Gamertell

Ever have one of those nights where you just can’t seem to sleep? There’s nothing on the tube and you just have the itch to play a game, but none of the ones on your shelf. Now, there might finally be a place to accommodate your late night gaming and muchie binges. Since GameStop feels the need to close so early, 7-Eleven has taken upon itself to be your late night gaming fix.

With the earliest foray into the gaming market being the release of mega-popular alien shooting, Mountain Dew branding, Halo 3, for the company, their latest exploits in, um, selling Gears of War 2 and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King before their respective street dates, the company has been getting a lot of attention in the gaming media.

Now it seems, according to an article by GameSpot, 7-Eleven will be getting into the video game retail market full-time, starting with some of this holiday’s big releases including…

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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

Finding a Wii in stores has always been exceedingly difficult since its debut in 2006. Naturally, getting your hands on one during the holiday season will be nearly impossible unless you’re willing to camp out in front of many retail stores for hours on end. While this is the harsh reality of Wii ownership, GameStop is promising to ease the burden a bit so that more people can join the Wii family in time for the holidays…

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Over the bast couple weeks, rather convincing scans from some popular retail circulars such as K-Mart and Circuit City were posted on the web suggesting an impending Xbox 360 price drop. Microsoft initially refused to confirm or deny these rumors. Many thought Microsoft would wait until its E3 press conference to tell the world the good news.

Instead, the hype machine has moved in its favor and Microsoft finally confirmed via press release what everyone suspected. (Sort of.)

The Premium Xbox 360 console will receive a price drop. As of yesterday (July 12, 2008) the Premium bundle sold for $349 but, beginning today…

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For those of you who read our other Dabbledoo site, Gadgetell, you might recall my long-ago post about Target’s videogame gift cards. It seems the coolness factor of gaming hasn’t been lost on Target, which continues to release game-related cards all year ‘round.

Right now in Target stores you can find two gamer gift cards. The first, pictured above, is a flat, rubbery card shaped like a game controller. It’s a bit thicker than…

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Retail giant Circuit City has decided to start selling used games after a successful pilot program in 10 of its stores. Ars Technica reports that Circuit City found an “increase in customer traffic” during the year-long trial, and hopes that the new chain-wide program will help them compete with current king of gaming retail Gamestop/EB Games, notorious resellers of used games. The article also notes the retailer’s implementation of the Gamer Savings Club, a sort of discount plan for frequent software shoppers.

The selling of used games has become something of a divisive issue among gamers, mostly because of the nearly abusive policies of certain stores. If Circuit City actually offers decent prices and a fair buying structure (i.e. not selling a used game for $5 off of the full retail price) then they might have a shot at overcoming the Gamestop monopoly.

Read [Ars Technica]

• Circuit City’s Cyber Monday 2008 game deal - buy a game, get a gift card
• Black Friday deals round-up [updated]
• 7-Eleven getting into video game retail biz for the holidays, possibly longer

According to a recent ars technica post, game retail giant Gamestop will be changing its focus to court mainstream consumers. The chain will now devote sections of its stores to casual and “family” gaming, and indicated that the interest in casual gaming (brought on primarily by the success of the Wii and DS) is the chief reason for the shift. The retailer is apparently in great shape financially, with plans to keep the pace of 500 new store openings each year and continue expansion into overseas markets.

Gamestop has always catered to the hardcore crowd, offering rare games and an (increasingly devious) trade-in program for used games. Obviously, the company is following the money trail on this particular decision, and betting that the casual games phenomena will be more than just a trend.

As things stand, Gamestop couldn’t be more tainted in the eyes of hardcore gamers, who are fed up with their unfair buyback and trade-in practices. Many will find this to be the ultimate insult, and I can’t blame them.

Read [ars Technica] Also Read [Next Gen]

• Best Black Friday 2008 deals for Mac gamers
• Tips for gaming with the family on Thanksgiving
• Giving Thanks: Top ten things this gamer’s thankful for in 2008

Nintendo is livid with retailers selling unsanctioned Wii bundles, which is a retailer gambit to take unfair advantage of the Wii shortage to boost their own profits. But it seems Nintendo can save its anger for other unethical trade practices, one of which has been uncovered by technology website Ars Technica. According to a report on the website, Slacker stores - retail chain stores based in Illinois/Missouri – are selling their Wii stock on EBay for huge profits.

An unidentified Slacker employee told Ars Technica that the stores were receiving regular Wii supplies but all of the Wii’s were being sold on EBay for a “buy it now” price of $399.99. He also made the startling revelation that none of the Wiis are being sold through the stores and only one Wii has been sold offline in the last year. He pegged the number of Wiis in their inventory at 20 – none of which will grace the Slacker store shelves.

Slackers has issued a public letter to its customers and dismissed Ars Technica’s allegations. In the letter, Kurt Jellinek, president of Slackers CDs and Games, defended the small retail chain and gave account of the number of Wii’s it had brought from distributors this holiday season. He admitted that the company had sold around 5 of its 44 Wiis on EBay.

If the company’s clarifiation is to be taken at its word, then the selling of Wiis online shouldn’t bother anyone, as it does not directly receive a stockpile of the consoles from Nintendo but purchases them from the market.

Read [Ars Technica] via [Gizmodo]

• Gadgetell Roundup:  Top 5 overlooked Black Friday gadgets
• Amazon offers RPG bargain buys in honor of Cyber Monday 2008
• Aonuma will not stop until he makes a game better than Ocarina of Time

When all the hoopla about Manhunt 2 was flying around I started noticing the movies in my local Walmart.  Walmart, as you probably know, does not sell AO games.  It also does not sell NC-17 movies.  However, when I wander down the aisle of new releases (which happens to be just opposite the XBox 360 and PS3 shelves) about a third of the titles are prominently displayed as “Unrated.“

These unrated movies were very much rated when they were shown in the movie theater, usually with an “R.“  The r to NR rating switch typically means that all the content left out of the theater release to get down to that coveted R rating was put back into the DVD release.  These movies are unrated because if they were…

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