For the first time since the inception of Gamerhusbands, the gang has missed a week. Fortunately it was for a good cause. GHR_Maverick, GHR_Superman, Teetocks, Full Tilt 101 & JDsBlackBox all gathered in lovely (cold) Boston to enjoy PAX East. Great times were had but with the commutes, they were unable to get a podcast up this week.

Fear not! Late today / early tomorrow you can download The Married Gamers podcast starring Lefty Brown, GHR_Superman and Teetocks. I was just lurking but I’m sure you’ll recognize a few other guests from the PAXtastic broadcast.

Expect a bunch of PAX coverage coming up soon!

If you’re into gaming then you know we’re in the boom period. People can talk about the “Golden Age” all they want but right now is insane. Every week we have amazing titles coming out. Unfortunately even with all of these games, the game journalism industry continues to take hits.

Probably the largest of these sites, IGN, had layoffs yesterday. 1-Up closed up last year, this year it seems like IGN is the first to take a hit. Condolences to any of the IGN Staff that was impacted. I’m especially sorry to see @Chris_Roper go. I loved him on Podcast Beyond!

The title of this article isn’t an ad for the latest edition of Chris Hansen’s “To Catch a Predator”, instead it’s asking the question about when a game is correct for kids. For the past several years I’ve seen friends and relatives choosing games for their kids. Typically I give no opinion because I think it’s an individual’s choice. My one friend’s 9 year old was allowed to play Godfather 2 and everything in the Grand Theft Auto Series. I disagreed with their decisions but also recognize that a lot of people are going to disagree with mine.

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I was always into small independent stores. I didn’t like Starbucks, I liked South Street Coffee. I didn’t like Borders, I liked Marlow Books. Those of you not in Philly don’t recognize two of those stores because they never grew into chains and the chains eventually killed them. The independents had atmosphere and personality that Borders and Starbucks fake. Over the years I’ve grown to enjoy Borders and Starbucks because that’s all that’s left. But it’s not what I want. I want something more personal and less corporate. I want to support the small business that appreciates it.

Now I have a crisis because Game Zombie opened up 5 minutes from my house. What’s Game Zombie? A cool little store that sells everything game related. They have Dreamcasts and Atari’s in stock. They get new releases on Day 1 but have a huge selection of old games. They do free polishing of scratched disks. They have a game club where kids come in and play after school. They also have a Wednesday night movie showing where people go and watch zombie flicks on their large TV. All in all it’s what I’ve always wanted in a game store. They’re local, personable and seem to have an appreciation for the customer.

But there’s one thing they don’t have, one thing I love, pre-order bonuses. Forget the gold lancer, I’ve never cared about the gold lancers of the world. But I do love Juggernaut in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. I do love extra-outfits for Kratos and sackboy (it reminds me of playing with my Barbies growin…nevermind, TMI). I like the guns that you can only get during pre-order (Blackhole gun in Mass Effect 2 ROCKS). So much fun stuff just by putting down my $5 early. And it’s all so pretty and shiny.

And until now I’ve fallen into that trap. I go into Gamestop and I drop down my cash and a few weeks later I walk out with my added toy. But no longer. GameZombie has given me an independent option and I’m going to start taking it. As long as they continue to offer their great services I’m going to give up on all the corporate pre-order stuff and support my local game store.

PAX East is going to be the first major gaming convention on the East Coast and I am pumped for it. If you’re coming make sure to log into the forums and throw your name up on the GHR Meetup. Currently the following people are confirmed:  GHR_Maverick, Teetocks, GHR_Superman, Full Tilt 101, JDSBlackBox, VinceXombie, SirJMcWild, BulletHound. Between GHR and all the other communities, it should be a great turnout and lots of fun.

If you’re thinking about attending…HURRY!!! AND BUY YOUR TICKETS 60,000 attendees are expected and only 1000 tickets remain.

Note that the stuff below is a partial list of items that have been confirmed. Much more coming!

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Capcom is releasing a movie on Xbox Live in Japan. Unfortunately current stats have only 12 Xboxes sold in Japan so the audience will be limited. I’m hoping it has a US release sometime in the near future!

Dark Horse Comics is releasing a 4 part story set between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. The first book is free today only from the iTunes App store.

Vote now to determine what exclusive outfit will come with a pre-order of Red Dead Redemption from Gamestop. You can see all three in action in this video.

Vote here!
The Savvy Merchant gives you all ammo and guns at half price.
The Deadly Assassin recharges your “Dead Eye” targeting twice as fast.
And the Expert Hunter gives you double the price for any hides you collect.

No Mass Effect 2 spoilers in this:

Wrex, my Mass Effect 2 universe is a darker place without you in it. In ME1 I never did the Krogan armor quest and my Paragon level was never high enough to save you. I tried to save you over and over but you kept dying. I looked at old saves but I was sloppy and relied on auto-save too much.

So at every turn I remember having to kill you Wrex. I didn’t want to. I would have even let Saren cure the genophage because you really were that cool. The rest of my party were a bunch of stiffs (except the blue one that I got it on with). Wrex, you are my greatest gaming regret (#2 is not ‘breaking up the party’ in Arkham Asylum).