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So you want to play the Bayonetta demo early, do you?

by Xav de Matos { Nov 6th 2009 at 11:00PM }

Sega just announced that 40,000 lucky Xbox 360 owners will get extremely early access to a demo for the upcoming action game Bayonetta. To be considered for the prize, gamers must register for a free Sega Pass -- essentially the publisher's newsletter -- and enter for a chance to be selected on the official Bayonetta demo site.

Registration for the "contest" will be open from Monday, November 9 to Friday, November 13. Winners will be notified on Monday, November 16. Those not selected will then be referred to as "the group least likely to win a 'boot-gun thing' firing contest" ... or PlayStation 3 players. Should you not get selected, you might want to take advantage of making a Japanese account.

Allow Activision to introduce you to Taylor Swift

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 5th 2009 at 5:29AM }

If you're anything like us, you threw off your Taylor Swift comforter this morning, changed out of those Taylor Swift jammies, and thought to yourself, "Today is one more day to win a chance to meet Taylor Swift." Thankfully, Activision and upcoming family-friendly music game Band Hero are teaming up to make that dream a reality.

If you purchase a copy of Band Hero in the month of Novemeber (why, that's this month!), you can enter for a chance for two to meet Taylor Swift. Alright, alright, now calm down. You're panting. It's going to be alright. After you pick up your copy of Band Hero tonight, slowly remove the instruction manual from the inside of the game box and simply enter the code from its back at this website. According to the site, you could supposedly win some other stuff or something, but whatever.

Pepsi partners with Uncharted 2 for PS3 bundle giveaway

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 3rd 2009 at 6:15PM }

Sure, you could be like one of those tea-bagging Mountain Dew drinkers, clearly unprepared for The Ride of Your Life™. Or, friend, you could be a hero. A Pepsi drinking hero.

And that's exactly the choice that folks living in select states have to make when they go to their local supermarkets starting this week. If you dare to purchase specially-marked 12-packs of Pepsi, you could be 1 of 20 equally daring folks who wins a PlayStation 3 system and the entire Uncharted series (yep, all two games!). If not, you could be 1 of 200 intrepid adventurers who wins a copy of the most recent -- and most excellent -- game, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. If none of those, well ... you should probably switch to Coke.

All the nitty gritty details are right here.

Hungary spanks America in Dragon Age: Origins contest

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 31st 2009 at 8:00PM }

The dust from the 24-hour Dragon Age: Origins Warden's Quest tournament has begun to settle, and the sleep-deprived, blood-soaked winner has been declared: The team representing the nation of Hungary. The Hungarians trailed in the rankings until the fourth round of the contest, when they rallied to pass the BioWare Community team (who finished in second place). We guess you could say they were just Hungarier for victory than everyone else.

America, however, must have only been slightly peckish, ending up with a disappointing ninth place (or next-to-last place) finish, and getting eliminated in the third round of the competition. This might be a small blow to our egos, but hey -- at least we're still better at dragon slaying than the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Booyah!

[Via Kotaku]

G4 competition dishes out rare Halo 3 flaming armor

by Xav de Matos { Oct 31st 2009 at 8:00PM }

Beyond cries from fanboys for Recon, the rarest of all Halo 3 armor permutations -- or at least the rarest option -- is strutting around multiplayer matches with a flaming skull. Originally only available to employees of Bungie, the heated helmets are now the prize for G4's upcoming Sarkathlon.

In order to enter the contest, which runs until midnight on November 8, players must download a special variant of the map Longshore (only found on the second disk of Halo 3: ODST) and find eight hidden grenades scattered throughout the map. The player who completes the task and crosses the finish line in the shortest amount of time with saved replay proof walks away with the flaming skull. It's the Halo equivalent of painting a giant bulls eye on your back, so why wouldn't you want it?

[Image Credit: Hushed Casket]

Grow a moustache for charity, end up in Red Dead Redemption

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 31st 2009 at 11:30AM }

A classy gentleman never needs a reason to grow some over-lip facial hair -- however, Rockstar and the Movember Foundation are offering a pretty good incentive for you to grow a glorious moustache. While the latter is asking all applicable males to grow sweet handlebars to raise awareness and donations for men's health issues (primarily prostate cancer), Rockstar is offering the charity's mouthbrow-growing participants a rare prize: They can end as a character in Red Dead Redemption.

The charity event and contest kicks off tomorrow, so if you're interested in helping out, sign up on the Movember Foundation page, and on Rockstar's contest site. Oh, also, you're going to need to shave that sweet Fu Manchu you're already sporting, and start over from scratch. C'mon, you haven't seen your philtrum in like, three years. It misses you.

'Splosion Man Avatar awards unlocked; delicious steaks to be distributed

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 27th 2009 at 12:28PM }

We've got good news all around for fans of Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man, as well as advocates for tender red meat. The developer has announced that a title update has fixed laggy online multiplayer sessions and added those unlockable Avatar awards to the highly combustible Xbox Live Arcade platformer. To unlock all four shirts seen above (two for female Avatars and two for males), you must accomplish two feats: break a single pane of glass (easy!) and beat the entire co-op campaign (considerably less easy).

Oh, right, the meat thing. In one of the greatest nonsensical partnerships in the history of civilization, Omaha Steaks has teamed up with Twisted Pixel to give away "hundreds of top-quality steak filets" to 'sploders across the nation. To register for the giveaway, just download and equip a special 'Splosion Man gamerpic, and then play a few online multiplayer matches before November 22. If you win, you get steaks. If you're vegan, you give them to us.

Source – Title Update for Splosion Man [PDF]

Dragon Age: Origins contest offers $12,500, global dominance

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 26th 2009 at 1:50PM }

Hardcore fans of brutally violent role-playing games will soon travel from their homes in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France and handful of other nations to compete in the Dragon Age: Origins Warden's Quest tournament. Ten teams of four players from across the globe will be vying for $12,500 in cold, hard cash, and bragging rights for their respective nation. Nuclear weaponry is no longer the world's most valuable asset -- leet video game skillz, however, are.

The teams will be going head-to-head, receiving points based on the amount of experience and kills they've accumulated, as well as how much of the game they've played through. Low-scoring teams will be eliminated, giving the whole event an Olympic games meets Thunderdome meets Nick Arcade feeling that's really working for us.

Play Uncharted 2 beta, win Uncharted 2 Fortune Hunter edition

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 10th 2009 at 11:30AM }

You know what you really need? Like, really, really need, and you don't even know it? One of our kidneys.

That's what we're putting on the table on the off chance that you're the winner of Naughty Dog's latest contest -- the prize for which is one of the limited, sexy, leather-bound, dagger-infested copies of Uncharted 2 Fortune Hunter Edition. All you have to do to be eligible is play in the Uncharted 2 Multiplayer Beta this weekend, and you'll automatically be entered. They're handing out 10 copies of the special edition every day until the game's released, meaning our chances of receiving one are slim.

Hence, we offer one of our kidneys as an exchange to any potential winner under the sound of our voice. They're fresh, they regulate the balance of our electrolytes superbly, and, best of all, they're ours! Don't you want to put a bit of Joystiq inside you?

Burn Zombies, win trip to Europe in 'Zombie World Tour 2009'

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 1st 2009 at 12:13PM }

One Burn Zombie Burn! player will be able to go off on a rather romantic trip with a friend to see the sights of Europe. Doublesix is going to take the top scorer of the "Secret Lab" level of the PSN game to Paris, where they'll spend three nights at the Aida Opera Hotel and visit the Catacombs of Paris and Pere Lachaise Cemetery. After the French expedition, the winner will be sent to the Mercure Hotel in Luxor, Egypt, to spend five days touring the Valley of the Kings and Hatshepsut Temple (pictured). It's a once-in-a-lifetime trip made up exclusively with the sights of the undead.

The contest begins on Tuesday, Oct. 6 and will last through Monday, Nov. 2. Good luck, if you decide to enter.

Xbox contest searching for Canada's biggest Halo fan

by Xav de Matos { Sep 9th 2009 at 3:45PM }

Over the next week, Xbox Canada is searching for the biggest Halo fan across the Great White North. In order to enter the contest, fans must submit an image proving their Halo devotion to Xbox Canada's official Facebook fan page. The ultimate Canadian Halo fan will score a trip for two to the Halo 3: ODST launch party being held later this month in Toronto, Ontario.

Now, to clarify any confusion -- the contest isn't looking for the "paunchiest" Halo fan, but someone who can prove (via image) that they outshine all other Canadians as the most dedicated UNSC fanboy across the nation. If the winner also happens to be "portly," it's just one of those win-win situations.

[Image via Jason S on Flickr]

You MAY have written part of this MAG trailer

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 4th 2009 at 6:00PM }

Did you partake in SCEE's MAG contest? If so, you may find your "inspirational" words in this new trailer for MAG. PSN users colingb20, Aday111, shenmue360, BioEye, playmartelli, OwNii, Dark_Jester, Bandicoot1980, MoeRonimoe and Klixx were all selected to have excerpts from their "battlefield speeches" inserted into the background of this cinematic trailer. Their prize for winning the contest? An entry into the MAG beta -- something you can purchase with an annual subscription to Qore.

Swag Saturday: SingStar Spectacular (PS3) [update]

by Ben Gilbert { Aug 29th 2009 at 7:00PM }

Update: The comments have been closed and the winners will be chosen in the next 48 hours. Check those inboxes!

Do you know how much we love you, dearest readers? So much so, that while we're giving away a sore throat-inducing pack of SingStar and SingStar Queen this week to one lucky reader, we're not giving you any of those nasty plastic peripherals that we know you hate so much. That's right -- two singing games, none of those ridiculous microphones!

Lunacy you say? How about this? We'll throw in a complimentary Joystiq sticker along with the fantastic SingStar Swag Saturday Spectacular! All you have to do is leave a comment below telling us how many plastic peripherals you already own. A winner will be chosen at random after the contest ends tomorrow evening and emailed shortly thereafter. You can thank us later, don't worry about it.

Leave a comment telling us how many plastic peripherals you already own (for any console).
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada, excluding Quebec.(Nous sommes désolés, Québecois!)
Limit 1 entry per person.
This entry period ends at 7:01 pm ET on Sunday, August 30. We'll randomly select one at that time to receive: one copy of SingStar and SingStar Queen (ARV $30 and $37, respectively).
For a list of complete rules, click here

Gallery: SingStar (PS3)

Gallery: SingStar Queen

Dress Travis Touchdown for this No More Heroes 2 contest

by JC Fletcher { Aug 25th 2009 at 7:00PM }

A few months ago, Marvelous and Famitsu held a No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle contest in Japan, allowing fans to submit t-shirt designs for possible inclusion in Travis Touchdown's wardrobe. Today, Ubisoft announced that it is giving American fans the chance to outfit Travis as well.

From now through September 5, you can submit a t-shirt design to Ubisoft through this site. Suda 51 will personally select the winning design. Amusingly, this is the only contest we can remember whose official rules state that the prize has an approximate retail value of $0.00. That's the most exciting nothing we've ever considered competing for!

Get in the Game initiative offers grants to PSN devs

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 12th 2009 at 7:00AM }

If you've got a great concept for a downloadable PlayStation Network title -- one you feel rivals the genius of overweight royalty, tumbling rectangles and pixel-sized pollination -- then your chance to shine is approaching. Sony, in conjunction with Pixel-Lab and Northwest Vision and Media are offering £10,000 grants to companies who have great ideas for PSN games as part of their second annual Get in the Game initiative.

You can prepare your brainchild for adjudication during a three-day "pitching and concept development workshop" from October 14 through 16. If you think you've got a shot at the big leagues, you can submit your concept to Get in the Game's producers in November. Five entrants will receive the grant, which they'll use to polish their ideas into something playable before presenting their projects to Sony in March. If they're not terrible, they might get released, and we might end up writing about them, creating some sort of beautiful gaming journalism circle of life.

[Via GamesIndustry]