While most of the retail world goes into a selling frenzy for Modern Warfare 2, these online retailers are taking the opportunity to stand up for something they believe in.

Direct2Drive, Impulse and Gamersgate are all dropping the title from their list of games for sale. Meaning they won’t be selling Modern Warfare 2 at all. This is because the PC version of MW2 includes a mandatory install of Valve’s Steamworks.

Direct2Drive has said that it’s refusing to sell any game bundled in such a manner until Valve has “decoupled its retail marketplace” from Steam’s other services.

Microsoft will be opening the doors to their first branded retail stores this Thursday, October 22. According to the Wall Street Journal, the timing of the stores is for the release of it’s next operating system, Windows 7.

The first site is in Scottsdale, Arizona and is expected to showcase PCs, mobile phones and Xbox 360 hardware. A second site is planned for Viejo, California.

Can a Microsoft store pull the “coolness” factor of an Apple store? We’ll have to see.

Nick Parker will be presenting his overview of how he believes the digital market will shape the future of gaming at the conference. Representatives from Sony, Xbox, Sega, Playfish and other speakers will also be at the event.

People hoping to purchase the remake of the original Persona game via the PSN (Playstation Network) are going to have a wait a few extra days. The PSN download will be made available on Oct 1st now, and not on Sept 22nd alongside the retail UMD release, as per a press release from Atlus this afternoon.

You can still purchase the retail copy on Sept 22nd, which comes with a 2 disc bonus soundtrack and collector’s case for no extra cost.

1) Shower filter –

We’ve talked about the Jonathan Shower Filtration system before. For $95 you get a filter to put on your shower and the results are softer and shinier hair.

“I am H2O-obsessed. For years, I have told my celebrity clients to wash their hair with bottled water. With my shower filter, it’s like showering in natural spring water everyday. The best for soft, shiny hair and hydrated skin.”
~ Jonathan


2) Digital Frame for the fridge
The Digital Photo Frame Fridge Magnet is a cute gift for mom. Remember the days when you used to give her various paintings from class for the fridge? Now you just upload your pics to the frame and mom can show off her favorite kid for 11 hours on one charge. Right now you can get it for $29.99.


3) Laptop bags-
Pick mom up a designer laptop bag. Now most designers are coming out with fashionable laptop bags for women to carry around. Best Buy has some reasonably priced bags, but if you have money to burn… you can pick up the Yves Saint Laurent computer case. It’s only a mere $1,795. While it is pricey, it does look nice with the patent leather and the YSL branding on the bottom.


4) DS Lite with games
The DS is the ultimate gift for a mom that wants to take her gaming on the go. It’s also a great way to ween her into gaming. You can get her titles like Let’s Pilates, Crosswords DS, and then start working her up the chain until she’s playing Final Fantasy and Mario Kart DS. It’s only $129.99 and is the gift that keeps giving. You can pick this up at most retail stores like Target, Best Buy, Gamestop and Toys R Us. The real trick will be walking out of the store without buying some gaming stuff for you too!


5) The best gift is always free
The best gift that mom will love is actually free. It’s you. Well basically your time. Give mom some of your time and sit with her to answer any computer questions she may have. Set her up with an email account. Teach her to upload pictures to Flickr, but that could have negative results of you. Imagine googling to find your baby pictures online! Maybe your mom wants to blog or find a local group to learn to cook. Either way, she’ll enjoy the one on one time and you’ll both learn something new.

Happy Mothers Day to all our Gaming Angels and their moms!!