• 10Jul 07

  Behind the scenes pics from GameSpot HQ at E3 2007

  Hi all. Direct from San Diego, here are a few pics from inside (and outside) GameSpot's E3 2007 headquarters at Venice Beach. We've taken over a two-level space right on Santa Monica pier--check out a few shots below.

  

  Welcome to GameSpot on the beach!

  

  Here's the view from our front window onto Santa Monica pier and the beach beyond.

  

  The second level houses all of the editorial staff. If you look closely, you can GS AU's Dan Chiappini typing away.

  

  GS' studio. This is where all of the live action from the next few days of E3 will happen from. Wave to Rich!

  Come back soon for more photos!

  • Posted Jul 10, 2007 5:28 pm GMT
  • 11 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Tweet
• 17Dec 06

  And the winner of Marvel Ultimate Alliance Face Off competition is...

  If there's one thing we've learnt about you--our loyal and loving GameSpot AU readers--it's that you all seem to love Spider-man and Wolverine. Or at the very least you'd love to see them bash the crap out of each other.
  
  In our Marvel Ultimate Alliance Face Off competition, we asked you to come up with your ultimate hero battle. Reading through the gazillion entries (OK--thousands) we received, we found many cool suggestions--but also many, many, many entries asking for a Spider-man/Wolverine smack down. And while having ol'webhead and Logan square off is a pretty nifty idea, we decided to award our prizes to the most creative, different and downright funny entries we came across. Besides, we all know who'd come out on top in a Spidey/Wolvey battle anyway -- Spider-man FTW! (Sorry, showing my Spidey bias there...)
  
  So without any further ado, let me introduce you to the winner of GameSpot AU's Marvel Ultimate Alliance Face Off competition--Daniel McFadyen, who's also known by his GameSpot username of evilmanman. Daniel has scored himself AU$5000 worth of goodies, which includes an Xbox 360 Premium Pack, Panasonic 81cm HD LCD TV, Panasonic home theatre system, an Xbox 360 wireless controller, an Xbox Live Vision Camera and a copy of Activision's Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Daniel's entry was a little strange, slightly un-PC and made us laugh:
  
  "I would like to see Professor X fight some sort of stair monster. Maybe a mutated stair machine that is out of control. Can you imagine it? "Eat stairs, Professor!" "No, my only weakness!" Naturally, hilarity will ensue."
  
  We also chose 10 runner-up winners, each of whom receives their own copy of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Below are some of the runner-up entries--we're not listing them all because if you've won, you probably already know about it because our marketing team would have notified you by now.
  
  "Wolverine versus Iceman, because summer is coming up and everyone loves snow-cones."
  
  "Wolverine and Mario. One possesses keen reflexes and a healing factor that allows him to recover from virtually any wound while the other has an ass that can flatten opponents and doesn't even complain about saving the same person hundreds of times."
  
  "My dad, against your dad. Come on, let's just end this 1000 year old argument once and for all. P.S My dad can kick your dad's ass."
  
  "Dr. Who vs. Prof. X... both are pacifists and intellectuals, so there wouldn't so much as a big battle, but instead lots of intellectual banter, which could be very thought provoking. Eventually they both might get tired and fall asleep."
  
  Congratulations to Daniel and all the runner-up winners. Have fun with your new toys. And for the rest of you, don't stress--GameSpot AU will be bringing you more competitions in the New Year. Thanks for all of your support!
  
  Go Spidey!
  
  
  • Posted Dec 17, 2006 4:30 pm GMT
  • 10 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Tweet
• 14Dec 06

  Wii--the new King down under

  Nintendo--for years the distant third place in the console race--must be chuffed at the Wii's Australian sales figures.
  
  The Wii is now officially Australia's fastest selling console, with sales of 32,901 Wiis in the first four days after last week's launch. It has eclipsed the Xbox 360, which sold 30,421 in its first four days after its March launch this year. And not only is the Wii the country's fastest selling home console, it's the fastest selling piece of game hardware including handheld devices.
  
  The record of fastest-seller is a great one for Nintendo to hold, and it looks like one it may hold for a few years. The only other foreseeable game hardware launch is that of Sony's PlayStation 3--and if the scarcity of available units from the PS3's international launches are anything to go by, it's not unreasonable to think that Sony may find it hard to even ship 30,000 units locally when the console launches here in March 2007.
  
  Of course, if you wanted to be completely pessimistic, you could say that the Wii didn't exactly smash the Xbox 360's sales records. A margin of 2000 isn't really that much, especially when you consider that the Wii is several hundreds dollars cheaper in Australia than the Xbox 360 was at launch. Plus, you could say that the Wii had the added advantage of being launched so close to the Christmas buying rush. If you wanted to be pessimistic, that is.
  
  Bottom line, however, is that Nintendo needs to be congratulated on having such a successful launch. And the best news is that while Wiis may be sold out in some locations, anecdotal evidence is that Wiis are still available out there in Australia-land--perfect for those still wondering what to buy for their gaming needs this Christmas.
  • Posted Dec 14, 2006 4:30 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 10 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
  • Tweet

See Previous Blog Posts »