This Super Mario chess set is a little strange. The first thing I noticed was King Bowser and his Queen Koopa. Really? Queen Koopa? I thought he was a guy. What the hell is going on with those two? Maybe I missed something, or else I was busy playing games where people die horribly with gunfire. Wait, they have Luigi as Mario’s queen too…

Anyhow, you can’t call yourself a Super Mario fan unless you are playing chess with this collector’s edition chess set from USAopoly. You just might need some therapy after. The chess set includes 32 hand-painted figures from the game series including Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Toad, 1-up mushroom, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Birdo, Goomba, Hammer Bros., and Magikoopa.

This kid is playing Guitar Hero on expert and solving two Rubik’s cubes simultaneously. Showoff! He goes by the handle of “JRefleX93″. And though he solves both cubes by the end of the video, he doesn’t hit every single note, but he hits more than you would have. With his elbow. In the end he has a 77% rating and his choice of nerd groupies.

This is six minutes of solid geek gold, until the end, when it fades to black and the kid gets too cocky letting out a groan that ruins the entire thing. But hey, props to this kid for six minutes of geek fun.

I really liked Call of Duty: World at War on the PC. I didn’t buy the game on the PS3 or Xbox, but it is available on those systems as well. One of the things I like about the CoD franchise is that you can count on new maps being offered to keep the game fresh.

Activision has announced that the third map pack for World at War is now available for download on the PS3 and the Xbox. The map pack sells for $9.99 on the PS3 or 800 MS Points on the Xbox 360.

Video games are feeling the pinch of the poor economy as sales for hardware and software slump. The market for casual games is much larger than the market for more hardcore video games and GameStop is making a grab for some of the casual market.

GameStop announced a new casual digital download store for games powered by RealNetworks. GameStop says that customers will be offered money-saving deals, free trials, and a streamlined search along with a checkout capability.

Today Activision announced the DJ Hero Renegade Edition bundle. The bundle includes a peripheral that’s darker with less silver and some premium metal controls and finish. The package also comes with a hardshell carrying case that doubles as a stand and a Jay-Z / Eminem two-CD collection with unreleased tracks and a collectible case designed by Shepard Fairey.

We don’t have anything on price, but the standard edition has a rumored $120 price tag, so you can expect to pay upwards of that.

Rock Band is one of the most popular music games available for fans of the genre. Typically, the game sticks to rock and pop music but country fans can now get their fix of playable tracks form some of the most popular artists in country music.

The new Country Track Pack is now available in America and can be purchased in retail locations for $29.99. The track pack has 21 country tracks from artists like Willie Nelson, Alan Jackson, Kenny Rogers, Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean and Shania Twain.

Music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are very popular and have proven to be a great way for record labels and bands to sell music to the public. Playable track sells for a while outpaced the sales of the normal music tracks for some groups.

Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that bands and record labels can now access the tools they need to turn music into playable tracks for Rock Band online. The new service is offered through the Rock Band Music Network Music Store.

Remember the Tony Hawk Ride board? The one with the charcoal color? We thought the color was just fine, and represented boards fairly well. But it seems like the game’s director Josh Tsui doesn’t agree. He told GamesIndustry.biz that it will be launched in a “more consumer friendly… iPod-like” white color.

Are they seriously trying to trick people into thinking that this is a new cooler version of the Wii balance board? C’mon, white? Tsui heaped on a bunch of praise for the peripheral too, calling the board “the most advanced peripheral on the market.”

I love a good war game so as soon as I get a chance I plan to check out Modern Warfare 2. The game is generating a lot of buzz. After seeing this, I want to check it out even more. This is an unusual approach to selling a game and I think it might work.

The Prestige Edition will come with fully functioning night vision goggles. How cool is that? We don’t know yet how much the bundle will cost, but it will likely be pretty expensive. Even low-end NVGs can cost a few hundred bucks.

Motion detection is all the rage in the video game industry now. From the Wiimote to the Wii MotionPlus add-on and even the accelerometer in the iPhone. The Acceleglove uses aspects from all to create an awesome gaming glove.

Using the Wiimote, you can make general movements but nothing specific, like finger movements and the like. The Acceleglove puts accelerometers in the fingers of the glove so you can make more complicated hand gestures. It was developed by AthroTronix and at the moment the Acceleglove can only detect some hand motions like say pinching. But the potential is huge.

Gamers can be a picky bunch. We want things the way they work best while playing the game. When Japanese peripheral maker Hori revealed its $323 dual joysticks for the $15 Xbox LIVE Arcade game Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram, fans of the game were very vocal about how much it sucked.

The problem was that the layout was all wrong. Well, Hori heard your complaints and they have re-modeled the grip and layout. Now the sticks are sculpted more in-line with the Dreamcast original as well as the distance between the sticks themselves.

We all know that some game consoles consume a whole lot more power than others. Wii won’t mention any names. TrickleStar knows this and so has introduced their TV TrickleSaver device aimed at cutting down on some of that wasted power consumption.

Just plug both your TV and game console into the device (it will also work with a power bar), and then the device does it’s thing, cutting off power to the game console when you shut off your TV. It even works with other devices other than game consoles. TrickleStar outs the PS3 as its primary target, with the Xbox 360 a close second.

You sank my liver! This Enigma Battleship Drinking Game doesn’t come from Milton Bradley. The classic Battleship game has been combined with alcoholism at long last. The idea is that you drink a shot of your favorite alcohol every time you get hit.

It was designed by Mauricio (Tony) Harion, from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, who must be a real hit at parties. What other drinking games will he come up with? Maybe he’ll turn candyland into brandyland. What about turning Clue into I have No Clue, I’m Hungover?

This oddly-shaped pink gadget is the Conny Q3 Sports, a video game console from where else? China. It’s designed to play like the Nintendo Wii, just cheaper and crappier. The Q3 Sports sells for just $99 and includes 5 games. That’s gotta keep you entertained for at least 15 minutes. Plus it looks like a Wii designed by a female razor company.

The Conny Q3 includes a wireless 3D motion-sensing controller, but it isn’t as powerful as their Wii competitor. Mostly because it plays ONLY those 5 games. Nothing else. I hope you like “Hot Dance”, fishing, bowling, golf or tennis. Excuse me, “tennies”.

Those of you who love fighting titles and especially those who love Tekken probably do not play with a stock controller. So this Hori arcade stick is for you. It will ship as part of a Tekken 6 Wireless Fight Stick Bundle bundle and will soon be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

It should show up at several different retailers for $150. That MSRP also snags you a collectible art book. For when you combine fighting and art, you will soon understand the art of fighting…grasshopper.