GameStop Still Selling Modern Warfare 2 Before Street Date

[Image via "The GunStop Way" by LeetWorld and Smooth Few Films, a must-see for any GameStop customer.]

GameStop has produced a unique marketing strategy for the release of Modern Warfare 2. Flying in the face of professionalism, and risking a probable blacklisting by Activision, GameStop has uncharacteristically grown a huge set of brass ones and broken street date.

This is no new news. Joystiq, IGN and Kotaku have all reported on small mom and pop stores violating the official release date. This reportedly led to GameStop’s decision to break the street date as well. Here’s the catch: only certain locations are participating, and to varying degrees.

Game Flashbacks from Comics of Yore

Apologies to my loyal reader, things have been very sparse on GameSeizure lately. After recently relocating to Plain Grove, Pennsylvania, procuring a reliable internet connection has proved to be a major quest. The problem: Plain Grove is very rural. No, really rural. With a capital R. As in, this was my alarm clock this morning. Luckily, it didn’t wake the neighbors. But I digress.

One of the small silver linings one finds oneself with when recently relocated and stranded offline is an abundance of free time to go through old crap. One piece of crap was a $5.00 scanner from a yard sale. The power adapter didn’t work, but a “quick” search of the big green duffel bag of random cords provided one that did. Score. Combined with a small surviving remnant of my comic book collection this afforded the unique opportunity to waste time in a new and semi-constructive manner.

"If you can't say something nice..."

Now, as someone who owned over 5,000 comics before a structural fire, sorting through the hundred-or-so newly rediscovered survivors was painful. But the pain was shouldered for the sake the greater good. The result? Over a dozen scans of video game advertisements from comics of yore and a kicker for any X-Men fans out there. Check out Mario before side-scrolling, Mortal Kombat’s debut, and the Freedom Stick.

Completely Wireless Controller Charging System

Apparently, Tesla first experimented with this technology over a century ago. So this isn’t news at all, unless you’re both lazy and sick of wasting money on batteries. Fellow sloths, read on!

According to today’s press release, Exspect’s new wireless charging systems for the Xbox 360 and Wii controllers are now available for purchase. Simply place your controller on the pad and the electricity is transmitted via radio frequencies to your battery pack. As the RF method does not require a metal-on-metal connection, gamers can leave the battery pack attached. Wii enthusiasts won’t even have to take the condom off their remote to charge up.

Borderlands Satiates the Achievement Whores

I’ve never featured the release of an Achievement list before, and don’t plan on making a habit of it, but we now have in-game confirmation of Thunderdomes! Randy Pitchford of Gearbox had already likened the PvP Borderlands arenas to your own personal Thunderdome, but now we have something more substantial: Xbox360Achievements recently posted the Achievement list.

New Batman: Arkham Asylum Theme Free on XBLA

Coinciding with today’s release of Batman: Arkham Asylum, Microsoft has blessed the XBLA Gold Members with another virtual giveaway. It’s been a while since GameSeizure’s last featured freebie, and this one isn’t even a Premium Theme, but it’s Freakin’ Batman.

The “Villains Theme Pack” features static shots of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Bane and Killer Croc. Noticeably absent is our favorite prankster, the Joker. Perhaps he’s a PS3 Home exclusive.

8-Bit Trip: Better Than Peanut Butter and Jelly

Remember the White Stripes Lego video? Sure you do, those brick animations were devilishly retro and obviously took a lot of time and effort to produce. If you found yourself amazed by the planning and foresight of that pop culture masterpiece, prepare to be awed by this video game version.

Daniel Larsson and Tomas Redigh, aka Rymdreglage, spend over 1500 hours shooting individual photographs and stringing them together for the final product below. The video is seeing some serious YouTube action, and their personal webpage has already crashed from the increase in traffic. Retro gamers will love the NES imagery, and the funky euro-beat isn’t half bad either.

If that’s not enough Lego lunacy, check out Plasticdudes for a seriously WTF experience.

Love the Viral Marketing, NEED the Viral Marketing

Those crazy Japanese are at it again. Viral marketing for video games is no new tactic, but the Tecmo PR team has managed to put a risque spin on things. Hyping the Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 release September 29th, the wall-boobage attracted the hands-on type, and certainly sullied the image of ninjas in the minds of many a girlfriend.

"Of course they're real."

While unclear whether it was Ayane, Momiji or Rachel’s ample virtual clevage, more than a few had to check the goods. Hit the jump to watch grown men awkwardly grope a wall.

Fairytale Fights: Kill 1,000 Children Achievement

Chris Plante of UGO Games Blog appears to be breaking this story, and begins the piece with the words, “File this under cable news fodder.” Well I’m going to do you one better Chris, file it under “Fox Fodder.” See what I did there? Fox News? With the alliteration?

After speaking with Playlogic last week, it sounds like the achievement’s on the chopping block waiting for the axe to fall, but the children and the you killing them parts, those will definitely be served in the final dish.

Fairytale Fights was already pushing the “edgy” boundaries with its unique blend of cartoon sprites and buckets of blood, but it seems as if Playlogic just can’t get enough word of mouth advertising. They are definitely subscribing to the “any news is good news” philosophy. Hit the jump for a quick new trailer (it’s not the one showing Red Riding Hood wandering aimlessly for two minutes).

Xbox Avatar Marketplace: A Fool and His Microsoft Points…

To be fair, I don’t think anyone who buys avatar clothing or props on the new avatar marketplace is a fool. I’m sure before it’s all said and done I’ll have bought a giant Q-tip or something. I do, however, predictably have a problem with the price point. To fully garb your avatar in Jedi gear with lightsaber you’ll be dropping 10 bucks. Want the clone armor and a lightsaber? That’s 12 bucks, the helmet is a separate purchase.

One item at a time, Avatar Dude.

Apparently Microsoft hasn’t been told that there’s a recession ’round these here parts.

Back to School: A Short Visual History of Video Games

Kyle Downes’ A Short Visual History of Video Games speaks for itself. This quirky animated short was produced in approximately four months for Downes’ BA in multimedia. Blending Maya 8.5, Premiere, After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop and Flash, Downes successfully nails the key moments in gaming history, all in under three minutes.