Videogames Lead to Behavioral Addiction Mike Tyson’s Paparazzi Punch-Out!! Video GameStop Buys Majority Stake in Video Game Digital Distributor Jolt Miyamoto: 3D Isn’t Everything Are You A Video Game Junkie With Mad Writing Skills? Write For Ripten NFL Super Bowl Champion Steelers Connect with Soldiers in Iraq for Guitar Hero Competition

In an effort to plan for the future world of digital distribution, video game retail chain, GameStop, purchased a majority interest in U.K. based Jolt. The company distributes gaming news as well as developing and publishing free-to-play license-based titles and browser based MMOs such as Playboy Manager, the Legends of Zork, Trukz, and Utopia Kingdoms. Read more…

GameStop is pulling out all the stops to earn your buck this holiday season. The retailer/glorified pawn shop is promising to give you a little extra cash back on Super Mario Bros. Wii and Left 4 Dead 2 if you buy the titles from them online an return them no later than December 20th of this year.

In other words, you can rent the games from them for a full price down payment and get roughly $20 less back when you return them. Exact verbiage below. Read more…

Perhaps I should rephrase that. GameStop wants to put you, as a zombie, into Left 4 Dead 2! Of course, not the game itself. It released today (to critical acclaim, I might add) which means it’s a bit too late to get into the actual game, but with the help of GameStop, you can get edited into a video of the game. Read more…

It has leaked on the web that several GameStop locations in the North East (Brooklyn NY, Philadelphia PA, Bowling Green Ohio) have been selling Modern Warfare 2 before its November 10th release date — as in today. Read more…

In a few days, the latest installment of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare series will be upon us, but until then, we will have lots of amped up predictions and mind boggling preorder numbers to discuss. The joys of anticipation. Read more…

In the latest effort to secure more preorders, GameStop posted Battlefield: Bad Company 2 promotional copy on their site promising:

“free overnight shipping, plus access to the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Beta beginning November 19th, 11PM PST.”

GameStop later pulled the page down, surely after being contacted by EA, and BFBC2 developer DICE was quick to add the following via the Official BFBC2 Twitter: Read more…

In an effort to answer the age old Ghostbusting question “who you gonna call?” Ghostbuster himself Dan Aykroyd (in automated form) reached out to GameStop pre-order customers asking them to head on down to their local GameStop and pick up their copy of the game.

“Greetings fellow paranormal enthusiasts. This is Dan Aykroyd, speaking to you through the miracle of 16-bit voice recording to remind you that your copy of Ghostbusters will be at your local GameStop by tomorrow. Don’t forget to bring in your used games because you’ll receive an extra 30 percent credit for games you trade toward Ghostbusters. Thank you, and see you on the other side.”

You can listen to the actual audio file here courtesy of ProtonCharging.com.

Source: GoNintendo

Look, I’ve been reading a heap of articles lately citing both the Eurogamer and GI.biz sit down with Frontier Developments’ founder, David Braben, and I simply couldn’t take it anymore.

For those of you that missed the hoopla, Braben’s gripe is that the used game market will eventually kill the single player aspect of games and force all developers to focus instead on multiplayer due to its high replay factor. While I agree that multiplayer does offer a much higher replay value, I certainly don’t agree with his proposed fix.

My argument is that for every game there are two versions. One is personal, not for resale and it’s made abundantly clear you can’t sell it. And it’s made available for something like GBP 25 [$40]. And a resale and rental copy, which in film is actually about GBP 80 [$130].

Huh? That has got to be the most ass backwards solution I’ve ever heard of. I understand the need for a developer to generate higher revenue, but handcuffing a consumer to their product is not the answer. Read more…

Hot off of the Fallout 3 street date news from a few days ago, it seems that GameStop is following Wal-Mart’s lawless ways and is setting out to break street dates- with a twist.

According to PlanetXbox360, GameStop will be selling Call of Duty: World of War (note: Stop calling it, COD5, it’s not COD5.) at 5PM on November 10th, which is a day early. Though they wouldn’t usually announce this, it turns out they’ve harbored a deal with Activision in which they’re going to be allowed to sell the game a day early. Whoopee.

If you’re still in love with World War 2, or just in love with Call of Duty, you might want to go preorder at GameStop so that you don’t have to bother with midnight sale madness. Go on, get to it!

For those of you that hope to observe rocking out to Billy Idol’s White Wedding with a plastic remote as a hobby by the end of this year, you should probably just tape your Wiimote to the Xbox 360 Fender- rumour has it that Harmonix & EA are delaying Rock Band 2 for Wii until early in 2009.

According to Destructoid and their GameStop tipsters, it seems that the Wii version of Rock Band 2 could possibly be delayed until January 2009. GameStop’s inventory apparently shows Jan. 6th, 2009 as the new shipping date for the game, which completely disregards Harmonix’s guess at a December release.

But fret not, mon frêre! As Destructoid points out, there’s always Wii Music, for those who would rather bob their heads to the smash hit Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, which I’m told gets all of the kids at the playground dancing.

While you can’t have Michael Phelps’ eight gold medals, you can get the same VIP treatment extended to him by Activision during his visit on CBS’ Early Show yesterday.

The host of the show handed Phelps what was thought to be a copy of Call of Duty: World At War on air and stated that she was doing so on behalf of Activision. However, MTV’s Multiplayer Blog contacted their PR department and learned that the box did not contain a game. Instead, it housed an I.O.U note.

Have at the video of Phelps on the Early Show after the jump. Read more…

If you’re lucky enough to have a working Xbox 360 in your home, and you’re also a quick responder to the call to arms that is this article, you just might be playing Battlefield: Bad Company multiplayer in a few hours. Read more…

Seems like we’ve all been hit with the MC Hammer plague (after all, he lost 33 million dollars) and being broke isn’t fun, but scrounging money for deals is smart. Here are this week’s deals that will save you lots of money. Read more…

A Steampunk Version of Sam Fisher’s Goggles

Fans of the old Commodore 64 classic Impossible Mission might be interested in the new DS version, available now exclusively at Gamestop stores. Read more…

In a conference call this morning, Nintendo’s executive mangod Reginald Fils-Aime announced the implementation of a “Wii Raincheck” program for parents or gamers unable to find a console this Christmas. Read more…

Gaming retail, as we know it, is a wretched thing — advertising overload, cluttered shelves, bitter employees, and mucus-encrusted kiosks that we wouldn’t touch even if they worked properly. Andrew Urbanek aims to shift the paradigm with a more mature kind of establishment called Games On. Read on for more information on this daring project and a lengthy chat with Urbanek, himself. Read more…

Beowulf the movie is certainly not a budget title. It uses the latest technology to create a 3d CG experience like never before, and employs actors at the top of their game – who surely cost a bomb. The budget must be huge. Budget for the game? Hmm…well it could still be quite significant, but with this news they can’t have put that much cash into at all. Read more…

We will be posting a “deals of the week” column each week meant to help frugal gamers get the games and gadgets they love without breaking the bank. Read more…

An open invite has just gone out courtesy of Activision and Infinity Ward! Select GameStop locations will be opening their doors allowing eager gamers to experience the single player version of the game hands on before the official release on November 6th.

To get in on the fun, be one of the first 100 to enlist on the scene at participating GameStop locations. Swag and prizes include a signed call sheet from Infinity Ward. Read more…

Price drop? Typo? Or complete BS? Another story about a PS3 price drop (please note this is completely unconfirmed) and none of us here are buying it.

Now while we do not believe the information to be true, we do feel compelled to report it to you as a rumor and hope that you form your own conclusions based on the information at hand. Read more…