Cosplay Contest on October 30th 2010 was awesome!

On October 30th, in the spirit of Halloween, Level Up Video Games held its first ever cosplay contest.

For those who don't already know, cosplay is short for "costume play." Most commonly, it is when people dress up as an anime or video game character. This phenomenon is hugely popular in Japan, and is rapidly growing in popularity in the United States and across the world. Thank you to all our friends and customers who showed up with such amazing costumes that made this event so successful. Also, a special thanks to After Con and its moderators who helped advertise.

The results were way better than anticipated, with about 30 people in costume competing, and many more who were there just here for the fun of it. First prize was given to Josh Landi who came in dressed as Gohan from the popular anime Dragon Ball.

Since this event was so successful, we have plans to make this an annual event! This year was definitely a learning experience for all of us and next year we hope to make it an even bigger event!

Check out the pictures of all the great costumes on our Facebook page, which you can access by clicking the above picture. Pictures are also available via our Flickr account as well.

Evil Controllers @ Level Up Video Games are hot item this week.

Level Up Video Games is happy to announce the edition of these sleek modded controllers to our ever expanding high-end gaming gear.

Evil Controllers has been on the gaming scene for a few years now and they have joined up with Level Up Video Games as their first retail enviroment to display and sell these amazing controllers.

 I have included a video clip of the controllers so you can get a little idea of what they are capable of. Just the imaging alone makes you want to take one home. 

To demo and see the display come by

Level Up Video Games in Tucson, AZ inside the Foothills Mall.

520-544-8800

or visit them on the web at:

www.EvilControllers.com

If The New Gunnar Glasses are good enough for a surgeon...

Hey Guys and Gals,

I am back again with another story from Life as Gamestore Owner. So the other day a regular customer came in and (I don't want to say his name without his consent) but he happens to be one of the heads of surgery for UMC. Anyway coolest guy, and a huge Battlefield Bad Company 2 player. Being a surgeon, he probably has really precise and quick reflexes which makes him so good. Well our Doctor friend had picked up a pair of Gunnar Optiks Glasses from Level Up Video Games a while back and so the last time I talked to him, he was preparing for some major 18 hour surgery that he was gonna be doing. And this is like some new frontier procedure that has to do with removing a part of the stomach from a small incision on the patients abdomen. I was thinking, wow having to stand for 18 hours straight while operating on someone,  their life in your hands, is pretty insane. I wished him luck. So the other day he pops in and whips out his Flip Camcorder and runs the clip. He filmed the whole surgery and low and behold he's wearing his Gunnar Glasses. So Cool!! Yeah so basically our customer and friend, uses his Gunnars when performing surgery that requires long periods of time in front of his surgery monitors. He loves the Gunnars and is going to be providing us very soon with a video clip or pics. Way to Go Doc. Way to go!

Gamestop Executive Goons pay Level Up Video Games a visit!

On Thursday, August 19^th, Level Up Video Games, an independent video game store in Tucson, AZ, was honored with a visit from none other than the GameStop Head of Visual Merchandising & Store Development, along with one of his Regional Managers. Mind you, this has not been the first time we have had a visit from the GameStop GoonSquad, but this time they were talking to a sales associate, not the manager or owner. The owner and manager were not on duty at the time to answer their questions, so we humbly offer the following letter of apology.

To The GameStop GoonSquad,

            We here at Level Up Video Games would like to offer our most sincere and deepest apologies. You see, when one of your Regional Managers came into our store a few days ago, along with the Head of Visual Merchandising and Store Development, we were woefully unprepared for the honor of that visit. Having no advance notice of such a glorious event, not only was our Owner, or even our Store Manager, not present, we had only a single employee on staff at that time to serve you. We had no decorations up, no cake, and sadly no balloons.

            However, this did not deter your two employees from asking penetrating questions, taking notes on our store layout, infiltrating our backroom, and taking pictures of everything in sight. We were overjoyed that the absense of someone more suited to talking to them did not deter them from their mission, and we are hopeful that your employees learned something of worth from our store.  Their forgetting to leave a business card, any contact information, or message for the owner must have been our own fault.

            As heinous as our lack of hospitality and preparedness was, we are afraid we have one more thing to apologize for: there is one thing that your employees could not have learned from our store, and that is the atmosphere of our store, our spirit of customer service, and our true love of both video games and our customers. These are things that can never be copied.

            We humbly request that next time we might be given advance notice, so that we may be more prepared for your future visits. Apparently the pony ride place says that the animals must be fed before giving rides, the cake shop requires at least four hours notice, and as much as we try, our record for blowing up balloons is only five a minute.

Puckishly Yours,

Level Up Video Games

The wrap on the New Xbox 360 4GB Core System from Microsoft

 

Ok guys and gals, 

Here is the wrap up on the new 360 4GB system. The system retails for $199.99 and is available for purchase now. This has the same slim design as the recent 250GB but rather than the piano finish it has a matte finish. Still has built-in WiFi, 5 USB ports, Kinect power support on board and same chip set. The difference is obviously the storage space. This core system has 16 times its predecessor's storage and is capable of supporting another two flash drives up to 16 gigabyte's each, for a total of 36gigs minus the system software that gives you a little over 33gigs of storage space for your game saves, demos and DLC. For under 200.00 bucks that's a pretty tempting deal. 

The forums are discussing the lack of storage for this new system and the inability to play your original XBOX games kind of sucks. But the word is out that the 250gb external drive from Microsoft is retailing at $129.99 that will connect to the bottom expansion port under the system case. But if your savvy we have heard about another solution. That's right folks Level Up Video Games will be your answer guys. It appears that there have been some reports of the ability to install the old HDD's from Microsoft on your system. The only catch your going to need some elbow grease and a couple of torque screw drivers to do this. Basically open the HDD case from your old drive and pull out the drive and drop it into your new system. From the reports we've read this appears to be working. Now you will have backward compatibility solved and if you p/u a cheap 20gb HDD or if you already have an old system drive than there ya go! We will be doing some testing really soon on this and let you know our results, but from my experience it makes sense that this will work. 

Stay Tuned will Keep you Posted!

Announced: Fable 3 Limited Edition Xbox 360 Controller

Fable 3 crowns a limited edition controller

by Richard Mitchell  on Aug 13th 2010 3:50PM

Limited edition controllers are all the rage these days. Halo: Reach has its own controller (and console!), so it only makes sense that Microsoft's other 2010 darling would get the same treatment. While it might appear that theFable 3 controller is simply a normal wireless Xbox 360 controller dipped in delicious caramel, Kotaku reports that the design was actually crafted to resemble the Crown of Albion (you know the one). Priced at $59.99, the controller heads to stores October 5, well ahead of Fable 3's October 26 launch, and includes a token to download an exclusive tattoo for the game

Round 4 is on, Super Street Fighter IV!!

This is the godfather of Fighters. The tournament will be held on AUGUST 5TH, 2010 FROM 6:30PM TO 8:30PM as usual and as always its FREE! We are holding this one in honor of the announcement of of the new unbelievably cool TEKKEN X STREETFIGHTER that was announced at Comicon San Diego. This game is going to be awesome pitting two of the greatest all-time rivalries in the same ring. Oh I cant wait..next show down Tekken 6 anyone??

Thursday Night Throwdown Round 3!

Next Up is Blazblue, this fighter has been a heavy hitter on the Playstation 3. So get your fighting sticks setup and start honing your skills. Once again like all of our Thursday Night Throwdowns, this is a free Tournament to join. We had a great turnout last week for Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on the Xbox 360. Look forward to seeing everyone there July 29th, 2010 from 6:30pm-8:30pm.

Thursday Night Throwdown: Round 2

Thanks to all our fantastic customers and friends that made our first "Thursday Night Throwdown" such great fun. Now it's time for Round 2. For all the players out there that are are always talking about how great they are at Marvel vs Capcom 2, "It's time to flick your stick and zip your lips." We expect to see you all there, this Thursday, July 22nd at 6:30pm. Remember, this event is FREE to enter!

Check back soon to see what our next  Thursday Night Throwdown will be.

Introducing the Xtatic 5.1 Headset

We recently started carrying the new Sharkoon Headset the Xtatic, because once we saw them at E3 2010, we had to have them. These headsets are the best on the market, for their price range and they are now available at Level Up Video Games for only $159.99.

About Sharkoon Xtatic:

This high-quality headset features four speakers per earpiece and volume controls built into the cable. Through the included Sound Control Unit, the X-Tatic Digital can connect to the optical output of a game console (PS2®, PS3®, Xbox® or Xbox® 360), a PC, DVD player or other HiFi device and immediately delivers high-quality sound to listeners. The Sound Control Unit outputs analog Dolby®Digital and Dolby®ProLogic® signals, and supports a second X-Tatic headset.


With the newly developed microphone, the chat functions of the PS3® and the Xbox® 360 are also supported. The ergonomic construction of the headset includes soft ear pieces and a plush headband, making the headset comfortable to wear even for long sessions.

Thursday Night Throwdown: Round 1

Starting on Thursday, July 15th at 6:30pm, we will begin hosting a FREE weekly tournament known as “Thursday Night Throwdown.” Players will compete in a friendly and relaxed environment while playing a variety of retro classics like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat, & Killer Instinct, as well as modern-day titles such as BlazBlue & Street Fighter IV. Every Thursday the game will be different, so each “Thursday Night Throwdown” will bring with it a new and exciting experience. The best part of it all is that these events are completely FREE!

Our first Thursday Night Throwdown will be Street Fighter II Turbo.

Also, we are proud to announce that on Saturday, August 7th at 11am, we will be holding BOTH a Super Smash Bros Brawl & Melee Tournament. 

Make sure you hit up our "Tournaments" page for more information on both events.

THE NEW 3DS

The innovator of hand-held gaming has done it again! Behold the Nintendo 3DS! Yes, you read that right, the 3d DS. Besides the obvious, the system features several additions to the design of the original DS, including a slider on the side of the device that adjusts the intensity of the 3D effect, a round nub analog input called the "Slide Pad", an accelerometer, and a gyroscope. The 3DS has two cameras on the outside of the device, capable of taking 3D photos and capturing 3D video, as well as a camera positioned above the top screen that faces the player. The best part of all? No dorky 3D glasses!

The system also has 3D movie playback capability; Nintendo has made deals with Warner Bros, Disney, and DreamWorks to deliver 3D movies. The 3DS also possesses Wi-Fi capabilities and periodically searches for Wi-Fi hotspots and other 3DSs without user input, and will be able to receive data from the Internet or other 3DSs while in sleep mode. The system supports multiplayer gameplay via a local wireless connection or over the Internet.

It will be compatible with both Nintendo DS and DSi games, and a new generation of 3DS games. Announced titles from Nintendo include Kid Icarus: Uprising, Mario Kart 3DS, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Paper Mario, Star Fox, and pretty much any other Nintendo title you would want. Many companies have signed on to develop for the 3DS, and over 20 titles in all have been confirmed, including such big names as Metal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hearts, Shin Megami Tensei, Resident Evil & Harvest Moon.

Official pricing and release have yet to be commented on by Nintendo, but rumors have the Nintendo 3DS being availiable by March 2011. We were sceptical at first, but after our hands-on time with the device at this year's E3, we can say without a doubt it works and it's awesome! Stay tuned for more information about this exciting new system from Nintendo!

The New Playstation Move Control

This year Sony officially unveiled the brand new PlayStation Move. The PlayStation Move is Sony's motion control technology, which features true 1-to-1 motion sensing technology. From Sony's official demonstration and our hands-on time with the device on the show room floor, it definitely is by far the most accurate hand-held motion sensing controller on the market. However, just like anything else, the technology doesn't mean anything without the games to back it up.

The games that were shown at E3 were definitely worth taking note of, with a few titles especially standing out above the rest. Sony announced that catalog titles would be given updates to allow Move functionality, such as Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition, Tiger Woods 2011, & Heavy Rain. In addition they also announced that many up-coming cross-platform games would get Move support as well. However, exclusives are what make buying a device like this worthwhile, and Move definitely has those. Killzone 3, Little Big Planet 2 & SOCOM 4 will all be Move compatible when they are released, but our interest was peaked by a little game called Sorcery. We might even go so far to call it a "must-buy".

The PlayStation Move is set to release this fall with a Move starter pack containing everything you needfor only $100. Make sure you check back with us to see when the PlayStation Move will officially be released.

XBOX 360 SLIM AND KINECT

The new slim line XBOX 360 was announced at this year's E3. The system sports a sleek new look, a 250GB internal hard drive, integrated wireless N adapter, and is noticeably quieter and cooler than previous incarnations of the 360. It also is compatible with the Kinect (see below for more info) right out of the box, with no extra cables required. The 360 Slim is in stock in our store today, but quantities are very limited!

Microsoft also officially unveiled their newest gaming innovation, the Kinect. Kinect takes motion sensing gaming to the next level by completely abandoning the idea of a controller. Kinect senses your entire body's movements to make you the "controller."

Kinect will give you the most immersive gaming experience possible, yet at the same time open up gaming to everyone in your household. It will also allow you to navigate the Dashboard using only your hands. With a great line-up of games from Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures, Kinectamals, and let's not forget Star Wars Kinect, the device is shaping up to be a "must-have" item.

A release date has yet to be announced, but pricing should be around $150. Check back soon for more details!