Blog Posts by Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories rose 1 percent to $1.08 billion in October, helped by sales of "Battlefield 3," market researcher NPD Group said Friday.

Battlefield 3 (EA)Hardware sales, which include game consoles such as the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, rose 6 percent from October 2010 to $295.6 million.

Sales of software, or the video games themselves, rose 3 percent to $621.3 million.
That's well short of the 21 percent year-over-year increase that Cowen and Co. analyst Doug Creutz was expecting. Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, meanwhile, was forecasting a 14 percent software sales growth.

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer — Mon Oct 17, 11:21 am ET

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (Activision)NEW YORK — To impress kids these days, it's not enough to make another video game. Mere action figures won't do, either. So Activision is merging the two.

With "Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure," Activision is using some of its "Guitar Hero" technology in a new venture that's part handheld toy, part digital entertainment. Aimed at kids, "Skylanders" is among the latest and most ambitious game in a growing genre that blends a child's physical world with a video game and online media.

By TOMOKO A. HOSAKA, Associated Press

Sony's Tokyo HQ (AP)TOKYO — Sony said Wednesday intruders staged a massive attempt to access user accounts on its PlayStation Network and other online entertainment services in the second major attack on its flagship gaming site this year.

The Tokyo-based company temporarily locked about 93,000 accounts whose IDs and passwords were successfully ascertained by the blitz. Sony sent email notifications and password reset procedures to affected customers on the PlayStation Network, Sony Entertainment Network and Sony Online Entertainment services.

By Reiji Murai — Wed Sep 14, 1:58 am ET

Sony Japan president Hiroshi Kawano (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

TOKYO (Reuters) — Sony Corp will launch its new PlayStation Vita handheld games device on December 17 in Japan, kicking off a global rollout, and insisted it will not reduce the price in the face of discounting by rival Nintendo.

Sony has been criticized for setting the PS Vita's price too high for the mass market but some analysts say the gadget will likely appeal chiefly to hardcore gamers, who are generally willing to spend more.

Hiroshi Kawano, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, presented the domestic launch plans to reporters a day ahead of the annual Tokyo Game Show.

BY: Christina Rexrode, AP Business Writer

The NoidNEW YORK (AP) -- The Noid is coming back.

For those who can't remember, or were trying to forget, the Noid is the red-suited, rabbit-eared villain who bounced around Domino's Pizza commercials in the late 1980s. Starting Monday, Domino's will feature him in an arcade-style video game on its Facebook page for one week. The company will give away a coupon for a free pizza every minute to the player with the highest score.

by: JAKE COYLE, AP Entertainment Writer

Netflix on WiiNEW YORK - A new Nielsen survey finds that in the battle between screens, Netflix users are opting for TVs and Hulu users are siding with computers.

Video game consoles have a lot to do with the discrepancy: Half of all Netflix users connect to its streaming service through their Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 or Microsoft Xbox consoles, according to the survey.

The study, conducted in 12,000 online interviews in March, researched viewing habits among the two popular streaming services.

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Major video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. is bringing its popular "The Sims" role-playing game to Facebook.

EA made the announcement on the sidelines of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the video game industry's annual conference, known as E3.

The move for the maker of major shoot-'em-up console games highlights the explosive growth of games like Zynga Inc.'s "FarmVille."

Simming Facebook? EA expects most of the growth in the global gaming industry next year to come over digitally delivered games. It says about $2 billion is now spent on so-called social games annually.

"Sims" players on Facebook will be motivated through creating rivalries, friendship and romance. In-game

Bad news for Nintendo? - Nintendo Nintendo stock plunged Wednesday in Tokyo amid doubts about the consumer appeal of the Wii U, the much ballyhooed successor to its hit Wii video game console.

The demonstration of a prototype at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's annual convention, in Los Angeles on Tuesday, appeared to leave investors disappointed and skeptical.

Nintendo Co. shares closed at 16,970 yen ($212.44), down more than 5 percent. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended flat.

Shuji Hosoi, analyst at Daiwa Securities Co., said it was unclear how successfully the machine would compete against smartphones and tablet PCs, when device-based gaming was already having to vie against social networks.

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