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GameStop begins selling Android tablets with free games

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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="215" mce_src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4033/gamestoptablets540x358.jpg" src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4033/gamestoptablets540x358.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="324" />Say what you will about GameStop, as many have and will, but you can accuse them of being anything less than shrewd business. To that end they’re expanding their mostly console and portable video game stock to include Android tablets from Samsung, Asus and Acer, starting in a few select stores today. The tablets will be pre-loaded with seven free games including Dead Space and Madden NFL 2012.</div>
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The first tablets on sale are the Acer Iconia Tab 100, Asus Eee Pad Transformer and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The tablets won’t cost any less than they do at other retail locations, and if GameStop’s regular pricing structure is anything to go on, they’ll probably be more expensive than at least a few. But gamers hungry for a new mobile experience can practice the time-honored tradition of trading in old consoles and game discs for store credit, which can be used to purchase a new Android tablet. GameStop has already expanded its trade-in and used programs to cover general gadgets like the iPhone and iPod, and presumably, you’ll soon be able to trade in your Samsung Galaxy Tab or Acer Transformer as well. GameStop may integrate these tablets with its mobile streaming service Spawn Labs at some point in the future.</div>
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This may seem like an odd move for a company so well-established in the lucrative game console retail space, but if you take a look at some of the games coming out for Android lately, it makes a lot of sense. Check out the graphics in Shadowgun or Modern Combat 3, and you’ll see almost the rival of any Xbox or PlayStation 2 game. Who knows what can be done with upcoming hardware like the quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 found in the Transformer Prime, and with HDMI output already on many Android devices and native controller support coming with Ice Cream Sandwich, Android tablets are beginning to look a lot like gaming hardware, to say nothing of specialized smartphones like the XPERIA Play.</div>
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With downloaded games making up a bigger and bigger chunk of the digital market, GameStop finds itself in the same position that bookstores were five or six years ago. They can continue to make most of their profits off of software which will soon be available at the click of a mouse, or they can diversify and begin delivering the one thing that can’t be replicated with a broadband connection: hands-on, instant hardware gratification. It could be the difference between GameStop being the next Barnes & Noble (appropriately, since they used to be owned by them)… or Borders.</div>
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GameStop begins selling Android tablets with free games

Say what you will about GameStop, as many have and will, but you can accuse them of being anything less than shrewd business. To that en...

GameStop details plans for Impulse and Spawn Labs, says it's 'becoming a technology company'

<P align=center><img alt="" border="1" hspace="4" src="http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/2413/gamestopspawnlabs040120.jpg" vspace="4"></P><br /><P>Well, it looks like GameStop's plans following its acquisition of Impulse and Spawn Labs may be even grander than we had suspected. At an investor conference today, GameStop said flat out that it is "becoming a technology company," and that it does indeed plan to introduce a cloud-based gaming service similar to OnLive as a result of the Spawn Labs acquisition, while Impulse will be used to "compete fiercely" with Steam. But that's just the start of things. According to the Dallas Morning News</EM>, GameStop also plans to expand the gaming service to a variety of mobile devices, and it's apparently even entertaining the idea of a GameStop-branded tablet, saying that "if we feel like we could do a better job of making a tablet, we'll do that." Of course, some of that is still quite a ways off, but GameStop will be taking its first steps fairly soon -- it's already showed off a demo of how the service will be integrated into its website (see above, complete with a "try it now" option), and it plans to begin a public beta sometime this year before rolling out the full service early next year.GameStop details plans for Impulse and Spawn Labs, says it's 'becoming a technology company' </P><br /><P><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/01/gamestop-details-plans-for-impulse-and-spawn-labs-says-its-be/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">via</A></P>

GameStop details plans for Impulse and Spawn Labs, says it's 'becoming a technology company'

Well, it looks like GameStop's plans following its acquisition of Impulse and Spawn Labs may be even grander than we had suspected. At a...

GameStop snaps up Spawn Labs, Impulse game distribution platform

<P align=center><img alt="" border="0" hspace="4" src="http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/5198/gamestopimpulsespawn.jpg" vspace="4"></P>We wouldn't count on its retail business going away anytime soon, but it looks like GameStop is now also betting heavily on a digitally-distributed future. To that end, the company has just announced that it's acquiring both Spawn Labs and Steam-competitor Impulse, the latter of which it's buying out from parent company Stardock Systems. While Spawn Labs may not be the most familiar name, you might remember its HD-720 set-top box -- essentially a Slingbox for your game consoles -- which we first checked out way back in 2009 and finally started shipping in early 2010. It sounds like GameStop may have some even grander ambitions for the technology than that, however, as the company's press release says that it's now testing a "new consumer interface" that will give users "immediate access to a wide selection of high-definition video games on demand on any Internet-enabled device." As our pals at Joystiq</EM> note, that sounds an awful lot like OnLive-esque cloud-based gaming service, but GameStop unfortunately isn't offering many other hints at the moment. <br /><P><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/01/gamestop-snaps-up-spawn-labs-impulse-game-distribution-platform/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">via</A></P>

GameStop snaps up Spawn Labs, Impulse game distribution platform

We wouldn't count on its retail business going away anytime soon, but it looks like GameStop is now also betting heavily on a digitally-...

Nintendo 3DS pre-orders begin at GameStop, still no official US price

<div><img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2010/10/3ds-2010-10-02-500.jpg" /></div><br />
The forumites at <i>NeoGAF</i> were chatting it up all evening, and sure enough, it's true -- starting this morning, you can reserve a Nintendo 3DS by dropping a stack of change at any GameStop store. How high you'll have to pile the coin seems to depend on the location, as a New York employee wanted us to deposit $50, even as an Arizona store said we'd only need to bankroll a modest $25. Not that it much matters, as either way your money will go directly towards the as-yet-undetermined (likely $300) purchase price. Should your local GameStop fail to recognize the autostereoscopic handheld's impending availability, just kindly ask them to consult their computer, find the SKU field, and type in the magic numbers "020132." Then, painstakingly wait until March to claim your prize.<br />
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Nintendo 3DS pre-orders begin at GameStop, still no official US price

The forumites at NeoGAF were chatting it up all evening, and sure enough, it's true -- starting this morning, you can reserve a Ninten...