Gamertell

The Gamertell staff is taking some time off to be with our families (and very likely play videogames in the other room for many, many hours) for Thanksgiving.

As a special, tasty treat for this holiday, here’s a look at the Gamertell staff’s favorite uses of food in videogames. Also check out our 2007 Thanksgiving Day mashup.

Enjoy…

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The Meijer Thanksgiving Day print ad just arrived and it has several sale items worth noting. The sale is in all Meijer stores from 6 a.m. to midnight on Thanksgiving Day (November 27, 2008).

The front page ads include:

• Sylvania 32. in LCD HDTV for $379.99 ($420 savings)
• An Apple 8GB iPod Nano for $149.99 minus $50 mail-in rebate (limit 1 per person, at least 40 per store).
• Buy Wii Fit and get Wii Fit Workout Kit ($49.99 value) free (at least 30 per store, limit 1).
• 50% off select games regularly priced $29.99 to $59.99 (so $14.99-$29.99 each). At least 100 titles per store, limit 4 per person and no rain checks. Games are not listed but the image shows Guitar Hero On Tour (DS), Lego Batman (Wii), Lego Indiana Jones (Xbox 360), Guitar Hero Dual Pack (PS2), God of War (can’t tell if I or II, PSP), Guitar Hero Aerosmith (Wii) and Madden 09 (PS3)

Inside is an advert for several that-day-only game bundles offers including…

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Halloween just passed us by without a hitch, handed out treats to the goblins and fairies and the occasional witch. But soon Thanksgiving day will be here. So while my other stories are forming and interviews are completed I wondered what I could possibly be thank for this year aside from the usual family, friends and fine wines and elegant turkey dinners.

So what do I have to be thankful for this year? Well here goes, and remember this is just my opinion and do feel free to add what you’re thankful for in the comments below as we celebrate them together.

1. That Uwe Boll has NOT made a movie about my current favorite video game.
2. That my friend (and founder of Gamers Outreach Foundation) Zachary Wigal has finally lived his dream.
...

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Archie McPhee, the company known for creating silly and unconventional amusements, has just created a new item for the holiday season - the inflatable fruitcake. Yes, for $9.50 you can send your family, friends or even yourself a life-size inflatable fruitcake. My favorite part is the Frequently Asked Questions sections of the site, which tells you why fruitcakes are so terrible and how you possibly lived before the inflatable fruitcake was invented.

Now, you may be wondering what exactly a fruitcake has to do with gaming. Good question! First - I’m sure there are some desperate gamers out there who, after receiving that game they’ve wanted for weeks for Christmas decided to pull an all-nighter playing it. After hour 23 of their gaming marathon, their sense of judgment have been impaired and they might have accidentally ingested some of the ornamental family fruitcake. Now, with the inflatable fruitcake, there is no more temptation to actually eat a real one.

Second, the act of giving a fruitcake is a bit of a game in and of itself. Its like playing hot-potato…

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The 2008 Toys R Us Big Toy Book has been released and this year and the sneak preview mailer is 80 pages of holiday gifty goodness.

There are a lot of video games spread throughout the Big Toy Book this year.

The most noteworthy deals include $10 gift cards with minimum purchase, $5 off Leapster and similar kids’ game systems, Star Wars DS System Value Pack and pink DS bundle for $159.97 each, free exclusive DS Littlest Pet Shop stylus, PS3 BD Remote for $24.99, PSP Skype Headset for $29.99, a free tag team figure with WWE Smack Down vs. RAW game purchase, $100 Pyramat chair and two Toys R Us-exclusive DS games Pet Adoption Center ($29.99) and Soul Bubbles ($19.99). There are also some pretty decent iPod/iPod Touch offers including a $25 iTunes card and $10 gift card. Check way below for a list of more free-stuff-with-purchase type offers.

Click through for a page-by-page breakdown of video game (and iPod) deals as well as a list of other Toys R Us freebies…

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Check out the gallery: Toys R Us 2008 Holiday Big Toy Book scans

FROM GADGETELL - Each year we are offered tricks and treats by tech companies.  Some products turn out better than we hope and some far worse than we ever imagined.  For this Halloween Who’s on Crack, let’s take a look at who has offered more treats than tricks.
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Two holiday seasons after its initial launch and the Nintendo Wii is still a commodity that is hard to come by. According to Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, Even though the system are packed into more homes now than two years ago, Wiis will still be hard to find during the Holidays.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Fils-Aime said that Nintendo’s production of the motion-controlled console was up 33% over last year (from 1.6 million units to 2.4 million):

One of our competitors projects they will sell 10 million consoles worldwide this year. For us, that’s three months of production. We’re producing an unprecedented level of hardware to try to meet demand.

At this point, getting a Wii shouldn’t be…

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Ah, Halloween. I still remember chanting “Trick or Treat! Smell our feet! Give us something good to eat!“ hoping to find Candy Corn, M&Ms and pieces of chocolate shaped like pumpkins in my bag. And like other towns across the United States, the variety of costumes you could dress in just to entice the homeowner for that extra piece of candy was the greatest thing since sliced bread to an 8-year-old kid.

Well now players can relive those days from the safety of their homes on Gaia Online. Gaia just started its Halloween Hysteria event last night (October 24, 2008) with trick or treating in the Gaia stores or in the towns. And for those who love dressing up for Halloween, a variety of Halloween costumes are available in the…

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Well kids, just as we were about to report the rumor that has been going around that the Xbox 360’s exclusive content may be a zombie infested outbreak in Liberty City, Rockstar made an announcement on its Rockstar Social Club that almost totally deflated our hopes.

An advertisement by Eugenics Inc. that a “contagious disease” said Social Club spark a bit of chatter earlier today causing many, including us, to speculate that the citizens of Liberty City would be turned into blood thirsty zombies. We were almost right. Instead of being the “exclusive” downloadable content that Microsoft promised us for Fall 2008, its a Halloween gag by the Rockstar folks.

Instead, its the players that will become zombies, or at least gain access to that ultra-Halloween zombie skin…

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Despite these rough economic times, Kaz Hirai, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, made it clear to the Financial Times that the game industry will withstand and continue to show its strength.

However, he won’t throw gamers an economic bone as he also made clear in that interview that he has no plans to cut the price of the Playstation 3. In other words, it will remain the most expensive of the three consoles once the holiday season arrives…

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