Update: A "GameStop exclusive multiplayer demo" for Uncharted 2 will run from 8/19/2009 to 9/27/2009, according to the retailer. Those that pre-order the game from GameStop are promised both beta access and an "exclusive in-game Revenge Attribute."

It's unclear whether this is the second demo Wells was referring to--we have contacted both Naughty Dog and publisher Sony for clarification.

Original: PlayStation 3 action adventure Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will receive a second multiplayer demo, developer Naughty Dog revealed in PlayStation.Blog chat.

"We're going to have another multiplayer demo before the game hits shelves," wrote co-president Evan Wells. "The exact timing isn't finalized yet, but it should be available to an even wider group this time," referring to a recent closed multiplayer demo.

Creative director Amy Hennig comments that Naughty Dog is "really excited" about the recently-announced Uncharted movie--though Uncharted 2 is almost feature-length in itself as Wells declares "We have over 90 minutes of cinematics alone!"

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is scheduled to arrive exclusively on PlayStation 3 in the fall, with Wells promising that "an official date will be announced very soon."

Continuing the increasingly popular trend, Electronic Arts today announced that it has partnered with GameStop to provide those that pre-order Madden NFL 10 from the retailer with an "exclusive demo" of EA Tiburon's August 14-due game.

Pre-ordering either the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 edition of the football game from GameStop should net you a download code, with the demo due "by the end of July."

Recreating the Super Bowl XLIII match between the the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, the demo will offer gamers the chance to play four, 5-minute quarters.

No word yet as to if or when a downloadable Madden NFL 10 demo will be available to the general public, but we're checking in with Electronic Arts.

Those that have pre-ordered Fight Night Round 4 from GameStop can now access a downloadable demo for the PS3 and Xbox 360 boxer, publisher EA has confirmed.

The download packs two playable characters, Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton and Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao. EA advises those that have reserved the game, but did not receive a download code, to "bring in their pre-order receipt to receive their access code."

Following two weeks of GameStop exclusivity, the demo will be released for Xbox Live Gold members on May 28, with PlayStation 3 and Xbox Live Silver folk getting it June 4. The full version of EA Canada's Fight Night Round 4 ships off to retailers on June 30.

A new report by Gamasutra estimates that GameStop controls around 21 percent of the US videogame retail market.

The study only accounts for hardware and software sales, and does not break down the 79% competitor figure to show whether GameStop is far in the lead over retail rivals such as Wal-Mart.

However, the data does show that GameStop's market share in countries outside of the US is ramping up quickly. The retailer grew 67 percent in Europe over its last fiscal year.

In the realm of strange factoids, the report also shows that Delaware has the highest concentration of GameStop stores of any state, at 2.18 stores per 100,000 citizens.

To promote the May 1 release of Raven's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, retailer GameStop today launched a "Mutton Chop Madness" contest.

Described as a "nationwide search for the best sideburns," the promotion asks entrants to send in a photo of themselves with facial hair.

Four winners, one per week, will receive a $100 GameStop gift card between April 22 and May 22, based on "originality, comedic value and style." A pair of cut-out fakes are provided "if for some reason you don't already have mutton chops (ie, you're female)."

"GameStop is not responsible for incidents involving paper mutton chops and permanent glue," cautioned the company. "Wear these chops with pride!"

Sparking a wave of internet-wide speculation, GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo has told CNBC that the retailer expects "a Nintendo key property" to release this year.

"They haven't given us any insight, but they have told us to reserve [shelf] space," he added. After E3 2008, Nintendo revealed that the teams behind the Zelda and Mario games were "hard at work" on new titles. While Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS in March, so far all's quiet on the Mario front.

DeMatteo also offered his opinion on console prices. He criticised Sony's $399 PlayStation 3, saying "That price point is clearly an issue in this economy." Responding to rumours of a $50 cut, he said "I don't know that $50 gets you that much... Read more

The PC Gaming Alliance has lost two of its founding members, as Activision Blizzard, the company behind such major PC titles as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, and hardware manufacturer Acer have left due to membership costs.

PCGA president Randy Stude confirmed the cost-related leaves with Big Download, explaining to Edge Online that "a few members cannot justify the budget (membership and staff) required to maintain an active role in the PC Gaming Alliance at this time."

"Membership turnover is a fact of life in any industry consortium particularly so in the current economy," he added. "The PC Gaming Alliance is an industry consortium that relies on membership dues to achieve its' mission."

Despite the departures, Stude asserted that the non-profit organization, dedicated to improving PC gaming, has seen a "net [membership] gain for 2009," with recent joins including retailer GameStop and Sony DADC, maker of the oft-derided SecuROM DRM.

Continuing the tradition set forth by Left 4 Dead and Killzone 2, retailer GameStop has revealed that those who pre-order the console editions of Red Faction: Guerrilla will receive early access to a downloadable demo of the Volition-developed shooter.

The pre-order demo will be available April 3, according to the retailer's listings for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, with customers given a download code.

The listing specifies that the exclusivity period ends on Thursday, April 23, suggesting that the demo will be publicly released to PS3 and Xbox 360 owners that day.

The open-world shooter is slated to hit PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by the end of June, with GameStop currently listing a street date of June 9.

Shacknews can confirm that retailer GameStop has halted pre-orders of Relic Entertainment's upcoming PC RTS Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2.

The game's listing has disappeared from GameStop's online store, with multiple brick and mortar locations telling Shacknews that they can no longer accept pre-orders.

Employees assured us that existing pre-orders would be fulfilled upon the game's February 19 release, and suggested that GameStop has sold out of its initial shipment. The retailer is known to pull listings and halt pre-orders in such scenarios.

A supposed inside source told Kotaku that GameStop will not be selling the game because it supposedly requires the installation of Valve's digital distribution platform Steam. However, this seems extremely unlikely, as GameStop... Read more

Video game-oriented mega-retailer GameStop announced today that the nine-week 2008 holiday season brought in 22.3% more cash than that of 2007.

In the press release, titled "GameStop Rises Above Recession," the retailer revealed a total 2008 holiday sales take of $2.85 billion, compared to 2007's $2.33 billion. The most recent nine-week holiday period ran from November 2, 2008 to January 3, 2009.

Xbox 360 and Wii led hardware sales, while Call of Duty: World at War, Guitar Hero World Tour, Gears of War 2, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and Wii Fit were listed as the five best-selling games of the holiday period.

Of that $2.85 billion revenue, new video games made up 43.8% ($1.24B)... Read more

GameStop picked up a 5% increase in sales in its fiscal Q3, but that wasn't enough to stop the mega-retailer from lowering its profit expectations for this year in the face of economic turmoil.

Earnings per share in GameStop stock are now expected to range between $2.35 and $2.40 this year, which is down from the $2.45 to $2.50 range from before. Similar-store earnings growth is now projected at 10-11 percent instead of 12-14 percent. "Weakness in consumer spending" and hardware price cuts were blamed for the drops.

In short, the economic shake-up has had relatively small effects on the niche retailer so far.

"Despite the dramatic decline of the global economy and its severe impact on the entire retail industry, GameStop had a strong quarter," commented CEO Dan DeMatteo as noted by Edge.

GameStop stock dropped to $17.50--a nearly 15% decline--in trading today.

While discussing its record-breaking quarter, retailer GameStop revealed that it expects both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to undergo $50 price cuts by the end of 2008.

A $50 price cut for the Xbox 360 Pro and Elite models has been practically confirmed, with the drop expected to take effect on or around September 7. Whereas the two higher-end Xbox 360 models will drop by $50, the hard drive-less Arcade unit is said to see a reduction of $70, making it $199.

Sony previously stated that it would not drop the price of its various PlayStation 3 units this year. However, the company is introducing higher-capacity PS3 models--the $399 80GB and the $499 160GB bundle--that maintain the existing prices of PS3 hardware.

Without any major promotions, retailer GameStop has recently seen an increase in the amount of games being traded in, a feat it attributes to the sluggish US economy.

"Because of the economic condition, we did not have to be as promotional on the buy side of games, because it just seems like we were naturally getting consumers trading [games in]," COO Dan Matteo said today, according to Edge Online. "That's why our margins are slightly better than they were in the second quarter last year."

In exchange for used games, GameStop offers in-store credit that's generally around 30% of the title's worth, with the game then sold for about $5 less than a new copy. In other words, the retailer buys low and sells high.

The used game market has been an extremely lucrative source of profit for GameStop. Despite accounting for 26.1% of the company's total sales in Q2 2008, used games sales made up 49.7%, some $234M, of its quarterly profit.

High profit margins on used games have long represented a sore spot for some publisher and developers, as they do not see a kickback from used games.

Continuing this week's delightfully odd nature, retailer GameStop just sent Shacknews a series of Lavender-scented air fresheners.

The package, which was sent via UPS Next Day Air, contained a letter from "Edgar, the Gaming Ogre" in which he asked us to "please accept this air freshener as a reminder that you can trade in your old, funky-smelling games toward new titles with that new-game smell."

While game makers have oft-criticized the sale of used titles as none of that revenue is passed back to the publisher or developer, used sales made up 49% of GameStop's Q1 2008 profit despite only accounting for 23.9% of total sales.

Games retailer giant GameStop released its financial results for the first quarter of its 2008 fiscal year, revealing a total of $1.8B in sales for the quarter ending May 3.

The sales figures represent an almost 42% boost in sales over the first quarter of GameStop's 2007 fiscal year, in which the retailer raked in $1.2B.

Sales of new video game software grew by 72%, led by GameStop's top five selling games: Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii, Ubisoft's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and EA's Army of Two.

The retailer also revealed that used video game products represented $415M, or 23.9% of total sales. As was the case in previous years, used game sales dominated the company's gross profit figures, accounting for 49.1%—or $204M—of GameStop's total profit in the first quarter of 2008.

GameStop COO Dan DeMatteo anticipates shortages of the Nintendo Wii to continue for at least six months, MCV reports.

Speaking on an investor's conference call about inventory expectations in 2008, DeMatteo stated that he expects the retailer's supplies of the Nintendo Wii to fall short of demand for "the next two quarters at the least.

"Supplies have continually improved," DeMatteo added. "But we still don't know when supply will meet demand for the Nintendo Wii as they continue to sell out as soon as they hit the shelves."

Keeping up with outrageous demand for the Wii has proven difficult for retailers. Across the year of 2007, there were only three instances when the Wii and the Nintendo DS were not the month's top two best-selling pieces of hardware in North America.

GameStop CFO David Carlson added that the company also expects substantial price cuts for consoles in the coming year. "We've assumed a couple [of price cuts]," Carlson said. "The Xbox [360] and the PS3 have a $50 price cut sometime in the year. We have no knowledge or verification of those, but that's just the assumption we have used."

Video games retailer GameStop saw a 33% sales increase to a record $7.1 billion in the company's 2007 fiscal year, Gamasutra reports.

Officials from the company reported a $288.3M profit in its full financial year, a roughly 58% increase over its $158.3M profit in 2006. Sales figures in GameStop's fourth quarter saw a 46.2% increase, with profits from the holiday season accounting for $189.8M of the year's total.

In a drill-down of the data, GameStop noted that it sold roughly 546 million used video game products in its 2007 fiscal year, accounting for roughly 19% of total sales. Meanwhile, total revenue from used products clocked in at $262.2M, which represented 48% of the company's 2007 revenue.

The company was also named as the world's fastest growing retailer in the Fortune 500, with the opening of 586 new stores around the globe.

Reflecting data reported by the sales tracking firm NPD earlier this year, the company said that Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4, Harmonix's Rock Band, Ubisoft's Assassin’s Creed, Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy and Neversoft's Guitar Hero III were its five best selling games during the period.

A GameStop in Bellingham, WA—home to yours truly—was robbed at knifepoint on Monday night ten minutes after the store closed, the Bellingham Herald reports.

Employees of the store told authorities that a tall, skinny man of around 20 years of age browsed the store for some 45 minutes before approaching the register with a stack of games. As his purchases were rung up, the man started towards the door muttering to himself before returning to the register and pulling out a small knife.

The employees gave cash to the man who soon after bolted out of the store and sprinted away. This particular GameStop—the only non-mall location in the Bellingham area—resides in the well-lit, heavily trafficked Sunset Square shopping plaza. The plaza is home to over a dozen stores, including a popular movie theater.

In recent years GameStop has offered cash for systems and games; that coupled with a solid day of sales amounts to a lot of cash in the register. As game stores become more lucrative operations, they become increasingly more attractive targets for armed robbery.

Mega-gaming retailer GameStop has provided a few more details on the Wii reservation program that Nintendo of America mentioned last week, which is meant to help holiday shoppers acquire the elusive system.

For one day and one day only--this Friday, December 21--those who pre-pay for a $249.99 Wii at GameStop, in full and while supplies last, will be guaranteed a unit in January.

To commemorate the occasion, customers will be given a special case containing what GameStop refers to as a "guarantee slip". A phone call will notify them when the Wii itself arrives in-store.

Of course, some restrictions apply. The vouchers are only valid at the store they were purchased at--they cannot be transfered to another location-- and the system must be picked up by January 25.

To fight the ever-persistent Wii supply problems, Nintendo of America and mega-retailer GameStop have instituted a raincheck program to help customers acquire the much sought-after system.

Under the program, GameStop customers who pay for the system in full between December 20 and 21 will, supply permitting, receive a voucher that can be redeemed for the console in January. Traditionally, GameStop only allows customers to pre-order unreleased products.

Despite retailers selling nearly a million Wii in November, the system is still incredibly hard to come by. Over a year after launch, potential owners will still line up overnight outside retailers for their chance to buy one--a practice that is usually only seen when a system is first released.