Announcing... the winners of the "Sing The Bingo Zone Theme Song" competition!

Third place goes to, frankly, the oddest rendition of the song, courtesy of Frontofline:

Second place in the competition goes to Schalza for his Vegas-inspired version of the song:

And, the moment you've all be waiting for...

The winner of the "Sing The Bingo Zone Theme Song" competition is musictherapyashley of Richmonda, Va., who performed this awesome, acoustic rendition of the song:

We have been listening to musictherapyashley sing about the Bingo Zone for weeks now--literally; it's even on my iPod--so, job well done and enjoy your 500,000 GV Rewards!

Thank you to everyone who entered. We were overwhelmed by the response, and hope you like the musical stylings of this trio as much as we do!

When GV team members bring their pets into work, it can mean only one thing...

FERRET FRIDAY!!!

Useless Ferret Fact:  Ferrets are born deaf, and begin to hear at around 34 days--around the same time that their eyes begin to open for the first time. Source: weaselwords.com

Bonus Ferret Fact: All ferrets are born white, and take on their approximate adult color at three weeks of age.

Every few weeks, the team at GV HQ dedicates an afternoon to playing and critiquing games. It's fun, educational, and helps generate new ideas that will continue to make Gamesville the best place to play free online game shows for real cash prizes. 

At one of our recent meetings, we started looking at games that were really innovative or special in some way. Braid topped my personal list--not just because of its unique play mechanic of manipulating time, its unique visual style and musical score, but also because of how the developers structured The Wall.

The Wall is the point where need to pay to continue playing. In most casual games, that's an automatic 60 minutes into the game. Braid was more refined. The Wall concept was actually woven into the story, at just the right point, in just the right manner, to make me reach into my wallet and pull out my credit card without hestitation. That is no small feat.

I mentioned the story. A large part of why I bought the game was because of the story, because of the unique aura of loss and longing threaded so skillfully into the game. Braid is not a depressing experience--but it is definitely a moving experience.

Will we see a lot of Braid wannabes soon? Probably. Any time a casual game is popular, the market floods with tons of clones. But does it have to be that way? Don't we deserve better? I think we do.

Today, in an editorial for DailyGame.net, I put forth the idea that casual gamers deserve a Bill Of Rights, just like their PC-gaming cousins.

Think of it as a series of guiding principles that will hopefully encourage innovation and continue to grow the casual games industry. These are also the kinds of qualities you should expect from Gamesville as we move ahead into a bold, new age of online game shows.

Casual Gamer's Bill of Rights:

1. The right to games that keep things clear without being condescending or pandering.
2. The right to appropriate feedback, to understand whether or not I'm succeeding.
3. The right to games whose price points equate logically to the games themselves, not the genre to which the games belong.
4. The right to customer service that is both prompt and courteous.
5. The right to games that innovate more than imitate, and push my boundaries without breaking my spirit.
6. The right to games that help me understand the world and my place in it.

This six-point Casual Gamers' Bill of Rights is by no means complete, and questions, comments and suggestions are definitely welcome. I'm really interested to know what you think. Because this is really just the start of the conversation. Where it goes next is, in large part, up to you.

Sincerely,
Chris Cummings
Manager, Gamesville.com
GV: chriscummings101

During tonight's waxing crescent, relax with the melodic sounds of the true music of the spheres. Well, not spheres, really. Wine glasses. But still:

If you dig this beat, be sure to catch up on your glass music history at: http://www.glasharfe.de/glasharfe/texte/history.htm

Do you make wine glasses sing, or have some other talent of note? Tell us!

Email your story to: members@gamesville.com

Be sure to include your Gamesville member name with your entry. If we run your story on Gamesville.com, we'll send you 5,000 GV Rewards as a "thank-you"!

In a world of movie trailers, Don LaFontaine was the master. He died yesterday, at age 68.

LaFontaine's baritone voice and dramatic delivery are most often associated with the movie trailer catchphrase, "In a world..." But he's done thousands of television commercials, network promotions, and video game trailers.

(At one point, he was so pressed for time during the workday that he told his a driver to just take him from studio to studio in order to save time finding parking spaces!)

LaFontaine is survived by his wife, Nita Whitaker, and three children.

Source: CNN

Below: This GEICO commercial for auto insurance (besides just being funny) demonstrates that LaFontaine could poke fun at himself and his famous catchphrase...

Everyone knows the song Bingo:

There was a farmer, had a dog, and Bingo was his name-O!
B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name-O!

Gamesville Chobbi of Youngsville, N.C., won $1,008 playing Three-Eyed Bingo on August 14, 2008, and took a few minutes out of her schedule to talk with us about her win.

What did her win cost her husband? And what kind of game would she like to see on Gamesville next? Read on...

Gamesville: What was it like when you realized you won?
Chobbi: It took me a few minutes to realize what had happened! I joined the game late; in fact the game was close to ending so I was frantically playing catch up. When I realized that I had all the cards covered, I was in shock because it all happened so fast.

Were any friends or family there to share the moment with you?
My husband was in the other room waiting on dinner. Needless to say, dinner was burnt. The other people in the Gamesville room were so supportive and friendly. What a nice group of people; I hope they all are fortunate enough to win too!

What will you spend your winnings on?
The winnings came at a great time. We've had some unexpected expenses so having the extra money will come in handy.

What do you do for a living?
I work for a program that helps uninsured people get diagnostic and specialty care. I love, love, love my job! I cannot think of one negative thing about it.

If you were an animal in the wild, what would you be?
That's a hard question; I've never really thought about it. Maybe a goose because they can fly and they mate for life.

What is your most treasured possession and why?
My wedding ring given to me 34 years ago. I am so blessed to have found the love of a lifetime (corny but true)!

What does your member name mean?
Chobbi is a combination of my husband's first name and mine.

What kind of game or service would you like Gamesville to make next?
I would love to see a Vegas style slot machine with bonus rounds, such as Milk Money or Nut House.

Thanks, Chobbi--and congratulations again on your win!

New! "Come on down!" to The Price Is Right at Gamesville and you can be the next contestant in this exclusive online version of classic TV game show, produced by our friends at WorldWinner! Play now and let us know what you think.

Actor Julius J. Carry, III--best known around GV HQ as the Shogun of Harlem, Sho'nuff, in the classic 1980's kung-fu comedy flick The Last Dragon--passed away August 19. He was 56.

Here, Mr. Carry gets to chew the scenery as the over-the-top villain Sno'nuff (a performance we still reference 20+ years later): 

"Who da mastah?"

"Sho'nuff!"

Rest in peace, Mr. Carry.

Source: Chicago Tribune