Hawaii anyone?

Madden Tourney - While we're scraping ice off of our windshields EA announced today a partnership with IGN to expand the 2006 Madden Challenge to include an online tournament, beginning Nov. 29. The winner of the online competition, which will be conducted via Xbox Live and is free to enter, will receive a trip to the 2006 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Finals in Hawaii for a shot at $100,000.

Held during Pro Bowl week (week of Feb. 8, 2007) in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 2006 Madden Challenge Finals will feature 32 gamers competing for the championship – one winner from the online tournament, 26 winners from regional tournaments across the United States, and five winners from NFL international tournaments. The winner of the 2006 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge will receive a grand prize package, including a check for $100,000 and the winners of each regional competition will receive $1,000. Last year, 73,000 people attended and 16,000 competed nationwide.

For 2006 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Tournament information, including official rules and online registration, players can go to the official EA SPORTS Madden Challenge website at http://www.maddenchallenge.com/. Registration is free.

100K Gamerscore - "StripClubDj" now has 100,499 achievement points, making him the first Xbox 360 gamer to break the 100,000 mark according to Yahoo!. His achievements include perfect scores from the recently released History Channel: Civil War, Cabela's African Safari, and Bionicle Heroes but for some reason is missing out on the 200 achievement points earned through those 3 ridiculous Burger King titles. The profile also has a few games--Eragon, MotoGP 06--listed twice, likely because he's played through different regional versions of the same game. Also included in the list are games that are sold in Japan and Europe only. The dude has earned achievements in almost 100 different games (including both full and Xbox Live Arcade games) and has 144 different titles played under his belt.

And I thought I was obsessed with earning points. Imagine how lonely this guy is.

Xbox 360's stolen - Two consignments of Xbox 360s has been stolen in the UK this week, reports regional newspaper the Express and Star. The first occurred after a truck was flagged down. The driver, who thought he was being waved down to inform him of a problem with his vehicle, pulled over. The men then threatened him and dragged him out of the cab, they then stole the truck and $1.5 million worth of consoles guaranteeing themselves a very Merry Christmas and a story to tell their kids from inside the pokey 20 years from now. The driver suffered minor injuries, and the truck was later found--empty--further down the road.

The second theft occurred in the Hellmann Worldwide Logistics depot on the morning of November 23, when a trailer containing $483,000 worth of Microsoft's next-gen consoles was taken. Staffordshire police spokesman Peter Stevens said, "We are appealing for information from anyone offered in suspicious circumstances, such as in a pub, at a car boot (British slang for trunk) sale, or off the back of a lorry, to help us track down those responsible."

Further proof that crime pays - Vivendi Games announced yesterday that "Scarface: The World is Yours" has hit the 1 million games sold plateau. According to sales records it was the #1 selling game in October (must have been a slow month) as well as the number one seller for the PS2, Xbox and PSP for that month. Originally "Scarface" was scheduled to be on the Xbox 360 but evidently someone had a change of heart and it will not be coming to that console. You can however, buy "Scarface" gamer pics and themes off of Xbox Live Marketplace.

terry.terrones@gazette.com