Well, this is it. I’m off to Providence, Rhode Island for the fourth annual Digital Overload gaming event.

For those of you not attending this year, the comics have been finished and uploaded (as always) so they will update in my absence. Remember to eat all your vegetables and don’t stay up past your bedtime. And don’t forget about your chance to win a signed copy of Valkyrie Profile for the Nintendo DS!

Now… Digital Overload stuff! Lots of reminders and cool new announcements!

First of all, if you are coming to the event, please read this. It will help you remember to pack and what not to pack.

If you are under 18 years old, you must have a parent/guardian print out and sign this waiver, and you must bring it with you to the event. You cannot get into the event without a signed waiver. For those over 18, it will help if you print one out ahead of time and sign it… it makes check-in go just a little bit faster. And finally, remember that no one under the age of 16 is permitted. We do check IDs at the door. If you do not have a license or ID card, you need to bring some form of official identification with your D.O.B. on it.

Remember to update/patch your PC games and set STEAM to offline mode before you disconnect your PC to bring it to the event.

Now, we’ve got some really cool announcements. CPU Magazine has let us know that they will be giving away a free 6-month subscription to the magazine to any Digital Overload attendee that wants one! Just stop by their booth over the weekend and get 6 months of free CPU, no strings attached.

And don’t forget, CPU is running Digital Overload’s first PC Mod Contest! The winner will get a slew of awesome prizes, included some PC gear, a free Digital Overload 2010 badge, and will have their mod featured in CPU magazine!

FSP is also joining us as a sponsor again for the third year in a row, and aside from a bunch of great stuff to giveaway, all Digital Overload attendees will receive a promotional code that give them $10 off an order from FSP’s new online shop, until March 16th!

We’ve got a ton of great stuff to give away at this year’s event, and some cool prizes for our tournament winners. For instance, each member of the winning Gears of War 2 team will receive one of these 11″x17″ prints of the Gears pinup I did last fall, signed by myself and the Gears of War 2 Lead Developers!

We’ve also got BAWLS. As an official sponsor. We’ll have a bunch of BAWLS to give away to people without BAWLS, and people will also be able to purchase their BAWLS at the convention center concession stand and then they can put BAWLS in their mouth.

At some point during the weekend we’ll have a booth set up where you can buy some Ctrl+Alt+Del t-shirts (including the new Cocktail Party design), some posters, hats, magnet sets, and even some select t-shirt designs from SplitReason. On top of that, Nature’s Armory, the wood carving company handling our trophies this year, will have a booth with some cool items for sale, including some licensed Ctrl+Alt+Del products that you won’t find anywhere else!

Flagship Industries, the company behind Ventrilo is attending Digital Overload, and will be providing the event with VoIP. SPEAKServers will also be providing the event with VoIP via TeamSpeak!

Don’t forget to bring an item to donate to Generosity Overload! Everyone who donates an item will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win an awesome prize pack! And I would like to send a huge thanks out to everyone who donated a little money to the cause. We raised quite a bit, and we’ll be taking a trip to the local Sam’s Club to buy a ton of stuff to send to various troops overseas.

I also want to give a great big thanks to the rest of our sponsors, all of whom help make Digital Overload the great event that it is (and give us awesome stuff to give to you guys!).

• SUMO
• Zalman, who will be at the event this year running contests and giving stuff away.
• D-Link
• TRENDnet
• Privateer Press
• SPEAKservers
• Resin Forge

It’s going to be our biggest, best event yet, and we have a lot of surprises in store for attendees! I’ll see you all this weekend!