Last weekend’s “Bash for Cash” Call of Duty 4 tournament showcased the talents of 11 different CoD4 teams and 55 players—but especially those of current GotGame intern Zain Ali, aka zigzag. Zigzag and his team, Fresh Baked Muffins, took home first place and some swag after a five round, double elimination bracket on Saturday in Visalia, CA. The open event offered a variety of gamers a chance to strut their stuff, so long as they paid the $50 entry fee ($40 prepaid), which helped fund the awards zigzag and co. strutted on home with.

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Sony just announced the release of a new firmware update that promises increased interactivity through the use of the more interactive BD-LIVE format, which enables users to download trailers, ring tones and other media content.

The much touted BD-LIVE format already has several compatible titles on shelves now, including War and Saw IV, with Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The 6th Day slated for release in early April. Disney has also committed to future releases with BD-LIVE functionality.
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Last month at GDC, several of the the global leaders of the gaming world, announced that they had formed the PC Gaming Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to advancing the PC as the gaming platform of choice. Almost all of the members of the PCGA are gaming industry titans: Microsoft, Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Epic Games and so forth.
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For the past few years, Amazon has allowed people to purchase and download software directly from their website. Even so, it’s gone widely unnoticed as the only software they’ve been doing this with is TurboTax, though they do offer a similar service for other forms of entertainment, such as ebooks, movies and music. Now it appears they’re looking to expand further, based on a job posting on Gamasutra, which states that they’re looking for a Software Development Engineer, specifically to build the foundation for a game distribution system.
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Garage Gamestake after my own heart. Their new browser-based game site, InstantAction.com, will not only support a variety of games intended for the serious player, but also offers instant chat and multi-player accessibility across those games.

But wait—’serious’ games in the browser? As serious as Bejeweled, Snake, and Aggressive Alpine Skiing? Impossible. Let’s pause Sarcasm Quest for a second and take a peek.
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The next big thing in online gaming may be…just being online? It’s possible, and looking probable, as over 5,500 people have signed up and are currently ‘playing’ the Internet through the passively multi-player online game (PMOG).

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Technically the magazine’s owner Ziff Davis hasn’t shut down or anything like that. But they did file for bankruptcy last week and have started throwing around corporate terms like restructuring. We’ve all heard a similar terms before — downsizing, transitioning, and reorganization. The reality to that plan is that some people are going to be out of work.

The company cites poor subscriptions and ad revenue as the central reason for them being in this hole which raises the question — is their core publication, Electronic Gaming Monthly relevant anymore? Is this trouble with Ziff Davis a reflection of our digital, electronic age where people just don’t read magazines any more? The company publishes other mags like PC Weekly and Games for Windows but with less people signing up for subscriptions what does that mean for these publications as a whole. There are certainly enough gaming zines out there. All you need to do is go down to your local Borders to see them. You have to wonder though — who is reading them?
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Many have said that art imitates life, so it would seem that games follow the same trend. The Guitar Hero Series has capitalized on this, pulling the fan raging experience of rock stardom out of classic rock bands like taffy and brought the stage diving experience to the gaming masses. Most, though not all, gamers will agree that there is little correlation between your skill in Guitar Hero and actual guitar playing. Some even seem to find it infuriating when gamers enjoy Guitar Hero or similar games, claiming they would better spend their time learning to play the guitar. If you fall into this crowd of the musically inclined, or even if you don’t, Guitar Rising might be the game for you.
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