DALLAS, THE NETHERLANDS--Independent gaming news and feature conglomerate Shacknews, Ltd., whose properties include Shacknews, FileShack, and latestchatty.x, today announced the latest addition to its portfolio of internet websites targeted at today's hardcore gamer: ShackBlog, from the people who brought you Shacknews.

ShackBlog marks Shacknews, Ltd.'s first true excursion into blogging, despite Shacknews recently being named one of PC Magazine's Favorite Blogs of 2007 and being cited in a separate honor as featuring an "oft-updated blog." ShackBlog launched last week, and has already hosted sharp, incisive commentary on recent breaking news topics as well as the merits of various food condiments.

"Yeah I guess it's pretty cool," said Shacknews, Ltd. owner Steve Gibson, who is frequently cited as a landmark figure in the history of blogs. "Maarten programmed it so I didn't have to hire any extra employees. Since I don't pay my real employees either, that meant I could buy a second summer home this year."

"God damn you, Steve," commented Shacknews Editor-in-Chief Chris Remo.

Shacknews, Ltd. plans to synergistically leverage its existing intellectual property in order to best capitalize on the paradigms of the web 2.0 blogosphere. Cyberspace.

We invite you to browse ShackBlog and subscribe to its RSS feed. Shacknews editors are available for interviews upon request.

As rumored earlier this year, Google has officially acquired Adscape Media. Formally announced in early 2006, AdScape Media specializes in in-game advertising, with former Sony Computer Entertainment America and Sega of America president Bernard "Bernie" Stolar acting as the company's chairman of the board.

Google refused to elaborate upon the terms of the acquisition, describing them as "confidential" and the deal "officially closed."

"Over the past few years, the video game experience has become richer and more interactive," read Google's statement. "We think this rich environment is a perfect medium to deliver relevant, targeted advertising that ultimately benefits the user, the video game publisher and the advertiser."

Posting on the Official Google Blog under the title Dean of Games, Stolar related the high cost of game development, claiming "it can cost $25M [USD] to produce a game." Stolar then explained Google and Adscape's strategy of "non-intrusive and targeted advertising" as a way "to make gaming accessible and affordable for all."

"Our charge at Adscape has always been to honor the game that was developed and find new ways to enable that game to continue so others can enjoy it," he continued. "That's why we are so stoked to join Google--because these guys get it, and are committed to helping us continue our mission."

In the past, Stolar has been supposedly involved in many controversial decisions within the gaming industry. As the former president of SCEA, many attribute him with the oft-rumored policy against 2D games in the PlayStation's early days. After joining Sega of America, he was quick to axe the Saturn platform, leaving many fan-favorite games in Japan while focusing on the upcoming Dreamcast hardware. Furthermore, many believe losses caused by his announcement that the Dreamcast hardware would retail for $199 USD resulted in the company's eventual decision to restructure and pursue third party development. Stolar and Sega parted ways three weeks before the launch of the Dreamcast.

Late last week, online gaming comic Penny Arcade launched its fourth annual Child's Play Charity event, which collects donations, toys, and video games for hospitals all over the country in the name of the video gaming community. In addition to 22 target hospitals in the United States, this year Child's Play has partner hospitals in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Egypt.

Last year's drive raised over $605,000 for sick children, and we're hoping to smash that record total this winter. Check out the wish lists, read up on the local events and let's show the world what the gaming community is all about!

Each hospital has a link to either an Amazon wish list or a PayPal donation option. One hundred percent of all proceeds go directly to hospitals or gifts for hospitals. By sending books, toys, and games to hospitals, gamers can ensure that children who have serious illnesses or that are recovering from surgery have something to keep their spirits up. Recent published research from staff at Newark's University Hospital indicates that video games can reduce anxiety in surgery-bound patients as much as anesthesia. Games also provide entertainment and distractions for children who are in store for a long term hospital stay.

As last year, Penny Arcade will be holding a fundraiser dinner event to support the charity. It will occur on December 13, with more details to follow.

When politicians and other public figures criticize video games on cultural merits (or a perceived lack thereof), many gamers shrug it off with a comparison to early reactions to rock and roll. Of course, a lot more than rock and roll has taken similar criticism for allegedly corrupting the minds and souls of fragile youth, and Wired has a short article up highlighting some of the more noteworthy ones. For example, on the subject of that great storytelling form, the novel:

"The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet; and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?"
- Reverend Enos Hitchcock, Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, 1790

Read on for similar damnations of movies, comic books, and even the waltz. You can't make this stuff up, folks. (Thanks, Jason!)

Next Generation is the latest site with a brief Kev Levine Q&A, asking the Irrational Games founder about the Take Two buyout.

Merry Christmas everyone, here are the winners of this year's Shacknews Holiday Giveaway. Congratulations! If the default font on the frontpage confuses you, go here for the winners using the old and trusted Arial font.

- One of three copies of Call of Duty 2 (PC), courtesy of Activision.
Cryptical, Nephsevenon, nvaradi
- One of four copies of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (2 Xbox, 2 GameCube), courtesy of Activision.
porschey333 (Xbox), opengl128 (Xbox), jeffbax (GC), agbaber (GC)
- One of four copies of GUN (2 PC, 2 PS2), courtesy of Activision.
Thresher (PC), seoulman076 (PC), TShandy (PS2), Jumperus (PS2)
- One of five copies of Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (2 Xbox, 2 PS2, 1 GameCube), courtesy of Activision.
autocad2k2 (Xbox), datim (Xbox), bigcooter (PS2), guido anchovy (PS2), smellslikefish (GC)
- One of four copies of True Crime: New York City (2 Xbox, 2 PS2), courtesy of Activision.
GMRiggs (Xbox), pingfreud (Xbox), Rygar (PS2), reverend~heresy (PS2)
- One of three copies of Ultimate-Spiderman 2 (PC), courtesy of Activision.
agsilva, madtothemax, Artifex
- One of three copies of X-Men Legends 2 (PC), courtesy of Activision.
Rooneydog, RikiTiki2, tbreffni
- One copy each of Quake 4, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, GUN, Call of Duty 2 (Xbox 360), courtesy of Activision.
DKo5 (GUN), sevogajre (THAW), joelareiff (Quake 4), judasgoat (Call of Duty 2)
- One copy of The Movies, courtesy of Activision.
crazywigga
- One of six copies of Empire Earth 2, courtesy of Vivendi Universal Games.
Ninja Techno, ConfusedUs, Quaker-X, Kharn99, Judecca, disposition
- One of six copies of S.W.A.T. 4, courtesy of Vivendi Universal Games.
silentfett, metal zombie, d3tached, greatajax, boarder2, marblehead
- One of three F.E.A.R. jackets, courtesy of Vivendi Universal Games.
sixtynineallthetime, MurrayTheSkull, superwhitey1
- One of four copies of Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Xbox), courtesy of Bethesda.
vtx, GearHead2k3, dismal21, werewolfdaddy
- One of five copies of Age of Empires 3, courtesy of Microsoft Game Studios.
mizzer, Paranoid Android, Nixx2004, ovrlrd, mrwolf710
- One of five copies of Fable: The Lost Chapters (PC), courtesy of Microsoft Game Studios.
phalloidin, Sale Peteur, tealc316, MuteMode, BulletPro
- One of five subscriptions to TotalGaming.net, courtesy of Stardock.
cokefiend, -efx-, persecutor, nxlimit, cobbmann
- One of ten SiN Episodes t-shirts (5x L, 5x XL), courtesy of Ritual Entertainment.
Son O Gritz, grayscale, Lunatic Angelic, DoomKaiser, etheral (Large), Astronaughty, pantslesshorseman, robo2tony, Paccali, bjustin (X-Large)
- One copy each of the UMD movies Stargate, Universal Soldier, Young Guns and High Tension, courtesy of Lions Gate Home Entertainment.
deadhorse (Stargate), old_dick_dynamite (Universal Soldier), oojiboojiboo (High Tension), Phunk (Young Guns)
- One copy each of the games Civilization III Complete, Civilization IV, Serious Sam 2, Shattered Union and Vietcong 2, courtesy of 2K Games.
xannibal (Civilization III Complete), genjuro (Civilization IV), Redfield (Shattered Union), samduhman (Serious Sam 2), kelerian (Vietcong 2)
- One of two copies of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.
kamili, chromiumthc
- One of two copies of Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Black Edition (PC).
jjrademan1, Jeff Goldblum

If you already own a certain game and possibly want to swap before we send out the games (which is not happening until some time in January), post a message, see if its the case for anyone else who might want your game instead, and then email me a link to your posts. Same goes for the L vs XL shirts. Whether you won or lost, here is a message from Shack Santa.

As for the trivia answers? 1989, Arcanum (: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura), Icon of Sin / John Romero / any version of John Romero's head on a stick, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Embattled copy protection manufacturer StarForce has announced a contest, giving away $1000 to anyone who can prove that installing StarForce damages their system. StarForce believes reports of DVD/CD writers malfunctioning after installation of their software (used more and more in newer games) to be bogus. Thanks Blues News.

Anyone who can reproduce and demonstrate the mentioned above problem with CD/DVD drive in our office will receive $1000.00 US. You should arrive in our office with your PC or use any of our PCs and reproduce the problem.
Here are the terms of the contest:
* All the drives in the system should be properly functioning prior to the installation of a StarForce protected product.
* After the installation and start-up of StarForce protected product the problem with (CD/DVD read-write malfunction) must exist and be reproduced in any other configuration.
If you can be the first to reproduce this situation in our office, we will be happy to award you with $1000.00 US, cover your trip to Moscow and pay 2 days' lodging.

I really see a lot of people flying to Moscow gambling on the fact that they'll get their travel paid back..

A new X3: Reunion development diary can be found at Total Video Games. In this installment, Martin Brenner and Greg Kingston of Egosoft talk about the game's tech features.

So QuakeCon is just around the corner and that means so is the 10yr Shack anniversary party! The tour bus is already filled up for the field trip to check out the mile long JSF plant (That plane the US uses in Battlefield 2) but we've still got room for the party itself! The Shackmeet party details page has been updated with who has made it on the bus. Please shackmsg sHugamom your details for security clearance!

As many of you know, we did manage to get a bigger shackbus and therefore John rounded up more escorts for the Lockheed tour. So, as it now stands ... there will be around 50 of us on the tour and here's who you are. Again, if you're listed and still want to be on the Shacktour ... send your real name info to sHugamom. If your plans have changed and you need to cancel ... let her know that too. There are other shackers who will fill in ... but Lockheed needs this list (with your real names) from us as soon as possible.

You can't hide from it, the Sunday afternoon update to the ShackReviews database. Not a whole lot new came out this week, so I added a couple of more older titles (including two from this year that slipped through the crack). If there's a game you want in the database, see if it's already there and if not, request it!

• Nanostray (DS)
• Colosseum: Road to Freedom (PS2)
• Asheron's Call: Throne of Destiny (PC)
• GTR - FIA GT Racing (PC)
• Delta Force Xtreme (PC)
• ThunderForce V (PSOne)
• D/Generation (PC)

Featured ShackReviews:

• sinistarfith has written an in-depth review of In the Groove (PS2).
• Another pair of reviews from Masem as he offers his thoughts on the PS2 games Final Fantasy X and Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana.

Over at GameSpot you can find the first X3: Reunion development diary. Egosoft's Greg Kingston talks about what the gorgeous looking X3 will bring to the X franchise of space sim games. Six new screenshots are included.

So we'd like you guys to test drive the Shackmail interface and tell us what you think. It's really quite configurable so we'll pretty it up with all the Shack logo stuff etc in the near future. So, assuming you've got a Mercury account then you have a Shackmail account. We're letting people try Mercury for $1 for your first month these days too. Give it a spin at www.shackmail.com and here is our little to-do list.

- ANTI-SPAM/VIRUS software
- Your suggestion here

Oh and in case it wasnt obvious, DO NOT OPEN THE SPAM / VIRUS EMAILS OMG. If you see something from the 'Shackmail administrators' or anything like that it's just the same old spam.

Final opportunity! So as luck would have it for people looking for a job in gaming both candidates we had in mind for the new position here arent going to work out. We were hoping to avoid an open call for applications simply because of the immense amount of time and energy it takes to sort through and all the hurt feelings etc. that goes along with it. But I guess it's time to break some hearts! So here we are, in need of a new guy. Have a look at the job description

- Writing ability
- Console industry knowledge. Not just games, but the guys and companies who make them
- An equal appreciation of all platforms and what they have to offer
- Salary of 25k - 50k/yr based on experience

So then, click here if you are a discontent editor at one of our competitors!

So as luck would have it for people looking for a job in gaming both candidates we had in mind for the new position here arent going to work out. We were hoping to avoid an open call for applications simply because of the immense amount of time and energy it takes to sort through and all the hurt feelings etc. that goes along with it. But I guess it's time to break some hearts! So here we are, in need of a new guy. Have a look at the job description

- Writing ability
- Console industry knowledge. Not just games, but the guys and companies who make them
- An equal appreciation of all platforms and what they have to offer
- Salary of 25k - 50k/yr based on experience

So then, click here if you are a discontent editor at one of our competitors!

So as luck would have it for people looking for a job in gaming both candidates we had in mind for the new position here arent going to work out. We were hoping to avoid an open call for applications simply because of the immense amount of time and energy it takes to sort through and all the hurt feelings etc. that goes along with it. But I guess it's time to break some hearts! So here we are, in need of a new guy. Have a look at the job description

- Writing ability
- Console industry knowledge. Not just games, but the guys and companies who make them
- An equal appreciation of all platforms and what they have to offer
- Salary of 25k - 50k/yr based on experience

So then, click here if you are a discontent editor at one of our competitors!

In his last GameSpotting piece, GameSpot's Adam Buchen wrote an open letter to fanboys that explicitly detailed the laws that should govern their behavior; you know, just in case they ever forget. His information is an invaluable resource, so for you wannabe fanboys out there (we know who you are!), this is mandatory reading!

I have a few pieces of advice I want to pass onto you in this GameSpotting. I know that in an age of multiple platforms and a huge amount of games, it can be difficult to remain loyal to one platform or one company. It's a real challenge, and you are all noble and courageous for taking on this quest. I have a few pieces of advice that I hope you all take to heart. It will help guide you down the path of the fanboy.
...
Innovation is what it's called when your console has a unique feature. Otherwise, it's called a gimmick.
...
Your platform is the best one in existence. Any time you see what might be evidence to the contrary, it's clearly because others are blinded by their idiotic fanboyism.

He speaks the truth. Oh, also, if you're a fanboy, be careful: either grandpa will take off his belt and/or God will smite you.

So during QuakeCon this year we'll be celebrating starting the 10th year since I first started posting inane crap about games that werent even out yet. Things have changed a tiny bit over the last decade but it's still quite a bit of fun! So sHugamom and her hubby have decided to pitch in with what they can. Firstly John works for Lockheed and has access to getting a private tour of the assembly line (1 mile long!) of that JSF plane and a few others. We figure a bunch of you guys might be into seeing that. Secondly the after party is at the historical house my mom has been working on for years. Here's the Shackmeet details

- 10yrs of Shackin Shackmeet!

Oh, and the invitation image thingie! Thanks a ton as always to sHugamom for being all organized and stuff. Best mom ever.

Right on the heels of our exciting HD content announcement comes yet another Shack exclusive. We have partnered with Sprint PCS to bring you the Shacknews E3 Moblog. They armed us with three Treo 650s, the most powerful and capable smartphone available on the US market, and we'll be able to detail our Los Angeles E3 adventure on a 24/7 basis.

A moblog is similar to your standard weblog, but it's all done while on the go, typically from your mobile phone. With the Treo 650, we can snap a picture, quickly title it and add a caption, hit the publish button and voila: a new entry is born. The entire process takes less than a minute, making it very easy for us to consistently make new posts.

Currently up are a few quirky shots from inside Steve's apartment, but as we begin our trip this Sunday, there'll be a steady stream of content from all three of us. Our purpose and goal is to provide those who are unable to attend E3 the opportunity to see what the show is all about from a first-person perspective. The pains of travel, the mass hysteria as the doors open, and the secrets of a behind-closed-doors meeting. So point a bookmark to http://moblog.shacknews.com and enjoy!

So it begins. Our humble plans of making things bigger and better that we've been working on will finally arrive this month. The short summary of this is here:

The partnership between Fileshack and Limelight will greatly increase the reach and scale of Fileshack's services. An expanded geographic and network footprint will encompass nine new locations, two of which are in Europe. Fileshack will also triple its public capacity and quadruple its subscriber capacity, as well as increase 'shackspace' for subscribing members to 1 gigabyte. [snip]

So there you have it. We're gonna stick our necks out here and go for it! Wish us luck! We're pretty sure you guys might have a couple of questions but here's a quick hitter for the major points

- All support is being replaced, there will be a cancel button!
- No change in base pricing, more 'tiers' and payment options though (paypal etc)
- No planned downtime outside of a few minutes at like 4am
- Shackspace and Shackmail will be getting new interfaces. Your Shackspace files will be copied over.
- All existing customers will get that 1GB storage mentioned in the coming weeks.

I'll try and answer a few of the other major questions in the comments for those of you who are just really curious.

Now that our plans for FileShack are nearing completion (You'll know more in May!) One of the many things we've been looking at recently is game servers for Shackers. Specifically if you guys care to have a slots/rental system setup. If you dont care about this stuff please do drop a vote in the not interested column as I want to see if it's really worth the time and effort or not. Obviously it wouldnt be a major focus here but perhaps another tool made available to you guys.

What online games do you play?
America's Army
Battlefield 1942
Battlefield: Vietnam
Call of Duty
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike v.1.6
Day of Defeat
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Natural Selection
Team Fortress Classic
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament 1999
Wolfenstein Enemy Territory
Other online games
Never played online games

What online game servers have you rented before?
America's Army
Battlefield 1942
Battlefield: Vietnam
Call of Duty
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike v.1.6
Day of Defeat
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Natural Selection
Team Fortress Classic
Unreal Tournament 2004
Unreal Tournament 1999
Wolfenstein Enemy Territory
Other online game
Never rented a game server

What features are important to you when renting a game server?
IRC support
HLTV server
optimized server rates
voice server
web hosting
free web domain name
player stats
low pings
other
I don't rent online game servers