GameFly Opens Austin Distribution Center

Video game rent-by-mail company GameFly has just announced the opening of a brand new distribution center in Austin Texas. The new center will handle mailing games in little orange envelopes to subscribers across Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. This is the third new center opened in the past 13 months, along with the Pittsburgh, PA and Tampa, FL locations.

“The Austin-area distribution center is strategically placed to provide the quickest shipping times to a large number of members across multiple states,” said Jeff Kawasugi, vice president of logistics for GameFly. “In addition, we are extremely pleased to join the Austin business community and look forward to a mutually beneficial and long-term relationship.”

Now all they need is a center in Seattle and they're golden. Sorry Hawaii and Alaska, but you knew what you were getting into in the first place.

Boys Pay Hookers To Play Halo And...Oh, That Story Isn't Real

If you've been trawling the recesses of the internets for the past week or so, you may have come across a story about a pair of 13 year-old kids who lied about winning a WoW tournament, booked a swish hotel room then paid for two $1000-a-night hookers to come upstairs and play Halo with them. For their troubles, the pair have allegedly been "convicted of fraud". It'd be a pretty funny story if it was true. Thing is, it's not. Kiwi site Stuff actually bothered to check with the police in Newark, Texas, where the events supposedly took place, and were told:

As far as we know, this story is a hoax. There have not been any arrests here, and we're not aware of any convictions like that in this county.

Did a 13yo buy hookers with dad's credit card? [Stuff.co.nz, via GamePolitics]

DA Under Investigation For Buying Gaming PC with Public Money

A Texas District Attorney under investigation for a slew of misconduct is being accused of using public money to buy a "gimmicky" computer designed to play computer games in his office.

Rockwall County District Attorney Ray Sumrow is being tried in Dallas on charges of forgery, theft and records tampering. As part of the case, prosecutors allege that he used office funds to buy the computer for personal use.

Prosecutors say the computer, which was loaded with eBay sales, personal emails and a cheat sheet for a computer game, is equipped with two hard drives, seven fans, high-end video and audio cards, a wireless Internet connection and cables that glow under ultraviolet light.

Sumrow used the district attorney's "fee fund", which contains fees collected from hot-check writers, to pay for the PC.

The only question I have is: World of Warcraft?

Rockwall County District Attorney Ray Sumrow used server for personal items, expert says

Tabula Rasa Totally Tanked? NCSoft Austin Downsizing?

Because of this disappointing result, some downsizing in Austin is inevitable. We are going to revamp our Austin development organization... I should admit that the actual result of Tabula Rasa has been disappointing... If you talk about our development cost we spent in the past several years, probably we are not making any money from this Tabula Rasa project. That should be the reality.

El Paso Police Nab Fugitives With 360s

Rule of thumb here people. If you are on the run from the law for a crime you did or did not commit, you don't win video game consoles. Even if you do, you don't. A lot of fugitives from justice learned this lesson the hard way in early November, when police in El Paso Texas staged a roundup using an Xbox 360 and a television as bait. The fugitives in question were informed that they had won a fabulous video game prize, and when they arrived to pick it up they were arrested on the spot. The operation led to 115 arrests, 129 cleared warrants, and the collection of $25,686 in unpaid traffic fines. Not one Xbox 360 was given away. Once again, if you are on the lam, you win nothing. Don't try to collect a prize, show up for the game show you suddenly get invited to, or follow that piece of candy being mysteriously drug along the ground by a string towards a waiting paddy wagon. It can only end in tears.

115 fugitives, lured by gifts, arrested in El Paso sting [El Paso Times via GameRush Entertainment]

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