Winter is here! Battle your way through the cold!

After a much needed holiday break, local gamers are ready to tear into a few new titles and stave off the could with a few friendly matches. This week the action will be taking place in Tempe for the most part.

Spiral Series Killer Instinct free play

-The Spiral Series crew are hosting a friendly session of Killer Instinct this Friday at 8 p.m. at the Gaming Zone in Tempe.

-The event is free to all and meant to encourage new and old members of the fighting game community to help each other learn the new game.  

-For more info, check out the Spiral Series Facebook page.  

Insight: Should betas be exclusive?

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As is the case with most recent upcoming titles for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 games, betas are often the way a developer tests its game with the public and gets gamers talking.

The Assassin's Creed Brotherhood beta was recently made available to Playstation Plus users this month.

Much like a soft opening, a beta is a period in which gamers can play a (generally) multiplayer facet of a given game before the game is actually released. This is different from a demo in that the gamers actually are testing the software being put out, rather than just sampling the finished product. Betas are a way for developers to stress test servers, find any potential bugs in the game play, and overall get a feel for how well the game works with a large quantity of players.

These betas are often exclusive to certain gamers through pre-orders of a certain game, contests for beta keys, or being apart of a certain subscription service.

But should these betas be exclusive at all?

The Pause Button’s video recap of DEVASTATION 2010

The large gaming event known as DEVASTATION recently concluded over the past weekend at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

The Pause Button’s own IncreaseBlue was there to cover the gaming, the players, and all of the rest of the action that went on at the event. The above posted video is a quick insight into how the event was set up, what went on, and the overall atmosphere of DEVASTATION as a whole.

For more information about DEVASTATION, visit their website or read some previous Pause Button posts about the 2010 event.

To view the full tournament bracket results, visit the DEVASTATION bracket result page.

DEVASTATION 2010: Day 1

The multi-game tournament event DEVASTATION kicked off competition Friday morning at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. 

Two large dual screens projected different game matches throughout the day.

The event opened up to attendees with casual setups for Halo 3, Tekken 6, Super Street Fighter 4, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, and Soul Caliber 4, before starting off late-morning tournaments for King of Fighters XII and Tekken Tag Tournament.

New dating site for gamers rated AO

Playing video games has generally never been considered a romantic activity. It is true that some couples “game together and stay together” as well as some who have met while playing against each other but overall, it’s not something that’s applied to dating. One new website however, seeks to change that.

Click on the video below to get my thoughts and ideas about the website. If you’re not feeling it, scroll down for the more concise post.

Get ready to wreak some DEVASTATION

Here is an audio stream of my thoughts and experiences of DEVASTATION. If you don’t want to hear me talk (I don’t blame you, I loathe the sound of my own voice; lol) then scroll down to see the full post about the event and all it’s awesomeness. (I apologize for the youtube formatting, but wordpress plugins are giving me a hard time these days).