With the virtual football season now officially kicked off with one of EA Sports most popular franchises, Madden NFL 13, Electronic Arts and Virgin Gaming are gearing up for the return of the EA SPORTS™ Challenge Series Powered by Virgin Gaming.  Supporting Madden NFL 13, NHL 13 and FIFA Soccer 13, the tournament with one of the biggest prize pool in sports video gaming is hosting its second annual competition to determine who the most skilled sports gamers in the world are. Beginning September 11, 2012, exclusively on the PlayStation 3, participants will compete online in qualifying rounds to earn their seat in the live finals and their shot at $1,000,000 in cash prizes. Entry into the tournament is free for all participants that purchase their copy of Madden NFL 13, NHL 13 or FIFA Soccer 13 at GameStop.

GRAPEVINE, Texas – Ever wonder how those used games at GameStop ended up on store shelves? Well, the process they go through is a lot more than simply checking the disc. All used games, consoles, and electronic devices in the US go to a huge factory in Grapevine, Texas where they’re inspected, refurbished, categorized and then shipped back out to stores around the country. Check out the process in the exclusive video below.

While E3 is over and Gamescom is right around the corner, retailer GameStop is offering its PowerUp Rewards members a chance to experience a mini-E3 just like store managers. Every year, the game industry brings in celebrities and game developers to showcase the biggest titles for Christmas and beyond to GameStop managers. This year, the managers will get their own show in San Antonio, Texas, but then approximately 5,000 gamers will get the next day to see everything up-close and experience hands-on with the biggest titles of this year. Nintendo Wii U will have a large presence at this EXPO 2012.

Welcome back to your favorite Steam Summer Sale updates and recommendations. In personal news, I just got an email from my aunt saying she sent me a Gamestop gift certificate for my birthday, which is on Monday. I mean literally, she couldn’t have picked a worse time, right as the Steam Summer Sale has gotten started. Oh well, maybe I’ll get a bit of cash to help out the cause. Anyway, today is Saturday, so let’s look at some of today’s deals and bundles that you should take advantage of…

With The Dark Knight Rises heading to theaters worldwide, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is readying a special early look at TT Games’ LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.GameStop, the world’s largest multichannel retailer of video games, is giving super hero fanatics across the nation the chance to be among the first to try out the much-anticipated game before the launch on June 19, 2012. The one-day-only first-to-play events will take place on Saturday, June 16, in more than 4,000 U.S. GameStop locations. As an added bonus, PowerUp Rewards members that trade any games toward the pre-order or purchase of Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, will receive a 30% trade bonus. The developer talks about the new game in this exclusive video interview from E3 2012.

Blizzard Entertainment celebrated an epic launch with its much-anticipated Diablo III, only to experience an epic fail due to DRM issues and the dreaded Error 37 message that prevented many players from logging on. As a result of the launch woes, Blizzard has issued an official apology to gamers, which you can see below this exclusive launch video from a Gamestop in Irvine, CA, home town of Blizzard.

Gamestop continues to ride the success of its Nationwide NASCAR driver Joey Logano. The young driver plays all the games that are featured on the cars that he drives. Logano beat out Danica Patrick, Kyle Busch and other Sprint Cup drivers at Talladega Superspeedway. Logano talks about the games he like to play off the track in this exclusive interview below.

Nintendo and GameStop invited fans of multiplayer video game action to face off in an epic tournament. The tournament was held at GameStop stores in San Francisco, Orlando, and Los Angeles to celebrate the March 23 launch of Kid Icarus: Uprising on Nintendo 3DS. Gamers in LA competed for a trip to New York, where three winners from each regional tournament will compete in the finals to be crowned the nationwide champion. This tournament was open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis with the finals to be held March 22 in the Big Apple.

Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden III is just about ready to make a killing this spring, with Ryu Hayabusa returning to do what he does best -- slice bad guys into sashimi.  To commemorate the upcoming game, Tecmo Koei has announced that it will be making a special collector's edition being offered exclusively through Gamestop, jam-packed with fresh ninja goodness...and a Dead Or Alive surprise.

2011 brought plenty of gaming triumphs, but it also brought a few headaches along for the ride, naggling issues that were a bit hard to get over.  As a service to our readers, we've decided to present a list of things that we could do without in video games for 2012.  It's not too late for game companies to get a jump-start on these ideas, which would easily make their products way better.

TECMO KOEI America is offering gamers a special $100 collector’s edition of its latest NINJA GAIDEN adventure for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Shipping on March 20, 2012, NINJA GAIDEN 3 will also be available for $60. The new game spotlights the series’ beloved Japanese dark hero, Ryu Hayabusa, with an original story developed by famed writer Masato Kato bringing new depth to the game’s intense swordsmanship and hardcore action combat. 

In another sign that tablets are changing the videogame business, the world’s largest game retaThe next generation of Android tablets make their debut this holiday season and GameStop is providing the first opportunity to get hands-on with the new quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. Select stores nationwide will have the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime, the first tablet to use the new Tegra 3 chip, available for demo beginning this weekend.