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[Editor’s note: Ali D gives us an interesting take to the Expanded Universes theme fromlast month’s Monthly Musingtopic. — CTZ] If you have a casual look at the sci-fi section of your bookstore, chances are you’ll probably see a few licensed videogame novels. There’s not many when you consider how many fan-fiction stories there are online.Warcraft, HaloandFinal Fantasyare all titles that have a big cult following and there are hundreds of people writing fan-fic for them....

If you’re like me, you don’t reserve a game unless you absolutely have to play it on launch day or are confident that it’ll be too much of an adventure to find a copy because of the game’s massive hype and popularity. Every so often stores will give out pre-order goodies as an incentive to get you to hand over your hard-earned money weeks or evenmonthsbefore the game you’re interested in gets released — it’s schemes like this that get me every damn time....

If you’ve always wanted to put your spear in Ed Boon, tonight is the perfect opportunity to do it. Midway has put together a little gathering called “Get over here” that will give players an opportunity to play against theMortal Kombat vs. DC Universecreators over PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. The event begins at 8 PM (ET) on XBL. Starting a 10 PM, the creators will begin switching to PSN. The list of creators engaging in this activity is available for your viewing pleasure:...

Coin Dropisfree todayfor iPhone and iPad! I evenreviewed that game, and I loved it at the time. Can’t say I play it anymore, but it provided plenty of fun while it lasted for a $1 game — which is something you can hardly say about every $1 game these days. So go grab it. While you’re here, how do you guys feel about reviews for mobile games that aren’t big titles likeInfinity BladeorDead Space?...

If what Owen Davis from Evolution Research says is correct, you may one day find yourself testing games from your living room couch. That will show your mom, who said that you “would never getanywherewith these games.” Davis belives that the future of game concept testing lies in letting Xbox Live users giving titles a spin, giving them access as early as the concept stage. The opportunity here is a delivery mechanism for early stage game play footage across a popular and easily accessible platform....

Similar to thepromotion GameStop ranforLeft 4 Dead 2in which you could become a zombie using a simple picture of yourself, Internet voodoo, and a whole lot of patience, there’s a new one thatturns you intothe infamous Nintendo 64 kid. Although, knowing most of you, chances are high it’s going to be more historical figures, infants, and inanimate objects than your own personal mugshot that get uploaded. After about ten tries or so, I finally got the damn thing to accept a photo of Mr....

Hey, you might not have heard, butGears of War 2is kind of a big deal. So big, in fact, that 20,000 US stores areplanning to open upfor the game’s midnight launch. Those braving the launch will be rewarded with a limited edition in-game item, and the development team will be stalking Xbox Live during the title’s opening weekend. Microsoft has announced that pre-orders for the blockbuster shooting game have surpassed those of the original, which is hardly surprising....

German and British people, it’s time for free stuff! The fine fellows at Telltale Games are giving away free episodes ofStrong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive Peoplein both of your respective countries. Residents of either country who own a Wii simply have to fill outa surveyand they get the game. The survey is all about fun things like videogames and other forms of entertainment so it’s super easy to take. The running time is about ten minutes, but I bet you’re able to finish it faster....

It appears that you can now give and receive App Store purchases. According to a MacRumors report, the Cupertino crew are notifying iTunes shoppers — via a Terms and Conditions box — that the option to “Gift” items has extended to the App Store, meaning you can finally hit someone with a copy ofPlants vs. Zombiesor even the equally addictive pseudo-tower defense gameTrenches. After taking the prompt to do so, you’ll have to wade through a few menus and give the answer to important questions like “what’s the recievers’ e-mail?...

I think CD Projekt might just be my new best friend. Sure, the Polish-based publisher’s announcement of the awesome sounding downloadable game service, Good Old Games, might have influenced the feelings expressed in the previous sentence, but I’ve always liked them, honest! GOG.comis an on-demand platform that will be stocked with classic PC games. That, in and of itself, is great, but what about it is providing me with that extra oomph of excitement?...

Monolith’s downloadable multiplayer shooter,Gotham City Impostors, will run you $15 when it launches in winter of 2012. So that’ll give you plenty of time to exploreBatman: Arkham Citybefore the first-person title hits Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. I got my first look at the game earlier this year, and was completely taken off guard at first. A team-based multiplayer first-person shooter set in theBatmanuniverse? Maybe Monolith has lost it’s mind, but it’s backing up the premise: wild wannabe Batmen (and women) versus wannabe Clown Princes (and Princesses) of crime duking it out in 12-player FPS battles....

A while ago,I made a small mentionin the community blogs about a special announcement from Arc Systems regarding theGuilty Gearseries. While it wasn’t the anniversary collection that I was hoping for, IGN points to the new issue ofFamitsu, which says that it’sGuilty Gear 2is what the special announcement is. From their description, though, this is nothing like the previous games: Action sequences feature what’s referred to as “melee action,” with players facing off against multiple enemies on the battle field....

And we’re not talking about the bashing over the head to show off kind of guitar busting either. This guy, Danny Johnson, is classy. He’s a real musician who plays piano, guitar, drums, saxophone and oboe IRL, saysThe New York Times. But even with his respect for the musical instruments, he still manages to blow through dozens of guitars on his climb to the top. Where is the top, you ask?...