Former 1UP Network editor and veteran gaming journalist Garnett Lee has been named editorial director of GameFly Media--a division of GameFly, Inc encompassing Shacknews, FileShack, Shackvideo, Ponged and Game Answers, among others.

"I am delighted to join GameFly," said Lee. "I've had an amazing time at 1UP during which I've had the opportunity to run all the different individual elements of the content package--news, previews, reviews, video, and managing editor. Coming to GameFly gives me a chance to put everything I've learned together."

A longtime Shacknews reader--"back in the day my daily read was Blue's, Voodoo Extreme, and Shack," he noted--Lee plans to pen a regular... Read more

The United States Postal Service has denied that it is providing preferential treatment to the competitors of videogame rental-by-mail service GameFly, and today filed a motion to partially dismiss the company's complaint.

"In short, the Complaint lacks merit and fails to articulate grounds for any relief," said the USPS in its 26-page response. "[GameFly] seems to believe that problems of its own making can somehow be solved by the Postal Service when, in fact, they cannot--at least not without incurring costs that would be a disservice to all other mailers."

GameFly, the parent company of Shacknews, filed a formal complaint against the USPS in late April. It alleges that the USPS "adopted a practice of manually culling out the DVD mailers" of Netflix and soon-to-be-rival Blockbuster, providing the "high-volume shippers" with "special processing" that reduces the amount of broken discs and supplies a "substantial cost advantage" in mailing-related expenses.

The Postal Service strongly denied that it is providing preferential ... Read more

Online game rental service and Shacknews parent company GameFly today filed a formal complaint against the United States Postal Service, alleging that the USPS provides competitor Blockbuster with preferential treatment to cut down on broken discs.

"GameFly is not the only mailer to experience significant DVD breakage rates on automated mail processing equipment," reads the filing. "In response...the Postal Service has adopted a practice of manually culling out the DVD mailers of two high-volume shippers of DVDs, Netflix and Blockbuster, for special processing."

The company said its request for manual processing "comparable" to that of the movie rental services was denied, which puts GameFly at a disadvantage as its "larger and longer established" rival Blockbuster plans to rent games by mail... Read more

Online rental hub and Shacknews parent company GameFly today launched Game Answers, a question and answers site focused specifically on video games.

"Game Answers is intended help gamers quickly get answers to specific questions about the games they're playing, without spending a lot of time searching through FAQs or message boards," said GameFly co-founder Sean Spector.

Registered users can ask questions and post answers about video games in topics such as Game Walkthroughs and Hardware & Accessories.

In addition to the basic question and answer functionality of the site, users... Read more

Online rental hub GameFly today announced that it has acquired independent video game website Shacknews.

As part of the deal, GameFly has purchased all related Shacknews destinations, including FileShack. The company plans to maintain the Shacknews editorial staff and direction, and pledged to bolster the site with additional resources.

"GameFly has demonstrated a true understanding of and commitment to Shacknews' gaming culture," said Shacknews founder Steve Gibson, who added that the decision to sell the company was not based on financial problems.

"We are confident GameFly will protect the legacy and community we've established, while at the same time providing much needed resources to expand into new and exciting areas that would not otherwise be possible."

Shacknews was founded in 1995, and has since grown to become one of the largest homes for video game enthusiasts on the internet. Shacknews has more than doubled its readership year over year, while launching a new multimedia site Shackvideo.

"We purchased Shacknews because it's a great site," said GameFly co-founder Sean Spector. "We believe we can help expand its reach--we're not looking to twist and turn the site into something else."

"With its avid, engaged community and commitment to providing an independent voice for gamers seeking the most accurate and up-to-date news and information, it goes to the core of our vision as a company, which is to be the ultimate resource for the entire gaming community," added GameFly CEO David Hodess.