Yet another reason to celebrate!

Congratulations to Gamesviller Djh069 of Butler, PA, who hit the jackpot yesterday playing Magic 21 and took home $3,449 in cold hard cash!

Useless Facts!

Since Djh069's hometown of Butler, PA is such an interesting place we couldn't help but share several useless facts about the city:

• The modern Jeep was invented in Butler, PA, by the American Bantam Car Company, an early producer of small fuel-efficient vehicles. Big military contracts eventually went to Willys and Ford, and the Bantam factory failed during World War II.
• Cult classic Night of the Living Dead was filmed in Butler County, in Evans City. Butler is referenced in the movie when the city's name appears on a television set.
• In the 1950s, Butler became one of the first cities to install bells at crosswalks, a common practice today.
• The first all steel rail car was manufactured at the Pullman Standard plant in Butler.
• The Connoquenessing Creek, which was ranked the second most polluted waterway in the United States in 2000, flows through the city.
  

Facts courtesy of Wikipedia. Find out more about Butler, PA...

Distinguishing Personality Traits

Minnow5 says, "This is a picture of our two dogs sleeping, Bandit on the left and Bella on the right. Bandit is our 17-month-old Chihuahua and Bella is a 14-month-old mixed Schnauzer mutt. We got Bandit in February of 2008 and Bella came along 2 months later, when we found her wandering the streets in Sherwood, Oregon and took her in. They took to each other right away and love each other very much, albeit a little camera-shy as you can tell by this photo. They always look out for each other and hate it when one of them has to leave the house for awhile to go to the vet or something. When they wrestle Bandit makes weird noises like a little alien from outer space. He's always picking on Bella, but she's very patient with him and lets him know when she's had enough. She just likes to pretend jump on him.  We love our dogs!"

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

If we publish your pet as a "Best Pet," we'll give you 5,000 GV Rewards. Submit your pet today!

And the hits just keep on coming!

Yesterday we had yet another big jackpot hit! This time congratulations go out to lucky Gamesviller Walker030907 of Sonora, CA, who hit the jackpot yesterday in CatchUp CoverAll and took home $461 in cold hard cash!

Walker030907's win comes hot on the heels of Gamelvr323's DOUBLE JACKPOT win last week. (How'd she win double the stated jackpot? Just for being a GV Gold member. Just another reason why it pays to Go Gold!)

Today we're announcing a fun way to pass the time between rounds of your favorite Gamesville games, exclusively for our GV Gold members! Play games, while you're playing games!

Since the launch of our GV Gold member program back in February of last year, GV Gold members have had fun trivia and pop quizzes to answer and converse about in between rounds. Starting today, GV Gold members now have the option of 5 mini-games and interactive animations to play in between rounds of your favorite Gamesville game show!

And as always, GV Gold members receive an Ad-free experience as well as access to special members-only rooms for each Gamesville game, exclusive items for your Gamesville Avatar, bonus GV Rewards and so much more.

What are you waiting for? Come join the fun: Go Gold today!

Gamesviller Pavpeg of Pavilion, NY, recently won $378 while playing CatchUp CoverAll.

What was her moment of victory like? What type of game would she like to see here at Gamesville? Find out below...

What will you spend your winnings on?
No special plans for the winnings just yet, but this time of year in western New York is expensive, so it will come in handy.

What do you do for a living?
I am a stay at home mom whoes kids have all grown up, so you might say I am under-employed.

If you were an animal in the wild, what would you be?
I really don't know, perhaps something that spends its days sleeping in the sun.

What is your most treasured possession and why?
My 7-month-old pug puppy! She is a doll and one of these days I am going to enter her in your pet contest.

What does your Gamesville member name mean?
My member name comes from a combination of my name, Peg, and the town where I live, Pavilion.

What game would you like to see Gamesville make next?

I would like to see just a traditional bingo game, much like Bingo Zone, only with the options of regular bingo and a full card. It may also be fun in Magic 21 if there were a prize for having three 7's on your initial board.  This happened to me the other day and made me think of it.  Kind of like pulling three 7's on a slot!  Also, that would add something else to the game as you have in so many of your other games.

Thanks, Pavpeg - and congratulations again on your win!

PEW PEW PEW! Fans of retro gaming are in for a real treat.

Originally released in 1978, Space Invaders has seen many iterations and in it's upcoming release on the Nintendo DS will be featuring a new mode of play near and dear to our hearts.

The classic Space Invaders has been beefed up with the addition with a Gamesville favorite: Bingo Mode! In the all new bingo mode a grid is lit up during the course of a stage as invaders are shot. To win at Bingo, key spots on the grid must light up horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

Here's a screen courtesy of Kotaku of the space bingo action:

Space Invaders Extreme 2 is currently scheduled to ship in Japan on March 26, 2009 for the Ninenedo DS portable gaming system.

Sound off!

What other retro games could be improved with the addition of bingo play? What recent releases would you love to see include one of your favorite tried-and-true games? Let us know with your comments!

Is it time to head for the hills? No, at least not yet.

As it turns out, these signs of warning were merely hacked construction road signs by a group of pranksters in Austin, Texas. Read the full story here...

In case you're wondering? Gamesville: Zombie-free since 1999. (There was that one incident back in 1998 that we don't like to talk about. Suffice it to say most of us survived.)

Congratulations times five!

Yesterday we had yet another big jackpot hit! This time congratulations go out to lucky Gamesviller Gamelvr323 of Fallon, NV, who hit the jackpot yesterday in CatchUp CoverAll. And because Gamelvr323 is a GV Gold member, she automatically received DOUBLE the current jackpot, taking her winnings from $375 to a whopping $750 in cold hard cash! That's by far the biggest payout since the rebirth of CatchUp CoverAll back in December and our first jackpot double payout for a Gold member!

But that's not all! When Gamelvr32 scored the jackpot, FOUR OTHER players with the same Lucky Ball choice as Gamelvr32 each won $25 cash! Just like that! Congratulations to all our Lucky Ball winners:

Distinguishing Personality Traits

Leswan43 says, "This is my cat Sir SkippyDoodle, who we rescued from the local animal control in 2007. Skippy is not only the world's best lapcat, I'm pretty sure he thinks he's a dog as well!  He plays fetch with his ball, goes to his "time out" cat tower on demand (when he knows he is in trouble) and loves to have his belly rubbed! He actually comes when you call him, unlike most cats I have had. Skippy certainly brightens each day in our lives with his dog like attitude. I don't know what we would do with out him."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

If we publish your pet as a "Best Pet," we'll give you 5,000 GV Rewards. Submit your pet today!

Jan and Pam, the Canadian twins that run The Gray Gamers

Gamesville is enjoyed by both young and old. Today we're talking with Pam and Jan, the twin sisters who run The Gray Gamers, a blog dedicated to gamers who may be up in age, but remain young at heart. 

Gamesville: We love the Gray Gamers blog. What are your goals for it?
Pam: To the game industry, we want to say, "Hi! We're here, we play, we buy."

Jan:  To create a place for gray gamers to hang out, exchange ideas and hints--a safe social network.

What topics are you covering that are unique to gray gamers?
Pam: Some research indicates gray gamers get flack from peers for "wasting time". More research has shown adult brains and bodies respond just fine to playing. So, we'll cover anything which helps adults find their game muse.

Jan:  It depends on what gray gamers have to say to us.  At this point we are kind of flying by the seat of our XL pants.
 
How has the response been to the blog so far?
Jan: People seem quite tickled by the concept. Now if we could just get them to comment... Their opinion matters!

Pam: My friends at Cre8d-design, and other friends from 20-somethings to 80-somethings, have reviewed the site for us, and we're getting the kind of feedback we hoped for: fun, functional, readable, informative.

How is a gray gamer different than younger generations of gamers?
Jan: We get up earlier, we have creaky joints and bunions and other delightful old-age ailments, we have grandkids and we don't like to be told what to do. Oh-- that last part applies to younger gamers too.

Pam: I wonder how much more we older players have bought into the idea games are simply escapist fantasy. Games and game play are so much more. There are times I'm introverted and want to relax or self-challenge, there are times I want good story lines and inventive environments, and there are times I want to play with others, explore genres and kick butt. I want affordable and varied fun.
 
What games do you see that uniquely appeal to gray gamers?
Pam: The research in this field is relatively recent. I know Jan and I share games we we both like, and our interests also diverge. Again, I think the industry does itself a disservice if it assumes older players are going to gravitate to certain genres.
 
Jan: Once again my distinguished sibling is analyzing the market. My thinking is that we will play what interests us and I don't see it as being much different than games younger individuals enjoy. I suspect though, that hardcore games might not be our first choice. 

Jan: The first computer generated my passion for games. I like my own company and the first game I found was free cell, which has held my interest to this day. Now I see games as part of my lifestyle-- Wii, DS, computer. I can no longer read or knit which is something that I used to do. Games have taken the place of those previous past times nicely.

Pam: I was a workaholic, when I wound up on medical disability and got a personal computer, I learned how to find my way online and navigate by playing. I was active in sports when I was younger, and skied in my dreams years after I could no longer hit the slopes. I'm a more recent convert to playing. Gamesville was my first log in!
 
What kind of games do you play? Web-based? PC? Console?

Pam: PC for sure. If I'm going to pay for an internet connection, I'm going to have fun! Web-based definitely, but I admit I've not tried MMORGP's or MMORTS or MMORFPS. Gamesville has been part of my life since 1999 and I remain fond of your site.
 
Jan: I like various game sites, Hoyle games, any Wii game that lets me use my Mii's because all my grandkids are on it. I am new to the DS, which has turned out to be quite a fun little portable bus ride kind of gaming system.
 
What games are you currently playing?
Jan: If Wii fit can be called a game that is one of my favorites, so is Wii golf.  On the DS it's Trauma Centre Under the Knife and Brain Age.  On the computer it's Frantic Fish and Free Cell or various solitaire games.  Jewel Quest solitaire is fun, I've been through it several times.

Pam: I've headed over to Jan's between blizzards twice this past month to try the Wii fit and clean her clock in snowboarding, laser hockey, badminton and beach volleyball. She cleaned my clock in everything else.
 
What are your Gamesville member names?
Jan: Cricket146

Pam: Thumper146

What are you favorite Gamesville games (now, or from way back)?
Pam: Three-Eyed Bingo, Hot Streak Solitaire, and Pool.

Jan: Frantic Fish and Magic 21!

Thank you both very much for the great conversation! Head on over to The Gray Gamers to check out their fantastic new blog, and a featured interview with Gamesville's own Chris Cummings!