fashioned a temporary kitty shelter
from a cardboard box and a sweatshirt, and harbored the kittens in her cubicle,
while a steady stream of onlookers "oohed" and "aahed" over the cute
little fur balls. Debra, a volunteer animal rescuer for the SPCA of
Texas and a former United States Marine,
has taken it upon herself to find good homes for the kittens. Sam in our Creative
Services Department and his wife Maurena are taking care of them
until then.
We are happy to report that no animals were harmed in the writing of this blog, although
Mark in our Merchandising Department sneezed a couple of times.
We'll let you know when more breaking kitty news comes our way. |
| Power and More Space to the Players |
| December 11, 2007 at 3:57pm |
The new tournament-hosting center in
San Jose.
In our continuing effort to bring power to the players, GameStop has
opened its first world-class tournament center and store, which is
sure to go over better than our short-lived store and
funnel-cake center.
This store has been built from the ground up to host any tournament format conceivable to man, and its
elevated and lighted stage — that looks as much like a television soundstage as
a store — is ideal
for media coverage. The 4,000-sqaure-foot store can accommodate major tournaments and still leave room
for our shoppers to navigate the aisles and ring the register. The stage features 24 networked gaming
stations and plasma monitors for hosting tournament events, while an additional eight adjacent systems
and plasmas can either be used for extra-tournament play or just trying out game demos. We have no word
at this time on whether you'll be able to reenact the Billie Jean video on the LED-lighted floor,
but the stage certainly seems capable of handling it.
The San Jose store will christen the new facility with a Madden NFL '08
tournament this weekend, and it will eventually host millions of tournaments
well into the future. This store is the prototype
for similar tournament center stores we hope to place all over the
United States. We'll let you know when the next one comes along.
|
| A Great Gift Idea for the Holidays, or
"Holidaze" |
| December 10, 2007 at 6:23pm |
DesKripTor the Robot is stealing your DS Lite.
As we've mentioned in previous blog entries, the intentional misspelling of a word
automatically makes it "kooler." If you're looking to fill out your Christmas list,
the Nintendo DS Lite is sure to please just about anyone, unless you're shopping for
the president of Sony. The DS Lite is brighter or "briter" than the original
Nintendo DS, less than two-thirds the size and more than 20-percent lighter.
The name is also 20-percent lighter because
they managed to get rid of the "gh" in "light" and turn it into "lite," thus saving us
valuable typing time. We would say it's 20-percent "liter," but that sounds more like
a metric unit of liquid measurement than a heaviness descriptor. By the way,
"DesKripTor" would be a good name for an evil robot.
In order to save you 20-percent of your reading time, let us get back to the subject
at hand. You know somebody who's been good all year and deserves something special.
The DS Lite will fit the bill nicely. If they've been really good, you could upgrade
to a DS Lite bundled with games like Legend of Zelda: Phantom
Hourglass or Mario Party. Check out more DS Lite options here. No
matter which one you choose, you will make your gift recipient at
least 20-percent happier. |
| Holiday Procrastinators Unite!
Eventually... |
| December 7, 2007 at 4:57pm |
Unless you know Phil and his Magical
Holiday Mullet, you should place your gift orders soon.
Although you still have plenty of time to place your orders on
GameStop.com for holiday gifts, you should probably make your gift
selections soon if you want to be sure they arrive by December 25
— unless you have connections with the big guy in red. And when we
say, "big guy in red," we mean Phil, a guy in our merchandising department who has a
fondness for mullets and red Dickies™ coveralls.
If you are the procrastinating type who usually picks up gifts at the convenience store
on the way to your relatives' houses, why not make this the year that you make hay while the sun shines
or get that worm like the early bird? On second thought, neither of those sound very fun. But you
could make this the year you give games, consoles and accessories, instead of the usual air freshener,
beef jerky and 10w30 motor oil.
You can find more information on Holiday Shipping Deadlines, Customer Service
Holiday Hours, Store Holiday Hours and our Gift-Givers Guarantee
here.
Don't wait too long to bring joy to
your favorite players!
|
| Accessories Make All the Difference |
| December 6, 2007 at 5:04pm |
Accessories help you stand out from the crowd.
Anyone involved in the fashion industry will be the first to tell you that accessorizing makes all the difference.
Without his utility belt, Batman would just be some rich weirdo
running around in tights. As we saw in The Empire Strikes Back,
without his lightsaber, Luke Skywalker was just some one-handed guy
screaming "Noooo!" at his dad.
If you're going to get the most out
of your gaming experience, you need to accessorize, as well. Without
a controller, your console is little more than an expensive
doorstop. Without a guitar controller, you couldn't be a Guitar
Hero. You'd just be a regular, run-of-the-mill hero. Without a Zune, you'd just have to stand on the street corner and wait for
someone to drive by with his windows down and his radio turned up
loud.
You can find controllers, memory sticks, headsets, cables and more on the
GameStop website. When you're visiting one of our console-specific pages, just click
on the Accessories link on the left side of the page, and you'll see a list of the
latest accessories for your Wii,
DS,
Xbox 360,
PS3,
PS2,
PSP or
PC.
You can also find the link to the Zune Media Player
on the left side of every page.
So stand out from the crowd by customizing your console. Or get yourself a Zune and snicker at your friends who got sucked in by the
iPod hype. Whatever you do, remember, it's all about the accessories. |
| You, Too, Can be as Smart as a
Hollywood Starlet |
| December 5, 2007 at 4:39pm |
Is she pondering a sudoku, or is she
wondering why the stylus doesn't taste like peppermint?
We're sure you may have already read this on some other gaming blog
sites whose writers don't get distracted when it's Corn-Dog Day at
the office cafeteria, but actress Nicole Kidman is promoting More
Brain Training from Dr Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain?, which is
basically the long-winded name of the European version of what we
know as Brain Age 2.
We've never claimed to be a "breaking news"
kind of blog. In fact, "breaking news" makes us think of "breaking
wind," which makes us giggle, not to mention the previous use of the
term "long-winded."
As you can surmise, the pursuit of these higher planes of thought often prevents us from tracking down the latest scoop. However,
when we eventually took the time to read about Nicole Kidman and
the Brain Training series, it prompted some healthy debate about
whether she lives up to "her reputation for being intelligent, entertaining and genuine,"
as the article from the Nintendo web site states. This led to an
equally healthy debate over whether Corn-Dog Day should be replaced
by Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day. When we finally arrived back at the subject at
hand, we were ultimately stumped with a few unanswerable questions.
For one thing, none of us
here at GameStop personally knows Nicole Kidman, and we haven't seen
her SAT scores. Sure, we've witnessed her witty banter on talk shows with
the likes of David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, but they script a
lot of that. So can we really verify that she's some kind of genius
whose MIT acceptance letter was lost in the mail, causing her to
pursue a career in acting instead?
Without any verifiable evidence, we decided
that any actor promoting a brain-training video game sends one of
three messages: "You can be smart like me," "We could all use a
little brain sharpening," or "I have no idea what this game is, but
they backed a dump truck full of money into my driveway."
We don't know which of the three applies to her.
We promise to make the selfless sacrifice of keeping a close eye on
her in the
movie The Golden Compass, opening in theaters this Friday. Did we mention that she also
appears in The Golden Compass
video game that we just happen to have
available online? When she gazes off into
the distance as if she's deep in thought, is she
really deep in thought or is she just practicing "Smell-the-Fart"
acting touted by Joey from Friends? The world may never know. Just to make sure she
doesn't pass you up on the cerebral scale, you should pick
up your own copy of Brain Age 2 for DS. |
| Make a Difference this Holiday Season |
| December 4, 2007 at 5:27pm |
Your donations can help fulfill a child's wish.
We think we have the best customers in the world, and we're giving you
the opportunity to prove it this season. While you are shopping
for gifts on GameStop.com for your loved ones, we'd like you to consider making a small
donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation®.
We've made it easy for you to donate to this worthy cause while you shop
online. Simply visit our
Make-A-Wish Foundation®
donations page and add the amount you would like to give to your
shopping cart. As a token of our gratitude, we'll give you Free
3-Day Shipping on any in-stock items with your Make-A-Wish®
donation. Even the smallest gift can make a huge difference when we
all band together.
Make-A-Wish Foundation® grants the wishes of children with
life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience
with hope, strength and joy. It is the largest wish-granting charity
in the world, with 67 chapters in the United States and its
territories.
With the help of generous donors and nearly 25,000 volunteers, the
Make-A-Wish Foundation®
has granted more than 153,000 wishes to children in the United
States since 1980. You can help the Make-A-Wish Foundation® send
thousands of children facing life-threatening medical conditions on
amazing adventures.
Donating cash is not the only way you can help. Visit our
Make-A-Wish Foundation®
page or www.wish.org to find out more about the many ways you can make a difference. We're proud to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation®,
and we're proud of you for helping. Thank you for your generosity! |
| Brütal Legend Countdown |
| December 3, 2007 at 3:19pm |
We know this shirt will still be in style next fall.
With
the November 3, 2008 release of Brütal Legend looming upon us, we
need to remind you that you only have 335 days left to pre-order
your copy. And that also means kotaku.com only has 335 days left to
make fun of us for taking pre-orders so early.
But sometimes a game is just so wickedly cool, you have to say
something about it, no matter how early it is.
Jack Black lends his voice talents to roadie Eddie Riggs, who is transported to a land where heavy metal album covers come to life. He must rely on his axe (guitar) and his axe (an actual battle axe) to vanquish his foes.
The rating is pending on this one, but if you need to be 18 or older
just to view the trailer, that should give you an indication of
where the game is headed, in true over-the-top, heavy-metal fashion.
Although you're still a couple of solstices and equinoxes away from
getting your hands on Brütal Legend, you at least owe it to yourself
to check out the video trailer. And if you do happen to be one of
the first 666 (get it?) people to pre-order Brütal Legend, you'll
get an exclusive Brütal Legend T-shirt. So act now or sometime in
the not-too-distant future to get yours. |
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