How do you feel about putting yourself in with a chance of winning a share of $50,000? Well, that's what is on offer for the winning team at the upcoming launch event for EA and BioWare's upcoming role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins, and we've got three places at the finals to give away to some of you. And for those of you not lucky enough to be selected, we've got a total of 10 download codes for the game's premium digital edition.

If you win, then EA will look after getting you to London for the event and will take care of you while you're here. This includes train travel from your nearest British Rail station, travel within London, and three days of hotel accommodations. All of this--and the game's rating--means that you have to be 18 or over to enter, I'm afraid. If you enter and are underage, you won't get into the event.

Because Dragon Age: Origins - Wardens' Quest is a 24-hour marathon task for teams of four, we need to make sure that you're also up to snuff when it comes to role-playing game skills. Since this is slightly hard to measure, we want you to tell us what your proudest RPG moment is, and back it up with a screenshot or similar picture if at all possible--though this isn't essential. This could be a massively multiplayer online moment--maybe beating a tough WOW hard mode or getting a legendary item--or it might be getting hold of a particularly hard item in a Final Fantasy game. It all depends on what you're proudest of achieving in any sort of RPG you can think of. A screenshot isn't absolutely necessary, but if you haven't got proof, I recommend giving us a bit more background on the moment in question so we believe you.

So, how do I enter, I hear you cry? Well, we've decided to open up all manner of ways for you to do so. You can use Twitter, by tweeting @gamespotuk, you can enter in the comments below, you can e-mail us at competitions@gamespot.co.uk, or you can send us a carrier pigeon--though it should be noted that proof of sending will not count as proof of receipt.

If you want a full copy of the rules for the Dragon Age: Origins - Wardens' Quest event, then e-mail us at the address above, and we'll get them out to you. Normal GS UK rules, terms, and conditions apply to those entering this competition. You have until midnight London time on Wednesday, October 21, to enter.

The event kicks off at County Hall in London--which is in spitting distance of GS UK towers, as it happens--with an orientation session at 2 p.m. on October 27. The competition proper runs from 10 a.m. on October 28 for 24 hours. Team members will take turns playing a single Dragon Age: Origins character of their creation for the 24-hour period, and points will be awarded to each team based on a number of factors, including character level, the amount of exploration you've done, and how much of the game you've completed. Exactly how the scoring will work is under wraps for now, but all will be explained at the orientation event.

Pro Evo fans in Japan have plenty to be excited about today--Microsoft and Sony have just unleashed two new Pro Evo 10 console bundles that will be available in November costing ¥38,000 (£265).

Image Source: DenGeki

Microsoft's bundle contains the Xbox 360 Elite, a 120GB hard drive, two wireless control pads, and a copy of the game. The Sony bundle includes the new PlayStation 3 Slim, complete with 120GB hard drive, one wireless controller, and a copy of the game.

No European announcement has been made, no doubt causing distress for the millions of Europeans still playing Pro Evo on their PlayStation 2s. However, SCEE did not flat out deny the EU bundles existence when questioned, telling GameSpot UK, "I'm afraid we don't have any details for the Pro Evo bundle at the moment." Microsoft's response also did not deny their existence saying, "No announcements have been made on this for Europe."

The bundle follows a spate of recent offerings from Sony and Microsoft in the run-up to Christmas. The Xbox 360 gets a limited edition 250GB Modern Warfare 2 bundle and Forza 3 bundle.

The PS3 Slim meanwhile is due to get several 250GB bundles, with gamers able to choose from two titles from the Platinum range, Uncharted 2, or a Blu-ray movie pack containing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Dark Knight, and Sony's official Blu-ray Remote. The Sony bundles will retail for £284.99 while the Microsoft bundles will hit £249.99.

While games consoles have traditionally been used for playing games, Microsoft and Sony have both been touting the home entertainment value of their consoles. Microsoft has offered Netflix movie downloads and Twitter support, while Sony has its Blu-ray drive and media streaming functionality. Another ace up the sleeve for Sony is the BBC iPlayer, which it can access through the integrated Web browser.

However, iPlayer has really become a core feature with the recent 3.0 firmware update, which adds an icon to the XMB and updates the software used to run the player. According to the BBC, this has now pushed iPlayer usage on the console to the point where it now accounts for around 10 percent of all iPlayer viewing, overtaking the Mac at 8.5 percent to become the second-most-popular platform.

Thanks to additional H.264 Flash support, coupled with hardware acceleration and decoding, the new iPlayer videos are streamed to the PS3 at 1500Kbps, which Anthony Rose, Controller Online Media Group and Vision at the BBC, is calling "almost as good as broadcast television!"

BBC's iPlayer service launched in 2007, with the service rolling out to the PS3 and Wii towards the tail end of 2008. GameSpot UK sister site CNET UK recently interviewed Rose, who revealed that the platform uses an astonishing amount of bandwidth, equating to about 60Gbps, or around 7.5GB downloaded every second during peak hours.

Despite the success of the PS3 iPlayer, some users have reported issues with the player icon not appearing in the XMB. According to the BBC, iPlayer will appear only on the dashboard of consoles with serial numbers in the format of CECH-XXX3, which is the code for units sold in the UK.

Following similar news in the US, Microsoft has announced a complete reshuffle of its Xbox 360 hardware lineup in the UK. The most welcome change is the Xbox 360 Elite price cut to £199.99, which is a reduction of £30 from its previous price point of £229.99. The Elite is the flagship model in the console lineup, as it's bundled with a 120GB hard drive. The price cut will take effect from tomorrow, August 28--just in time for the Bank Holiday weekend and four days before the launch of the new PS3 Slim console.

While the Xbox 360 Elite sees a price drop, the Xbox 360 Arcade will jump in price by £20, from £139.99 to £159.99. This is in stark contrast to the US, where the Arcade model has remained at its previous price point of $199.99.

Questioned about the matter, Microsoft responded: "We have not made upward adjustments to the trade price of consoles before. A modest increase on the trade price of Xbox 360 Arcade consoles [in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa] allows us to offset exchange rate fluctuations and changes in local market conditions while still offering the most affordable console on the market."

The Xbox 360 Pro bundle, which included a 60GB hard drive, will now be discontinued, leaving just the Elite and Arcade models going forward.

In a move strikingly similar to Radiohead's industry upsetting pay what you like deal for its last album In Rainbows, Eidos has announced that gamers will be able to preorder the latest Championship Manager game for as little as a penny, plus a transaction fee.

The offer, which went live this morning on the official site, allows gamers to preorder a digital copy of the game ready for download just past midnight on September 11. Though the game can be ordered from as little as 1 penny, there is a £2.50 transaction charge added, bringing the minimum cost of the title to £2.51 – though gamers will then have to pay a further £5 for in-season updates should they decide they want them further down the line.

"This is the first time an initiative like this has ever been tried in the video games market," Beautiful Game Studio's general manager Roy Meredith told magazine Develop. "This is the best Championship Manager the studio has ever made, and we want as many people as possible to try the full new game, as once they try it, we're convinced they will come back again and again."

Eidos may be hoping to entice back some old fans after the developers of the original Championship Manager titles Sports Interactive jumped ship to create its own game, Football Manager, in 2005. The publisher also skipped the release of the 2009 version of the game to allow current developers Beautiful Game Studios more time to improve the title, in an effort to restore the series to its former glory after years of lagging behind Football Manager in terms of both sales and critical acclaim.

Gamers interested in the pay-what-you-want deal have until just before the game's launch on September 10 to get in on the offer, after which the game will return to full price. Fans of a physical product will be pleased to know that a special edition boxed copy of the game, complete with additional CM Season Live updates and bonus DVDs, will be available for £29.99 on traditional retail shelves on September 11.

As many of our Web-savvy readers know, shopping online lets you avoid the pushy salesman in Currys and is invariably cheaper than trudging down to your local store only to find what you want isn't in stock anyway.

This is particularly true of games, CDs and DVDs, which are often several pounds cheaper online thanks to an EU tax relief called "Low Value Consignment Relief" (LVCR), among other things. It applies to goods that are imported from outside the EU up to the value of £18 and allows those goods to be exempt from VAT.

Guernsey, not just about cows.

Now, the Guardian is reporting that the government may be attempting to crack down on retailers that base their online operations in the Channel Islands to then avoid millions of pounds in tax using this provision. Letters leaked from Treasury minister Stephen Timms shows that the government believes companies avoiding tax in this way "may be abusing rules."

Currently, nearby Crown dependencies the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey are not part of the UK and as such are outside of the EU. They have become the base of many online retailers, such as play.com, TheHut.com, and high street retailer HMV, which moved its entire online operation to Guernsey in 2005.

A practice often used by retailers is to export goods from the UK to the Channel Islands and then post them back again to customers VAT free. Although consumers are able to make significant savings, the Treasury has estimated that VAT-free sales to the UK from the Channel Islands has created a £110m tax deficit, after sales grew to £620m last year.

HM Revenue and Customs is attempting to use a previous case involving the bank Halifax as a precedent to shut down the practice. In that case, the court established an "abuse of rights" principle that stopped the bank from using complex tax structures to gain an advantage on other banks.

Any ruling against the practice could have a significant impact on online retailers' bottom lines, and so consumers used to the low pricing available from online shopping, could face a rise in prices.

Announced back at the 2008 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus and accompanying game Wii Sports Resort promised much improved remote sensitivity and near 1:1 tracking between the players movements and the action onscreen. Fast-forward a year without its release and Nintendo played up the device again this year's E3. MotionPlus finally saw the light of day in June, albeit without the accompanying Sports Resort. Instead it was left to third-party titles, such as EA's Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 to fill the gap.


You must be at least this happy when playing Wii Sports Resort.

It seems like a lot of gamers out there are the patient type, and the pent-up demand has seen Wii Sports Resort rocket to the top of the UK charts after its release last Friday. It becomes the fourth biggest week-one release for a Wii title behind Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Chart gatekeepers ELSPA also pointed out that week-one sales of the actual Wii console were almost identical to that of the new title, suggesting that a lot of Wii owners are picking this one up. Expect extra accurate Wii injuries to surface over the next few weeks.

The rest of the chart sees little change, with no other new entries. Wii fit still holds a place in the chart at number four, and it will be interesting to see if Wii Sports Resort can top the balance board game's seven consecutive weeks at number one. For more on the game check out the review, or for comedy value, watch GameSpot UK's own Guy Cocker tackle the game in true Nintendo style below!

With the current financial climate far from rosy, the last thing that consumers want to hear is news of increasing prices. Unfortunately for gamers it looks like that's about to happen as a games retail trade publication is reporting that upcoming shooter Modern Warfare 2 will have a recommended retail price of £54.99, £10 more than the original, on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The price rise could set an unwelcome precedent, especially as the game is set to be one of the biggest sellers this Christmas. The rise could in turn encourage other publishers to increase the RRP of their own titles. The reason for the price hike is unclear but could be attributed to a number of factors including current exchange rates between the strong Euro and the weak Pound. Rising development costs could also be a significant issue with games such as Assassins Creed 2 having more than 450 people on staff, and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot predicting next-gen games could cost up to $60 million to develop – though Ubisoft's murderous sequel is currently listed as having an RRP of £49.99 on Xbox 360 and PS3.

Though the RRP is £54.99, online retailers such as Amazon and Play have the game available to pre-order for £44.99, having applied a hefty discount. Prices for the special "hardened edition" and the over-the-top "prestige edition", complete with night vision goggles have not yet been announced.