Video Games

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is now accepting applications for their 2006 Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) Scholarship Program. To be considered for the scholarship, students first need to join the IGDA as a student member at the cost of $30 a year. Once you’ve become a member, simply fill out a basic form and write a few short essays (100 words or less) on several questions–it could earn you a fully paid ticket to the Conference beginning March 20th, 2006.

This is a must-do for any serious gamer whose prospects in life are in the gaming industry. The conference is one of the most prestigious in the world, boasting educational lectures and hordes of fun on the side.

However, there is another way to attend the conference for free. Even though this alternative will most assuredly demand that you work to the sweat, I can assure you that it does not in fact involve prostituting yourself. First of all, apply to be one of the hundred or so Conference Associates (CAs). As a CA, it is your duty to spend 20 hours during the entire conference doing grunt work (think guarding doors, managing lines, stuffing goodie bags, entering information into databases, and other menial tasks). And what do you get for all this work? Quite a bundle:

+ The program’s managers (Tim Brengle and Ian MacKenzie) run a really tight ship. You’ll learn a lot from them.

+ Lunch and breakfast Monday through Friday are included

+ CAs receive full Giga pass privileges ($1325 value) when not on-duty

+ Access to all events and parties including the IGF and Game Developers Choice Awards (part of the Giga pass)

+ Reduced hotel costs by sharing rooms with other CAs

[via Joystiq]

How would you like to win a free WoW Guest Subscription Card? It offers 10 days in WoW 100% free! And as the proud recipient of a new World of Warcraft boxed game, I offer you, loyal VGB readers, a chance to win. Just link to this promotion and leave a URL to your blog post in the comments, and we’ll enter you in the drawing. That’s it–no catch!

When the winner is chosen randomly, we’ll email them the Guest code, and request a physical mailing address if they want to receive the physical game card.

Update:

When I get 50 comments here, I’ll pick one at random (literally, I’ll use a random number generator), and send you a congrats email!

Update 2:

A winner has been chosen, and it’s number 11! Number 41 was initially chosen and then disqualified for entering himself multiple times. Thanks for playing!!

So everybody wants free games, but the question is where are they? Mostly online, but if you want games with a retail value, you’re going to have to look harder. Or, you can just continue reading.

First up, we have the fledgling forum LivingHardcore.com. If I were to contrast it with the forum giants Totse.com, LivingWithStyle.com, and SomethingAwful.com, I would sum up the distinctions as thus: LivingHardcore is a smaller forum that truly feels like a community, and boasts phenomenal monthly prizes. The way it works is you sign up, begin posting in any of the 15 sub-forums, and earn “points”. Every reply that you make earns you one point, and every thread you make earns you two points. At the end of each month, the poster with the most points automatically wins a prize. Also, everyone is entered into a raffle. The number of “tickets” they have in the pot is determined by the number of points they have acquired in that month. Therefore, a user with 1,000 points is 500 times more likely to be selected as the raffle winner than a user with 2 points. It is possible that the top poster is also selected as the raffle winner. The raffle prize is usually bigger than the prize awarded to the top poster. The prizes this month (ending November 25) are a choice between a Sony PSP, Ipod Nano, or $200 for the raffle winner, and $50 to the top poster. In the coming months, it’s possible that bigger and better games and portables will be given away!

Second up, we have the prestigious and well-established gaming site 1Up with a contest so outrageous, it’s amazing they aren’t running into the red! 1Up is giving away an Xbox 360 prize-pack every day this month. I’ll repeat that, because it bears repeating. 1Up is giving away an Xbox 360 prize-pack every day this month. This prize pack includes a 360 and copies of NBA 2K6 and NHL 2K6. All you have to do to enter the contest is register for free on their site and cross your fingers.

Third up, we have the King Kong Contest. To win this, just register for a free account. Prizes include an Xbox 360 system or a vacation to New Zealand.

Fourthly, XboxMayhem Forums are giving away a brand-new Xbox and a game to one lucky user. The first step, as always, is to register for a free account. Then the point is to get as many referrals as possible, and the three people with the most referrals are entered into a drawing. ” The winner of the Xbox 360 will be chosen at random, the 2 runners-up will win a Xbox 360 game of their choice and a 1-year subscription to XBL.” So if you know a lot of people that are willing to sign up for you, you have a good chance of winning an Xbox, or at least an Xbox game.

Lastly, we have Blingo, where you could win a PSP, a portable DVD player, an Ipod Nano, or Visa Cash!

How does it work?
It’s simple:
1. We pick a bunch of random winning times.
2. Search at the right time and you win, instantly. No registration required.
3. Then tell us where to send the prize.

Clicking search results or sponsored links does not increase your chances of winning, and you’re limited to 10 qualifying searches per day. The best way to win on Blingo is just to use it whenever you want to search the web.

So sign up for Blingo and start winning!