A Kotaku tipster notified the video game blog that Best Buy’s Geek Squad is offering what can only be described as the deal of the century. Something even better than that awe-inspiring CD ripping service.
video games
Nigeria Demands Apology For Sony Ad Implying They're A Source Of Scams
By 9.18.09
Nigeria is mad at Sony for its latest ads that suggesting a lot of scams come from the country. Heaven forfend!
Are All Xbox 360s Doomed To Fail? Student Survey Aims To Find Out
By 9.18.09
Reader Ben Strauss is doing a cool project for his marketing class – he’s surveying Xbox owners to find out how many have had failed Xboxes and/or know someone who does. So far he’s interviewed 200 people and is seeing a 71% failure rate, with 85% of respondents saying they know someone with a failed Xbox. Ben writes:
Pepsi Rock Band Contest May Have Been Unwinnable At The End
By 9.17.09
The Internets are aflame over a Pepsi contest that gave out free instant-win Rock Band codes. Apparently the powers that be shut down the contest before it was supposed to end Sept. 12 and 13, while still proclaiming on its website it was going on. 5frets.com has a detailed report of how things went down.
DS, PSP, iPhone, Meet Your New Portable Gaming Competitor: The Zune HD!
By 9.16.09
WIRED reports the newly released Zune HD can play video games. They found this promo video, posted inside, which reveals the device would play games, something Microsoft hadn’t confirmed.
Wiis Are Probably Getting Cheaper, But People Still Won't Buy As Many Of Them
By 9.15.09
A Kotaku tipster spotted a Toys R Us ad that indicates the Wii will finally be cutting its price to $199 the last week of September after sticking at $249 for its first three years.
Toys R Us Muscles In On The Games Trading Racket
By 9.10.09
Kotaku reports that Toys R Us has gone nationwide with its video game trade-in initiative today. Now the chain is stepping on GameStop’s turf. The site’s Mike Fahey quotes a Toys R Us bigwig:
Don't Go Buying 'The Beatles: Rock Band' Expecting A Real Free T-Shirt
By 9.10.09
Those of you who get a glimpse of the sticker on the cover of the Xbox 360 version of The Beatles: Rock Band and rush out to buy the game in hopes of getting a free t-shirt will be sorely disappointed.
Microsoft Charging For Xbox 360 Game Add-On That's Free On PC
By 9.8.09
Eurogamer reports that Microsoft is charging $7 for the downloadable Crash Course add-on, due this month, to the zombie-splattering Xbox 360 game Left 4 Dead. Crash Course will be free on the PC version of the game via Steam, but the Destructoid story cites a Eurogamer interview with Chet Faliszek of Valve, the game’s developer. He tells Eurogamer:
GamePro Names Five Best Console Wars
By 8.31.09
The history of video game console competitions reads much like that of New York’s crime families — you see powerful leaders making bold, risky moves to snuff out their rivals and fierce, tribal alliances that breed clashes between vocal factions.
Slimmer, Cheaper PS3 Coming In September
By 8.19.09
In a move to spike slumping PlayStation 3 sales, Sony revealed the long-rumored PS3 Slim will be slinking onto shelves Sept. 1.
Xbox 360 Failure Rate is 54.2 Percent, Game Informer Finds
By 8.17.09
The Xbox 360 breaks five times as often as its closest failure-prone competitor, the PlayStation 3, a print edition-only Game Informer survey found.
Straddle And Ride Your Wii Someday
By 8.12.09
If you adore your Wii but lament the fact that its motion controls don’t allow you to get more intimate with it, take heart. The company has patented a controller that lets you straddle it and ride it like a big boy.
Reserving A Game At Target Apparently Doesn't Mean You'll Get It Day One
By 8.10.09
Back in April, Target announced an appealing if confusing reserve program that nets gamers a $5 gift card if they buy a game they reserved in advance by paying for a $1 reserve card — netting a $4 savings since the $1 doesn’t go toward the full price of the game.
Updated: PS3 Racing Game Update No Longer Doubles Load Times To Show Ads
By 8.4.09
This generation of game consoles has adapted the PC tradition of updating games with downloadable patches to smooth out glitches and add new features. With an update to its PlayStation 3 hovercraft racer Wipeout HD, Sony added yet another facet to the experience — pre-race commercials that caused longer-than-necessary load times.
World Of Warcraft Accounts Canceled Thanks To Rogue Payment Processor
By 7.31.09
Peoples’ World of Warcraft accounts are getting canceled because of some random payment processor they’ve never heard of is filing unauthorized chargebacks on their behalf, against their will. Their name is PaymentOne. What’s their deal? Ars Technica notes that this isn’t the first time allegations of fraud have arisen about the company. I guess this means a bunch of affected customers are left uninentionally doing re-enactments of this famous video:
Facebook Deactivates Game Developer's Fan Page Without Explanation
By 7.27.09
Carlo, a Pittsburgh lacrosse coach who is helping make the video game College Lacrosse 10, built a Facebook fan page that amassed tens of thousands of fans, in part by spending thousands in ad dollars on Facebook promoting the page.
That Wily Scoundrel John Madden Has Robbed Gamers Of $1 Billion, Economist Says
By 7.15.09
Economist Jeffrey MacKie-Mason says Electronic Arts’ NFL monopoly has cost gamers $926 million over the last four years. Because the game publisher has an exclusive deal with the NFL to use teams, stadiums and player likenesses, no competitor can line up on level ground, and thus EA can charge $60 for its Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game every year, GamePolitics reports:
