Getting to pre-order your copy of Hellgate: London might be trickier for some of you. Not all regions will be having the same kind of bonuses as others would. For one, the Collector's Edition for the game will not be available for the whole of Europe. Those who want to score the bag of goodies included in the Collector's Edition (e.g. the soundtrack, extra artwork, a graphic novel, etc.) are advised to import their copy of the game from the US.

Meanwhile, pre-orders for the regular edition are well underway. Pre-ordering your copy gives you access to some in-game goodies: Dye Kits, Founders Offer, etc. Different countries will have different video game retailers participating in the pre-order campaign. Here's a full list of regions and their participating retailer(s):

• Germany - Gamestop
• Switzerland - World of Games
• Poland - Gram.pl and Ultima
• Finland - Tilt
• Sweden - GAME, EB Games/Gamestop
• Norway - GAME, EB Games/Gamestop
• Denmark - GAME, EB Games/Gamestop

Unfortunately for the UK, no retailers will be participating in the promotion. Yes, you can still pre-order the game (via HMV, Play, Amazon, or Game) but you won't be able to get the Dye Kit offer.

It's time once again for GameStop's Deal of the Week, for the week ending October 4. This time Tony Hawk's Proving Ground by Activision is in the limelight with its US$ 5 discount for every pre-order. The discount is available for all versions of the game (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, DS).

Another big pre-order offer for this week is the extra 20% trade-in credit given for games traded in towards the reservation and/or purchase of Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy. That's a pretty nifty offer right there, handy when you're itching to get Mario's latest romp and don't have enough cash to nab it.

GameStop now also offers some exclusive Hellgate: London items along with every purchase of the game, for both the Collector's Edition and the Regular Edition. The free goodies are not to be scoffed at: a Hellgate poster, a customized armor kit, beta invitation, and even a Founder's Offer Subscription. If you missed out on the last Hellgate: London contest and the chance to get Hellgate goodies, then consider this your second chance.

As always with GameStop's weekly offers, there's much, much more in store for gamers (there's even something for Tabula Rasa fans), so just click on the above images for more information, or better yet, click on the Read link below.

Auran Games has made public the full prize list for the Fury Challenge. Over US$ 2 million are at stake in the tournament, with clans battling for GeForce 8600 graphics cards while individual entrants duke it out for a chance to win one of three Dell computers. Check out the full prize list below.

• 1st - Dell XPS M2010 Notebook + US$ 500 Gamestop Voucher
• 2nd - Dell XPS 720 + G15 Keyboard
• 3rd - Dell XPS 720 + G5 Mouse
• 4th - US$ 250 Gamestop Voucher
• 5th - US$ 250 Gamestop Voucher
• 6th - 15th - Merc Keyboards + US$ 50 D2D gift Vouchers
• 16th - 100th - Merc Keyboards
• 1st - 1,000th - CyberShotz 12 Pack
• 1st - 100,000th - 1 Month Gamerail Subscription

The Fury Challenge is an open beta event that pits players against each other in what is being billed as the world's first 100% PvP MMO. This ladder-based competition runs until October 7, so if you've set your eye on any of the prizes listed above, you better get cracking.

Fury is scheduled for an October release.

Not seeing much EB Games stores lately? That would be because it appears as though the merge of EB Games and GameStop sealed in 2005 is finally closing up all loose ties for good. Gaming Target reports that in Rochester, NY, two more branches of EB Games have been renamed to GameStop as of last week.

Although the merge happened two years back, both companies still retained their individual identities - until today, that is. Since GameStop acquired EB Games, the latter has been slowly assimilated into the GameStop profile, and today, it seems that the makeover is drawing its completion. Official announcements on the matter have yet to be given by the companies involved, but you yourself can check that EB Games stores have been silently "disappearing" from neighborhoods, and are instead replaced with GameStop stores.

But while EB Games will be sorely missed, we can only wish for good things to come out of this change. We'll be sure to keep you posted on more updates.

 

After Blizzard officially announced World of Warcraft's next expansion Wrath of the Lich King, players began speculating as to what new content will be available to them, particularly the possibility of having flying mounts in Northend. This is understandable, given all the advantages that come with it, not to mention the fact that mounts make characters look cooler.

During BlizzCon 2007, Blizzard confirmed that flying mounts will be available to players who are at level 75 at least. The developers reasoned that they wanted players to explore the new area first on foot to be familiar with it better instead of roaming around, totally missing its splendor and secrets.

The same was echoed by Blizzard's Vaneras when the question popped up at the official WoW Forums. The forum moderator explained,

The reason for the potential delay in free-roaming is to allow the development team a chance to design and create exciting and interesting content which people will not simply fly over and ignore. There is a lot of work being put into quest lines, locations, event,s and more for the expansion.

Wrath of the Lich King focuses on the story of Arthas and his quest to end all life in Azeroth. A release date has yet to be confirmed by Blizzard but a pre-order listing recently appeared over at retail chain GameStop saying that the expansion will be available in November.

 

Nine million World of Warcraft users equal nine million potential buyers of Wrath of Lich King expansion. No wonder online retailer GameStop is trying to beat the competition to the punch with this very early preorder offer for Blizzard's latest expansion of their highly successful MMORPG. Here's the website's decent deal enclosed in very comic description:

Official price and release date have NOT been announced by Blizzard. In this case, the price and release date were determined by the GameStop e-commerce staff, (comprised of overpowered warlocks), using a combination of 6 and 20-sided die.

Important: If the price decreases between the time you place your order and the release date, you will receive the lower price. Woot! If the price increases you will be given the option to either pay the higher price or cancel your order. However, if the price increases by more than $1,000, many of us here at the corporate office plan to retire and purchase a small Caribbean island. You are welcome to visit us at any time. Please bring pizza, chocolate and cold beverages.

Note: We vehemently oppose “ninja looting” therefore your credit card will NOT be charged until your order is processed for shipping. Pre-order now. Power to the players.

At least the folks over at GameStop were able to infuse humor with their stab in the dark approach with the full details (pricing, release dates, etc.). It's your call if you'll get carried away and book yourself a preorder this early, or if you'll stand up and pace your room the whole day to get rid of the urge - only to visit the same page tomorrow and repeat the whole process all over again.

The Wrath of the Lich King will revolve around the WoW lore surrounding The Lich King Arthas, his attempts to end all life in Azeroth, and the heroes who try to thwart his evil plans.

  

Well, GameStop's got some new purchases up, so it seemed like a good time to tell you of some new bargains we spotted on their site. For the most part, there's some PSP and MMO goodies, but you're also welcome to the other stuff they've got going on now.

On the PSP side, they're offering a free copy of Wipeout Pure with a purchase of a PSP Core Unit or Entertainment Pack. They're also offering an additional 20 bucks free credit for trade-ins of PSPs or DS units, so that should knock off some of the extra costs you might have from buying a new game or two.

On the MMO Side, any PC game purchase will net you a copy of either City of Heroes or City of Villains. A pretty big bargain right there. They also have pre-orders up for Lord of the Rings Online, and their ad mentions that if you reserve a copy now, you can get a beta disk and additional in-game items, as is customary with those special pre-order deals.

In any case, we'll leave the shopping up to you. At the very least, you have a good idea of where to find a good bargain or two while you're at it. Happy hunting.

 

GameStop has taken out a full-page advert in USA Today to emphasize its ongoing commitment to stop minors buying games that are deemed inappropriate for their age group. Clive Olivera, a spokesperson for GameStop, sat down with gaming news site Eurogamer and said the following:

We, GameStop, as well as other retailers, have already stepped up with ESRB to regulate ourselves. ...That's what this is all about. We wanted to bump it up and let the public know, especially consumers, that it is something we actually take quite seriously.

...One mature-rated game sold to a minor is one too many. It's our goal to provide as much education as we can, not only to our employees but to consumers in general.

The advert features a rather huge, slightly weird image of Steve Morgan, President of Gamestop corporation, above which is the "Respect the Ratings" slogan in bold print.

The campaign doesn't just stop with the print ad though, respecttheratings.com is also up and running. The goal here is to educate people and get them to care and be involved - instead of shouting at them, bullying them, exploiting and using them as a rallying point, and threatening them with lawsuits. We suggest that you check out the site yourselves. You can access it via our "read" link below. See if you can contribute anything.

We've been keeping a close watch on the beta test for Blizzard's highly-anticipated WoW: The Burning Crusade expansion. And with the official launch finally drawing ever nearer, GameStop went in for another look to find out exactly what the changes have been in light of the beta.

So, what's up at Burning Crusade? Basically, it's been found that the major changes focused more on the opening of several new zones in Outland, which happens to be the major new region in the expansion. It's also been said that for the game's most dedicated players, "The Burning Crusade really acts as a preparation for that Hyjal encounter, but to get there, you'll need to complete a large number of complicated quests."

Shadowmoon Valley and Netherstorm are named as the hardest regions you'll be encountering. But without a doubt, these will surely take you to the new level cap of 70.

As for the new PvP rules, which were introduced to the current game in a recent patch, these will enable less-avid players to build up significant rewards over time. Also in place to keep everyone busy are the new 25-person raid content, the heroic difficulty settings, as well as the "long, complex path to Mount Hyjal."

To know more about the tour of the new Outland Region, just head on over to the Read link below.

The WoW Online Store showing the irksome "Out of Stock" sign? Unable to pre-order The Burning Crusade?

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade will fire up on launch date with Blizzard devs visiting four California retailers to autograph copies of the expansion. The stores will be open at midnight and line-up starts at 6:00 AM PCT, January 15 at each store simultaneously. It seems that the guys at Blizzard really enjoy midnight parties. Here's the list:

• Fry's Fountain Valley - 10800 Kalama River Ave, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
• Fry's Anaheim - 3370 E. La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92806
• Fry's Sunnyvale - 1077 E. Arques Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085
• Universal Citywalk Gamestop/EB Games - 1000 Universal Studios Blvd (Cross Street: Buddy Holly Drive), Universal City, CA 91608

Copies are limited, so sales will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Early birds receive wristbands along with the signed copies. The Fry's branches get 4500 copies each, while the Gamestop/EB Games store only get 1500.

But don't fret, non-CA residents, other retail stores will also be opening at midnight on launch date. You can check the websites of BestBuy, EBGames, and Gamestop for the full list of stores.