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Totally fresh comments, never canned. . . catch up on all of the community happenings here.

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  • Weekly Report: Condensed Goods!

    Announcements

    Being the only community manager on GameSpot is tough! I’ve gotten extremely behind on too many things to give you all weekly reports lately, and I would like to apologize for that. While this week is missing numerous contributions you have made, I figured you would prefer a brief report rather than none at all!

    Here’s a quick rundown on the latest happenings:

    - World of Tank beta keys giveaway! Keep your eyes peeled for other offers in the coming weeks!

    - WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 Roster Reveal live event was held in San Francisco on Wednesday and the broadcast trivia winners have been announced!

    - PAX 2010 photo gallery showcases some of this year’s happenings.

    - System Wars Connection is a new union dedicated to fans of System Wars Monthly. You should join up!

    - Game Villain feature is currently in Round 4!

    - Numerous staff have been shipped to Japan for the Tokyo Game Show.

    - Now Playing: Halo: Reach episode aired last Friday. Shaun and Giancarlo take you through the game!

    - Track game links have been replaced by Follow buttons on game pages.

    - Users who watched and commented during the live broadcast of our PS3 Move Marathon will be granted the GameSpot achievement some time next week.

    - If you are known to report abuse about user reviews or video reviews, please send me a PM! I have a little project I’d like for you to be a part of in exchange for some GameSpot profile points.

    - Game nights and Box Hunt activities will make a return soon enough.

    Shout-out!

    I’d like to give a shout-out to our last two moderators of the month! nocoolnamejim was the moderator of the month for August and c_rake is the moderator of the month for September!

    Tip of the Week

    If you have a clan or guild that needs new members, those who are level 10 or higher can post a notice in this thread located in the Union forum.

  • Upcoming WWE SmackDown vs. Raw Event

    • Posted Sep 3, 2010 2:06 am GMT
    • By Staff

    Attention WWE SmackDown vs. Raw fans! GameSpot and THQ have teamed up for a very special event to announce the official roster for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011! Join us at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 8, at 3:00 p.m PT. The event is scheduled to feature WWE Superstars, an opportunity to play WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 before it hits store shelves, an online tournament, trivia, prizes, and much more!

    If you can't make it to San Francisco, don't worry. We'll be streaming the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 roster reveal LIVE on GameSpot and have plenty of surprises in store for those of you watching from home.

    UPDATE: Further details have been announced! You can now share that you plan to attend the event in person. Admittance is a first-come, first-server circumstance so please show up before the doors open!

  • PlayStation 3 Move Marathon!

    We're excited to announce a special Now Playing episode showcasing the PlayStation Move. What makes this even more exciting is the fact that it's planned to be a marathon, which means it just has to last longer than our regular Now Playing episodes. I'm told there will be some surprises for this special event, so drop by on September 1 at 4:00 p.m. PT to see what the PlayStation Move has to offer.

    If you post in the comments or join the chatroom during the live stream you'll also receive a participation emblem (GameSpot achievement) on your profile!

  • Villain Voting for Round 1a

    • Posted Aug 27, 2010 2:09 am GMT
    • By Staff

    At last, the first round of GameSpot's Greatest Game Villain competition has finally begun. Right now, 32 of some of the biggest and baddest evildoers out there are engaged in single-elimination battles for their right to continue, with their success hinged on your votes!

    Now is the moment of truth for your bracket. The first rounds have the most number of matchups, but success could put you well on your way to winning fabulous prizes and an achievement.

    Round 1a continues until Monday, August 30, so vote now on the following matches:

    Be sure to come back on 8/30 for the next batch of battles, and good luck!

  • Game Villain Image Kit Contest!

    • Posted Aug 18, 2010 8:53 pm GMT
    • By Staff

    The community news has slowed down in the past week because Jody Robinson was on vacation, but she can't stop us from having fun without her! We've launched an image campaign contest to showcase our top graphic artists on GameSpot! The winners of this contest will receive the Greatest Game Villain Malevolent Monet achievement, and any of the image kits you donate will provide a way for all of us to campaign for our favorite villains.

    Drop by the contest rules and contribute to the cause! Submit your entries before Monday, August 23, at 2:00 p.m. PT.

    DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL AUGUST 25 at 10:00 a.m. PT.

  • Sound Byte: GameSpot's video game music blog!

    GameSpot Sound Byte

    Welcome to Sound Byte, GameSpot's game music blog!

    What is this place? Sound Byte is a home for all things related to video game music. You'll find Q&As, video interviews, soundtrack impressions, the latest news on album releases, musical performances, studio recordings, concerts, and other fun features. Contests as well as giveaways will happen from time to time, so be sure to stay tuned!

    We want to keep this blog interactive, so your feedback and participation are important. But please do not request music from us.

    Why is this here, and why should I care? Whether you pay attention to them or not, video game music and sound design are important parts of the overall gaming experience. For many games, the soundtrack rests in the background, cuing up only when necessary, or is partnered with the action onscreen for a stronger emotional effect. This blog is here so that we can highlight the composers and artists who are devoted to the nonvisual elements of the game.

    Of course, then there are music games, where the soundtrack is the star of the show (like Rock Band and Guitar Hero), but this blog (for now) will be more focused on the former type of game. But that doesn't mean we won't find the time to discuss rhythm music games either.

    We'll have more coverage of video game music in the near future, but for now, check out these musical features and tell us what you think!

    Composing for Star Wars: The Old Republic

    Go behind the scenes with the orchestra!

    Nobuo Uematsu feature

    Meet the man himself!

    Green Day Q&A with Mike Dirnt

    Sound Byte is GameSpot's game music blog, which covers every aspect of music in games, including interviews with top game music composers and discussions of new and classic game soundtracks. Have a question or suggestion? Leave us a comment below.

  • Weekly Report: Starcraft or Limbo?

    Announcements

    QuakeCon Coverage
    GameSpot will be covering some of the tidbits happening at QuakeCon this year. You’ll want to drop by late next week and the week after for news and other related announcements. Until we start offering the news, drop by the official site to know what this free event has to offer.

    Comic-Con Coverage
    It looks like we’ll have a little more news trickle in over the next week, but not too much.

    Upcoming Community Activity
    While general announcements for community features and activities have been quite slow, we do have news coming as early as late next week or the week thereafter. Stay tuned for further details.

    Upcoming MLG Tournaments
    Looks like MLG has Halo 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Tekken 6 tournaments happening August 27-29. Drop by MLGDeimos’ GameSpot blog for further details.

    Member Spotlight

    This week’s member spotlight goes to readingfc_1 for his blog about choices that offer morality in certain video games.

    Featured User Videos

    - How to build a video review Elk
    - Random song I made edpeterson

    User Reviews

    Limbo seems to be the most talked about game this week. Check out the user reviews from Dan_Lionheart, AK_the_Twilight, Asagea_888, dracula_16, Setho10, and Maluigi.

    Here are the remainder user reviews!

    - Bayonetta (X360) ShadowLaguna
    - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (X360) bacchus2
    - Crysis (PC) Cunhao
    - Donkey Kong Land (GB) Gelugon_baat
    - EyeToy: Operation Spy (PS2) ebbderelict
    - Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) charizard1605
    - Mass Effect 2 (X360) NBAmaster33
    - Red Dead Redemption (PS3) PSFreak1
    - Sniper: Ghost Warrior (PC) Jedo
    - Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) NeonNinja
    - Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (X360) The_Game21x

    Blog Bunker

    - Video Game Character look-alike blog series Msteele48
    - Starcraft Versus Warhammer 40K subyman
    - How I Learned to Like Transformers Esotericus
    - My User-Written Game Reviews Gelugon_baat
    - Can't Buy a Thrill ehsan8888
    - Top 5 Most Annoying Enemies Garrison_Ford
    - Gaming PC built with pics boybrushdred
    - Comic-Con highlights Martialbullet
    - Real versus fake Starcraft II reviews smbius

    Staff Fingerprints

    GameSpot staff did tons of mingling in the comments and on Twitter during the San Diego Comic-Con this year, but let’s catch up with other areas, such as Mark Walton’s blog about IndySpot and Brendan Sinclair’s request for help in Starcraft II.

    Tip of the Week

    This week’s tip is about using the term Japan or Japanese properly when you’d like to shorten it. If you do a search online, you’ll notice that just having the term "Jap" is considered an offensive usage. Many of you do not realize that and will use this term to describe a Japanese game or a game created by a developer or publisher in Japan. If you’d like to use a short version of Japan or Japanese, the proper usage is "JPN." While the staff and moderators understand if you mistakenly use this term, it’s best to avoid using it. So please do take the time to type out the entire word or use JPN for short.

    That’s all for this week’s report. We’ll see you next week!

  • Weekly Report on Sunday

    I plan to have lots of news for you all tomorrow. Sorry once again for not being able to have time to post the weekly report on Fridays. In the meantime, I highly suggest checking checking this video about the upcoming Tron game and film. Nobody can say anything bad about neon lights and other awesomeness!

  • Weekly Report: Geekvention!

    Announcements

    Comic-Con Stage Show & More!
    Many of us are at San Diego Comic-Con this week and the stage shows will be packed with entertainment about a variety of games at the show. We'll also be bringing back the beard man all of you adore to do some show floor footage. Aside from the live cam tour and the stage show, we'll be bringing you special episodes of Tonight on the Spot. You'll want to drop by the stage show schedule, Live Cam Tour, and Tonight on the Spot pages for further details.

    GameSpot Staff Twitter Feed
    A number of us will be sharing tweets about things we encounter all week so be sure to drop by this page to see what we are doing.

    GameSpot Staff at Comic-Con
    I ran around the office to ask staff members what they planned on doing at San Diego Comic-Con this year. You'll also get to know if they like villains or heroes!

    More Comic-Con News!
    TV.com also plans to provide a stage show and coverage of the panels so you'll want to drop by its coverage for general news about your favorite celebrities and more.

    Member Spotlight

    This week's member spotlight goes to martialbullet for sharing his list of things to do at Comic-Con 2010.

    User Reviews

    - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (PS3) AzelKosMos
    - God Hand (PS2) smbius
    - Mickey Mouse: Magic Wands(GB) Gelugon_baat

    Blog Bunker

    - Brian Ekberg shares his history with GS and a farewell message.
    - Risky Rebirth of Goldeneye 007 Pierst179
    - First thoughts from an Oddworld enthusiast MC_Bally_Who
    - Films made after games Opnotikis
    - Let's Talk About Games Aberinkulas

    Tip of the Week

    One of the biggest things I have been hearing about over the past few months is how some people don't realize copying/pasting content from another person's work is considered plagiarism. GameSpot takes plagiarism seriously and we do consider the behavior an offense worthy of banning because we are a media site. Here are some tips for how you can avoid having your community permissions permanently (banned) or temporarily (suspended) removed from the site.

    - Are you reading another Web site's articles/features or a user's blog and finding ideas based on the work? Don't copy/paste what you read and make it your own. You should also consider that if the idea is unique enough, your topics shouldn't be reworked as another person's work either. What you might do is share that you had an idea from what the source had and link it in your blog or at the bottom of your blog. If you want to copy a sentence or two, make sure you share that it's from the source and do NOT claim this as your own content, ever.

    - Find a review created by another person, never use this as your own. We should never find ANY mirrored reviews on our site; if so, it will be removed for plagiarism and the user who caused the abuse will either be banned or suspended at the admin's discretion.

    If you believe someone has taken your content and used it as his or her own, please report the abuse and we'll investigate it further. Be sure to share where the source originated. For instance, if it was stolen from an article on 1UP, share the title of the 1UP article in the "other" report field, and we'll find it on the other site. Another example would be someone copying your reviews on his or her profile. You can kindly ask that person to remove it if you want to be nice, but if he or she doesn't remove the user reviews, report all of them and explain that it is your reviews (no need to paste URLS; we can find them on our profile). Thanks!

  • Weekly Report and YOU!

    Announcements

    Now Playing Episode
    The latest Now Playing episode showcases World of Craft Cataclysm. The upcoming expansion will change a lot of what you might know about the franchise, as well as add two new races, and more.

    Best of E3 Results are in!
    If you voted for all categories in our first Best of E3 Choice Awards, you should drop by your GameSpot achievements page to find the new emblem in your profile because the front page of your profile seems to not be displaying the emblem at this time. Drop by the feature to see if the categories you selected won! Thanks for participating.

    System Wars Monthly
    The June edition of System Wars monthly has been released with the happenings over the past month. On a related note, SWM editors are on the hunt for more writers. Watch this video for details.

    Permission Problems Continues
    Just a reminder that if you are encountering revoked permissions and your moderation history says otherwise, please read the notice I have about a known bug that is currently under investigation. Thanks for your continued patience during this time.

    Member Spotlight

    This week’s member spotlight goes to tiggerboy who has another creative edition about Masterchief’s journey! Be sure to tell him how much you love it so he’ll start making them more than once a year.

    Featured User Videos

    - SWM and YOU! LegendofNerd
    - War for Cybertron Evil Ending (obviously contains spoiler) darkbeing

    User Reviews

    - Alan Wake (X360) celtic1962
    - Aliens Versus Predator 2 (PC) Soniczero1993
    - Assassin's Creed II (PS3) JustPlainLucas
    - Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce (PS3) Domstercool
    - Excitebike (NES) Gelugon_baat
    - Final Fantasy XIII (X360) Dan_Lionheart
    - Green Day: Rock Band (PS3) gunslinger_boy
    - Green Day: Rock Band (X360) kbaily
    - Peggle (PS3) AK_the_Twilight
    - Pokemon Silver Version (GBC) TissueShoe
    - Puzzle Quest 2 (DC) GeekyDad
    - Puzzle Quest 2 (X360) PAJ89
    - Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS) ehsan8888
    - Rez HD (X360) Aberinkulas
    - Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (Wii) Asagea_888
    - Singularity (PC) Crimsader
    - Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) calvinsora

    Blog Bunker

    - 20 songs that should be used in a gametrailer 2k_fish
    - Brief History of Handheld Video Games part 1 Ice_man_1985
    - Games can kill you… through laughter! LordJSparrow
    - 3 consoles as highschool students jsurfer200
    - Annoying Aspects of Gaming: FPS edition ShootumUP26
    - PSOne classics that should be added to PSN Bobzfamily
    - The Rhyme to my Gamespot Friends exber
    - RealID, didnt read, too long Bethany
    - Five Franchises That Need Revivals TheHunterX360
    - Brink will change the Modern FPS fingerslipped
    - My History Of Racing Games JangoF-76

    Thanks to those of you who flagged your creative blogs as an "editorial" blog to make the research easier. Until next week!

  • Best of E3 Results

    • Posted Jul 9, 2010 10:59 pm GMT
    • By Staff

    As voting ended in our Best of E3 2010 Readers’ Choice Awards, we discovered multiple attempts to stuff the ballot boxes of a variety of the polls. In the name of fairness, we have taken steps to remove these fraudulent votes, which numbered in the thousands, and this has had a wide-ranging effect on the results of the competition.

    For reference, the games that seemed to attract ballot stuffing include The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Trine 2, Nail’d, Test Drive Unlimited 2, F1 2010, Bulletstorm, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City, Knights in the Nightmare, and Dead Space 2. The polls that were affected include Best Graphics, Best Platformer, Best Racing Game, Best Role-Playing Game, Best Shooter, Best Nintendo DS Game, Best PC Game, Best PSP Game, and Game of the Show.

    This issue came up because our polls lacked protection against anonymous voters who voted multiple times and, in some cases, thousands of times. We will be reevaluating our polling system for future features, such as Best of 2010, so that we don't have this problem again.

    Thanks to everyone who participated in our first Readers’ Choice Awards! We'll be handing out emblems to those of you who voted in every category here shortly.

  • Weekly Report: Hustle

    Announcements

    E3 Readers' Choice
    GameSpot's editors from around the globe have compiled a list of the most intriguing games, events, and hardware at E3 this year. You have the opportunity to vote on our selection! Be sure to vote for every category to receive the E3 2010 Battle Stuffer emblem. Voting ends July 9.

    Permission Problems
    If you are encountering revoked permissions and your moderation history says otherwise, please read this notice about a known bug that is currently under investigation.

    MLG Denver Combine Details
    MLGDeimos has shared details about the Denver Halo 3 event happening July 23-25. The Denver Combine will showcase Halo 3 4v4 and FFA competitions.

    Member Spotlight

    This week’s member spotlight goes to FamousCalibur for posting a newbs story. Do you recall the last time you were new to something and what you might have done? Check his blog to relive those memories!

    Featured User Videos

    The following videos are featured on the forums page.
    - danieleakes has a "normal day at GameStop" video about turning in games for cash.
    - dssttch uploaded a nifty video about the Halo ODST Midnight Road Island launch. There is a little profanity included.

    Additional User Videos

    The following videos are also worthy of your attention!
    - Red Dead Redemption video review Elk
    - Series of Post E3 2010 Thoughts Legolas_Katarn
    - Guitar Hero Jam! syam32245340
    - Gears of War 3 animation syler4815162342
    - Retro Da_Gamer Intro dragon_king64
    - Roxas runaway tcoastie

    User Reviews

    - Alan Wake (X360) celtic1962
    - Aliens Versus Predator 2 (PC) Soniczero1993
    - Assassin's Creed (X360) JustPlainLucas
    - Crystal Defenders (PS3) SemiMaster
    - God of War III (PS3) smithbubbajones
    - Golden Sun (GBA) ZanarkandTidus
    - Mass Effect 2 (X360) PSFreak1
    - ModNation Racers (PS3) charizard1605
    - Operation: Vietnam (DS) GeekyDad
    - Prey (PC) NeonNinja
    - Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (PS3) AzelKosMos
    - Red Dead Redemption (PS3) gdw0908
    - Resident Evil 5 (PC) Cunhao
    - Resistance: Fall of Man Reviews (PS3) stephenage
    - Rez HD (X360) Aberinkulas
    - Thief II: The Metal Age (PC) Gelugon_baat
    - TMNT (PS2) ebbderelict
    - Transformers: War for Cybertron (X360) Asagea_888
    - Wii Music (Wii) Garrison_Ford

    Blog Bunker

    - khoofia_pika has his top six picks of E3 2010.
    - johnsteed7 wants to know about the importance of immersion.
    - macrules_640 talks about Steam.
    - MC_Bally_Who has a list of hardware gimmicks.
    - smbius shares six reasons why Kinect could be a success.
    - so_hai shares gaming concepts and terms of yesteryear.
    - Bozanimal shares thoughts about three-dimensional.
    - Pierst179 talks about Nintendo.
    - Courtney817 posts what it's like to Kaboom.
    - bowlingotter and Ninja-Hippo share rants and raves about OnLive.

    Staff Fingerprints

    - Shaun McInnis is enjoying Red Dead Redemption.
    - Brian Ekberg shares the latest books he’s reading:
    - Kevin VanOrd shares opinions about labeling games as "good."
    - Alex Sassoon Coby grew a beard for all of you beard lovers to check out.
    - Stanley Lin shares World Cup thoughts.
    - Justin Calvert explains details about the Microsoft press conference goody.
    - Jody Robinson created a silly music video spoof about a new headset.

    Tip of the Week

    This week's tip is brought to you by ChiliDragon. You can never have enough knowledge about keeping your accounts secure. Drop by her latest blog to read tips, and share the link with your friends who aren't too Internet-savvy! Her tips can be applied to your GameSpot account and abroad!

    Final Note

    As you might have noticed, we don't have that much news to share this week, but you all had plenty of happenings worth sharing. There will be no weekly report this Friday, because I gathered some of your blogs and reviews that occurred over the weekend and on Monday. We'll consider this two weeks' worth, and I'll gather your contributions from Tuesday through the following Friday for the following Friday, July 9, weekly report.

    Until next week!

  • Revoked Community Privileges Notice

    Over the past three weeks, GameSpot members have been experiencing revoked permissions, but their moderation history does not display any suspension or ban marks. All of these users have access to send private messages to other GameSpot members, which could not happen if they were moderated with a suspension or ban.

    While staff members continue efforts to resolve this problem, please contact customer support immediately if you are encountering this technical problem. When you send your inquiry, be sure to use the moderation dropdown and include your GameSpot username to expedite your request.

    Also, be sure you grab your reference number to confirm that you did submit your inquiry to us. The submission form continues to suggest possible answers, so you will want to keep clicking the submit button until you get the reference number. Thanks for your continued patience during this time.

  • Best of E3 Nomination Phase Completed

    As some of our users may have noticed, late last week resulted in a huge spike in the popularity of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings as seen on our Top 10 Most Nominated Games E3 page. This was primarily accomplished through a legitimate grassroots campaign on several large international gaming Web sites, but as part of our standard review process, we discovered evidence that some ballot stuffing was occurring by a handful of dedicated fans. We have since taken steps to remove these fraudulent nominations and will proceed with our Best of E3 Awards.

  • Community E3 Report

    Announcements


    GameSpot Podcasts!
    We have numerous podcasts discussing the latest pre-E3 excitement. The HotSpot goes into early discussion about WWE All Stars, Red Faction: Armageddon, Infamous 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dungeon Siege 3, and the new Harry Potter cover-based third-person shooter. The GameSpot UK staff also has a podcast episode about some rumors around E3, including PSP 2, Xbox 360 Slim, and Valve's mystery announcement. The GameSpot AU staff has a podcast episode that shares their predictions for the show, most anticipated games, and potential failures.

    E3 2010 Wallpaper
    We are looking for your E3 2010 wallpaper creations this year. Drop by here to participate or find others who have made E3 2010 wallpapers.

    E3 Tips Reminder
    Check out these 5 tips about how you can make E3 awesome! You can also watch the latest Today On the Spot show for the same tips!

    E3 IPhone Coverage
    We should have an E3 "platform" under the GameSpot iPhone mobile application in the next couple of days.

    E3 2010 Schwag!
    The attendees who drop by the GameSpot booth this year will receive an Energizer battery pack and an Evolution of Gaming poster designed by Aled Lewis and produced by IAM8BIT.

    Blog Bunker

    - Shaun McInnis posts the last day before heading to Los Angeles.
    - Darthkaiser shares his top 10 tips about what you should avoid doing during E3.
    - david_lck shares what you should know about E3.
    - ehsan8888 shares the business side of E3.
    - nutcracker goes all out with E3, aliens, and more.
    - e1shw shares his thoughts about last year’s press conferences.
    - gbrading has pre-E3 afternoon tea.
    - -INKling- thinks about his most anticipated E3 games.
    - Misfit1119 plans to attend E3 this year.
    - pikastar, Juniorpower, and SymonDezyn are excited about E3 2010.

  • Get ready for E3 2010!

    This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo page is packed with awesome ways for you to interact with the latest breaking news! While we already have a nifty how-to guide, I'd like to share five tips for how you can make GameSpot your one stop for all things E3!

    1. Familiarize yourself with e3.gamespot.com! Get started by clicking on every navigation menu we have available because you never know which page will end up being your favorite. My personal favorite is the E3 photo gallery.

    2. Personalize your own E3 page! This year you can filter your own E3 news based on the games you care about the most. We also made it super easy to add games to your list by using the following buttons that appear all over the E3 site.

    3. Chat it up! Drop by the E3 chat room to interact with GameSpot staff on the E3 show floor and other GameSpotters. We also have additional ways for you to discuss the latest news, trends, and other happenings on the site by using the comments and sending us your questions to the staff during the stage demos.

    4. Visit the E3 show floor virtually! The booth tab is currently gray, but once you see it working, you'll have the opportunity to see what the booths look like and what games are being showcased--just as you would if you were on the show floor!

    5. Brag that you virtually attended! GameSpot achievements are a good way to prove that you attended E3 virtually! Watching any of our video broadcasts live will grant you a GameSpot achievement (posting in the comments or the chat room will not grant the emblem).

    Drop by the How to E3 guide for further details.

  • Weekly Community Report: E3 Sunrise

    Announcements


    e3.gamespot.com
    Your one-stop place for all things Electronic Entertainment Expo is e3.gamespot.com. All you need to do is go to your browser’s options and change the home page to http://e3.gamespot.com for the entire week of E3. We’ll also have an E3 guide available some time next week, which is rumored to have details about how to achieve the E3 emblems (GameSpot achievements).

    System Wars Monthly
    The May 2010 edition of System Wars features reviews of Super Mario Galaxy 2, Red Dead Redemption, Monster Hunter Tri, and 3D Game Heroes and is packed with other news! On a related note, the System Wars forum has been moved up to the general games category on the forums directory (formerly listed on the bottom of the platforms category).

    Weekly Report Update
    I’m missing some pieces to this report due to limited time this week. In next week’s report, the TOTS community spotlight segment will be skipped. We are all heading out much earlier this year, so there isn't enough time on Friday to compile the full report. However, I do plan to post an E3-related community report like last year, excluding the member spotlight. Please get your E3-related blogs posted before June 11. As always, you can PM me about your latest blog or flag the blog as an editorial blog.

    User Reviews


    Wii/DS/GBA:
    - Super Mario Galaxy 2 JustPlainLucas
    - Electroplankton ZanarkandTidus
    - Ghost Squad loopy_101
    - Snood -SpikyBlueHero-

    PC:
    - Sanitarium Gelugon_baat
    - Need for Speed Underground fastpunk
    - Mass Effect 2 topsemag55

    PlayStation 3:
    - Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype Asagea_888
    - Batman: Arkham Asylum bigd575
    - Just Cause 2 AK_the_Twilight
    - The Orange Box stephenage

    Xbox 360:
    - Alan Wake AK_the_Twilight
    - Mirror's Edge Sharvie

    Genesis:
    - ToeJam & Earl 3KindgomsRandy

    iPhone:
    - Chaos Rings SemiMaster

    Union Alert


    - The emblem union has a site enhancements thread about the emblems on profiles. Go vote in this compiled thread that was provided by Squall20XX

    Blog Bunker


    - Darthkaiser has a nifty history of gaming blogs.
    - Uesugi-dono and nachi_lobo are pretty wild about Red Dead Redemption.
    - Canana, Pierst179, and khoofia_pika have blogs about E3.
    - tntkng has his top 10 twists in games (spoilers are likely to be included).
    - mprezzy finds there to be some kind of psychology in the status of gamers.
    - Daavpuke shares some tips about how to invite members to your union.
    - MC_Bally_W believes 3D in gaming is a repeat of history.
    - BIGMercenary has an interesting blog about Facebook and World of Warcraft, which is associated to the video linked in his blog.
    - JustPlainLucas celebrates the Mario Bros. Franchise.
    - Orlando_Magic posted a blog about retro gaming.
    - ehsan8888 shares his top 10 Mario power-ups.
    - calvinsora enlightens us with his top 10 atmospheres.
    - Aberinkulas talks about Blizzard and Starcraft.

    Tip of the Week


    The latest tip is about using the E3 chat room for your real-time discussions instead of the comments. The chat room will be open to all registrants. We also will not be granting emblems based on posting in the comments this year. Simply watching the live streams will grant them. Further E3 details to follow!

  • Weekly Report: Good Times Roll!

    Announcements

    E3 Countdown
    Mark your calendars to watch the live shows and press conferences starting June 14 and ending on June 17. We also have plans to bring some of the older types of emblems, but there are definitely going to be some new ones this year. We even thought about the late-night viewers this year!

    Profile Appearance Update
    If you check your profiles, you might notice that your profiles now display 10 GameSpot achievements and 10 in-game achievements, instead of four of each. We'll share more details related to GameSpot Fuse not long after E3. If you aren't seeing 20 icons on your profile, it may be because you don't have that many emblems. Watching this year's E3 coverage will likely help you achieve some easy emblems, so be sure to check back here

    Team Fortress 2 Game Night
    With E3 keeping staff too busy to play in game nights, let's get together to play Team Fortress 2 on Wednesday starting at 5 p.m. PT. Note that I'll be playing on the PC, so I need a PlayStation 3 and an Xbox 360 host for the night. Let me know if you're interested!

    Retro Box Art Hunt
    The latest box art hunt activity ends on Monday, May 31, at 4 p.m. PT. Get your retro box cover guesses in before then!

    Calling All Mac Gamers!
    We currently don't have that many Mac review writers to feature in the weekly report. If you know of any Mac reviewers, please drop by the user review suggestion thread.

    Member Spotlight

    There was a tough choice between many of you! This week's member spotlight is Wolf-5 for sharing a brief history about how he got involved with games involving Atari and Nintendo.

    Featured User Videos

    - GameSpot Profile Preview MGSsuperfan
    - Just Cause 2 Video Review Elk

    5 Random Discussions

    1. PC & Mac: gbrading took the time to create a welcome index thread!
    2. E3 2010: The forum is open for discussions, and this thread allows you to share your E3 history.
    3. System Wars: While this might not be truly focused on platform comparisons, anotherone1 wants to know which RockStar game you all prefer: GTA4 or RDR?
    4. General Games: Rheiken wants to know what is the most serious injury you have had while gaming.
    5. Legacy: VICOUS_VERN would like you to share your rarest game.

    User Reviews

    PC/Mac: Portal TissueShoe - Split/Second LGTX - Total Annihilation Gelugon_baat - Crysis Warhead NeonNinja

    PS3/PS2/PSP: Just Cause 2 AK_the_Twilight - Final Fantasy XIII khoofia_pika - Silpheed: The Lost Planet loopy_101 - The Orange Box stephenage

    Wii/DS: Sonic and the Black Knight kbaily - Rabbids Go Home c_rake - Silent Hill: Shattered Memories dark_being - Photo Dojo smm217

    X360: Alan Wake smithbubbajones/JustPlainLucas - Split/Second wonderboy_46 - Perfect Dark The_Game21x - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Asagea_888

    Blog Bunker

    - mprezzy talks about the myths involving the gamer demographic.
    - subyman shares what he thinks about using Mac as a platform for gaming.
    - MC_Bally_Who promotes a healthy gaming style.
    - jazzfan4 thinks Mario still comes out ahead.
    - khoofia_pika wants to see more innovation in games.
    - ShootumUP26 wonders if 3D is the future of games.
    - buldog300 takes an in-depth look at the culture around female gamers.
    - TheJustin gives us a little teaser on how awesome he is at making music.
    - KO4U has been going to town with interesting video blogs!

    Blog Bunker: History Edition

    Below you'll find the other game blogs that were worthy of the member spotlight, but I could choose only one!

    - XenoLair offered a different kind of perspective because we got a chance to learn about the history of games, but he also showed us a bit of a timeline about when he got involved with gaming.
    - Kratos2030 had a nice, well-rounded blog that provided his stories and more, but the gray text was a bit too difficult to read on the dark theme on GS.
    - Ice_man_1985 has an ongoing series about the history of games and platforms, and he is probably not someone to mess with in a trivia challenge! Nice image layout! There was no history about his gaming background, though, so we gave him the Soapbox emblem instead.
    - hesel provided a timeline about his history of games since he was born.
    - THE_DRUGGIE provided an interesting blog about failed consoles that had potential. Not sure if it was for this blog activity, but it definitely fits here.
    - c_rake a neat blog about Pac-Man celebrating its 30th anniversary. Not sure if it was for this blog activity, but it definitely fits here as well.

    Shout-Out

    I’d like to give a shout-out to matastig for his creative pre-E3 image.

    Tip of the Week

    We hear all the time about users getting hacked or experiencing identify theft. And there are some users who don't realize the Internet means one thing: Everything can be shared to the public--even private conversations and FTP servers. This week's tip helps you identify any security breaches you might have. Don't be the next victim!

  • Weekly Report Delay & Level Problems

    Hey Everyone!

    We have had a lot of cool things happening behind the scenes centered around the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and I am sad to share that the weekly report has been postponed until tomorrow. I did gather some awesome blogs many of you posted in the past week, but there simply isn't enough time in a day to finish the report with user reviews and videos and other areas I would like to cover. Instead of making a brief report, I'd like to make sure it's robust as normal.

    Also, if you have been encountering some technical problems, such as myfeed error messages, level problems, and other bugs on the site, please report these problems in the technical support forum thread.

  • Tip of the Week: Security Breaches

    • Posted May 26, 2010 12:30 am GMT
    • By Staff

    We hear it all of the time. Users getting hacked or experiencing identify theft. And there are some users who don't realize the Internet means one thing: Everything can be shared to the public--even private conversations and FTP servers. You might share one little story via instant messenger to one friend (even someone you know in person) who might share it with just one person, and that person shares it with people in a live chat room. Before you know it, the story about mooning the old janitor at football practice in the dark night with the moonlight shining on your derriere becomes everyone's business.

    An oops like that isn't too serious, right? What gets me is the security problems many of you face every single day with the social interaction tools used on the Internet. You might read the news often enough to know what happens with Twitter, Facebook, and other Web site security problems (if you don't know, do some keyword searches in Google), but what I don't want is ANY of you having a hacked GameSpot account. It's not fair to your friends getting private messages from strangers; it's not fair for your account to get a rep for serious abuse worthy of a ban.

    This is a little message for those of you who do not understand security problems on the Internet and how to overcome being easily hacked on the Internet.

    1) Sharing pictures online for the entire world to see? Sure, maybe that's fine. Who cares if they know Uncle Bob's last name, but it would be unwise to share your mother's parent's last names in the captions or descriptions of your pictures. We all might have a habit of calling our grandma by the last name without realizing that it is our mother's maiden name. That info is a hacker's dream for messing with someone. If you are using any social Web sites that have real names, do not share the friends list with everyone. The hacker might contact the list members to ask questions about you, and there goes even more security questions if you aren't careful. Also, try to fiddle with the security questions with false answers instead of answers people might have. If your favorite color is blue, put greenbutreallyblue as the answer or something else that won't be easy to find on a wild guess.

    2) Publicly sharing your e-mail should only happen if you don't have the e-mail attached to an account with your credit/debit cards. Ebay, Paypal, Amazon, Steam, and the like are easy to mess with once a hacker has breached your e-mail. With just a click, they can restore your password for that account. Sure, maybe it will be a prank where they spend $600 to purchase you something, but it's not always easy to return your goods without having some kind of "Return to Shelf" fee or other penalty. Some people who breach accounts also find ways to "download" content, like music and games as well. Be super cautious in this area and know every single registered account you have attached to your debit/credit cards. Also, there are a lot of articles on the Internet about this, so DO sign up for a bank or service that will alert you of suspicious transactions and add other alerts about certain amounts of money transaction alerts.

    3) Keep every single password for each account different. You might not be able to remember all of them and have to do a couple of password recoveries, but this pretty much causes you to have one account hacked instead of all of the ones with same password. Always keep a long password here at GameSpot and include every character it might accept (don't just use numbers and letters--don't just use a word in the dictionary either). Instant messengers like MSN, AIM, and other accounts are also easy subjects for hacking, so make sure you also have a different password for those accounts. Don't add people you don't know on these instant messengers.

    4) If possible, do make a habit of changing out your password every month or two on GameSpot.

    5) Do NOT allow your e-mail to be public if it's associated with an important account, GS account(s), and the accounts associated to credit/debit cards.

    6) Be aware if you have an account on a Web site that allows for easy account deletion (such as using one button to close the account). Be super mindful. GameSpot currently does not allow account deletions for each registrant, so we are one site that is not too easy for a hacker to completely destroy your account, although he or she might be able to remove all of the content you have.

    7) The saying about the less you register, the more secure you are is correct. Know where you register and remember you have an account. When accounts were hacked in the early days, it had to do with users registering at a UBB (forum), which made it easy for an owner of the forum to check passwords and use them on other Web sites. That's why you need to monitor your registration activity as much as possible.

    8) Consider a secure Firefox browser app that allow you to monitor Web sites that are not secure and alert you when something is suspicious. Avoid visiting unfamiliar Web sites as much as possible. Do some searches for tech news Web sites like CNET http://news.cnet.com/security/ to find other ways to overcome Internet security problems.

    9) Do not click on links you are unfamiliar with in case the site ends up phishing your information. Check URLs as often as you can, even if the Web site looks similar to a site you visited. For instance, the site www.gamesp0t.com (zero instead of o) doesn't exist, but if it were a phishing site, the Web site design would be exactly the same as GameSpot. The only difference is that the login field will track your login and password to breach your account on GameSpot. By simply looking at the URL when you are linked, you could save your account from being breached on GameSpot.

    10) NEVER EVER share your password with anyone, not even grandma or your dog. You never know when family, friends, or the dog will go rabid. You are responsible for what happens to your accounts, and the problems you encounter can easily be avoided if you play it smart. Keep it secret, keep it safe.

    Now that you know these tips about discovering ways to keep your accounts secure throughout the Internet, here are some ways to find out what other people know about you on the Internet.

    1) Consider doing a "search" in Google to see what places your e-mail comes up. If it's public, it's easy for an account breach on any of the accounts you have outside GS.

    2) Change your e-mail to your GS account if it's known to the public. Why? As mentioned earlier, if someone hacks your e-mail, that person can restore passwords or change them on any Web site that you have attached to it. Keep it safe!

    3) See what people know about you by doing a search for your real name at Web sites that do contact info searches. Is your real name unique? If people know your location and real name, you might be easy to look up via real name Web site searches that share your address and phone number. Figure out ways to remove your name from these places by not being in the phone book (these days, mobile phones make it easier) or you could always move away. ;)

    4) Get in the habit of logging in to GameSpot with your secure e-mail. Users already know your username, and this will help staff immediately identity the intruder. Obviously, we have other ways to track your login history, too.