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This week is a good week to sign into Sony PlayStation Home if you haven’t already.

Today (June 2, 2009) and throughout the E3 Conference players are being awarded free items for their avatars as well as sneak peeks at upcoming games at the Presentation Podium. Between interviews with publishers and developers of PlayStation games Sony is flashing codes that will unlock freebies.

Today’s broadcast featured a sneak peek of upcoming game Heavy Rain by Sony Computer Entertainment so I went on YouTube to find the trailer for a closer look. Not exactly the one shown at E3 but this video will show you how gorgeous the game looks, check it out:

To claim your free gifts or check out new footage of upcoming games visit Sony Home and find Presentation Podium on your map. Watch the videos, the codes will flash between interviews. Or keep up with the events on the PlayStation website to interview times.

With the E3 Conference taking place there’s nothing new at the Mall. However over at Xi: The Hub, paranoia is stretching the AlphaAFK team thin as the struggle to find the spy among them and now another tester has gone missing. Between ransacking their homes looking for the surveillance camera that has been recording their every move they must figure out what Xi is all about and quickly. Players are asked to take on another maze in Alpha Zone 3, a riddle maze full of mind boggling riddles to receive their next fragment.

Read [Playstation Blog] Also Read [Playstation E3 Blog] Site [PlayStation]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

I just got a message from Christina Simmons, Assistant Account Executive of Public Relations and Social Influence Marketing at Mullens Public Relations, about an exclusive event taking place 9 p.m., May 31, 2009 on Gaia Online.

“Hi Lucy, as millions of teens across the country tune in this Sunday, May 31 to watch the 2009 MTV Movie Awards LIVE, Gaia Online is letting its users get in on all the award show action,” she wrote. “Gaia Online, the online hangout of more than seven million teens and young adults will be hosting its own exclusive Red Carpet Party during the show giving viewers a chance to gossip about everything from celeb fashion train wrecks to the crazy and embarrassing mishaps – props to MTV for hosting a live show!”

She said the event allows Gaia users to become apart of the MTV Movie Awards Entourage through MTV’s Virtual Hollywood on Gaia where they can view exclusive videos, vote on their favorite award nominee and win a virtual pair of MTV shades for their avatars among other prizes they can earn through participation. Until then Gaians can explore a virtual Hollywood and shop at MTV-themed stores visit a virtual theater to watch full episodes of the featured show of the week.

To participate register on Gaia Online, create your avatar and join in on the exclusive Gaia Online and MTV Red Carpet party event. Watch videos, vote for your favorite artist and chat with others about the latest gossips.

Read [GaiaOnline MTV Site] Site [GaiaOnline]

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It’s been about a month since the epic closure of Electronic Gaming Monthly/the gutting of 1Up.com. You’ve heard of it, of course, if you spend any time at all reading gaming sites, but I’ll reiterate: 1Up was awesome, they had great editorial and a stable of truly excellent video/audio content. But their parent company (Ziff Davis) was bankrupt, and they sold the site to UGO (a Hearst property), and in the ensuing kerfluffle, most of the staff was laid off, the magazine was dead, and most of the audio/video shows were canned. Outrage ensued.

Well, here we are a month later. Let me confess: I was a huge, undying fan of 1Up and EGM, and I lived by those podcasts. So, I was obviously upset when things went down.

But recently, I’ve come back to the smoking crater that was once a great online property. Like a pilgrim on a mission, I scoured the depths of the ruins, searching for familiar voices. I’m pleased to say that I found a tiny, thriving center of excellence born out of the destruction.

Like a tiny flower popping out of the scorched earth (ok, ok, I’m done with the dramatic metaphors), I stumbled across the Retronauts blog, wherein the remaining writers (with the help of a few freelancers) dish on old games, new games that remind them of old games, and the culture surrounding old games. In short: it’s about old games, much like the still surviving retronauts podcast. There are a number of excellent, quirky columns, a feature that’s also present on the other two blogs - The Tilt, which focuses on Apple/iPhone gaming, and The Grind, which has an RPG bent. They’re all under the direction of Jeremy Parish, arguably one of the site’s best writers.

It’s a new site, to be sure. But thankfully, it’s a solid one. While the new bloggy, niche-y focus may not be for everyone, I’m certainly pleased that some good was able to come out of the destruction.

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Now this is exciting news. Dan “Shoe” Hsu, he of Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1Up fame, is off working on a mysterious new project, along with a slew of other EGM/1Up favorite editors. From Shoe/Crispin Boyer’s Sore Thumbs blog:

“I’m working on a new project with some other ex-EGM/1UP guys!

You may remember Demian Linn, former executive producer of The 1UP Show and GameVideos.com (as well as a former EGM editor). He’s my primary business partner in this new venture (and I can’t wait to see him writing again, cause he’s one of the best). Also former senior writer/news editor/Quartermann Michael Donahoe is on our team. And ex-managing editor Greg Ford. My best buddy in the world Crispin Boyer is also contributing in a variety of ways. A few other people are working with us behind the scenes, including our CTO Nick Heyman, who used to be the Director of Operations at Facebook…and Karen Chu, former art director at 1UP.com. We have a few more superstars lined up (some I can’t mention yet), and we’re also planning on teaming up with a bunch of other ex-Ziffers who are working on their own things, like Ryan Scott, Andrew Fitch, Andrew Pfister, and more.”

First of all, I knew Shoe wouldn’t be off the gaming radar for long. I’m excited to see where this puppy goes, and I wish them all the best of luck in finding investors. Shoe notes that the project will probably be rolled out in “bare-bones” form in the next couple of months, and there are zero details on exactly what form it will take, but I think it’s safe to say that this will be a web-based venture. It would be wise to check out the blog and their Facebook Page to stay updated.

Also, Michael Donahoe was Quartermann?! What? I always thought it was Shane Bettenhausen. Maybe they switched.

Read [Sore Thumbs blog] Read [Facebook Page]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

I’m sure by now you’ve heard of Rebel FM, one of the very first spin-off podcasts from ex 1Up radio personalities. Now, there’s a second podcast from a few other folks who made the radio component of 1Up so special - The Geekbox. Starring Starring Ryan Scott, Karen Chu, Andrew Fitch, Greg Ford, Ryan Higgins, and Ernie P, the official description of the first episode reads: “we discuss who we are and how we got here, our personal 2008 game of the year picks, Greg Ford’s stance (or lack thereof) on fair play, Street Fighter fan fiction, comic books, season 5 of Lost (season 4 spoiler alert!), and Andrew Fitch’s hot date (with bonus dating tips from Karen Chu)”.

It sounds like good stuff - a whole lot of awesome people (including many Legendary Thread-ers) are on this one, so give it a listen.

Site [The Geekbox] Via [1Up]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Man, what a week to go on vacation. I returned back to the states yesterday, all rested from a nice little tropical getaway, and what do I find - that my favorite magazine of all time has been abruptly canned, along with a huge portion of the network that it was part of. I know that everyone has heard about the demise of Electronic Gaming Monthly, and about the massive firing of 1Up Network staff (among them, most of the people responsible for the phenomenal podcasts and video content on the site), a result of the network being bought by UGO (part of the Hearst company).

I can’t even tell you how shocked I was, despite the swirling rumors. Well, I’m not the only one upset about the changes - Gus Mastrapa over at gamedaily has written the magazine - and the 1Up Network as we knew it - a proper, mournful eulogy.

From the piece:

“We’ve lost a great intangible – something that can’t be manufactured or replicated. EGM and the many blogs, podcasts and videos that grew from it managed to distill the new gaming zeitgeist – something that built a bridge between the competitive frat appeal of hardcore gaming, the intense ‘dorkiness’ of fandom and a growing hipness, a geek chic.”

I couldn’t agree more. 1Up was, without a doubt, always been my favorite source of podcasts, since each one had such a unique, entertaining and interesting flavor. I constantly hum the tune to “The 1Up Show”, and I look forward to each and every episode of 1UP Fm, 1Up Yours and Retronauts each week. I work out to them actually, and my very first thought upon hearing the news was “what the hell is going to entertain me on the treadmill now?”

That’s not even touching what I felt for EGM, of which I’ve been a subscriber for well over ten years, with every issue since 1997 stacked in my house. I go back and read the old ones, glorying in those fat 200-page issues of the glory days. We all heard the rumors, we all saw the magazine waste away, getting skinnier and skinnier. And yes, we all watched season editors depart - so we smelled this coming. But not so soon - or so abruptly. Or, honestly… so unceremoniously.

So to all the amazing writers and editors and artists who lost their jobs last week - I just want to say thank you. Thank you, and the best of luck to you in the future. To the rest of the folks left at the network, I wish you the best in your endeavors as well. It’s been a crappy week for games journalism - and I’m flying my little flag at half mast right now.

Read [gamedaily] Read [Joystiq] Read [gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by Danielle Riendeau for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

When I last spoke with Zach Wigal, founder of Gamers Outreach Foundation, he was just finishing up a Halo 3 tournament in January to raise funds for his community.

I caught up with Wigala few weeks ago and learned he has just earned the Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award.

Wigal said he only became aware of the program a few months ago after doing an interview with Chris Erickson of 360StyleCast podcast and added that Erickson has been an MVP for a while, this year being Erickson’s third award.

“He was really the person who introduced me to the award,” Wigal said. “Prior to meeting Chris (Erickson) I hadn’t heard of it. Roughly 2 to 3 months ago, Chris told me he wanted to nominate me for the MVP award. I still only had a very basic understanding of the award, so I more or less went about my business without saying much to any of my friends. Sure enough, I got a few e-mails from Microsoft, and on October 1, (2008), they welcomed me to the MVP program. Now, I’m very familiar with what the award is.”

I contacted Michael Fosmire, MVP Lead, to find out more about this MVP award.

“The MVP Award is a worldwide program intended to express Microsoft’s appreciation for those who are leaders in the technical community as it relates to Microsoft products,” Fosmire explained. “We recognize individuals who voluntarily share their expertise with others - either in online communities such as forums, newsgroups and websites or in offline communities such as user group meetings or industry conferences. There are no hard and fast criteria about how an individual receives the award. It’s meant to express our appreciation for exceptional contributions over the past 12 month period.”

Fosmire said Microsoft’s goal is to recognize those few who really stand out as making significant positive impact in the community.

“We were thrilled to recognize Zach for his Xbox community participation and leadership,” Fosmire said and explained what happens after receiving the award. “He’ll have a number of benefits that are offered to all MVPs and he’ll have opportunities to provide feedback to Microsoft about our products and we’ll ensure that he’s enabled with information that he can use to serve the community.”

I asked Wigal what the awards meant to him personally and he said he was more than excited to receive it.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the MVP program. I’m very passionate about what I do, so to me, this award is like a form of encouragement. I’m very thankful that Chris nominated me in the first place, and I’m equally thankful to Microsoft for taking the time to consider me as an award recipient,” Wigal said. “To me, receiving this award is like Microsoft’s little ‘wink of approval.’ So, from that perspective, I suppose Microsoft felt like I was qualified because of Gamers Outreach Foundation, to become a part of the MVP program.”

Wigal said earning the award would not change his role within Gamers Outreach Foundation, instead the award will help provide potential opportunities for GOF and Microsoft to work together on future projects.

“Only time will tell. At the end of the day, I’m just the guy that happens to provide direction for our foundation’s activities,” he said. “There’s a whole group of guys I work with who are the ones that really make everything possible.As far as Gamers Outreach Foundation is concerned, this is something I believe in. Gamers Outreach Foundation has gone from a few high school kids wanting to host their own Halo tournament, to a vision of helping others through the use of video games. It’s come a long way in a very short period of time, but it still has much further to go. Interview me again in 5 years, I’ll fill you in on our progress.”

The MVP Award Program has been in existence for about 15 years, having grown from 30 MVPs to over 4,000 today Fosmire said. “Originally, we recognized those individuals who were leaders in English speaking technical newsgroups. But we’ve grown to recognize MVPs from over 90 countries and 30 languages who are active in online and offline communities spanning almost 90 Microsoft products and technologies.”

Read [Gamertell] Site [Microsoft MVP] Site [Gamers Outreach Foundation] Site [360style.net]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) hosted a panel discussion at the BAFTA venue in London earlier this week (October 9, 2008) during which a series of church and charity leaders discussed the ways in which video games can be a “force for good in today’s society.”

Mike Royal, the national director of the Lighthouse Group (a charity that specializes in helping young people who have been, or are at risk of being excluded from the school system), noted that games are useful in educating children about “boundaries” and the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

Martin Houghton-Brown, The Children’s Society’s deputy director of new business, explains that children in the United Kingdom now see gaming as a regular part of everyday life — even more so than television in many cases, with average viewing figures down from 3 hours to 2.5 hours per day since 2001.

Houghton-Brown, according to the event’s press release, said:

“We now live in a digital age where the nature of playing games has changed. Now we have online games where interaction with others is possible. Children tell us supportive and loving relationships are key to a good childhood, we need to equip parents and carers to support children to stay safe when they play in the growing online world.”

In response to concerns that violent video games may have a negative impact on children, ELSPA chairman Andy Pain pointed at the PEGI rating system, which allows parents to determine which games are suitable for their children, provided they are properly educated about the system — a responsibility that Pain believes falls to the rest of the games industry.

If you want to hear more of what was said at the refreshingly positive panel, a downloadable podcast (MP3) of the entire round table discussion can be found on the official ELSPA website.

Read [ELSPA] Via [Kotaku] Download [ELSPA MP3]

Full Story » | Written by Karn Bianco for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Starting December 6, 2007, game fanatics worldwide will be able to watch the highly anticipated Championship Gaming Series. The nine-day event will be broadcasted on television via DirecTV in the US; BSkyB’s Sky One, Sky Two and Sky HD in England; ESPN STAR in Asia; SKY in Mexico and Brazil; DirecTV throughout the rest of the Latin America; and satellite carriers across mainland Europe through various broadcast partners.

CGS, headquarters in Los Angeles, Calif., is the only worldwide professional video gaming league launched earlier this year (January 2007) and features teams of the world’s best gamers from North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia, who will compete professionally in the inaugural CGS World Finals.

Gamers will compete for a chance to battle and win $1,000,000 total prize purse with $500,000 to be awarded to the World Champion team. The event will be a monumental first in the history of gaming according to CGS commissioner Andy Reif. will be televised from Sony Studios in Los Angeles. “The CGS World Final represents a watershed moment in the history of pro gaming and we are proud to broadcast to more than 350 million viewers globally,” said Andy Reif, CGS commissioner and CEO. “Fans worldwide will soon find out which team will claim its place as the first CGS World Champion and take home the top prize of $500,000.”

In addition to the team-based competition, CGS will hold an Individual World Final tournament with top CGS league players from six different regions competing for individual championships as well as a World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Area featuring a premier event with American and European gamers battling for prizes up to $30,000 starting December 8, 2007.

During the tournament each CGS team, consisting of ten athletes who specialize in an official League game, will select five players for the five-on-five match of Counter-Strike: Source, two players for the mixed doubles tam for Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3 for the two-versus-two competition; and one player to compete in the FIFA 2007 one-on-one match.

Prize distribution for the CGS World Final will be as follows:

Team World Final 1st place will receive $500,000 2nd place will receive $150,000 3rd and 4th place winners will receive $70,000 5th through 8th place winners will receive $30,000 9th through 12th place winners will receive $15,000 The tournament’s most valuable players will receive $25,000

Individual World Final 1st place winners for the Dead or Alive 4 competition will award $5,000 to one male and one female athlete 1st place winner for FIFA 2007 will receive $5,000 1st place two-player team in the Project Gotham Racing 3 competition will each receive $5,000 1st place five-player squad in Counter-Strike: Source will award $5,000 to each squad member

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade two-versus-two world championship 1st place two-player team will receive $15,000 each

The total grand prize purse for the event is $1,075,000 and the CGS official teams participating in this event includes: Berlin Allianz, Birmingham Salvo, Carolina Core, Chicago Chimera, London Mint, Mexico City Furia, Rio Sinistro, Seoul Jinhwa, Singapore Sword, Stockholm Magnetik, Sydney Underground and Wuhan Dragon.

Beginning with the CGS World Final press conference on December 6, 2007, the World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and the Individual World Finals will be available via webcast on the CGS website. The game schedule is as follows:

December 6: First round day 1
December 7: First round day 2
December 8: WoW:BC 2v2 CGS Championship
December 8: Individual World Final
December 10: Quarterfinals day 1
December 11: Quarterfinals day 2
December 13: Semifinals
December 14: Final

For more information, to view the webcast or check on the status of your favorite team, login to the CGS web site. Please note the site may be off line or running slow while they prepare for the upcoming championship events.

Read [CGS E-Sports] Site [DIRECTV 101:Gaming Series page] Site [Championship Gaming Series]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

With virtually everybody logging in and taking up residence in 3D virtual reality sites like Second Life it’s only natural that the media outlets like CNN want a piece of the action. Since Second Life developers opened the virtual community to the public in 2003, its inhabitants have grown by the millions and traffic on the site has more than 40,000 users logged in at any given time.

CNN is officially opening an I-Report hub in Second Life, a three-dimensional virtual world created entirely by its residents. The hub will be run in the same fashion as CNN’s real life news room featuring an I-Hub that allows the viewers, or in this case Second Life residents, to contribute any news happening in their area. Users can contribute by taking snapshots or video of the event and submit it to CNN. For example, if a user sees a fellow resident being attacked by a green dragon, they can take a snap shot of the screen, record a video or even write a report of the event and submit it to CNN.

“The thing we most hope to gain by having a CNN presence in Second Life is to learn about virtual worlds and understand what news is most interesting and valuable to their residents,” said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services. “We looked at what are people doing (in Second Life) that is meaningful to what we do. I love that we don’t have to take things from the real world and force them in.”

Second Life contributions to the I-Hub will be selected by the CNN I-Report producers who will in turn post them back into Second Life for residents to view throughout the virtual world. Those taking a break from the virtual world can read Second Life news events on CNN’s I-Report Blog where they can not only view the story but discuss the topic in real life.

CNN held its first in-world training session for the news desk Tuesday (November 13, 2007) at the I-Report Hub. Contributors can visit the hub to meet resident reporters, visiting or special appearances by CNN news anchors and correspondents. Potential reporters can visit the I-Report kiosks to access free gear and tools they can use to gather or view in-world user generated news.

This is still a new move for CNN. While most news organizations (including mine) are experiencing budget cuts and minimizing staff, CNN is expanding virtually. The only difference is that unlike news service organizations such as Reuters, who embeds a real reporter in the online virtual world last year, CNN will rely on Second Life “residents” to do all the legwork and produce what they consider news.

Those users participating as reporters can take advantage of CNN’s journalism school which will offer guidance to contributing journalists via weekly “news meetings” directed by actual CNN.com staffers.

Read [Media Week] Also Read [CNN Edition] Site [Second Life]

Full Story » | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

Weta Workshop, a film production company which also specializes in high-end, intricate and highly realistic artifacts and replicas, has been helping to produce a live action Halo 3 short film. The first released and teased at E3 this week, is titled “Arms Race.”

The live action project was put together by Bungie Studios, director Neill Blomkamp, WETA Workshop and Origami Digital, LLC.

Here’s the video…

Parent company WetaNZ also owns Weta Collectibles which produces high-end replicas for consumer purchase. As of yet, no Halo products have become available but, with the popularity of Halo and the money Halomaniacs are willing to toss as stuff, I suspect something uber cool will be available pretty dern soon. A weapon or helmet, perhaps?

Watch [WetaHolics]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

G4 might be premiering its new animated series, Code Monkeys, this week but you can already watch it online. In fact, the site allows groovy embeds, so you can watch it right here (care of Break.com). This online video will be available by Break.com until July 11, 2007, the day the episode will air on G4 (at 9 p.m.)

Code Monkeys is an animated TV series written by Adam de la Pena (The Man Show and Crank Yankers) that parodies videogame culture and history. The story is set in the early 1980s, the early days of the hard core videogame phenomena, and takes place at GameAvision, an Atari style company owned by an oil tycoon who knows nothing about videogames.

True to the era and show’s atmosphere, all the characters and settings are presented ina pseudo 2D format with chunky, squared edges. The show has already lined up some videgame and computer icons including Steve Wozniak, David Jaffe and Nolan Bushnell as special guest voices.

Site [G4] Watch [Break] Read [Gamasutra]

UPDATE: (6:30 p.m., July 16, 2007) Although the video remained online a few extra days, it is no longer available. You can keep hitting the play button but it just won’t work. Heck, just keep on hitting it. You never know, something might play.

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »