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Announced earlier this week, the Indie Game Challenge is a competition that'll award amateur and professional game developers up to $100,000 in prize money for crafting the very best independent game.

I sat down to speak with Joseph Olin, the president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, which is co-sponsoring the event with GameStop and The Guildhall at SMU. Olin is well aware that there are a few other indie games competitions and encourages them, but he believes that the Indie Game Challenge sets itself apart by bringing professional developers to the table.

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Tags indie game challenge

As I mentioned this morning, the Xbox Live Update is almost upon us. And don't get me wrong, it has some stuff that I'm pleased to see, but considering all that was promised at E3 this year, it's not quite the gangbusters update we were expecting. For example, where's Facebook integration? Or Twitter? Or Last.fm? Yep, all AWOL. I asked you guys for your most wanted updates on Xbox Live and it seems your needs aren't exactly in-line with what Microsoft is up to.

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Tags dashboard update

In an email interview with Jeff Gardiner regarding August 3rd's release of the next "Fallout 3" DLC, "Mothership Zeta," I asked if it would even be possible to increase the level cap from its current 30 (as set by "Broken Steel.") Specifically, if the stat caps were boosted beyond 10 and skill caps were boosted beyond 100, would the game system simply break?

Clearly it's not the first time Gardiner has had the question, but his reaction was a bit more focused:

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Tags fallout, fallout 3, mothership zeta

The next Xbox Live Update is completed and will be up and running on your system soon. How soon? Um, I have no idea, and Microsoft isn't saying either. There will be select Live community members who will be gaining access to the update as early as July 22nd, though! Oh, and I'll be in there on Monday, so expect hands-on impressions of the updates then.

In the meantime, here's what they're adding:

Avatar Marketplace
Buy clothing and items for your avatar. Clothing is pretty obvious, but I'm curious how the items will be displayed. At E3 we saw an avatar driving around a toy Warthog vehicle from Halo, but will that appear everytime you see your avatar? I'll let you know next week.

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Tags dashboard update

Seth Gordon (not pictured above), whose documentary masterwork, "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters," added "kill screen" to the public lexicon, is working on a new project.

Apparently his dip into the fascinating pools of nerddom in "Kong" wasn't enough, as his next film is called "King Dork." Oh, and I guess he likes kings, too. The movie will be based on a popular young adult novel of the same name, and will tell the tale of a tenth grade loner who develops an intense love of music.

Check out more about "King Dork" at MTV's Movies Blog. Sadly it seems that Billy Mitchell is occupied with his sauces and won't be making a cameo.

Tags king dork, the king of kong: a fistful of quarters

The final box of "Wii Sports Resort" arrived today, along with travel gear to imply that I'd be taking a trip to the mystical, sports-filled world of Wuhu Island. I don't enjoy traveling (though I do enjoy getting there). This is what I would look like at the airport, if the airport was the MTV newsroom.

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Tags wii sports, wii sports resort

Wii accidents are so 2 years ago, but Christina Aguilera is apparently still suffering the wrath of Nintendo's cute and cuddly console.

A report on ShowBiz Spy has Aguilera's husband, Jordan Bratman, talking about a recent incident while playing Tennis in "Wii Sports."

"On this one occasion she and Joel were in the middle of a particularly heated game of tennis and Christina came off a little worse for wear in a run-in with a table lamp. She has a bruised hand but is more upset that she lost the game!"

What's interesting about the quote is that no one seems to know who Joel is. Joel Madden, front man of Good Charlotte, perhaps? Whatever the case, she hurt her hand, and apparently that's a big deal!

Tags christina aguilera

Until today, "World of WarCraft" fans have had to settle for 3rd party apps to keep track of their online characters on the iPhone. The launch of Blizzard's "World of WarCraft" Mobile Armory changes that, as there's now and official (and free!) option in the App Store.

It's extremely robust, and lets you search all the pertinent info that's already available on the web-based armory. For example, you can check your current equipment set-up, search for other players set-ups, blow through the database of guilds and even search any item that's in the game.

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Tags world of warcraft

Speaking with Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward's community manager, at an NYC event last night, I couldn't help but notice that the in-game menus of "Modern Warfare 2" lack any mention of "Call of Duty." The build, which is identical to the one at E3, is still very much subject to change, and the final release may be different, but its absence was rather interesting.

Going further, Bowling mentioned that the two collector's editions of the game, the $80 "Hardened Edition" and the $150 "Prestige Edition" just say "Modern Warfare 2" on the box, whereas the standard $60 version has "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2."

So clearly the assumption is that the fans know that "Modern Warfare 2" is a follow-up to "Call of Duty 4," but new-comers and penny-pinchers get more of an indication from the standard edition. Interesting!

Tags activision, call of duty, call of duty: modern warfare 2, infinity ward