Everybody loves free stuff right? cdv Entertainment is giving away some of that in anticipation of their upcoming action-RPG, Divinity II: Ego Draconis.

One of the more anticipated games of 2009 to be pushed out of its Fall/Winter release to 2010 is Mass Effect 2 from BioWare. The space epic has today officially been given a date of January 26th, 2010. BioWare also revealed that reserve customers will receive exclusive weapons upon pick-up of the game.

Last week we let you know about the Limited Collector’s Edition coming out alongside the standard North American edition of Forza Motorsport 3, set to release on October 27th. Following up on that, Microsoft Game Studios and developer Turn 10 have released official box art for the game.

GameStop has had a lot of deals going on this summer. Even though a lot of them have expired there is still some life in the summer deals. GameStop’s exclusive pre-order demo for Madden will run along with the stores new deal running through July 26th.

Starting today, GameStop is holding a Buy 2 Get 1 Free sale on used games. This offer only lasts until July 19, so be sure to stop in and take advantage of it this weekend.

What do you get when you combine the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, The Guild Hall at Southern Methodist University, and Gamestop? You get one heck of an opportunity for independent game creators everywhere. This opportunity comes in the form of the Indie Game Challenge, a huge game development contest with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line, not to mention some great exposure.

Aspiring virtual rockers can pick up the Guitar Hero World Tour Band Kit from Activision for $89.99 starting July 12th through August 12th at GameStop. The Band Kit includes a guitar, drum kit, microphone, the Guitar Hero World Tour game itself, and retails at $189.99. Unfortunately this deal can only be found at retail locations and not online at GameStop’s website.

Although the worldwide economy is experiencing the pangs of recession, the gaming industry has not seemed to notice. Recent research from Nielsen shows that while many are encountering joblessness and a tight budget, overall game sales have increased. The report claims that “used game purchasing is at all-time highs in 2009, looking back since 2006”. [...]

GAMESTOP, the world’s largest video game retailer, has partnered with CAPCOM and the EVO Championship Series, the largest and longest-running fighting game tournaments in the world, to host the Street Fighter IV US National Championship Finals

Over at the washingtonpost.com, Mike Musgrove writes on the alternatives to trading in a game at Gamestop