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Europe gets free XBL Gold
Our unlucky Europeans friends have to pay more and wait longer for just about everything video game related. But at least they get a free10 days of Xbox Live Gold September 20-29 courtesy of Windows Live Spaces. How many people out there signed up for Gold service permanently after one of these trial periods?
Apple's free iPod nano offer ends September 16th
Students: if you haven't gorged yourself on loans for that perfect Mac + iPod nano rig, or if you haven't begged your parents enough before being shipped off to the university - you have about 11 days left to do so. Apple's 'Buy a Mac and get a free iPod nano' offer ends this coming September 16th. I just received the notification email, and the picture in it (snapped as a JPEG and resized for this post) is surprisingly an animated GIF - the nano actually moves to help count down (up?) to 12. I don't remember the last time I've received an animated email from Apple, but I sure hope this doesn't preclude a new trend of flashing, 'Click here to club the seal and win a Mac!' marketing emails. More details, including which Macs are eligible (the Mac Pro is on the list now) are available at Apple's Back to School promo page.
Xbox Mini-Games...they're Grrrrrreat!
Here's a reason to eat your Wheaties, or rather your Mini-Wheats. Kellogs is offering 5 Xbox mini-games in specially marked boxes of Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies, Corn Pops and the afore mentioned Mini-Wheats. These aren't games on disc. They're old school Tiger-style LCD games designed with collectable flair. Sweet! Here's what might show up in your bowl if you're lucky: Spaceship Blaster - Eliminate the enemy spaceships before they reach you Motorcycle Madness - Avoid or eliminate oncoming traffic to move up a level and win Disco Mania - Copy the dance instructor's moves to move through the levels Robo Blast - Capture the robots before they escape Mystic Castle - Navigate through the castle, collecting gems and defeating enemies Hey, the Zune costs more and doesn't come with handle bars or sugar-encrusted flakes. Unfortunately for cereal killers in the US, this Kellogs promotion is only for Canada and Australia. But there's alway Ebay.
Ain't nothin' like a TiVo House Party
TiVo, always one to come up with clever promotions to publicize its products (remember the TiVo Ambassador, TiVo speed dating, and Father's Day at the ballpark?), has now launched a program for DVR-nuts to host their very own TiVo House Party. Obviously inspired by the Tupperware parties of yore (as well as the more modern "personal entertainment product" parties enjoyed by certain women), TiVo's version comes in two flavors: a so-called "TiVo Tasting Party" for adults and a "KidZone Party" to expose your children's friends to even more brain-rotting boob tube. Not everyone is invited to the the party, though; you have to fill out an application and get accepted into the program in order to get the go-ahead from TiVo, which earns you some nature of special programming (ads for TiVo, perhaps?), undefined "special offers," and tips on making your House Party a real rager. Since the House Party website also organizes other corporate-sponsored get-togethers, you might be able to turn the night into something of a House Party pub crawl: start out with a little TiVo action, move on to a Fear Factor shindig, and end the night kicking back with other Martha Stewart lovers at -- yes, this really exists -- a Kmart House Party. Thank you, Corporate America, for turning our social lives into a series of awkward, product-pushing cocktail gatherings.[Via Zatz Not Funny]
Summer of XBLA hits San Fran
John Porcaro of GamerScoreBlog is doling out the last few tickets to tonight's Xbox Live Gold Experience event in San Fancisco. Unfortunately he doesn't give an exact location for this particular "lifestyle initiative."If you're in the Bay Area, try wandering around until you find a bunch of people enjoying hi-def versions of Frogger and Pac-Man. Of course, most fanboys would trade their cheese cubes and free booze for some exciting XBLA news -- say a title or two from Rare. Notice I said "most."
Helio letting new subs trade in old gadgets
In one of the more innovative promotions we've seen lately, MVNO Helio has begun offering recent subscribers up to 30-days to send in their old gadgets in return for not a service credit, but cold, hard cash (in the form of a check mailed two to three months later). The so-called Trade-Up program, developed in conjunction with Market Velocity, lets new subs sign up online and get the trade-in value for some of the more popular cellphones, PDAs, digital cameras, and gaming consoles from yesterday and today -- although since the quotes are based on your own unprofessional evaluation of your gear's condition, the actual amount of loot you receive may vastly differ from what you were expecting. The prices Helio is willing to pay range from 10 to 20 bucks for older devices in disrepair to several hundred dollars for meticulously cared-for smartphones and high-end digital cameras -- they'll even give you $26 if you've somehow managed to keep your first-gen Gameboy maintained for all these years. The only real losers in this program are the proud few who've chosen to say "iDon't," because Helio will happily take your old iPod off your hands, but want nothing to do with players from SanDisk, Creative, and friends.
Much a dew about nothing
How disappointing it was to discover this Xbox-360 branded Mountain Dew tanker truck wasn't really filled with sugary green liquid. Apparently, avoiding the extra hauling weight helps them save on gas.
Free XBL Gold during E3 week
Verizon is sponsoring a full week of free Xbox Live Gold May 8-14, which just so happens coincide with E3. Wait a second—I thought Adidas was sponsoring the same week as part of their "Football Free For All?" Maybe that was meant for the UK. No matter. Free is free. [Thanks Chris]
Drink Acesulfame Potassium, win a 360
Gamers in the United Kingdom have a reason to guzzle un-tested chemical additives, for the next several weeks. Pepsi Max is giving away an Xbox 360 every 90 minutes as part of promotion related to the national football team. All you have to do is drain your syrupy beverage and text message the code under cap to win a fabulous next gen system. Unfortunately, the contest is for UK residents only. Pepsi Max remains unavailable in the U.S. because its key ingredient has yet to be approved by the FDA. Goddamn bureaucrats. What's more important? Cancer free or console free?[Thanks, Nima]
Adidas sponsoring free week of XBL Gold
Xboxyde has early word that shoe maker Adidas will sponsor a full week of free Xbox Live Gold May 8 -15. The promotion is called the "Xbox Live Football Free-For-All" and is designed to give Silver members a chance to show their online skills at FIFA World Cup 2006 leading up to the Xbox Cup this summer in Germany. There's also going to be a bunch of free XBLM content, which should be pretty good considering it's during E3. More details should follow when the event is officially unveiled tomorrow. Topping Verizon's free XBL Gold weekend by five Midas-touched days is sure to generate good will among soccer fans and non-soccer fans alike. How about slapping a few more shoe ads up there and making online gaming free permanently? [Thanks Tomcats]
More free XBLM points on the way?
The one million free Marketplace Points that Verizon was giving away went pretty damn quick, but now they've updated their "Sorry, fresh out" page with a teaser:We HAD a million points. Now we're broke, busted, cleaned out, knocked back. We knew you all loved the Xbox360 but geez! We'll know better for next time.....Wait--did we say next time? That's right boys and girls--we'll do it again. So keep an eye out and an ear open.Nothing wrong with more free points.How is the Free XBL Gold Weekend treating you so far? Any Ambassadors want to weigh in with heartwarming tales of newbs welcomed by sniper rifles?[Thanks PancakesHouse]
XBLDC: What's in it for us?
Is the Xbox Live Diamond Card launching this Friday everywhere you want to be? Depends if your current life ambition is to eat Quiznos subs, rent a couple games at Hollywood Video and wear Etnies skate shoes while searching the Sam Goody DVD bin for a 10% off copy of Meet the Fockers. Actually, the deals offered by the Diamond Card look pretty good as far as loyalty schemes go. It seems more useful than that waste of wallet space Gamestop Card. Since I live in Wilmington, the credit-crack capital of the world (see Durden, Tyler), I have to wonder if this could lead to a full blown XBL affinity credit card with Halo 3 points and Blazing Angels frequent flyer miles.I'm sure having your gamertag on a card will impress the kids at band camp. And few will complain about two-fer-one Chicken Carbonaras. But as a gamer, there's only one thing that I want out of any program like this: free games.See also:Beware Microsoft's domain squatting faux pas[Thanks David]
First free XBL weekend goes Gold
State-side gamers posessing an Xbox 360, hard drive, and an XBL Silver account will receive "72 hours of blissful hours" of premium Gold status March 31-April 2 courtesy of Verizon's "Free Xbox Live Gold Weekend" promotion—the first of its kind. This is reminiscent of those "Free HBO" weekends that use to tantalize my broke basic cable ass back in the day. Actually, if you own a 360 and don't already have the Gold service you're probably sucking on Ramen right now and, ironically, unable to afford a cell phone bill. (Please forgive me making this baseless assumption in the interest of a cheap joke. Get it? Cheap joke). Seriously, now that XBL has it's first killer app in Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, a Gold account is an honest-to-God necessity. Hopefully, there will be many more opportunities for destitute gamers to get a taste of what they're missing. Also, for any math majors still depressed about the losing the Powerball, Verizon is putting up 1 million Microsoft Points to mend your broken dreams.[Thanks to everyone that tipped us off]
Join the club, get an iPod
Alternately titled: The Apple at the End of the Stick. When I was a kid, my very first job was working at a gas station, pumping gas (glamorous, I know). Twice a year we'd have a giveaway promotion, usually once in the summer and once in the winter. Footballs, cases of soda, that sort of thing. It's an age old gimmick that's still being used today. But today there's a difference, as more and more business are giving away the very same thing. They're giving away iPods. More after the jump.
