Zombies: Love or hate them, they're an inseparable part of pop culture, and an inevitable part of many apocalii. One way this phenomenon is manifesting itself is Valve's co-op shooter Left 4 Dead, coming in November for PC and Xbox 360.

Valve has gifted Shacknews with an onslaught of Left 4 Dead shirts. We would love to get these to Shackers, but we need an efficient, fair method of distribution. For that, we are asking you to record your best zombie moan, and post it here.

Yes, turn your mic on and commit to audio file your best zombie impression. Simply upload it somewhere, and then post the link in the comments to this post. We'll give you a week to make sure everyone has a chance to get their groan on, and then we'll judge the results. Funny? Serious? Just make sure it's clearly audible, and we'll clothe a horde of you.

If the words "Walk This Way," "Livin' on the Edge" or "Sweet Emotion" mean anything to you, you're probably familiar with veteran rock band Aerosmith. With the arrival of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, so Activision and Shacknews thought we could do a bit of a contest for those seriously dedicated to rocking out.

We went through the contest a few days ago, but thought it might be nice to give people a second chance at the things so a few more people could take a shot at the prize. Up for grabs we have two copies of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, with guitar and game; one for Xbox 360 and one for PS3.

What we want from you is your best self portrait of air guitar glory, either solo or with a backup band. So set the self timer, teach your cat how to choose the right shutter speed, or get all your friends in costume to "air band" all of Aerosmith. Shacknews will give you a week to do this, and we'll choose our two favorites to win, so have your entries in by 11:59 PM CST on Friday, July 18th.

When asking what band players would like to see in Guitar Hero, Aerosmith was one of choices to top the list. Thanks to Activision, fans will have this desire answered and then some with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith coming out soon for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and PS2.

To celebrate the release, Activision and Shacknews are teaming up for a bit of a contest. We could just have you submit your email address, but that seems simple and, well, lame. I mean, we have a copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for Xbox 360 and PS3 each, so something more seems in order.

As such we are asking Shackers to post your best "air band." Everyone can admit to playing the air guitar—it's just like that, except we want a photograph of at least two people in full air band action, guitar, drums, vocals, accordion, you name it. And if you happen to dress in hair band regalia, then all the better.

So gather your friends and post your picture in the comments of this post, along with your platform(s) of preference. We will take submissions until 11:59pm CST on Tuesday, and the ShackStaff will choose their favorite two entries. I make no promises that our judging won't be heavily skewed towards those that go so far as to find the "right" outfit for said picture.

Being an evil mastermind is a rather demanding job, and one that doesn't really allow the time for proper exploration of career alternatives. Given that, it's easy to understand why Command & Conquer's Kane is continually plotting, scheming, masterminding and worse: he really has no choice. EA understands this, and obliged the man another run at worldwide domination in Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, now out on Xbox 360.

And what better way to celebrate such a man than by giving some loot away featuring his likeness? Recently we asked you to show off your Command & Conquer knowledge, to prove if you're truly a Kaniac. In return, we have chosen five true believers for prizey goodness. But first, let's address the question of just how evil Kane is.

• Crastabule: Kane is such a villainous genius, he would defeat hair loss by developing V05 Tiberium Growth Gel (TM). (May cause uncontrolled hair growth)
• 3mnkids: Kane is such a villainous genius, he would defeat the big wig oil company men but making them drink their product.
• arbiter01: Kane is such a villainous genius, he would defeat James Kirk by killing his son. KAAAAANE!!!!
• camper223: Kane is such a villainous genius, he would sell... Read more

With Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath making its way to Xbox 360 next week, we thought it might be nice to give a bit of attention to the man of the hour himself.

We're going to see if you're really a Kaniac, and find those worthy enough get a few prizes thanks to the folks over at EA. Answer a few questions about your favorite intimidating bald guy since Kojak and a winner may be you.... Read more

Play video games long enough, and you're sure to pick up momentos of your in-game travels as time goes on, often in the form of screenshots. Well, we asked Shackers to give their best and favorite moments in gaming recently, then let every vote for their favorites.

There were some really great submissions, and some of our favorites would be this evening landscape in TES:Oblivion, a background shot from Homeworld 2, Team Fortress 2 camping, and those commemorating various ShackBattles

See the winning entries after the jump ... Read more

Sure you know that human battle fleets have engaged the deadly Bydo Empire in the latest R-Type Command for PSP, but why take our word for it?

So together with Atlus, we called upon Shackers to ghost write reviews of the demo, but given the new territory we decided maybe an outside perspective from another video game would be the ideal. And hey, let's award some prizes for it too, shall we?

• Ctlaltl33t drops Link in new territory
• Wytefang pities the poor pew pew pew
• Romsteady breaks it down to the basics

... Read more

The second season of Telltale's downloadable adventure series Sam & Max recently concluded (There's a demo for Episode 5 up on FileShack), so we asked Shackers to come up with the best joke after we provided you with an image as the setup.

You guys went hammer and tongs at making jokes and here's the full results from this contest. The big question is though, were who were our favorite three?

There were lots of great entries, and arguments can be made for many but in the end, here our the ShackStaff's top picks. ... Read more

GarageGames has asked us to remind everyone that voting for the second wave of the Shacknews Fallen Empire: Legions Photoshop contest ends today.

As with the first wave, five winners will receive access to the closed beta for the Tribes spiritual sequel. The beta is currently underway for select InstantAction users, and is expanding every week.

Thus far, this contest is the only way to guarantee beta access!

Voting is simple: just browse all the entries and respond over at the InstantAction blog with the number of your favorite. Currently, rodein is in the lead with his entry.

Telltale Games is verging upon the exciting climax of Sam & Max Season 2, the episodic adventure game for PC. Humor is pretty much the hallmark of the series, all the way back to it's comic book roots. Well, humor and a tenuously sane hyperkinetic rabbit...thing.

So for the latest contest here at Shacknews, we would like to ask you to create a little bit of that magic yourself with some help from us. That is the humor of course, not so much of the rabbit thing.

The fine people at Telltale have been so good as to provide you with the setting for your joke and punchline, along with a few prizes for your efforts. All you have to do is take the above setup image and edit it to include a joke and punch line.

Post the results in the comments to this article as a jpeg file. You have until Saturday, April 12th at 11:59PM CST, so act quickly. Shack staff will choose the best three jokes and winners will receive a complete Sam & Max Season 2 Bundle.

When a single game is played compulsively to perhaps unhealthy quantities, your brain can be so monomaniacally focused on that one thing as to where glimpses of it infiltrate real life. We asked you to take these images--provided by the fine folks at GarageGames--and insert them into the day's current events.

At stake are five entries for the Fallen Empire: Legions private beta, which should still have a few weeks to go before being open to the public. You can find the full gallery of entries here, so without further ado here are our choices for the first group of winners.

... Read more

Update: Since the responses to this have been so great, we've decided to extend the contest a day until 11:59PM PST on Wednesday, and add a little something to it. Not only will the Shackstaff pick their favorite five, but all the results will be posted to the InstantAction web site for additional public voting. The top five of those who haven't already won beta access will also receive keys. Those who win beta access are guaranteed at least two weeks of exclusive play before public access opens up.

Original Story: Ever play a game so much, that you start to see elements of it in real life? Your stoplight exchanged for Chu-Chu Rocket direction blocks? Disgaea style path trails leading to where ever you walk? Do you catch glimpses of Scouts in the corner of your vision, bat at ready?

Well, for once we will confront this phenomena directly, and jump to the conclusion of mixing real life and game elements. Thus, our next contest with GarageGames and Shacknews.

What we would like you to do is to take the art in the gallery above--so kindly provided by Fallen Empire: Legions developer GarageGames--and photoshop it into real-world events, specifically the news. Frame the picture with a more humorously... Read more

In the world of Command & Conquer, Kane is a busy man. How does a person like him keep up with all the administrative tasks while trying to take over the world? Well, he could get an evil secretary, but we thought it would be much more fun if Shackers would step forward with their best evil plans instead. Some opted for a simple scheme, some complex. The winners are as follows:

• TheKidd belives in the Rosicrucianism full spectrum of evil.
• GuavaD has a breakfast fixation on hashed wickedness.
• fatlazyhomer know flow charts and evil like the back of his malicious hand.

We have all the entries in this gallery here. It wasn't an easy choice, but the final nod for grand prize goes to fatlazyhomer, who belies at least part of his name with an expertly executed flow chart. All three of the finalists will receive copies of Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath--which includes Red Alert 3 beta access--with the grand prize winner also collecting the entire C&C catalog, all courtesy of EA.

Thanks to both EA and Shackers for the contest and participation. Oh and don't let me forget to thank Pipedreamergrey and Brandon for the examples. Check back later today for our Fallen Empires contest.

Villians are destroyers of worlds, enemy of good and source of wickedness. The infamous Kane of the Command & Conquer universe is an excellent example: he's fought the GDI time and time again and helped to spread Tiberium like a cancerous Johnny Appleseed.

But how did he do all this? It's not as if you can just wake up one morning and decide that you're just going to destroy multinational security organizations on a whim. You need a strategy, a guide, a... plan, if you will.

With that in mind, if you had the resources, what would be your great villainous plan? Electronic Arts and Shacknews want to know.

For the purpose of this contest, such plans should be illustrated with a flow chart diagram, like something you would create in Visio, OpenOffice Draw or even the ever faithful MS Paint.

Will you take over the world with weaponized badgers? Subvert global... Read more

One of the best things about video games? Having that perfect moment, and having the foresight to preserve it with a screenshot for all time.

Was it a great kill? Were you that great kill? Did you find a way to make a physics engine beautifully break a game? Well, we appreciate that kind of thing too, and we're framing this contest around such moments of serenity.

Take your own notable screenshot and post it to the comments below. The only editing that should be resizing and/or cropping for presentational purposes--please make no adjustments that change the actual image content. If you need hosting, check out Easy Screens or ImageShack

And hey, let's toss out some prizes for this, courtesy of Take 2 and Fileshack. Vote on your favorite screenshots with a reply. The top three winners will get a ladies medium Bioshock hearts Threadless tee, a Bioshock EP soundtrack, and a month of Mercury service from Fileshack. Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 PM CST on Monday, March 3rd. Good luck!

Multiplayer games bring out a certain visceral quality, and Savage 2: A Tortured Soul combines that with a teamwork-encouraging system that uses efficiency to illustrate the challenges of your adversaries. Given the sparks that flare from such encounters, it can visceral, it can be exciting.. It can be savage.

Recently we asked for you to account for your savagery that occurs in the course of gaming so that we could toss out a few prizes courtesy of S2Games, and the results follow.

First up, we see spaceless displaying the Rosewood-esque results of an unfortunate Warcraft 3 game. We've heard conflicting reports as to the survivability of the original game media, but sources indicate that it's been broken up and spread across the Earth as if to prevent Cobra from assembling it.

Next up, Helvetica comes through with this divine example of Driver's Education 101 as channeled through Counter-Strike. If nothing else, the map seems pretty safe from someone using an aimbot!... Read more

S2Games recently released Savage 2: A Tortured Soul, where human and Beast civilizations challenge one another for supremacy of a shattered Earth. But that's just a simple description of a complex choreography of war, it's the individual events that make it compelling.

Here at Shacknews, we recognize the savagery in every gamer. So we're asking you to visually represent an act of savagery in the way you see fit. Action figures at war? Costume paint and photography? Abuse of 3D models? Please no actual acts of violence however, as Shacknews only condones such things against virtual beings.

To entice your creative whims, S2Games has provided us with three copies of Savage 2: A Tortured Soul for you to win. The competition will be open until Tuesday, February 12th at 11:59 CST posted in reply to this article, and the Shacknews staff will pick our favorites based on execution, creativity and humor if it fits the submission. Good luck!

As any fan of the Civilization series knows, some of the most fun to be had is finding the perfect population to guide to ascendancy. Recently we asked you to create your own civilization, and here are the results.

A couple of the more interesting entries of note were those such as zombie survivors, the Mamalukes, and The Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

It was a bit more of a casual contest, and thus we're picking four winners randomly from everyone who submitted something. Therefore, give it up to flagg209, Degenerate, xsoulbrothax, and Hidden Key, as they will be receiving a BioShock t-shirt and Civilization: Revolution Xbox 360 faceplate, courtesy of 2K Games. Thanks to all the participants, and be sure to stick around here at Shacknews for more contests like this.

Sid Meier's Civilization is a long running PC classic currently being adapted for a new multiplatform style, and the progenitor of its own genre. One of the notable features of these games was picking your favorite civilization, be it for its leader, its cultural strengths, its special units, or just just the way they happen to talk. Well, we thought maybe we could have a little contest around here courtesy of a certain wonderful community manager over at 2K Games.

Shackers, tell us of your favorite real or fictional civilization. Give a short description of the civilization, who the leader is and their traits, and what is their favored military unit and building. You can see examples from Civilization 4 at CivFanatics. No more than a paragraph or two per element please.

Up for grabs will be a Civilization Revolution Xbox 360 faceplate and one of these BioShock t-shirts which we have both men's large and women's medium sizes. Four winners will be chosen randomly from the submissions, so no one should feel any intimidation by participating. Entries will be accepted until Monday, January 28th at midnight CST.

While we did announce the winner of the Shacknews Holiday Contest of Doom yesterday, what we didn't announce were those who took away spoils in the sweepstakes from submitting an entry. Picking one winner wasn't easy, so with the assistance of my buddy the random number generator we came up with the answers. Those results follow:

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - MoreVespeneGas (PS3), Jamiejme (PS3), Troz (PC)
• Quake Wars: Enemy Territory: Collectors Edition (PC) - Wormmeat, liqker
• Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (Wii) - kallanta, ieGod
• Bee Movie: The Game (Wii) - the stickboy, c_man_tmt
• Spiderman: Friend or Foe - helvetica (PC), bettycocker (PC), aeg1x (PSP)
• Signed Team Fortress 2 poster - itsjeff9
• Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP) - tiberius bill
• Silent Hill Origins (PSP) - nitaib
• Coded Arms: Contagion (PSP) - ohhjebus
• Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel (PSP) - MajorGun
• The Witcher (PC) - filthysock, ajax, grayscale, RomSteady, gonnabechef
• TotalGaming.net memberships with tokens for Galactic Civilizations 2 (PC) and Sins of a Solar Empire (PC) - Yoonix, WARLORD48, Reavers!, cool_canuck, rustified
• Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition - T-900 (PS3), TShandy (PC), Daggoth (PS3), Trips (PC), Hidden Key (360), Gibolas1234 (360)
• Shadowrun (360) - Redfield, exigence7
• Mass Effect (360) - Lawgiver, fuji-juice
• Prey: Collectors Edition (360) with a custom Xbox 360 faceplate and mousepad - BlackCat
• The ultimate mystery Bag of (Gaming) Crap - shortbuscaptain

Thanks to everyone who participated and to the companies that generously submitted prizes such as Activision, Konami, Valve, Microsoft, Stardock, Atari, Bethesda Softworks and 3DRealms. Stay tuned for more contests in the new year.