iGame Radio

50 hours of non-stop gaming? Dude, sign me up!!

That’s probably what six Dutch gamers were thinking who participated in breaking the Guinness World Record for non-stop gaming in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The team of six champion gamers included brothers Edward and Maykel Leest from Boxmeer and Hengelo, Sven de Vries from Lelystad, Renzo Bos from Baarlo, Robbie van Eijkeren from Middelburg, and Marcel van Waardenburg from Amsterdam.

The gamers were playing Red Dead Redemption on a PS3 using Vogel’s TwistDock, a controller that provides space for charging two other controllers while using a third. “If you introduce a totally new product in the market which makes dead controllers a thing of the past,” Gerdi Vogels, CEO of Vogel’s Products BV said, “a new non-stop gaming world record is a fantastic statement underlining the core value of TwistDock.” TwistDock will be available in the U.S. starting 4Q 2010

The gamers made the record with 50 hours of gaming that included 10-minute breaks every hour, and a 50-minute break every 5 hours. The previous record was set in September 2009 by Chirantan Patnaik from India with a time of 40 hours and 20 minutes. For beating the previous record, the gamers also received a cash prize of EUR 1,000 ($1291 dollars US) and six TwistDocks.

Though they apparently could have continued to compete, all six gamers decided to end the competition together at the 50 hour mark. “The contestants entered as rivals but left as friends,” said Gaz Deaves, official adjudicator of Guinness World Records.

Hmm, I wonder if I can beat that record on a Mac Pro playing non-stop Plants vs Zombies?

Less than 17 hours from the release of LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 through the OnLive site, the first winner of the OnLive Harry Potter contest was revealed. Alex Schlee was announced via the OnLive Twitter feed as the first player to collect 200 gold bricks and receive the grand prize…a new iPad.

The first runner up, Kenneth Dailey, was also announced approximately half an hour later, also through the OnLive Twitter feed. All five runner ups will receive a free iPod Touch. There are still four more runner up slots to go, who will also presumably be announced via Twitter.

OnLive, the digital gaming service that streams games to your computer no matter whether it’s a PC or Mac, launched their first contest with LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4. The game was released just after midnight Tuesday, June 29th on the OnLive service, playable on both PC and Mac.

The deadline for the game is July 6, and the decision will be made on or about July 7. You can review the complete list of rules for more info.

OnLive, the digital gaming service that streams games to your computer no matter whether it’s a PC or Mac, has launched its first contest to stimulate the seething masses of founding members flooding the service. And that contest will get you a free iPad…but you have to beat Harry Potter first.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 will launch just after midnight tonight, Tuesday, June 29th. And apparently OnLive members get to play the game first, regardless of which platform they are playing on.

To commemorate this, the first OnLive member to make it all the way through LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 will win an iPad, and the next five OnLive members will win an iPod Touch. To win, players must do the following:

• Have a PlayPass for the game to participate in the contest. OnLive recommends that you log in at 12:01AM to be sure your Marketplace list is refreshed and all PlayPass options appear for the game.
• Collect all 200 Gold Bricks in the game and become Lord Voldemort. To prove it, you will have to take a Brag Clip video.
• Alert OnLive via email as soon as you have completed the game. Entrants will be ranked based on when OnLive receives a properly completed email.

The deadline for the game is July 6, and the decision will be made on or about July 7. You can review the complete list of rules for more info.

The folks at Sandlot Games are prepping for their new game Cake Mania: Lights, Camera, Action! But they are in a bind. Jake and Jill Evans need a name for their baby, but Sandlot doesn’t have any ideas. Do you?

Sandlot’s upcoming game will feature a new addition, so the developer has started a Name the Baby contest. Just submit your entry via their Facebook page, and your entry could be the winning name used in the game.

Entry into the contest requires that you be 13 years of age or older, but you get to enter both boys and girls names. All entries will be judged based on creativity and originality and adherence to the Cake Mania brand of games and the Sandlot Games brand. Two winners will be chosen, and they will also get a free copy of the game, and a $50 gift certificate to Sandlot Games.

The contest ends on May 28th, and the winners will be announced after June 20th.

On another note, one should always read the terms of service of anything one signs. For example, I didn’t know that $103.87 is less than $69.99.

You know that someone has fallen to the lowest of lows when they steal a luxury for a penny. No one can say that video games are a necessity in life. You can’t eat them. You can’t put them over your head to keep out the chill and protect you from the elements. You can’t drink them to stay hydrated. So, buying them means that you’ve decided you have enough of your necessities and have enough left over to get a luxury or two.

When a company like Wolfire Games, in conjunction with a bunch of other awesome companies, decides to offer the work that they have sweated over for whatever price you want to pay…basically, a penny…and you steal it anyway? That’s pretty pathetic. And yet, this is what Wolfire has found is happening with the Humble Indie Bundle. Read more…

Haypi Kingdom is a new MMOG for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. To promote the game, the developers, Haypi, Inc, are running a contest. Winners of the contest can get an iPad and other prizes every 15 days. However, the press release that I received from the company was pretty confusing. For one, nowhere in the press release did they actually detail what the contest actually entailed. They only called it an “…upcoming PVP server competition where an iPad and other prizes will be awarded every 15 days.” Haypi also talked about how the “victory requires preparation and extensive knowledge of game tricks and strategies it does not scare off award-contenders.” It seemed pretty clear that the contest involved playing the game in some fashion.

So I was pretty surprised when I went to the forum, and the only contest that I found mentioned involved writing reviews. Read more…

Heatwave Interactive and Metacafe have teamed up in the “iSamJackson Badass Video” Contest. You can create a unique video using the iSamJackson app and post it on Metacafe for a chance to win a 3G iPad.

The iSamJackson app for iPhone and iPod Touch contains access to original quotes, humorous adages and insightful advice recorded by the one-and-only Samuel L. Jackson himself. You can use the customizable Soundboard, Personality Scanner, and Ask Sam features as well as additional add-on features (like the “Super Hero Pack”) to create a video all about your inner Sam Jackson.

The contest goes till May 14th, midnight PST, and the video must be two-minutes or less in length featuring the iSamJackson app. You can check out the videos that Heatwave has already posted for some inspiration. You can also pick up the app for $0.99 at the App Store, or use the free trial version.

Hmm. Samuel Jackson and Red vs. Blue. Hmmm.

Appular is hosting a contest in honor of their new iPhone game, Hand of Greed, and you just might win an iPad. The rules are simple. The first 1,000 people with US iTunes accounts to sign up get a free copy of Hand of Greed.

They are also giving away 100 $0.99 apps from the App Store. Just hop onto TouchArcade and answer the Appular daily poll thread. Everyone who answers is entered to win a $0.99 app of their choice.

But wait, there’s more. You could win an iTunes Gift card. Just “like” Appular on Facebook, or follow @appular on Twitter and tweet “Hand of Greed giveaway! Win 1100 free apps, iTunes GC’s, and an iPad! Info: http://bit.ly/cACAJm #HandofGreedContest”. Appular will be giving away a $10 iTunes Gift card every day for the next two weeks to a lucky person on Twitter or Facebook. And they did say “yes you can do both, and yes it will double your chances to win”.

Last, but certainly not least, you can enter to win a free WiFi iPad. Just write a review on Appular’s Facebook wall of your experience playing Hand of Greed. They recommend that you open up, have fun, and be creative. They’ll select the top 10 entries, then randomly choose one winner from those top 10 to receive the iPad.

The deadline is May 12, and the contest is only open to US residents with US iTunes accounts.

PopCap Games is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Bejeweled, one of the most popular match-three games of all time, in style. The Show Your Bejeweled Love contest encourages you to submit a YouTube video illustrating or describing in some way your love for this simple, yet well-loved, video game in two minutes or less. All types of submissions are welcome, from weird to fanatical, and anywhere in between.

The top ten winners have access to $5000 US in prizes, including a limited edition notebook PC and two iPads, each with custom-designed, “Bejeweled 10th Anniversary” engravings. The contest ends May 26th 2010 and is open to residents of the US, Canada (except Quebec) and the UK.

Judging will be performed by members of PopCap’s art and game design teams throughout the contest period, and will be based on three criteria: enthusiasm, presentation and knowledge of Bejeweled. All top entries, as well as complete contest rules and the official submission form, will be posted on the site during the contest.

Someone got a head start.

The tenth annual ELANS Video Game Awards Ceremony has launched a contest to spread the word, and the one who spreads the word the most can win a paid trip to the ELANS itself in sunny San Diego.

To enter, you simply sign up for the ELANS Video Game Industry List and then encourage all of your industry friends and co-workers to do likewise. During the sign-up process, they fill in your name as their referrer under Contestant’s First & Last name. They can even go on to compete themselves by then having all of their friends enter, and so on. Only video game professionals or those associated with the video game industry can sign up for the list.

The first place winning package is quite extravagant:

• Flights for two from anywhere in the world
• Three days accommodations for two at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego
• Two Gold Tickets to the 2010 ELAN Awards
• Two tickets to all surrounding parties (including a Pool Party, a Street Party, a Champagne Gala Reception, a 4-course 5-star Awards Dinner, the Awards Ceremony itself and an After-Party)

Second Prize is two tickets to the Awards Night which includes the Champagne Reception, the Awards Dinner and Ceremony and the After-Party; Third Prize is two tickets to the surrounding parties which includes the Pool Party, the Street Party and the After-Party; and Fourth Prize is two tickets to the Street Party, “Nomination Celebration-in-the-Streets”.

The ELANS will take place in San Diego, California, from Saturday, July 17th through Monday, July 19th. The competition closes on Friday, April 30th and the winners will be announced at the Nominee Press Conference on or around June 17th.

You can also still submit for an award. The deadline is Friday, April 16, 2010. Submission Forms and Rules & Procedures Manual, as well as ticket and general information about the event, can be found at the ELANS website.