If there is one thing we at Broken Joysticks love besides video games, it’s creativity. Good films, timeless literature, mind boggling abstract paintings, and performance artists covering themselves with live fire ants rarely fails to stimulate our right brains. However, it recently came to our attention that driving Chainsaw Bayonets into the necks of locusts is also stimulating. This realization, which sparked a prairie fire in the staff’s collective unconscious, convinced us to combine the two. Thus, we are proud to announce our Gears of War 3 contest. We’re giving away a signed copy of Gears of War 3 to a reader whose creativity proves them worthy of such a prize. You can read the details after the jump. We apologize in advance for all the legalese.
While the situation in the Gears of War series appears fairly desperate, what with humanity’s survival far from certain, we think that there can be hope and beauty even in the face of certain Armageddon. To that end we’re tasking you with creating something artful related to the Gears series (or at least another game from Epic). We won’t limit your artistic integrity, so feel free to write a poem about Fenix’s awesomeness or make a drawing of Xan Kriegor and Myrrah getting married by Jazz Jackrabbit. Prose, video, paintings, web comics, sketches, photographs or anything else that you can think of is fair game as far as we’re concerned.
Here are the basic details (followed by legalese).
- Contestants must make some piece of artwork, including but not limited to prose, paintings, or videos related to Epic’s games.
- All entries must be linked to or posted in the comments section of this article. Also, you need some proof that you were behind the work of art. For instance, you could sign a picture with your username or include said username in a submitted video. Naturally, this will require registration.
- The contest lasts from May 1, 2012, to 6 p.m. CST May 5, 2012. The staff of Broken Joysticks will judge the entries. Next, they will announce the winner in an article on May 7, 2012. The winner will then have a chance to contact us for the prize.
- To be eligible to participate in this contest, you must live in the United States or Canada and be at least 18 years old.
- We’re not responsible if the prize is lost in another dimension, the US. Postal Service goes on strike, or if Roland Emmerich’s 2012 evolves from a terrible movie into a horrifying reality.
- The prize is a signed copy of Gears of War 3 for the Xbox 360. We’re fairly certain that Epic employees signed it.
- You don’t have to purchase anything to enter this contest.
And now for the obligatory legal stuff:
Sponsors
Broken Joysticks (Epic Games provided the prize).
Binding Agreement
The Coalition of Ordered Governments is big on rules, so to enter the contest, you must agree to these Official Rules. Therefore, please read the following rules prior to entry to ensure you understand and agree. You agree that submission of an entry in the contest constitutes agreement to these rules. You may not submit an entry to the contest and are not eligible to receive the prize described in the official rules, unless you agree to the official rules. These official rules form a binding legal agreement between you and the contest sponsors with respect to the contest. Okay, maybe it isn’t exactly “binding,” but you won’t win unless you play by our rules.
Contest Period
Entries can be submitted from May 1, 2012, to 6 p.m. CST May 5, 2012. The staff of Broken Joysticks will announce the winner in an article on May 7, 2012.
Who Can Enter
1. To be eligible to participate in this contest, entrants must live in the United States or Canada and be at least 18 years old. A maximum of one entry per sentient life form is allowed.
2. The staff of Broken Joysticks and their immediate family members and close personal friends are ineligible. You know who you are….
How to Enter
1. No purchase or payment necessary to enter or win.
2. Contestants must make some piece of artwork, including but not limited to prose, paintings, or videos related to Epic’s games. Qualified entrants shall submit their work by the contest closing date and time.
3. All entries must be linked to or posted in the comments section of this article. Each entrant agrees not to submit any entry that infringes any third party proprietary rights, intellectual property rights, industrial property rights, personal or moral rights or any other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or confidentiality obligations, or otherwise violates applicable U.S. or Canadian laws. Also, entrants must have some proof that they were behind the work of art. For instance, they could sign a picture with their username or include said username in a submitted video.
4. The contest sponsors are not responsible for lost, late or misdirected mail; printing errors; server unavailability; acts of God/Cosmic Background Radiation; or computer or any other electronic or telecommunications malfunction.
5. All entries received that are mutilated, tampered with, illegible, or from ineligible entrants will be void. All entries may be used for the shameless self promotion of the contest sponsors’ website or in the unspeakable rites of the Broken Joysticks Politburo.
Elimination
Any false information provided within the context of the contest by any participant concerning identity, mailing address, telephone number, E-mail address, ownership of right or non-compliance with these Official Rules or the like may result in the immediate elimination of the participant from the contest. The contest sponsors further reserve the right to disqualify any entry that it believes in its sole and unfettered discretion infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, otherwise does not comply with these Official Rules, or violates U.S., Canadian, or applicable state and province or local law.
Winner Selection
1. The Winner will be selected by Broken Joysticks’ staff on May 6, 2012. The winner’s entry will be published in an article on May 7, 2012, unless it is too turgid for publication. All decisions of the official Broken Joysticks Hive Mind are final and binding.
Prize
1. One copy of Gears of War 3 for the Xbox 360.
2. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.
Winner Notification
1. The winner will be announced in an article published on May 7, 2012. The article will instruct them further on how to claim their prize. Failure to comply with those instructions will result in our picking of a new winner.
2. By participating in the contest, each participant and the winner waives any and all claims of liability against the contest sponsors for any personal injury or loss that may occur from the conduct of, or participation in, the contest, or from the use of any prize.
3. By claiming the prize, the winner authorizes the use, without additional compensation, of his or her username and contest entry for promotion and/or advertising purposes in any manner and in any medium the contest sponsors may deem appropriate.
Additional Rules
1. The contest sponsors are not liable for any lost or stolen entries, prize or contest information.
3. By participating in the contest, participants agree to be bound by the decisions of the Broken joysticks staff. The contest sponsors reserve the right to disqualify any participant or winner and may refuse to award any prize to a person who is ineligible or has violated any rule, gained unfair advantage in participating in the contest, or obtained winner status using fraudulent means. The contest sponsors will interpret these rules and resolve any disputes, conflicting claims or ambiguities concerning the rules or the contest and contest sponsor decisions concerning such disputes shall be final. If the conduct or outcome of the contest is affected by human error, any mechanical, technical, electronic, communications, telephone, computer, hardware or software errors, malfunctions or failures of any kind, intentional interference or any event beyond the control of the contest sponsors, the contest sponsors reserve the right to terminate this contest, or make such other decisions regarding the outcome as the contest sponsors deem appropriate. All decisions will be made by the contest sponsors and are final. The contest sponsors may waive any of these rules in their sole discretion.
4. The contest sponsors reserve the right to withdraw or terminate this contest at any time without prior notice.
5. The contest sponsors take no responsibility and assume no liability for any omissions, acts or damages that may result from the preparing of materials to submit to this contest.
Intellectual Property Rights
1. By submitting an entry, entrants thereby represent and warrant that the submitted work or information does not and shall not infringe on any copyright, any rights of privacy or publicity of any person, or any other right of any third party, and the entrants the right to grant any and all rights and licenses granted to the contest sponsors herein, including but not limited to, all necessary rights under copyright, free and clear of any claims or encumbrances.
2. Entrants acknowledge and agree that the contest sponsors shall have no obligation to post, display or otherwise make publicly available any work submitted by the entrant, and may, in their sole and unfettered discretion, remove, edit, modify or delete any work that the entrant submits.