GRAPEVINE -- The largest video games retailer in the world, GameStop, has seen its sales of used games and hardware increase in recent years. The pre-owned market accounts for a considerable portion of the company’s business. As a result, the company invested $7 million in a refurbishment center down the street from its U.S. headquarters in Grapevine, Texas. Bruce Kulp, svp of supply chain and refurbishment, offers an exclusive look inside the factory in the video below.

I started gaming so many years ago with a classic, Mario Kart. One of the staple games of any N64 owner’s collection, this game presented a plethora of tracks, power-ups, characters and weapons, and was a Mario franchise that never saw an unpopular or negatively received release. Do you know why Mario Kart was so instantly addicting? Well, it’s not because you had to use only Bowser and green shells on only six or seven tracks for the first fifty fucking races in order to unlock one character, kart, or power-up at a time.

While E3 is over and Gamescom is right around the corner, retailer GameStop is offering its PowerUp Rewards members a chance to experience a mini-E3 just like store managers. Every year, the game industry brings in celebrities and game developers to showcase the biggest titles for Christmas and beyond to GameStop managers. This year, the managers will get their own show in San Antonio, Texas, but then approximately 5,000 gamers will get the next day to see everything up-close and experience hands-on with the biggest titles of this year. Nintendo Wii U will have a large presence at this EXPO 2012.

Activision watched as Skylanders catapulted to the top of the video game and toy charts for 2011. The game publisher will showcase Skylanders Giants at San Diego Comic-Con 2012. The new game builds upon the breakthrough fundamentals of the Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure—merging the physical and virtual realms with an innovative line of cross-platform toys with “brains,” which players everywhere can magically bring to life in the world of Skylands.  Using the mystical Portal of Power, players once again lead a team of heroic Skylanders in a new adventure to save their world. Developer Toys for Bob talks about the new game for Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows PC and mobile devices in this exclusive video interview below.

Montreal-based social game developer Sava Transmedia is bringing Rubber Tacos to Facebook, Zynga.com, iOS and Android. The new social casual game is a cross between Cut the Rope and Angry Birds. Former Ubisoft and Electronic Arts exec Alain Tascan talks about the new game in this exclusive interview from Zynga Unleashed.

After playing through the somewhat lackluster Circus Atari (which, by the way, doesn’t represent the classic 80’s game at all, nor feature it as an unlockable), we had high hopes that Atari would somehow bounce back with its latest iPad/iOS remake.  And lo and behold, here’s Centipede Origins, a fun new take on the 80’s classic.  Even though the company still hasn’t found a way to incorporate the original trackball gameplay into the game, Origins still has plenty to offer – and for a buck at that.

DISNEYLAND RESORT – Brad Paisley added a little bit of country to the Hollywood grand opening of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. The singer, who contributed a song to Cars and Cars 2, was on hand to walk the red carpet and give Radiator Springs Racers a spin in the new 12 acre expansion of the Disneyland Resort. Paisley talks about the appeal of John Lasseter’s Cars and what games he plays with his sons in this exclusive video interview below.