Starting from this week, you will now be able to buy Steam vouchers across all GameStop stores in the US, vouchers which will add credit to your Steam Wallet on your computer. Just like Sony’s PlayStation Network vouchers, you’ll now be able to pick up vouchers in quantities of $20 or $50.

It means that you can now buy the games you want, with a peace of mind that your credit or debit cards are not at risk by sophisticated hackers, which has happened in the past don’t forget. We imagine that a lot of you are delighted by this announcement, since it was a long requested feature from the community.

If you want to buy some Steam vouchers straight away, you’re probably eager to find out if your nearest GameStop store has them. For those that need it, GameStop has provided a Store Locator service on their website, so you can find your nearest store and call them to check that they have the cards already.

We’re surprised that this didn’t come sooner, but it’s a happy ending for all concerned at last. What are you planning to buy from the Steam store with your first voucher? Unfortunately, it looks like this is a deal exclusive to GameStop, which means that you may have to search online for voucher codes if you live outside the U.S. Hopefully Valve will extend this to the UK and other parts of the world once the initial rollout has begun. It’s not hard to purchase PSN cards online though, but obviously there is a little additional fee involved for the service.

Is this fantastic news for you that you can now use Steam vouchers to add to your wallet?

The last few months the retailer has been trying to restructure itself and save money as it faces increasing debts. Recently some leading publishers have refused to supply their new titles to the chain amid concerns of it going under, and now seems its woes have deepened as according to MCV, senior management teams from the chain have been warned to get ready for administration.

CEO Ian Shepherd met with senior staff at the beginning of this week and warned the company had around two weeks to save itself from going bust. There has been rumors that rival US chain GameStop may be interested in taking up a number of the GAME stores, and only recently it was reported that the company’s directors were seeking advice whether it was better pulling the plug or running up more debts.

There have been reports from consumers that the company has started what seems like a fire sale at its UK GAME stores. This will be seen as an effort to get some much needed cash into the company as it tries to stay afloat, and in the meantime it will be hoping some sort of deal can be struck with GameStop to at least keep some of the stores open.

When contacted about the news a GAME spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on such rumors. Whether you like the retailer or not because of their sometimes high prices, you have to think about the thousands of staff that will be worrying about their jobs.

Have you noticed any bargains at your local GAME store?

The next Xbox console could be about two years away from being released, but the next model has already seen a number of rumors concerning what features it will have. We have already heard it will be around six times as powerful as the current model, which considering how much processor technology as evolved in the last couple of years is hardly surprising.

What would become a bigger issue if it was true would be the playing of used games by users. Speculation emerged yesterday that suggested the new Xbox would have a system that prevented users from playing used games. This article here is wondering if this has something to do with the recent announcement of the GameStop store closures in Northern Ireland.

There are even rumors that the company plans to close all of its stores in Europe. But hang on for one moment; wouldn’t it be commercial suicide if Microsoft were to implement such a system on a future Xbox system? If true it would surely mean there would be no backwards compatibility with the current system, unless it could work out the difference from a game the user already owns to one that has been purchased second hand.

It may mean some kind of new pass system coming with games but what about the millions already in existence? You also have to remember the high amount of users of the current system that like to rent or borrow a game before deciding to buy the title. This would not only mean this can no longer happen but would surely result in lost sales as well.

It’s our opinion that the idea is a no brainer and would certainly damage Microsoft’s sales along with its reputation with the gaming community, which presently is not doing to bad if sales of the Xbox 360 are anything to go by.

The idea of having a Blu-ray player would be a welcome move though, which firstly provides more storage capacity on the discs themselves, but also a lot of gamers are not ready to go 100% digital for gaming yet. What do you think? Do you think Microsoft would ever prevent users playing used or rented games?

In the UK Battlefield 3 is not being released until October 28th, but GameStop are already advertising a trade-in deal that will see gamers get hold of MW3 for only 99p. VideoGamer are reporting to take advantage of the deal gamers have to purchase Battlefield 3 by the end of October 27th via the retailer’s online store. Customers will then get sent a pre-paid envelope with their copy of Battlefield 3.

Then gamers have to purchase a copy of MW3 through the online store by the end of November 7th, and if they return Battlefield 3 to the retailer in the envelope by 6pm on the 18th GameStop will refund consumers cards with £40.98. This will mean that Modern Warfare 3 will have only cost 99p.

This offer is only open to Xbox 360 and PS3 users, and is not likely to be the only trade in deal of its kind when MW3 is launched. Whether there will be many Battlefield 3 owners wanting to part with their new came so quick is another matter, especially for MW3. There will be plenty of gamers wanting to enjoy both titles well into the New Year.

Would you trade in Battlefield 3 to get MW3 for a cheaper price?

As reported in a recent article by Saiyan over at saiyanisland.com, Gamestop sent the website an email recently, which contained a partial list of the video game deals they will be offering come Cyber Monday. This includes great stocking fillers, such as Up for the PS2 and Rune Factory 2 for the Nintendo DS.

Both of these titles will be on offer for just $9.99 on Cyber Monday. If it’s an adult you are trying to buy for this Christmas, then you might like the Microsoft Kinect Sports bundle, which will be on sale for $249.97. However, you don’t necessarily have to wait until Cyber Monday, to pick up a bargain.

Gamestop do still have some pre-Cyber Monday deals on offer, including Medal of Honor for the Xbox 360 for $49.99, Halo Reach for $39.99, The Beatles Rock Band for the PS3 for $14.99, Fallout: New Vegas for the PlayStation 3 for $39.99 and NBA Jam for the Nintendo Wii for $39.99.

You can view more pre-Cyber Monday deals via gamestop.com. What video games are you hoping are on offer on Cyber Monday?

Many stores offer video game trade-ins leading up to Christmas (and other times of the year), including Blockbuster and Gamestop. For example, Blockbuster stores offer trade-ins on games from a number of platforms including Nintendo Wii, DS, PS3, Xbox 360 and PS2.

However, you do have to be a member of the Blockbuster store to be able to take advantage of the trade-in. You won’t find details of the trade-in values via the store’s official website, but you will be able to get all the information you need by visiting your local store.

Gamestop on the other hand have a few trade-in offers detailed on their website, so it might be worth taking a look. For example, trade in your old games such as Dead Rising 2, Medal of Honor and Battlefield Bad Company 2, and get $20 in-store credit towards games such as Fallout: New Vegas.

You can read more about the latest Gamestop trade-in offers via the gamestop.com website. Have you taken up any trade-in offers? What other stores do you know that are offering video game trade-ins?

The first of the new characters to be included in the star-studded line-up is everyone’s favourite zombie-killer — Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil series.

The other, is the demonic Shuma Gorath, who battled Doctor Strange in certain Marvel Comics publications, and made an appearance in earlier Marvel vs. Capcom games.

As we stated, these characters will come your way in the shape of a DLC to be release four weeks after the games launch, which is estimated to be around February 15, 2011.

But if you were to splash out for the special edition, that comes with a steelbook case (with exclusive artwork), a one-month subscription to Marvel’s online digital comic service, and a prologue comic, you will also get yourself a download voucher that gives you free access to Jill and Shuma. On top of that, if you pre-order it you will also net yourself a set of colorful console decal cards with character descriptions and move-lists.

Are you excited for Marvel vs. Capcom 3?

Source: JoyStiq

The robbery took place at the GameStop store in Baltimore, Maryland, apparently it happened Saturday night just after the store closed, at least two robbers with handguns carried out the robbery, however no-one was hurt.

This could perhaps affect gamers who have pre-ordered their copy of Black Ops from this particular store, another GameStop store in the same county was robbed three weeks ago, apparently the Harford County Sheriff’s office believe that the same people carried out both robberies.

Sounds to me as if GameStop may need to claymore-up their stores after closing time if they want to keep all of their pre-order customers happy, what do you think?

Source: Examiner