Weekly Wrap-Up: Happy Birthday Atari

The Recap

GameSpotter's Contributions: This week's Blog Bunker had quite a few entries with over 20 different blogs. The Gameflicks report was a little quieter than usual, but we shared many GameSpot Spotlight classics to make up the difference. And the Gamer Reviews seemed to favor Xbox 360 titles, though the PlayStation 3 followed close behind, with PC and handheld titles bringing up the rear.

Announcements

MLG in Orlando
The GameSpot video crew is headed out to the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit in Orlando, Florida, this weekend! MLG provides a chance for professional gamers to live the dream of playing competitive games for a living, while offering ways for players to learn how to improve their skills and socialize with some of the biggest names in competitive gaming. The tournaments include StarCraft II, Halo: Reach, and Call of Duty: Black Ops. As for the e-celebs that will be on the scene, the professional gamers and teams that will make an appearance include SlayerS-Boxer, ST_JulyZerg, Quantic FeaR, eon EnVy, Instinct, and more.
For a chance to check out the action, head on over here. Want more coverage? Then you'll definitely want to consider checking out MLG's LIVE streams all weekend long. To access the high-definition ad-free streams and discounts on competitors or events passed, you'll want to become an MLG member.

BlizzCon 2011 Coverage - Coming Soon
BlizzCon kicks off on Friday, October 21. What are some things that we hope to see? More news on World of Warcraft and some FuFighting? Perhaps even some DOTA action? Some StarCraft perhaps? Well, whatever ends up being shared with the world will be covered by us in full force. GameSpot editors Tom Magrino and Maxwell McGee will be bringing you some excellent coverage. Is there something you want us to cover? Be sure to sound off in our BlizzCon thread here.

GameSpot Minecraft Block Party
As some of you may know, there are a few GameSpot staff members who fancy the game quite a bit. And if you've been paying attention to the good folks over at GameSpot UK, you are already aware that GameSpot is hosting a Minecraft server, and we would like to invite you to join us! For more details on the GameSpot server, check out FearTheCreeper's blog.

AGDC Online 2011 Wrap-Up
Another year at GDC in Austin has come and gone, and it was an interesting time. We've heard doomsday about the end of consoles, microtransation missteps, and calls for game maturity. There were many other exciting stories to read as well. Check out our news coverage of the event at this page here.

Member Spotlight

Earlier this week, we mentioned that we had a copy of the Battlefield 3 novel The Russian to give away to the GameSpot user who could come up with the best cover art for the novel. We had several entries, and after thinking long and hard, GameSpot editors Carolyn, Maxwell, and Fuse sensation CharlieSpot all weighed in with a unanimous vote. The winner of the Member Spotlight, the book, and the level up is -DaNuTz- for his awesome entry.

Union of the Week

This week's featured union is "Union of Ice and Fire". This union features a community for those who are fans of "A Song of Ice and Fire and the HBO TV version known commonly as "Game of Thrones." This is a new and close-knit community, and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the leader and GameSpot moderator Artekus. You can read the interview here.

Tip of the Week

Embedding Videos on Your Blog
Ever want to show off a video on your blog? It's as easy as ctrl+C and ctrl+V. If the video is currently on GameSpot, all you have to do is fetch the BBCODE for the video and paste it in your blog. You might think that you need to be a GameSpot Total Access Subscriber for this awesome feature, but all you have to be is a Phoenix Down (a level 10 GameSpot member).

Activity

Project Pamper
Attention unions! As promised, we'll be starting some union activities to help with your union's level gain. This week is Project Pamper. For more details about this activity, click here.