Usually we do our contest and giveaways manually, this time around we decided to get help with it using Rafflecopter, thanks to Gizorama for the reference! Why did we choose Rafflecopter? Well, it has many cool features and it gives you more chances to win in this giveaway, allowing you to gain more points and chances towards winning.

So heres the scoop. There will be one winner, one $25 GameStop Giftcard and the only restrictions are one entry per person and is only eligible to win if you reside in the United States. Simply comment on this post with your Xbox LIVE gamertag, Twitter username, or Steam Name. Also please provide a valid email address so that we may contact you if you are selected. Giveaway closes March 2nd, 2012 at 11:59pm PST and winner will be selected within the next few days afterwards. Again, good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Help spread the word and share this giveaway on your website!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/ZjQ2YWFkODcxYzlhZjAzNDMxOWNlNTFmMjE5MzExOjA=/

• Twice the amount of experience points will be awarded during the first week of play, enabling gamers to expedite character ranking.
• The AK-47 weapon will unlock at rank one.
• The “Officer Class” will unlock at rank one. This character class includes several team-based advantages, such as reducing damage to teammates and increasing the effectiveness of other classes.
• Access to the “FUBAR Pack,” which contains exclusive accessories allowing players to customize their characters with unique and visually distinctive items.

R295 Highlight Summary

New features and performance since last WHQL-certified driver

- Game-changing performance boost of up to 45% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, “the fastest selling title in Steam’s history”

- Up to 2x performance Mass Effect 3 with SLI technology.

- GeForce-exclusive quality enhancements with ambient occlusion support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Diablo III, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

- New 3D Vision and SLI profiles for over 50 titles.

- New PhysX software for the best experience in top PhysX titles like Alice: Madness Returns and Batman: Arkham City.

R295 Highlight Details

Performance

- Increases performance by up to 45% in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (measured with GeForce GTX 560 at 1080p Ultra settings in indoor scenes vs. 285.62).

- Updates the NVIDIA Control Panel ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to a higher performance profile.

- Boosts Mass Effect 3 SLI performance to up to 2x.

Ambient Occlusion

- Adds ambient occlusion support for Diablo III. See the comparison screenshots on GeForce.com.

- Updates the ambient occlusion support for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to a higher performance profile (also in 290 beta drivers). See the comparison screenshots on GeForce.com.

- Adds ambient occlusion support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (also in 290 beta drivers). See the comparison screenshots on GeForce.com.

NVIDIA SLI

- Adds or updates SLI profiles for:

- Mass Effect 3

- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

- The Darkness II

- F1 2011

- Oil Rush

- Red Faction: Armageddon

- 7554

- Trine 2

- WRC 2: FIA World Rally Championship 2011

- Afterfall: InSanity.

- ArcheAge

- Core BlazeFreeStyle 2 – rated Good

- The Haunted Halls Reach – rated Excellent

- Insane 2 – rated Excellent

- King Arthur II – rated Not Recommended

- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – rated Fair

- Kong Fu Ying Xiong – rated Fair

- Love Beat – rated Good

- Marvel Super Hero Squad Online – rated Good

- Microsoft Flight – rated Fair

- Perpetuum – rated Fair

- Post Apocalyptic Mayhem – rated Fair

- Prototype 2 – rated Fair

- Q.U.B.E. – rated Excellent

- Quan Qiu Shi Ming – rated Excellent

- Red Bull X-Fighters – rated Excellent

- rFactor 2 (mod mode) – rated Good and updated convergence

- Risen 2: Dark Waters – rated Fair

- Saints Row: The Third – Rated Not Recommended

- Shadow Company: Left for Dead – rated Not Recommended

- Special Force – Rated Good

- Tera – rated Good

- Top Gun: Hard Lock – rated Not Recommended

- Tropico 4 – rated Good

- Worms Blast – rated Good

NVIDIA PhysX

- Updates PhysX System Software to 9.12.0209 for improved compatibility with Alice: Madness Returns and Batman: Arkham City.

 
If you haven’t been keeping up, thatgamecompany’s previous titles Flow and Flower have been emotional beat-downs that push the envelope of gameplay and theory consistently.  These PSN-only titles are both lovely and lonely, and you should certainly go check them out.  If that doesn’t perk your ears, the next few weeks are supposed to be jam-packed with trailers for the game.  You can check out one here.

 
In Journey, you will be wandering the vast desert, only barely communicating with the outside world towards a huge glowing mountain in the distance.  And, really, that’s it.  Sounds gorgeous.

 
While I joke, this is an incredibly exciting time for Aussie gamers.  Considering, up until now, games rated with our almost-identical Mature rating were either highly censured or flatly refused release.  Don’t believe me?  Look for yourself!

 
To call Australia’s media-related laws antiquated is an understatement.  See, we’re not talking about restrictive legislation.  We’re talking about adults not being able to buy a game like Blitz: The League or Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (okay, maybe that one isn’t so bad).  To simply write off many games or force developers to water them down made it so that some games made in Australia weren’t allowed to be sold there.  At long last, this is going to change.

 
Mark your calendars and buy some uber-violent game or sexy date-simulator because in a few months you can fulfill all of these desires.  Legally!  In Australia of all places!

 
However, it is definitely worth mentioning that this is not a 100% confirmation of the law being final.  But the bill is in place to be passed in a specific window of time.  Regardless, things are looking good for the future gamers of Australia.  In the mean time, just play those uber-violent games in their edited state, like Serious Sam 3′s Hippie mode, which turns blood and gore into flowers and vegetables.  True story.

Deadline reported an exclusive story today detailing a seven-figure Sony Pictures project with Brian Taylor to bring Twisted Metal to the big screen.  As co-director of the upcoming Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, as well as the Crank films, Taylor will both write and direct the live action movie.  Specific details are scarce, but the storyline appears as-expected for anyone familiar with the series.  Calypso is organizing an underground vehicular combat fight to the death, and the winner is granted one wish.   Sweet Tooth and Doll Face are both said to appear in the film.  Basically, it’s exactly as anyone would imagine a Twisted Metal movie to be.

Considering series creator David Jaffe’s recent DICE summit speech, this film announcement either makes perfect sense or is totally bonkers.  Jaffe firmly explained his position on cinematics in gaming, saying, “My talk is actually a warning about why we shouldn’t tell stories with our video games. I think it’s a bad idea. I think it’s a waste of resources and time and money…”  Given these beliefs, it almost seems backwards that Jaffe’s fundamental franchise is being converted to film.  In reality, however, it is likely his view that storytelling should be left to the movie industry and gaming should focus on gameplay.  Indeed, the man himself poked fun at how his DICE talk has been exaggerated, Tweeting today, “This just in: the recently announce Twisted Metal movie will contain no story. Because from what I hear I hate stories. That is all .”

It’s easy to get excited about a Twisted Metal movie, and one needs only to look at how iconic and recognizable the character of Sweet Tooth has remained across multiple gaming generations to understand the enthusiasm.  Also, it helps that he’s a complete badass.  But when we get down to the nuts and bolts of it…I’m worried.  Video game movies suck.  They suck so bad that it’s actually become cliche to complain that video game movies suck, yet the fact remains.  Also, take a closer look at who we’re dealing with for a second.  Brian Taylor also took a swing at the video game movie experience with the release of Gamer in 2009 (which he also co-directed).  Need I remind you how that all turned out?

In fact, I should’ve probably mentioned by now that I do, indeed, have the ability to gaze into the future and pluck out absolute truths.

Allow me to demonstrate:

As the release of Twisted Metal: The Movie nears, a dark and gritty trailer chock-full of carnage and explosions excites fanboys across the globe.  Gamers and media outlets alike are exclaiming that this time it’s going to be different, this time Hollywood finally got it right, and Twisted Metal will be the best video game movie of all time.  The film is not screened in advance, and professional expectations are left in the dark until opening day.  Fanboys flock movie theaters for the midnight screening, 75-80% of them donning crude crazy clown masks.

The first showing lets out, and immediately all hell breaks loose.  The Internet erupts in fury and rage.  Aggressive comments with poor grammar pop up on message boards as far as the eye can see.  Metacritic’s User Score dives to a 0.7, although the majority of the reviewers never actually saw the film. David Jaffe himself receives an onslaught of direct death threats and is forced to adjust his Twitter account to Private.  Twisted Metal flops, Sony facepalms, and no production company considers a video game-based film for another four or five years, wherein the cycle repeats.

Now bookmark this article, return to me following the release of the Twisted Metal movie, and stand in awe at my majestic splendor.