First place with 29 percent of the vote:

Ross A.’s SackBoat! For the brilliant combination of SackBoy and kayak, SackBoat will receive a PLAYSTATION 3 80 GB system.

Second place with 26 percent of the vote:

Ding Dong’s Helghast! For breaking through the plethora of SackBoy submissions and winning over the PlayStation.Blog community, Helghast will receive a PSP-3000 system.

Finally, in what was an extremely close vote, third place with 17 percent of the vote goes to Ricardo G.’s SackCouple.
The adorable duo will receive PlayStation Network vouchers valued at $50.00 USD.

And because the fourth place entrant was just a mere 5 votes off, we’d like to give Daniel W.’s Hawaiian SackBoy PlayStation Network vouchers valued at $25.00 USD.
(While we love the Hawaiian shirt selection, we’re secretly hoping he uses the money to purchase a new SackBoy wardrobe.)

Congrats to all of the winners, and thanks again to all of you that voted! For the rest of you, you might wanna start planning next year’s costume…

WHAT WAS THE SURNAME OF THE FAMILY WHO MOVED INTO THE HAUNTED HOUSE IN ‘THE AMITYVILLE HORROR’?
* LUTZ
* JONES
* MICHAELS
* WILLARD

WHO DIRECTED THE ORIGINAL 2004 ‘SAW’ FILM?
* JAMES WAN
* DARREN LYNN BOUSMAN
* DAVID HACKL
* LEIGH WHANNELL

IN ‘THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT’, THE FILMMAKERS BECOME LOST AFTER MIKE DOES WHAT TO THE MAP?
* KICKS IT INTO THE RIVER
* EATS IT
* RIPS IT UP
* THROWS IT ON THE FIRE

Just to provide a little added incentive to get you into the spirit, we’re announcing a costume contest. The rules are simple: dress up as one of your favorite Sony Computer Entertainment characters (e.g. BUZZ!, the game show host from the BUZZ! games, Sackboy, Kratos, Sly Cooper, Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, Clank etc.) and submit a photo of yourself in costume holding up a PlayStation branded controller or PSPsystem. Email your photo to psbloghalloween@gmail.com by 5:00 PM PST on November 3, 2008 (that gives you all of Halloween weekend to capture an image of yourself in costume).

Your favorite Social Media Manager, Jeff Rubenstein, will use his good judgment based on 50% originality of costume and 50% likeness of character to select the top FIVE costumes out of all of the submissions. We’ll then post the final five on the blog on November 5, 2008 on or about 9:00 AM PST and allow you, the readers, to vote. The three submissions with the most votes win. Vote by clicking on the radio button that corresponds with your selection. We’ll close voting at 5:00 PM PST Friday, November 7, 2008 and announce the winners on the Blog that following Monday, November 10, 2008.

The costume that receives the most votes will win a PLAYSTATION® 3 80 GB system. The second place costume will receive a PSP® 3000 system. The third place costume will receive PlayStation Network vouchers valued at $50.00 USD.

And because we are having so much fun testing each other with the BUZZ! Quiz TV Horror pack, we’re adding another little challenge to our costume contest. The individual with the best BUZZ! game show host costume (judged solely by Jeff) based on 50% originality of costume and 50% likeness of character will be awarded a PlayStation Network voucher for the horror quiz pack, in addition to a BUZZ! Quiz TV bundle.

So, get started on creating those costumes; we can’t wait to see what you come up with. Good luck and Happy Halloween!

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the United States ages 13 and older. See official rules listed below for complete details.

OFFICIAL RULES

The following promotion is intended for viewing in the 50 United States and D.C. only and shall only be construed and evaluated according to United States law. Do not proceed in this site if you are not a legal resident of, and located in, the 50 United States or D.C. at the time of entry.

SCEA CHARACTER AND BUZZ!(tm) HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST
OFFICIAL RULES

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. MAKING A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE CHANCES OF WINNING. Void outside the 50 United States and D.C. and where prohibited. To enter, email a photograph of yourself in costume holding up a PlayStation® branded controller or a PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) entertainment system to psbloghalloween@gmail.com between October 29, 2008 at 9:00 am PST and November 3, 2008 at 5:00 pm PST. Your costume must be a character featured in one of the games published by Sony Computer Entertainment America (the “Sponsor”) (i.e. BUZZ! (the game show host), Sackboy, Kratos, Sly Cooper, Jak, Daxter, Ratchet, Clank) To be valid, entries must be received no later than 5:00 PM November 3, 2008 (PST). Limit one entry per person and valid e-mail address for the duration of the promotion. All entries will be considered made by the authorized account holder of the email address. Subsequent entries will be disqualified.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (the “Sponsor”) is not responsible for lost, late, mutilated, illegible, incomplete or misdirected entries. Sponsor is not responsible for technical, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit an entrant’s ability to participate in the contest. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to modify, cancel or suspend this contest should virus, bugs or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control corrupt the administration, security or proper play of thiscontest. Sponsor reserves the right to reject any entries that it deems, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate including, but not limited to, gratuitous depictions of violence or sexual behavior, or positive depictions of alcohol or tobacco.

2. Winner Selection: Five (5) costumes will be selected by Sponsor from all eligible photographs received by November 3, 2008.
Sponsor will also select the best BUZZ! costume from all eligible photographs received by November 3, 2008.
All photographs received will be judged by Sponsor based on the following criteria:
50% Creativity
50% Likeness of Character
The five (5) final costumes chosen by Sponsor will be posted on blog.us.playstation.com/halloweencostumevote on November 5, 2008 on or about 9:00 AM PST for judging by the readers of the blog. The readers will vote for their favorite and the three (3) submissions with the most votes win a prize. Voting will close at 5:00 PM PST Friday, November 7, 2008. Readers will enter their votes by checking the box next to their favorite submission on the Web site at the following url: blog.us.playstation.com/halloweencostumevote. The winners will be announced on Monday, November 10, 2008 on the blog.

The winner of the BUZZ! Game show host Costume contest will also be announced on the blog on November 5, 2008.

3. PRIZES: One (1) Grand Prize winner is the posted submission that received the most votes from readers of the blog. Grand Prize costume will receive a PLAYSTATION®3 80 GB computer entertainment system (ARV $399.99). The costume that receives the second most votes will receive a PSP® 2000 system (ARV $169.99) . The costume that receives the third most votes will receive PlayStation® Network vouchers valued at $50.00 USD. Choice of Voucher at Sponsor’s discretion. The winner of the BUZZ! Costume contest will receive a PlayStation® Network voucher for the Horror Quiz Pack and a BUZZ! Quiz TV bundle which includes a copy of the game BUZZ! Quiz TV and four wireless buzzers. (ARV $115.98). Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal value. Prizes are non-transferable and no substitutions allowed. Winners shall be notified by email and/or telephone. Once notified, allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of prizes.
4. ODDS OF WINNING: The odds of winning depend on number of valid entries received.

5. ELIGIBILITY: Promotion is open to legal residents of the 50 United States ages 13 and over. Winner(s) will be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release within seven (7) days of receipt. Return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected. Failure to return Affidavit of Eligibility and Release within 7 days of receipt will result in forfeiture of prize. An alternate winner will be selected among remaining eligible entrants. If the winner is a minor, then prize will be awarded to winner’s parent or legal guardian. By acceptance of prize, winners agree to the use of their name and/or likenesses for purposes of advertising, trade, or promotion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. Additionally, by acceptance of prize, prize winner agree to release Sponsor and its respective parents, subsidiaries, agencies, divisions, and affiliates from any and all liability, claims or actions or any kind whatsoever for injuries, damages or losses to persons and property which may be sustained in connection with the receipt, ownership or use of the prize or while preparing for, participating in, and/or traveling to or from any prize-related activity and/or sweepstakes activity. Employees of Sponsor and their respective parents, subsidiaries, agencies, and affiliates and each of their related companies and their immediate families are not eligible. Neither the Sponsor nor their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, agencies, divisions nor related companies are responsible for any damages, taxes, or expenses that winners might incur as a result of this sweepstakes or receipt of prize.

6. WINNER’S NAME: To obtain a list of winners, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: SCEA CHARACTER AND BUZZ! HALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST winner’s list. 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA. 94404. Winners’ list requests will be fulfilled within four weeks after all prizes have been awarded. Requests for winners’ list must be received by November 30, 2008.

7. RESTRICTIONS: Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

8. SPONSOR: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404

As the name implies, PlayStation had a big presence; some of the athletes met up at the PlayStation Experience Truck for some Play with the Pros action in MotorStorm – take a look:

For more pics and details of what went down at the PlayStation Pro, click over to this coverage from the Orlando Sentinel’s gaming blog (thanks to Matt for the above photo as well).

If you noticed the T-shirts or the kid with the MotorStorm Pacific Rift hat in the video – these numbers were pretty hot commodities at the event… so we saved some for you readers. The first 15 people to send a request to givemethatmotorstormschwag@gmail.com will score themselves a MotorStorm Pacific Rift shirt *and* hat, free of charge.

Now for the obligatory legal disclaimer: To enter, we must receive your email no later then October 28th, 2008 at 11:59 PM (PST). Limit one entry per person and valid e-mail address for the duration of the promotion. Contest is only open to U.S. residents ages 13 or older who meet the terms set forth. The senders of the first fifteen qualifying applications that we receive will win (1) t-shirt and (1) hat each (approximate value is $19.99). Prize fulfillment is at Sponsor’s discretion and based on availability.

Despite only recently shaking off my tryptophan-induced Thanksgiving stupor, I wanted to give thanks once more to those of you who participated in the first-ever PlayStation Schwag contest. Hundreds of readers submitted answers to 10 fairly-difficult questions, and it’s time to announce the winners. I personally graded all the tests (we’re going to have to move to Scantron tests next time ;-) ) and I can say that most of you performed very well, with an average score of about 8 out of 10. The most commonly missed question:

Q: What game is this character from?

A: Blasto

The first contestant to answer a perfect 10 for 10 was Vladislav Kravtsov of San Francisco. The remaining perfect test takers went into a hat to randomly draw 9 more winners, listed here:

Tim Bledsoe, Vancouver, WA
Matthew Wright, Tustin, CA
Steven Belina, Newington, CT
Tom Benson, Temecula, CA
Chad Haught, Carrollton, TX
Chris Taylor, West Columbia SC
Tom Balistreri, New Berlin, WI
Darren Tilley, Portland, ME
Mark Kitchin, Germantown, MD

Special thanks to (in order of appearance) Chris Taylor, Mark Kitchin, and Tim Bledsoe for sending in some pics of themselves geared up with some of their PS schwag. Again, response to this contest was great, so next time we’ve got something cool to give away we’ll do something like this again.

This being the situation, folks, we have an idea:

We know a lot of people here have been PlayStation fans for years and for some of you, in fact, all of your lives. So it’s time to put your knowledge to the test. We’ve come up with 10 PlayStation trivia questions. If you think you know the answers, use the ‘contact us’ link on the side of this blog with “I Want Some Schwag!” as the subject line. Of course, include your answers, name and mailing address.

If all 10 of your answers are correct, you’ll be entered into a random drawing where 10 winners will be given a bounty of PlayStation schwag.

Sorry, now for the gratuitous legal disclaimer: To be eligible, you must send in your answers no later then October 31, 2007 11:59 PM (PST). Limit one entry per person and valid e-mail address for the duration of the promotion: Contest is only open to U.S. residents ages 13 or older who answer all 10 questions correctly. Prize fulfillment is at Sponsor’s discretion and based on availability.

Here’s what you’re playing for, people. Get your game faces on:

And here are the questions:

1. What was the date of the launch of the first PlayStation in the U.S.?
2. What PlayStation launch title ‘shot fireworks’ into the industry?
3. On what date were plans for PlayStation 3 first shared?
4. Name one team that is playing in the NHL FaceOff section of the U R Not E commercial?
5. What was the name of the first PlayStation title from these developers?

a. Naughty Dog
b. Insomniac
c. Eidetic

6. What is the full name of the female member of Interpol in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus?
7. What game is this character from?

8. How many power cells and precursor orbs were there to collect in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy?
9. According to the famed PS9 commercial, PS9’s electronic spores do what?
10. What is the weight difference between the original PSP and the recently announced PSP-2000?

I’ll post the answers and the names of the lucky winners here once they’re drawn.

Good luck!