We won't be having an open bar or anything fancy, but if you're in the neighborhood of Central Station in Sydney Friday night and want to stop by, I'd love to talk.

Luke Plunkett and Kotaku Australia's David Wildgoose will both be hanging out as well, drinking good beer at Luke's old watering hole.

The meet up will be at 4:30 p.m. at the Royal Exhibition Hotel's Beer Garden, which may or may not be packed to the gills with squares come Friday night. Look for the guys talking about video games if you come.

Looking forward to seeing you.

When we said it was open to anyone in the Americas, we did mean anyone living in either North or South America.

So if you live in any of the many countries those two continents include, are at least 18 and love your Zelda, you better get to planning if you want to enter our contest by the Dec. 31 deadline.

Prizes for the contest include a signed DSi and $1,000 Nintendo World Store gift certificate. Check out the full breakdown of goodies we're giving away here and the full rules here.

That includes the reader who drove, DROVE, from Florida to partake in the raising of funds for a good cause. Also to Harmonix who flew from Boston to hang for a night.

It was the best event in Denver to date with a crowd of gamers dancing and drinking under an absurdly large disco ball, people up on stage playing Rock Band and DJ Hero and folks on a second floor enjoying the free console arcade.

Last year we managed to raise a surprising $4,000. This year we brought in more than that just at the door. The total funds raised in Denver last Thursday night comes to $6,508. And because so many people donated their time, their shwag, their building, heart and soul, 100 percent of the money raised is going to the charity and none to the act of raising money for it.

You should pat yourself on the back for making this such a fun time for such a good cause. And if you have spare cash, or the desire to give non-spare cash away. Hit up Child's Play directly.

And if you have them, feel free to post your own pics from the event in comments. Special thanks to photographers Phillip Loeb and Allen for these photos.

I knew something was missing from World of Warcraft. If I am going to be nearly comatose from eating brown food, then my WoW character should be too. During the Pilgrim's Bounty celebration, which runs from November 22nd through the 28th, Bountiful Tables will be popping up outside of major towns and cities in Azeroth, allowing players to sit, eat, and share food until their armor no longer fits. Each table features five different chairs - The Sweet Potato Chair, The Turkey Chair, The Stuffing Chair, The Cranberry Chair, and The Pie Chair - with the player sitting at each chair responsible for sharing his or her bounty with the rest of the class. Eating five helpings of anything grants you a buff. Eating five helpings of everything grants you an hour long 10% reputation gain buff, reflecting the spirit of the season.

I am just tickled that there's something called The Pie Chair. I need one of these chairs.

As I said, the holiday is also about cooking, and Pilgrim's Bounty features five recipes that can take a player from skill level 1 to skill level 340, along with daily cooking quests that result in the prize of a Turkey Caller, which sounds like a pet to me.

Check out the Pilgrim's Bounty page on the World of Warcraft website for more on this gluttonous new holiday.

Just come on down to Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver at 6 p.m., donate a bit to get in and party like a rock star up on stage or in the console arcade.

But before you come, here are some things you should know:

We'll be having a silent auction this time around, the items are listed here, if you want to bid make sure to bring a credit card or cash. Each of the items will have a sign-up sheet. To bid you'll just need to put down your name and number and the amount you want to bid. The top (still present) bidder will win.

You'll have to be present to win (the auction will run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and able to pay on the spot.

We'll have both Rock Band and DJ Hero up on stage this year and a couple of folks from Harmonix will be joining us to ensure that we both rock and rock hard.

If you're more into console gaming, Colorado Cutthroat Connection will also have a whole area set up on the second floor for that. To make sure everyone has a good time there will be a few rules in place for the arcade. You can check them out here.

Door prizes will include neat LEGO creations, an Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter's Edition, a Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 and things way way too numerous to mention.

If you're planning on coming, and you really should, here are the details:

Kotaku Child's Play Fundraiser
Where: Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
When: Thursday, Nov. 19 6 p.m. to midnight
Who: 16 years and up. Need to be 21 and have ID to buy alcohol.
How Much: $10 donation
What: Rock Band, DJ Hero and tons of console games up on stage and in a console arcade.
Why: To raise money for Child's Play... and have fun doing it.

Special thanks to:
Adam Barenblat
Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Colorado Cutthroat Connection
David Thomas
Death of the Arcade
NetDevil and studios too numerous to mention.
Team Kotaku and its many, many wonderful readers

The full post.

While my guest room is already overflowing with sweet, sweet swag to giveaway at tomorrow night's event, our own Stephen Totilo sent along four more boxes of goodies to add to the mix.

His contributions include a limited edition Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360, shirts, doodads, inflatables, costumes and masks. Oh and a Thanksgiving Turkey hat. Can't forget that.

There will also be a silent auction and tons more door prizes.

If you're planning on coming, and you really should, here are the details:

Kotaku Child's Play Fundraiser
Where: Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
When: Thursday, Nov. 19 6 p.m. to midnight
Who: 16 years and up. Need to be 21 and have ID to buy alcohol.
How Much: $10 donation
What: Rock Band, DJ Hero and tons of console games up on stage and in a console arcade.
Why: To raise money for Child's Play... and have fun doing it.

Special thanks to:
Adam Barenblat
Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Colorado Cutthroat Connection
David Thomas
Death of the Arcade
NetDevil and studios too numerous to mention.
Team Kotaku

The full post.

Tonight at 6 PM, Capcom kicks off Monster Hunter Tri University — a community event designed to get people up to speed on the new Wii game. You know how tricky those sequels can be when they jump consoles.

Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto will be around to walk "students" through their lessons himself. Check out this video of the setup and check back on Capcom's community blog for actual footage of the event.

Live TV by Ustream

Watch us Set Up Monster Hunter Tri University [Capcom Unity]

NetDevil employee and LEGO master has once more come up with some amazing bits of block art to giveaway at the fundraiser later this week. I think my favorite among the bunch is Ryu.

There will also be a silent auction and tons more door prizes.

If you're planning on coming, and you really should, here are the details:

Kotaku Child's Play Fundraiser
Where: Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
When: Thursday, Nov. 19 6 p.m. to midnight
Who: 16 years and up. Need to be 21 and have ID to buy alcohol.
How Much: $10 donation
What: Rock Band, DJ Hero and tons of console games up on stage and in a console arcade.
Why: To raise money for Child's Play... and have fun doing it.

Special thanks to:
Adam Barenblat
Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Colorado Cutthroat Connection
Death of the Arcade
NetDevil and studios too numerous to mention.

The full post.

The silent auction items and door prizes have so packed the room next to my office that I can no longer close the door. And I'm told Totilo has four more boxes of goodies heading to Denver as we speak. Among the things he's included is a Modern Warfare 2 edition Xbox 360, which we will be giving away to a lucky attendee.

If you're planning on coming, and you really should, here are the details:

Kotaku Child's Play Fundraiser
Where: Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
When: Thursday, Nov. 19 6 p.m. to midnight
Who: 16 years and up. Need to be 21 and have ID to buy alcohol.
How Much: $10 donation
What: Rock Band, DJ Hero and tons of console games up on stage and in a console arcade.
Why: To raise money for Child's Play... and have fun doing it.

Special thanks to:
Adam Barenblat
Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Colorado Cutthroat Connection
Death of the Arcade
NetDevil and studios to numerous to mention.

The full post.

The shindig is more than just a line-up for an early purchase. Nintendo says it'll deck out the store with gaming stations, costumed characters, and a Super Mario Bros. museum showcasing Mario's history over more than a quarter century. Live gaming tournaments, trivia and prize giveaways also are promised.

And there's the matter of being able to buy and play the game well in advance of its launch tomorrow. The event will run from 3 to 7 p.m. and the store is located at 10 Rockefeller Plaza (48th St between 6th and 5th Aves.) in Manhattan.

So all youse in the Tri-State Area, think about subway-ing, PATHing, or Metro Northing over there to get your red box. And if anyone else knows of launch events elsewhere in the country, feel free to share their places and times in the comments.

This Saturday, Nov. 14, Nintendo will be be bringing interactive gaming stations, costumed characters, trivia, prize giveaways and live tournaments to their New York store to celebrate the release of Wii must-have New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The event will also include a Super Mario Bros. museum filled with "memorabilia pulled from Nintendo's archives that chronicles Mario's history and cultural impact over nearly 25 years."

Are you going to be there? It runs from 3 to 7 p.m. We will, maybe even Totilo will be wearing bells.

What about New Super Mario Bros. Wii? Planning on picking it up? Is it time for Wii owners to start lining streets and counting days?

Let us know.

Here's why. We'll have Rock Band and DJ Hero up on stage for all to play, a free console arcade set up on the second floor, a GIANT disco ball under which people could dance if they so choose, silent auction items to bid on, a mountain of swag to win and..

AND one of the door prizes will be a copy of the limited edition, impossible-to-buy Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter's Edition for the Playstation 3.

It's just a minimum $10 donation to get in the doors and you need to 16 or older, though you'll need to be 21 to buy drinks. The party runs from 6 p.m. to midnight on Nov. 19 at the grand old Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in downtown Denver.

People will be there and most, if not all of them, will not be square.

Do you want to be square? I don't think so.

You know what to do!

Don't let my indifference deflate you, instead take pictures of whatever launch event you attend and post them here in comments.

And if you're really indifferent, you can always view this Modern Warfare 2 free version of Kotaku.

[Pic]

A video game store finally opened up super close to my house. The Play N Trade in Highlands Ranch plans to have a midnight release party for Modern Warfare 2 starting at 8 p.m. Monday.

The party will include Call of Duty tournaments and a special appearance by local DJs SMASH BROS.

I think I'm going to go check it out. Is anyone else planning on hitting up a launch party Monday night? Let us know.

Play N Trade Highlands Ranch

Let's walk through what here:

Three copies of the rare Marvel Vs Capcom 2 vinyl mix tape.
A Brutal Legend statue.
A copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter's Edition
A limited edition, hand-signed and numbered print by Scott Belcastro with letter from the founder and curator of i am 8-bit.
A collector's Edition of Tekken 6 for the Xbox 360.
A rare 3L colored and etched bottle of 8BitVintners wine.
A Tatsunoko vs. Capcom hoodie signed by producer Ryota Niitsuma.

I'll be posting the silent auction details next week, but all of this along with a ton of schwag, free play on stage for DJ Hero and Rock Band and an arcade console will be available to everyone who comes to the 16 and older Kotaku Child's Play Fundraiser on Nov. 19 in Denver.

Check out the details, location and time here.

The participating Best Buy stores will start selling Modern Warfare 2 at 12:01 a.m. this Tuesday. GameStop tells me that 4,250 of their 4,360 stores will also be selling at midnight and that they plan to also have "lots of fun activities" for waiting fans.

Is anyone here going to be staying up late come this Monday? If so, what platform are you getting it for?

Last year our annual fundraiser drew in a crowd of about 300 people before hitting capacity, this year we have room for more than 500.

The event is open to anyone 16 or older and kicks off at 6 p.m., running until midnight. If you are 21 or older, don't forget your ID so you can get a wristband to purchase drinks.

We're asking for a minimum donation of $10 to get in and get a door prize ticket. We will be giving away a huge amount of swag including more than 70 T-Shirts, a custom straight jacket, a Guitar Hero drum seat, a popcorn machine and Divinity Dragon knives.

There will also be a silent auction for a number of items including a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter's Edition, which comes with a CD of the game's soundtrack and a copy of the Brady Games guide; a 3L etched bottle of 8BitVintners wine, rare Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 mixtape vinyls, a collector's edition Chun-Li statue, a Capcom hoodie signed by Niitsuma and limited edition Brutal Legend Statue.

Once again Gabe of Death of the Arcade will be running the free Rock Band and DJ Hero gameplay up on Cervantes' mammoth stage. Since we have two set-ups, we'll be able to cycle through people much faster.

On the second floor, Greg of Colorado Cutthroat will be running a free console arcade which will include a chance to play Tekken 6, Street Fighter IV, BlazBlu, Smash Bros. Brawl, Soul Calibur 4, Halo 3 and Modern Warfare 2 on a number of set-ups.

It sounds like this year is going to be quite a blast, so mark your calendars now! Did I mention that Cervantes has a gi-normous disco ball? Because it totally does!!

In a nutshell: The event will be at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in downtown Denver on Nov. 19. Doors open at 6 p.m. and close at midnight. Sixteen and older to get in and a minimum $10 donation. Be there and have fun... for a good cause.

If you can't make it you can always donate directly to Child's Play.

The evening will be filled with Rock Band and DJ Hero up on stage, a mountain of swag that we'll be giving away and a few high-end silent auction items.

We're still gathering up what we will be auctioning off. But I can show you two things that will be available to bid on for those who come:

A box showed up on my doorstep yesterday with a copy of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter's Edition. No note, or mention of why I received it, so I'm going to auction it off. Thanks to whoever sent it my way. The edition includes those download keycodes as well as a CD of the game's soundtrack and a copy of the Brady Games guide.

Michael James, founder of 8BitVintners, is donating a 3L etched bottle of his wine for the event. These limited run bottles aren't for sale anywhere. Check out this video to see the wine being bottled.

We also have the limited edition Brutal Legend statue to auction off.

I'll be posting more details about our Nov. 19 event as we get closer to the day. Hope you can make it!

Today through November 2nd, Valve invites the spirits of the dead into Team Fortress 2 in the form of terrifying paper bag hats. The masks are unlocked via five new update-specific achievements, with names like "Candy Coroner" and "Attack O' Lantern," the latter of which might have something to do with the exploding pumpkins added in the update.

The update also brings a new KOTH map called Harvest, through which wanders the restless spirit of Zepheniah Mann. Crossing his path will cause you to freeze with terror, leaving you open to all sorts of deadly Halloween mischief. On top of that, "the mangled corpses of the recently deceased will plague the living… with candy!" I have no idea what that means, and I'm a little scared to find out.

Team Fortress 2 Pumpkin Patch [Team Fortress 2]