Playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl earlier than the rest of North America is a treat in itself but Nintendo and Best Buy are teaming up to offer this opportunity to a fortunate few and throwing in some nice prizes to boot!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournaments will begin sweeping across America starting in Los Angeles and San Fransisco, then to Boston and finally in New York where the tournament will be held during the midnight madness launch event for the game itself.

“Each regional tournament will provide the first 256 people in attendance the chance to “brawl” one-on-one with other contestants in a single-elimination tournament to determine a winner in each market. Regional winners will face off in a final multiplayer “brawl” at the New York City tournament.”

The lucky contestants will have a chance to participate for the grand prize, a crystal covered Wii, a home theater system and copy of the game.  Second through fourth place will receive a Wii, a Wii remote, a coppy of SSBB and a $1000-$250 Gift Card at Best Buy.  The consolation prize for everyone else however, a $10 Gift Card at Best Buy, isn’t a bad deal either.

So if you’re confident in your ability to win at a game you’ve never played (or imported it already and want to exercise that advantage) and live anywhere near one of these cities, then don’t miss this opportunity!  Meanwhile those of us stuck in the midwest can grumble about the tournament not making a stop in Chicago or Houston.

For additional information including tournament dates and addresses check out the official Press Release here.

To discuss this in our forums click here and don’t forget to visit our Official SSBB thread for all things Brawl!

-EarthViper

US games retailer Play N Trade has revealed it is to take on the current monopoly of high street stores enjoyed by the GAME/Gamestation group in the UK, with its stores potentially coming to these shores by the end of the year.

Speaking to industry magazine MCV, Play N Trade CEO Roger Lloyd outlined the plans for the retailer in the UK, claiming that, “Our entry point into the UK will move the evolution of games stores forward faster. We’re going to raise the bar.” Play N Trade currently has around 125 stores throughout the US and aims to be the fastest growing chain with plans to have 1,000 stores by the end of 2010. (more…)

Well it seems Nintendo continues to market to new audiences which is good. But their choice here and the implementation is rather sad. Way too over the top and I think rather insulting to most girl gamers. Given whats on the cover I really would like to see their Wii will will rock you list and the games it entails as I’m sure they are just as insulting.

Anyways, Nintendo has a new official magazine so if you have a strong need to exercise your gag reflex then pick it up.

-JJ

 

GSC Game World has officially joined up with Microsoft, and they are now making games for the 360 as well. STALKER is supposed to hit the Xbox 360 this Christmas. Sounds solid to me, as I know there are a lot of console gamers who would really like to try out STALKER. This could also lead up to some new IPs that could be enjoyable. What are your thoughts?

“At the very top of the PC-games-which-belong-on-Xbox wishlist is Eastern European total-misery-fest STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl. Totally non-linear, STALKER is the smartest shooter you’ll ever play; like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, the world is open and every mission is an option.The good news? Ukrainian developers GSC Game World are now an official Xbox 360 developer with a shiny Microsoft certificate to prove it, and unless they plan on doing the unthinkable and working on something new, STALKER is set to explode dramatically onto the ‘box beneath your TV very soon… where a speedy conversion and a Christmas 2008 release will see it slamming head-first into the post-apocalyptic Fallout 3 freight train.” Thank leetpants for the tip.

In August of 2007 the UK’s Office of Fair Trading referred Game’s acquisition of Gamestation to the Competition Commission due to fears that it would lead to a lessening of competition in the sector.

However, according to the Competition Commission those fears were unfounded, and it has now formally cleared the £74 million, May 2007 acquisition, which saw Game add 235 Gamestation stores to its now 650 strong chain.

In its final report published Wednesday, “the CC has concluded that the merger of Game and Gamestation may not be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in the markets for the supply of gaming software, consoles and related accessories in the UK.�

I’m of the opinion less competition can not be better for consumers. This takes away options and that is never a good thing. Most likely prices will remain fairly consistent and it won’t affect the marketplace too negatively but the loss of choice in terms of where you choose to spend your money is lost. It also gives game store employees permission to be less customer service oriented since the consumer’s options have narrowed.

-JJ

Take Two Interactive has officially acquisitioned Czech based developer Illusion Softworks, developers of the Mafia series, Hidden & Dangerous and Vietcong.  Naturally, both companies sound happy about the acquisition.

I’ve never been sure if smaller companies getting absorbed under big publishers was much of a good thing.  In one way, it means they don’t have to fight as hard as possible in order to get a publisher for a game.  On the other, they may not be able to make what they want anyway, as their publisher could just force them to do whatever the publisher wants.

However, 2K Games seems like a much better publishing studio in those terms.  In my opinion, Illusion Softworks is in a pretty good situation now.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Microsoft made a series of announcements during its Keynote yesterday, the final one that Bill Gates will ever be making (or so they claim; I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Gates return to MS more times than Michael Jordan came back to basketball).

The first small bit of news is that Microsoft has hit 10 million subscribers a whole six months before they predicted.  For people that are still keeping tally in the whole “next-gen” war thing, that’s impressive.  For the rest of us that have grown tired of it, that just means more people to ruin your Halo experience.

More notable is the addition of Disney-ABC television shows and MGM Movies to the Xbox Live Marketplace.  ABC television shows such as “Lost”, “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives” will be made available, as well as Disney television such as “Hannah Montana”.  Except for Lost, they’re all pretty much television shows that make me think “screw the writers strike, just fire them all and replace them with some new, REAL talent”, but that’s just me.

MGM, meanwhile, will be putting out some excellent films such as “The Usual Suspects”, “Silence of the Lambs”, “Dances with Wolves”, the “Rocky” series, “Platoon” and “Terminator”.  Sounds like a much, much better deal.

Lastly, subscribers to the British Telecom Vision Broadband television will now be able to use their Xbox 360 as a set-up-box to access and watch Broadband television at home.  This also means that current owners of the Xbox 360 will be able to subscribe to the service and access it without purchasing any extra equipment to place into their home.  One of the major benefits is that you will still be accessing the Xbox 360 OS, so if someone sends you a game invite, or wants to start a voice chat to discuss the sports game, you can still access it while watching television.  This brings the Xbox one step closer to becoming an all-in-one entertainment package.

For more details you can check out MostSpartan14’s original post in the forums.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Take-Two Interactive Software today announced the formation of 2K Marin, a new development studio under its 2K publishing label. Located in Novato, California, 2K Marin will develop original intellectual property, as well as co-develop products with other 2K studios around the world.

“We’re focused on continuing to bring new brands and cutting-edge gameplay to market with the creation of the 2K Marin studio,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “2K Marin will build upon our success in creating and leveraging AAA franchises.”

2K Marin is the newest studio to join 2K’s outstanding group of development studios located in Asia, Europe, Australia and North America.

Feel free to comment on this news below or in our forums.

-JJ

Microsoft, in collaboration with Rare and Lionhead Studios, is running a contest for the newly released XNA Game Studio Express 2.0.  The contest name is “Silicon Minds”, where the central focus of the contest is Artificial Intelligence.  The goal is to create an understanding of how research, A.I. and computer learning can create some very invigorating and innovative gameplay.

The contest is actually a warm-up to the much larger “Dream-Build-Play 2008″ contest, hence the short submission period of December 20th, 2007 to January 27th, 2008.  Registration has already opened up to those interested.

Up to five finalist teams will be eligible to win an interview for a three month internship at Microsoft Research Cambridge Lab, and/or Rare or Lionhead Studios, as well as a $3,000 stipend for their projects and travel to the Game Developers Conference 2008 and an invitation to the San Francisco show, as well as a year’s subscription to the XNA Creator’s Club.

In some ways, winning a chance to have an interview seems a bit cheap, but given how many applications these companies must receive an interview is actually a pretty sweet deal.  The only problem is you only have a month to submit a project if you don’t have one made already, which can be a pretty large handicap for some folks.

You can find more information at the contest home page.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

I know no one cares but I got to pimp my home town. In the words of Merriam Webster WOOT. Maybe pwned will make the dictionary soon too.

Chicago Chimera Named CGS 2007 World Champion at the $1,000,000 Final

Chicago Chimera Defeated Carolina Core and Takes $500,000 Top Prize and the Coveted Dew Trophy

Championship Gaming SeriesTM (CGS), the only worldwide professional gaming league, announced that Chicago Chimera is the league’s first-ever World Champion. Following the eight-day World Final showdown at Sony Studios in Los Angeles, Chicago Chimera defeated Carolina Core tonight in a thrilling championship match by a final score of 27-15 to capture the first-ever CGS league title and take home $500,000 in prize money. The team was also awarded the official Dew Trophy which they will hold until the 2008 World Final next year.

So show some love below for greatest city there is.

-JJ