StarSlay3r decides to put down her controller for a chance to run across the U.S. in an attempt to disappear from the system for a month. With 10k on the line can she disguise herself well enough and resist the urge to compete so she doesn’t get caught?

StarSlay3r says, “I did this for the opportunity to take a break from my normal life. I’m hoping to meet new people, experience new things, and experience life on the run to the fullest extent. I’m going to be keeping a notebook with me at all times so that I can log everything that happens so that I can share my story upon my return. I hope the fact that I have a decent size fan base will help me to make it the full 30 days by having them tweet misdirecting information, planting moles in the repo men chat rooms and leaving messages to warn me when the repomen are getting close to figuring out my location. I’m very thankful that I was one of the 4 chosen out of hundreds of applicants and I can’t wait to start my adventure!”

As for her gaming career StarSlay3r states: “I’ll have plenty of time to game once I return, that’s not a big deal. My only concern is that I may have to take a week or so and set it aside for HARDCORE practice since not gaming for a month will definitely knock my skills down a few notches. Muscle memorization is important in gaming, and the fact that I will have gone a month without playing (hopefully) when this is over will definitely show the next time I pick up a fight stick or guitar.”

StarSlay3r will be on the run with her antiforg eyes. Conversation about the hunt for her can be found by entering the hash tag #repomen or specifically #repociji into twitter’s search bar.

Official press release:

UNIVERSAL PICTURES, WIRED MAGAZINE AND LONE SHARK GAMES LAUNCH NATIONWIDE REPO MEN HUNT, SENDING RUNNERS ON THE LAM IN AMERICA

With Tens of Thousands on the Line, Can the Repo Men Track Them Down?

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ — What does it take to disappear in America in 2010? Starting today, four contestants in a first-of-its-kind event will find out. Universal Pictures, in conjunction with Wired magazine and Lone Shark Games, announced today that four Runners—with a $7,500 bounty on each of their heads—have been selected to drop everything and go on the lam for an entire month. Their pursuers? Anyone in America.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060316/LATH064LOGO)

The contest is inspired by Universal Pictures’ futuristic action-thriller Repo Men (www.repomenarecoming.com), opening March 19, and Wired’s December 2009 feature story, “Gone.” For the Wired story, reporter Evan Ratliff attempted to live under a new identity—and elude a nationwide citizen manhunt—for a month (www.wired.com/vanish/2009/11/ff_vanish2). Ratliff made it 25 days before being caught by a team of Facebook hackers, Twitter sleuths and New Orleans pizzeria owners. We will soon find out if four new people, scattered in cities across the country, can do even better.

To succeed, the contest Runners must outwit a legion of self-deputized pursuers known as the Repo Men, named after the occupations of the film’s lead characters. Starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker, Repo Men is set in the near future where artificial organs, called artiforgs, are available on layaway. Artiforg recipients who fall behind on their payments will have their organs tracked and repossessed by the repo men, with no concern for patients’ comfort or survival.

“Just as Jude Law’s character, Remy, tries to vanish from the men chasing him, Universal’s partnership with Wired creates a real-world experience to showcase the challenges of vanishing in a digital world,” said Doug Neil, senior vice president of digital marketing, Universal Pictures. “We can’t wait to see how far our contestants get.”

“We are always searching for innovative ways to bring the magazine to life,” said Wired vice president and publisher Howard Mittman. “This contest gives the Wired community a chance to interact with emerging technologies that challenge privacy in the digital age, a subject we explore often within our pages.”

Readers over the age of 18 can sign up at www.wired.com/repomen to become Repo Men, unlock the clues and track down the Runners. Whoever is able to locate a Runner in person, take his or her photo and say a code word will win $7,500. Any Runner who lasts a month without being caught stands to gain up to $10,000. The Runners will be operating under a series of constraints and challenges, and Runners and Repo Men alike are forbidden from breaking the law. Clues will be hidden at every turn.

“Our Runners are out there hiding among 300 million people,” said Lone Shark president Mike Selinker. “Of course, that’s 300 million people who might turn them in …”

The contest begins today and continues until 12:01 A.M. on March 25, or when the Repo Men capture all of the runners—whichever comes first. The Hunt’s Runners include Ciji, who has spent hours imagining how she’d disguise herself; Usman, whose whereabouts shift with Heisenbergian uncertainty; Alex, a self-described “smart, sassy, athletic girl who loves adventure”; and Will, a former Army soldier who trained NATO forces in SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist and Escape) school.

Let the Hunt begin.

About REPO MEN

In the futuristic action-thriller Repo Men, humans have extended and improved our lives through highly sophisticated and expensive mechanical organs created by a company called The Union. The dark side of these medical breakthroughs is that if you don’t pay your bill, The Union sends its highly skilled repo men to take back its property … with no concern for your comfort or survival.

Jude Law plays Remy, one of the best organ repo men in the business. When he suffers a cardiac failure on the job, he awakens to find himself fitted with the company’s top-of-the-line heart-replacement … as well as a hefty debt. But a side effect of the procedure is that his heart’s no longer in the job. When he can’t make the payments, The Union sends its toughest enforcer, Remy’s former partner Jake (Academy Award® winner Forest Whitaker), to track him down.

Now that the hunter has become the hunted, Remy joins Beth (Alice Braga), another debtor who teaches him how to vanish from the system. And as he and Jake embark on a chase across a landscape populated by maniacal friends and foes, one man will become a reluctant champion for thousands on the run.

About Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures is a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi.

About Wired magazine

Wired is the first word on how ideas and innovation are changing the world. Each month in the magazine and every day online, the editors deliver a glimpse into the future of business, culture, innovation and science. Wired, published by Conde Nast, has received three National Magazine Awards for general excellence (2005, 2007 and 2009) and was named Magazine of the Decade by Adweek. In 2009, Wired.com was named Best Magazine Website by Adweek; Best News, Business & Finance Website by MPA Digital; and took home six Webby Awards. Wired magazine and Wired.com reach more than 14 million readers a month.

About Lone Shark Games

Lone Shark Games (www.lonesharkgames.com) is a Seattle-based design collective specializing in interactive puzzles and games. Lone Shark creates award-winning board and card games, alternate reality games, treasure hunts, promotional stunts, mobile applications and large-scale immersive experiences for all audiences. Lone Shark and WIRED editors Nicholas Thompson and Evan Ratliff are represented by Circle of Confusion.

SOURCE Universal Pictures

RELATED LINKS
http://www.universalstudios.com

From StarSlay3r’s personal gear that she doesn’t have the room for to all new StarSlay3r gear that is only available here. The store has some gaming gear that you may need or just think is cool.

Also, for fans of StarSlay3r she is down to autograph or personalize anything purchased from this site, but has said that she will only do so upon request.

Make sure to check out the featured item in the store today… the StarSlay3r Explorer Guitar customized for the Starlight Children’s Foundation. 100% of the money for this item will go straight to Starlight Children’s Foundation. Don’t know what SCF is? Check out their website here: Starlight Children’s Foundation Official Site

Make sure to check it out often as StarSlay3r will be updating it as often as possible. Supplies are limited so make sure to get your bids and orders in FAST!

Week 4-This weeks winner is @Petetrerice Enjoy! Don’t forget to retweet next week for your chance to win everyone!


Week 3-
This weeks winner is @dai_the_flu Hope you enjoy the gift card and Happy Valentine’s Day! If you’re not already… make sure to follow @StarSlay3r for your chance to win next week! Good luck everyone!

Week 2-
This weeks winner is @RayPaoloC Remember to check @StarSlay3r’s twitter updates for your next chance to win a $30 gift card to MusicSkins.com!

Week 1-
Thanks everyone for your tweets! Everyone who tweeted had their name put into a program where you were all numbered and one number was generated from a random number generator. The winning number was the 17th tweeter which was @pac_otters Congrats! You win a $30 gift card for MusicSkins.com and will be contacted shortly so we can send that your way! Thank you for all that participated and make sure to enter for your chance to win again next Friday.

Bummed you didn’t win but still want to buy a skin anyways? Save 15% by entering promo code: STARSLAY3R when making your purchase on musicskins.com

Well early last year I predicted that Guitar Hero would be meeting it’s fate very soon. I explained that I felt it was time to move on from that game and to explore my options in the pro gaming world to ensure that I’m always keeping myself busy. Last year I notice a DRAMATIC drop in Guitar Hero tournaments ever since the release of Guitar Hero: World Tour. After seeing that Guitar Hero just got worse after that (GH5 and Band Hero) It was very clear that Activision just stopped caring about the game and put more focus into producing as many versions of the game as possible as fast as possible and having celebrities promote the game then they did on ensuring that people actually liked the game and was having fun with it. Every version of the game just got worse and the dollar amount spent per game just went up and up even though sales for each version were worse then they had been before.

Last summer over 150 testers were laid off from Activision as they opened a new division in Quebec, Canada to take over the testing for all of their rhythm games. Recently Kotaku has been posting about the massive lay offs and shut downs associated with all companies involved with Guitar Hero and it’s been announced that the only games scheduled for release this year are Guitar Hero 6 and a new DJ Hero meaning that this is the end of Guitar Heros reign in the rhythm world.

Some excerpts from Kotaku:
“Luxoflux, also responsible for True Crime and Kung Fu Panda games for Activision, is said to have been shut down completely, according to former employees. Approximately 55 people have been let go, according to sources at the company, with some possibly being transferred to Call of Duty developer Treyarch.

Activision is said to have laid off another 50 at developer Neversoft, formerly of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series and responsible for the Guitar Hero series after the departure of Harmonix. “

They later posted:
“In addition to sackings at Neversoft and Luxoflux, Kotaku has learned today that publisher Activision has also laid off employees at RedOctane and internal studio Underground Development.

We’ve heard that RedOctane, the publisher of the original Guitar Hero and creator of the franchise’s plastic instruments, has been completely shut down. Those responsible directly for the series’ hardware will now report straight to Activision, while those remaining – around 30-40 people – have been shown the door.

Also reportedly affected is Underground Development, an Activision studio responsible for games like Guitar Hero: Van Halen and…BMX XXX. We’ve heard that, as of today, the entire studio has been shut down.”

Activision says:
“As we discussed on our earnings conference call yesterday, we are directing our resources against the largest and most profitable business segments, and as part of this initiative, we are realigning our resources to better reflect our slate and the market opportunities”

Oh COME ON! Don’t act like you JUST NOW discovered you guys spent WAAAAY too much money on the Guitar Hero series. What happened to just going the route of Guitar Hero 2? That game was all word of mouth and was a HUGE seller. Once they made 50 million versions of the game and paid every celebrity that would agree to get in their underwear and slide across the floor, they should have known they spent WAAAY too much money on the franchise and they were slowly strangling it to death. All they had to do is give us Guitar Hero fans 2 REALLY GOOD Guitar Hero versions in a year and we’d be happy. DLC keeps us busy… they kept coming up with SO many versions of the game and forced everyone to purchase peripheral after peripheral and it just got annoying. Am I wrong? Please… state how you feel about this!!! I loved Guitar Hero and all… but after Smash Hits and Metallica I got sick of the game.

With all of the lay offs the end is near for Guitar Hero. What does that mean for me? Nothing much! I haven’t done much with Guitar Hero lately as there are only 2 competitions involving Guitar Hero planned for this year Devastation and WCG 2010 and due to the fact that the game for both is Guitar Hero 5 and it’s basically just going to come down to whoever memorizes the best star bath and not really involve skill at all, I’m most likely not competing in either competition this year. I have been too busy with my plans to start my own business and practicing Street Fighter 4 for EVO to sit around and watch star path videos. I WILL however, still be competing in Rock Band 2 tournaments.

To everyone who recently lost their jobs due to all of this. I am sorry for your loss… I too was laid off last year so I know how it is to go through the lay off process. My advice to you all, collect your unemployment and use your time off to do something you’ve always wanted to do.. trust me… there are bigger and better things waiting for you out there. I wish you all the best of luck in the future.

To anyone who focuses their career on Guitar Hero only… I tried to warn you.

Thousands of people applied but only 11 gamers made the cut. Today Sony released a video in the Playstation Store that is very American Idol-ish and it shows some of the funnier audition tapes that they received. The video was released this afternoon and is free to download and watch. If you don’t have a Playstation 3 you’re in luck this time, it only took a few hours before someone uploaded the video to youtube. Check it out! Make sure to watch the video all the way through because Sony shows a sneak peek of the show toward the end!

The Tester first episode will air next Friday the 18th on the Playstation Network. Hopefully someone will continue to upload Youtube versions for the 8 episodes so that everyone can check it out!

And without further delay… here is The Tester Preview Episode!:

Info thanks to Playstation.com

I know many of you are excited about the upcoming launch of The Tester. I am here to share great news – it is premiering on February 18th exclusively on PlayStation Network! We’re also welcoming a new celebrity judge to our prestigious panel on The Tester – Hal Sparks! Most of you know him as an actor and comedian, but he’s also a diehard gamer. You can watch contestants face off against Hal throughout the eight-episode series – it’s going to be brutal.

Hal Sparks


The Tester is an original competitive reality series that PlayStation fans can really get into. Produced in partnership with one of the biggest names in reality TV (51 Minds), this is a program for gamers, about gamers who are competing to win a job as a game tester on PlayStation’s first party development team – the team that has introduced history-making franchises such as God of War, UNCHARTED, LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo. This is a golden opportunity for gamers to launch a career in gaming – in fact, some of the most recognized developers in the industry started out as a game tester.

From day one, the goal of PlayStation Network has been to provide quality content specifically for our PlayStation audience – including thousands of movies, TV shows, digital comics, games and add-on game content to choose from – and offering the flexibility to control when you want it, where you want it. Original content has consistently been a huge part of that vision, from first-party games such as Flower, flOw and Fat Princess to exclusive video content such as Qore and Pulse. And now, we are going even further by offering an original high-quality, reality series. With the largest network of first-party game studios in the industry and deep partnerships across the Sony brand already in place, look for us to continue to build out our stable of original content in the future.

PS3 and PSP owners can download The Tester from PlayStation Store starting February 18th for FREE. PlayStation Home users will also be able to watch the series with other PS3 owners in the PlayStation Home Theatre.

We’ve added more details on The Tester at www.TheTester.com, including photos, cast and panel details, and more. In the meantime, check out the trailer of The Tester below or from PlayStation Store.

Well, as everyone already knows… this year Shoryuken announced that they would be having an all female Super Street Fighter IV “Femme Fatale” Tournament at this years EVO. The responses have, not surprisingly, been very negative. From people being upset that Marvel was replaced with an all female tourney to people feeling that this is just WRONG to put females in a different group then males for SSF4… the overall community just really believes this is a horrible idea. I’m still a bit undecided about this whole situation.


Mid last year I competed in a tournament called the “Ladies of Street Fighter” tournament in Rowland Heights, CA. The turnout was pretty good and a couple of the girls really impressed me with their skills. A few of the girls were really taking SF4 seriously at the time and even AFTER the tournament was over a half dozen or so of the ladies who entered decided that they liked competing and continued to enter tournaments mostly dominated by men. Many of the girls used LOSF as a way to show people that they were serious about Street Fighter and they were recognized for their skills in a way that they wouldn’t have been if they had competed in an event as large as EVO for their first tournament. In short… LOSF was a great “welcome to the street fighter competitive scene” type of tournament. The tournament was less aggressive then your average tourney to a certain extent. There wasn’t as much crap talking, there was no entry fee so there wasn’t the thought of “I don’t want to lose all my money” and there were coaches by their side to help when the stress got too intense… the tournament was a very comfortable environment to start off in.

I believe all female tournaments are good when they are small and local. These tournaments are good for helping females to start in the competitive scene because, as everyone knows, males are very harsh and a lot of times are non-supportive of females being in the SF4 scene. While they SAY they want more females, a lot of them just want eye candy and don’t really encourage females to compete. It’s tough when competing with men having them say “everyone knows girls SUCK at SF4″ and a lot of times girls can’t handle the pressure. I’m not saying ALL girls can’t handle the pressure, I’m talking about girls who are new to Street Fighter, new to competitive gaming in general. Street Fighter 4 has the most rude community I’ve ever met, so having these little Female Only tournaments are definitely nice for not scaring them away, HOWEVER, I do NOT think that a large tournament like EVO is a good place to hold a Female Only SSF4 tourney.

I think that Jared said it best in his blog “But discouraging these women is exactly what the girls-only tournaments tend to do. While I can sort of understand the idea of nobility behind wanting to open the door to female Street Fighter players by giving them an accessible taste of what competitive play is all about, at the same time you’re essentially regulating them to a sideshow in the worse sense of the word. You’re saying that because they were born with a vagina, they’re clearly inferior and not competent enough to compete with the boys and this type of thinking — whether its intended or not — is bullshit and a slap to the face to all the women currently playing the game to even suggest this.”

I personally am leaning toward the side of not competing in EVOs all female tournament at this point in time. Basically with EVO being the LARGEST fighting game tournament in the US this is going to be an opportunity for these girls to be put in the spotlight for all of the SRK community to see and ridicule. Basically while many of the girls entering will not have been playing for very long… maybe even as little as a month or two since they could have heard about this last minute, there’s a very good chance that they could… well… “suck”. While they could be playing well for someone who has just recently picked up the game, the other players don’t know how long anyone has been playing… they don’t know how much time and dedication went into practice… all they see is “she can’t FADC into Ultra so she sucks” and that is a shame. I don’t think that any good will come out of this tournament. I’m being told that I should enter since there’s a very good chance I will place high, but I would rather play with the guys in the normal SSF4 tourney and go 0-2 then place top 3 in another female only tourney. Many of the guys competing in EVO are 2-10 year veterans of Street Fighter so beating any of them is a great accomplishment.

The last LOSF tournament also had some negative results. Yes, a good amount of the females who competed continued to compete but many also began ganging up on each other in a strive for attention. Rumors spread, alliances formed, people started turning on each other. What was supposed to be a tournament to bring together the female players ended up resulting in being the very thing that would prevent these people from becoming good friends. Jared writes, “The previous events were rife with high school-esque in-fighting amongst some of the competitors and brought out the worst amongst others, even those who weren’t even involved. Can anyone even remember who won the first “Ladies Night” tournament? Despite her being a very legit player, the internal trash talk ensured that it didn’t matter. “

I am still playing SF4 9 months later because I strive to be better. 2D fighting games were a weakness of mine and I’m working hard to level up in Street Fighter 4 specifically. I hope that the females who enter the SSF4 tourney at EVO are prepared to be put under a spotlight and a microscope and to deal with the negative comments that they most likely will receive. I also hope that some good comes of this tournament otherwise it’ll be a shame to lose the potential to have more females in the community. Best of luck to all of you girls who enter. Most likely I will just be entering the regular SSF4 tourney, but if you guys can convince me something good will come from entering this tourney I might do it. I’m still leaning toward no right now though.