Dallas, TX – (Feb 1, 2010) – Public voting is underway for the Gamer’s Choice Award in the Indie Game ChallengeSM sponsored by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), and The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University. The Gamer’s Choice Award is one of more than $350,000 in prizes available to the 12 finalist teams announced today in the Indie Game Challenge. Visit www.indiegamechallenge.com between now and midnight CT, Feb. 18, to learn more about the 12 finalists and to vote.

Voters for the Gamer’s Choice Award will be entered into the Gamer’s Choice Sweepstakes, which offers a grand prize of a trip for two to Los Angeles to tour G4 studios, passes to attend a taping of the popular “X-Play” program, and a meet-and-greet with “X-Play” host Adam Sessler. The sweepstakes winner will be selected March 12.

The winning Gamer’s Choice Award team will be presented $10,000 on Feb. 19 at the D.I.C.E.™ (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit being hosted at Red Rock Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. D.I.C.E. is an annual conference hosted by the AIAS dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment.

In addition to the Gamer’s Choice Award, the grand prizes and category winners of the Indie Game Challenge will also be unveiled at D.I.C.E. in an awards ceremony hosted by Sessler. The six non-professional and six professional finalists are eligible for more than $350,000 in prizes, including separate $100,000 pro and non-pro team awards, an SMU scholarship and more.

Complete details about the Indie Game Challenge, the Gamer’s Choice Award and the Gamer’s Choice Sweepstakes and the official rules can be found at www.indiegamechallenge.com.

Technorati Tags: Indie Game Challenge, Win Trip, New York, Gamer’s Choice Award, Video Games, Los Angeles, Adam Sessler, G4, X-Play

1. Visit the Gamestop website at: http://www.gamestop.com/

3. Copy and paste that list into a comment here on this page at Gamerrazzi

COMMENTS ARE MODERATED to avoid spam, so it will not show up right away. People who leave multiple comments will be deleted from the contest altogether. If you do not see your comment within a day then by all means leave another one. Otherwise, do not worry as we accept comments several times a day.

ENTRY GUIDELINES:
To enter you need to be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the US. If you have won a contest within the last 30 days you are not eligible.

GET AN EXTRA ENTRY:
Want an extra entry? Twitter about this contest! Just click the Tweet button in the bottom left corner of this article’s box!

You can post the URL to your Tweet in your initial comment for this contest.

To find out about all our latest contests feel free to add us to your Twitter:

@dominickevans
@ashtynevans

You can also get extra entries (one entries for each) into our contest by:

-Posting on your blog/website about out contest with a link back to LI Kids (please let us know where to find said link so we can give you an extra entry)
-Digging or Stumbling this post (list your Digg/Stumble username in your comment)
-Becoming a Member of our Facebook Fan Page
-Subscribing to our YouTube Page

*******Please only leave ONE comment – If you Twitter, Digg, Blog about, or Stumble this contest you can post all relevant information in that comment. We will make sure to add extra entries for each extra thing you’ve done when we randomly pick winners.

CLAIMING YOUR PRIZE:
Winners will be sent an email shortly after the end of the contest. To claim your prize all you will need to do is send us your address in a reply to the congratulation email that you will receive. If we do not receive a reply from you within three days, your winnings will be forfeited and your prize will be offered to another contestant.

ENTRY DEADLINE:
We will begin emailing winners for this the week of September 1, 2009, which means you have until August 31, 2009 at 11:59 to enter.

DESCRIPTION:
(From the Gamestop Website’s About Us Page) GameStop is the world’s largest video game retailer. With over 6,100 stores located throughout the United States and 17 countries, we are the retail destination for gamers around the world.

Our GameStop, EB Games and Electronics Boutique retail locations set us apart in the industry. Everything that we offer our customers-from our expansive selection of new products, to our knowledgeable associates and our value-added pre-owned products-is geared to deliver customer satisfaction. We complement our store network with GameStop.com and EBgames.com, and publish Game Informer, one of the industry’s largest circulation video game magazines.

Together, we hold a passion for gaming, a commitment to our industry and a disciplined business perspective to continuously drive value with shareholders, customers, vendors and employees.

For more information visit Gamestop.com

Also, don’t forget to check out the Madden NFL 10 Battle of the Gridiron Tournament at your local Gamestop on August 22, 2009. For more information, check out the Battle of the Gridiron Website.

Technorati Tags: Gamestop, 0 Gift Card, Gaming, Video Games, Prize, Gamerrazzi, Madden 2010

To promote the release of Madden NFL 10 and Gamestop’s Battle of the Gridiron Tournament, to be held at a selection of Gamestop’s around the country, we’re asking that you follow these directions when posting a comment beneath this contest post, here on Gamerrazzi.

1. Go to the Gamestop Battle of the Gridiron Tournament Website located here: http://www.gamestop.com/gs/tournaments/mddn10/

2. Click on the Round 1 Stores Button on the page listed above

3. Browse through the list of stores listed in this PDF page and find the location closest to you (you can search by State and then city – since both are listed alphabetically on this document)

4. Come back here to this page and post a comment listing the name of the store location (i.e. Gamestop at Oak Park Mall) and the state/city where it is located

5. Complete your comment by telling us whether you plan to go the Battle of the Gridiron Tournament at the store you’ve listed

COMMENTS ARE MODERATED to avoid spam, so it will not show up right away. People who leave multiple comments will be deleted from the contest altogether. If you do not see your comment within a day then by all means leave another one. Otherwise, do not worry as we accept comments several times a day.

ENTRY GUIDELINES:
To enter you need to be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the US. If you have won a contest within the last 30 days you are not eligible.

GET AN EXTRA ENTRY:
Want an extra entry? Twitter about this contest! Just click the Tweet button in the bottom left corner of this article’s box!

You can post the URL to your Tweet in your initial comment for this contest.

To find out about all our latest contests feel free to add us to your Twitter:

@dominickevans
@ashtynevans

You can also get extra entries (one entries for each) into our contest by:

-Posting on your blog/website about out contest with a link back to LI Kids (please let us know where to find said link so we can give you an extra entry)
-Digging or Stumbling this post (list your Digg/Stumble username in your comment)
-Becoming a Member of our Facebook Fan Page
-Subscribing to our YouTube Page

*******Please only leave ONE comment – If you Twitter, Digg, Blog about, or Stumble this contest you can post all relevant information in that comment. We will make sure to add extra entries for each extra thing you’ve done when we randomly pick winners.

CLAIMING YOUR PRIZE:
Winners will be sent an email shortly after the end of the contest. To claim your prize all you will need to do is send us your address in a reply to the congratulation email that you will receive. If we do not receive a reply from you within three days, your winnings will be forfeited and your prize will be offered to another contestant.

ENTRY DEADLINE:
We will begin emailing winners for this the week of August 22, 2009, which means you have until August 21, 2009 at 11:59 to enter.

FROM THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
GameStop, Corp. (NYSE:GME), the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today announced that it will host Madden NFL 10 video game tournaments at more than 2,900 of its U.S. locations on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009. Madden fans will battle through three rounds of tough competition in the in-store, tiered tournament.

Many of the participating GameStop locations will begin round one of
their tournaments at 2 p.m. local time; however, customers are
encouraged to contact their local store to confirm the exact start
time. All contestants must check-in at least 30 minutes prior to the start of play, and you must be at least 13 years old to participate in the event.

Participants under 18 must have a parent or guardian sign their registration form.

The top four players from each participating first round location will
advance to the second round on Aug. 29; where the top two players of
each of these competitions will advance to the Regional Finals, which
will take place on Sept. 12. The top 16 Regional finalists will
advance to the championship event, to be held on Nov. 1 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Phoenix, AZ. Finalists will receive roundtrip airfare to Phoenix, hotel accommodations, $200 in spending money and tickets to the Arizona Cardinals vs. Carolina Panthers game that afternoon.

Finalists will take their stance on the Great Lawn for four, three-minute quarters against the competition on Madden NFL 10 until one player is left standing. The Grand Prize winner will receive $5,000.

For more information on Madden NFL 10 and the Battle of the Gridiron Tournament visit Gamestop’s Madden page.

Technorati Tags: Battle of the Gridiron, Tournament, Madden NFL 10, Gamestop, Madden 2010, Gamerrazzi, Giveaway, Video Games, PS3, Contest, Enter, Win, Sports Game

I’m not a major game show fan. Most of the people in my house are. My son is a game show fanatic. In fact, one of his favorite television stations is Game Show Network. If he could play game shows on the computer or on video games every waking moment, he would. I just don’t really like game shows all that much. The only ones I can stand to watch are test your knowledge games. I’ll watch Jeopardy and the Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader. I’m not so fanatical about these shows that I can’t miss them, but I do enjoy playing along with them when they are on.

On a side note, as a kid, I was in love with the Match Game. It was the craziest, kookiest game and I loved to watch reruns from the 1970s. It had to be the outlandish nature of the celebrities that participated on the show, that made it so fun to watch. That being said, it’s insanely clear to me that I prefer the games where I can actively participate in the game, by answering questions and gauging how I’d do if I were competing against the contestants. Just watching people do things that I can’t participate in is not much fun. I’m pretty sure that’s why I never dug The Price is Right.

When I found out about the Playstation Network offering Jeopardy for a downloadable purchase, I knew I had to get this game. Not only would I enjoy it, but the rest of the family would go ga-ga during time spent together. I knew that Jeopardy would be a crowd-pleaser in the Evans household. That’s part of why I’m writing this review, right now. I had the chance to download and play several games of Jeopardy, both online and off.

For the most part, Jeopardy is exactly like you’d expect. You get to play the part of the contestant on Jeopardy and to answer questions. You get to play two rounds and answer daily doubles if you select them. You get to play final Jeopardy. It’s all there. You can play in a single player mode, against family and friends locally or online against other players. Of course here are some disappointing aspects, that make this game a little less enjoyable than it could have been. Had these issues not been a part of the game. I’ll get into what’s wrong with the game a little later in this review.

Game Play:
What’s there to say about game play? It’s Jeopardy. You get to use your own customizable character to take on others in a variety of settings (locally – single and multi-player and online vs. other players). You can play friends online or complete strangers. No matter how you play, the gameplay is identical. In single player, local games, you get to choose the first category. In online games and multi-player local games, you might or might not get to choose a category first. You have so much time to read a question and then you press a button to answer the question. All of your answers are selected, multiple choice, from a list of four questions.

The questions are ones you’d expect (and may have seen before) when watching Jeopardy on television. There are questions for every subject you studied in school (i.e. Science, Health, World History), Potpourri, Pop Culture, Politics, and a plethoric selection of other topics. You make money from questions you get right and lose money from questions you miss. While there are over 2,500 questions, one downside (or upside if you want to make a lot of money) is that when you cancel a game in the middle, you have to restart that exact same game over the next time you play, locally. The categories and questions also repeat from online to offline formats. This can be an advantage for a player who has gone through all of the clues.

There really isn’t much more to this game. If you’ve seen Jeopardy on television then you’ll know exactly how to play this game. If you like Jeopardy, on television, you’ll love it when you’re actually in the driver’s seat, playing your own game of Jeopardy. I played on my own and with the family, which is pretty cool to play as a single player, because you’re more likely to get the answers to the questions right with so many opinions and knowledge levels being represented. Of course, the game does get old after awhile, so I don’t recommend having 12-hour Jeopardy playing marathons. In fact, this game is best played in short bursts with kith and kin.

Enjoyment/Fun Factor: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Features:
One of the most noticeable features of Jeopardy for the Playstation Network, is the custom Avatar option. I wish this was more customizable. You get to choose from a few different guys or girls, with different skintones, choose their hair color, make a few, minor modifications and you really can’t customize much more than that. You can change your avatar’s name to your own and then you might just have to play in a game versus the customized avatars your family members create. Ashtyn found this bothersome, when the AI took over my Dominick avatar, who was whooping her butt! I would rather the AI not have access to character-created avatars, but that’s just my personal choice.

The second feature is the abundance of questions. There are over 2500 different questions covering a variety of topics. The downside, as I mentioned previously, is that categories and questions can repeat from single player mode to online play. In just my first game against total strangers, I owned at least two categories, because I’d already had the same questions in single player mode. Still, 2500 questions means that it will take quite a while to get through all of the questions and complete the entire game. Even then, who would want to stop playing?

There aren’t really any features I haven’t mentioned previously. There are single player and multiplayer modes. You can play friends or strangers in multi-player online modes. You can play your family and friends locally, as well. The game was released in its single player mode in September of 2008. Today, you can usually log on and find someone to play with online in less than five minutes. I played multiple games and each took less than a minute to find players to play against.

I feel like I’m repeating myself. This game isn’t rocket science. If you like Jeopardy, you’ll love this game. It’s that simple!

Replayability: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Controls:
While the controls are easy to use, you primarily use the X, O, triangle and square buttons for answering questions, selecting categories, etc. However, you have to read the question quickly and click the button to answer as fast as you can, or you might not get the chance to answer, at all. In single player, local games, if the AI is set to be incredibly smart, you’ll fight the “computerized” contestants to answer anything. You can turn this down a bit, so you have a better chance of answering. However, if you’re playing someone else online, be prepared to fight them for the right to answer any question. The controls could be a little bit smoother, but actually figuring out what button to press is as easy as pie.

Ease of Use: 5 out of 5 stars

Visual Quality:
The visual quality for Jeopardy is nice, but it isn’t spectacular. This isn’t the kind of game you’d expect to have a stunning visual quality. Considering I’ve played Jeopardy on various platforms, including the earliest computer Jeopardy games, with primitive graphics, way back in the 1990s, I can honestly say general graphic design has come a long way. This looks realistic, with a shiny, playing board, almost identical to what you’d see on the television show.

Your avatar, which you can choose and customize to your liking, has a human cartoon appeal, but it isn’t unpleasing. While the game looks good and the visual quality won’t affect gameplay, it isn’t so beautiful that players will be boasting about it. The color palette used is vibrant, contrast is fairly consistent and the colors are somewhat saturated.

Visual: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Audio Quality:
The audio comes through strongly, but the excessively played Jeopardy theme and boop-boop sounds as the board loads during each round, get a bit annoying by the third or fourth game you play. There is the option to turn the sound off. I recommend you do this, or mute your television. When the sound is playing, it is crisp and clear with good use of the speakers. You’ll have the option to use your headset during the multiplayer, online games, so you might not want to turn your television sound off, completely.

Audio: 4 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
If you like game shows and/or are a fan of Jeopardy, then you’re going to want to consider purchasing this game. At less than $20, the game is worth the fun you can have together as a family, as you play your own version of this popular game show. There are some minor annoyances that may make gameplay repetitive, the online play isn’t as exciting as it could be and once you play a few games, unless you’re a Jeopardy fanatic, you’ll probably want to take a break before the next round. Of course, this game has longevity, in the amount of questions asked and the long lasting appeal of a game such as this. So, this holiday, you may want to consider this purchase, as a Christmas present or just for fun.

Overall Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Technorati Tags: Jeopardy, Playstation Network, Game show, video game, video game review, family fun