Just saw the two-hour season premiere and couldn’t help but feel that gaming has infiltrated yet another show, “Prison Break,” and the influence clearly shows.

The following shouldn’t come off as too much of a spoiler, but today’s episode ended on another series’ signature cliffhanger. The players (pun intended) come to the realization that what they were looking for and found was actually just a piece of a bigger puzzle. A piece that represents 1 out of 6 items.

Sound familiar? It’s the same “fetch quest” mechanic found in plenty of games (i.e. Rare’s games, Assassin’s Creed, Super Mario Galaxy, as well as countless others) that artificially extends play time, but will it be effective in a show?

It seems like a cheap way to continue the show with the director, writer, whoever, giving themselves complete freedom to throw in unrelated events into the overarching story. Don’t be surprised to see a cross-country trek every episode to find the elusive “key cards.”

The series has been doing good so far, well into its fourth season with the same, expected twists that usually wind up entertaining and keeping you glued to the tube. We’ll see if its new gaming-focused approach measures up to its previous shows…might even be the template they use for the upcoming game.

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: Break, couldn, doesn, gaming, help, influence, Mario Galaxy, piece, Premiere, Prison, Season, series, show, Spoiler, Today, Trends

The Championship Gaming Series (CGS), the only sanctioned worldwide professional gaming league, opened free registration for the inaugural CGS Pro-Am Division, greatly expanding the opportunity for aspiring professional gamers to take on the CGS pros. I can’t even count how many people I know who claim they are just as good as the pros, but they always have some excuse. Now it’s time for the bitchassness to end because the CGS is giving all of us a chance to show what we’re made of.

Full Press Release with registration follows:

LOS ANGELES – August 12, 2008 –

Championship Gaming SeriesTM (CGS), the only worldwide professional gaming league, opened free registration for the inaugural CGS Pro-Am Division, greatly expanding the opportunity for aspiring professional gamers to take on the CGS pros and see if they have what it takes to compete alongside the best of CGS, perhaps winning some cold hard cash in the process.

First announced earlier this summer, amateur and professional gamers from North America will have the chance to showcase their talent against CGS’ most elite gaming stars for a share of a prize purse totaling US$40,000 during the Pro-Am division’s inaugural season.

The CGS Pro-Am division features one official PC league title – Valve’s Counter-Strike®: Source® (CS:S), along with two other popular Valve games, Counter-Strike®: 1.6 and Team Fortress 2 (TF2). CS:S, CS 1.6 and TF2 represent three of the most popular and successful eSports PC titles of all time and now gamers throughout North America can step up to prove they have what it takes to challenge the CGS pros.

Xbox 360 gamers will also have a chance to compete against CGS stars on Xbox LIVE via the league’s official Xbox titles, Tecmo’s Dead or Alive® 4 and Forza Motorsport® 2 from Microsoft Game Studios, as well as on other popular Xbox 360 games that will be featured in upcoming Xbox LIVE matches. Competitions will take place every other Friday featuring CGS pros, kicking off this Friday, August 15, when Xbox LIVE gamers from around the globe can take on Dallas Venom players Michelle “Phoenix” Pleet and Manny “Master” Rodriguez in DOA4. For more info, visit http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/calendar/playthepros/2008/0815-dallasvenom.htm

PC gamers interested in testing their skills against the pros should register at http://pro-am.thecgs.com/ now through September 3, 2008. The first season of the Pro-Am Division kicks off September 10.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: August, CGS, Championship, Chance, Dallas, Division, gaming, League, Live, LOS ANGELES, Manny, Michelle, North America, opportunity, Phoenix, Registration, Season, time, US, Valve, worldwide, Xbox

In the following video, John Madden talks about the history of the Madden franchise. One interesting comment towards the beginning is how it was their goal for the video game to look like the actual game on television and now the television guys want real football to look like the game. He also mentions how the game will either go up or down and how he believes they keep going up each season. Personally, I think Madden has been having some off years for the past 4-5 games, but it looks like they may have gotten it all together with 2009.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: beginning, comment, football, franchise, game, goal, history, John Madden, Season, television, video

The new Brett Favre jersey is now on sale at the Jets Shop.  The replica jersey which should be a very popular one sells for $80.00.  While Brett Favre is still featured on the cover on Madden 09 in his Packers jersey, I’m sure the first roster update will have him with the Jets.  While Favre being traded to the Jets may just seem like the typical “over the hill” QB trying to get in one last season, I think the trade may have a heavy impact on this season and possibly the next.  If the Jets perform poorly this season, the draft choice they sent to the Packers now becomes more valuable.  The Jets do have some quality receivers with Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery, meaning that Favre should be able to jump right in and stretch the field with these guys as long as they all stay healthy.  Basically, the New York Jets just went from a mediocre team behind Clemens or Pennington to a playoff potential with Favre.  I assume either Clemens or Pennington will be traded soon.  If the New York Jets could somehow beat the New England Patriots at least once this season, they will be in serious business. While some may think the Packers are doomed, that’s probably not the case.  They will have a really strong defense this season.  If Rodgers can step up and play to his potential, they might make the playoffs as well…

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: Brett, Clemens, Cover, draft, Favre, hill, iMPACT, JERSEY, Madden, New England, New York, Pennington, Replica, Rodgers, roster, sale, Season, shop, Trade, update

It looks like Brett Favre is officially a member of the New York Jets, but the Madden 09 cover will still have him in a Packers uniform. G4 spoke with EA to confirm that the cover will remain the same, despite the trade.  Hopefully Favre will have a productive season with the Jets and avoid the Madden curse, but weird things already seem to be happening concerning this year’s release.  

Via G4

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: Brett, Cover, Curse, Favre, Hopefully, Madden, member, New York, release, Season, Trade, Uniform, Via, Will, year

Yup, watched the train wreck again. Viewers are witnessing the demolition of a man crush. Here is a recap of this show and every other episode that is sure to come. Corey Haim is a child actor who cannot comprehend the child. He is not an actor. How can you be an actor when you’ve done nothing but a reality show in what, 15+ years? The show is just him trying to revisit his childhood and continually blaming Feldman for his lack of success. His obsession with Feldman is just bizarre. The full page ad Haim took out in Variety was totally a publicity stunt, aimed at begging people to give him work. How could he possibly believe that it was an apology? Why mention work? In case you missed it, the ad said: “This is not a stunt. I’m back. I’m ready to work. I’m ready to make amends”.

Dumb-butt! For one, that’s the most self-centered supposed apology I have ever seen. Secondly, why the hell does his has-been behind think that the industry has been waiting with baited-breath for his reappearance. My life has continued on nicely with the disappearance of the Lost Boy. I’ve never had a conversation with anyone in which we discussed how much we missed Corey Haim. It’s just sad, sad, sad.

I know I made some people mad while talking about Michael Jackson in my last post. Anybody who watched the Martin Bashir special in which he proclaimed, “There is nothing more loving than sharing a bed with a young child”, should realize what kind of guy MJ really is. My almost five year old still climbs in my bed on a regular basis but I am not dumb enough to say anything like that. There are a million things that are more loving than sleeping in a bed with a child THAT IS NOT YOURS! Michael’s words condemned him. A jury doesn’t have to. What magical world do you people live in where guilty people go to jail? Grow up. Michael Jackson doesn’t do inappropriate things with children any more than R. Kelly pees on people. We’ll just leave it at that.

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written by Jennifer Leftwich \\ tags: actor, apology, child, Corey, Coreys, Episode, Feldman, Haim, Martin Bashir, Michael, Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Season, show, stunt