Blog Posts by Ben Silverman

The Wheel (Sony Pictures)The creator of one of the most iconic set pieces in game show history has died.

Art Director Ed Flesh, credited with designing the massive wheel used in game show staple 'Wheel of Fortune', passed away on July 15 due to congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, reports The Hollywood Reporter. He was 79 years old.

Flesh worked on countless game show sets over the years, including 'Jeopardy!',' Name that Tune', and 'Press Your Luck'.

Wii U - NintendoThe winds of change blow swift and fierce in the video game console war. And it appears as though the once-unbeatable Nintendo is in danger of being blown clear off its perch.

It's a little hard to imagine the company falling out of the top spot, which they've gripped firmly for the past few years on the strength of their indomitable DS handheld and mass market miracle Wii. By way of innovative tech and user-friendly games, both systems set sales records, helping the company make competitors Microsoft and Sony look like outdated players in a quickly changing landscape.

But that finicky landscape is now leaving Nintendo in the dust.

Duke Nukem Forever (Take 2 Interactive)May might have been the worst month for video game sales in 5 years, but June didn't do much to right the ship.

The NPD Group reports that total video game retail revenue fell once again in June, down 10% from last year's $1.15 billion to a, uh, 'measly' $1.03 billion. The culprit? Plenty of things, but analysts like Michael Pachter are pointing fingers at the once-mighty Nintendo Wii. Wii software has dipped startling 75% since this same time last year, contributing greatly to the overall monthly software slide of 12% (from $531 million to $469 million).

Netflix on 3DS - NintendoAs backlash rages over Netflix's reworked pricing structure, Nintendo 3DS owners in the U.S. and Canada got a bit of good news today as they'll now be able to stream TV shows and movies directly to their 3D handheld.

Nintendo announced the feature, which is accessible by downloading a free app from the portable system's eShop, in the hopes that it will entice more consumers to get in on the 3DS.

Plants vs. Zombies - PopCap Games Plants vs. Zombies vs...Madden?

Here's hoping we get such a hybrid now that mega-publisher Electronic Arts has announced that they've acquired casual game giant PopCap Games for a cool $750 million -- $650 million in cash and an additional $100 million in EA stock.

The deal is sure to send shockwaves across the video game landscape. PopCap is the undisputed king of the casual games world, boasting smash franchises like Bejeweled, Peggle, Zuma and Plants vs. Zombies. The company's got a toe in nearly every corner of the games market, with over 150 million games installed across PCs, consoles, Facebook accounts, and mobile devices. Combine that with EA's reach and massive game library --

Battlefield 3 - EA First-person shooter heavyweights Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 will turn their virtual wars into a very real one as they fight for control over your game console this fall.

But the two companies behind the games have already started sniping.

Astute gamers noticed that the URL modernwarfare3.com -- clearly a site that should be owned and operated by Call of Duty publisher Activision -- redirects to none other than the official site for...Battlefield 3. Is rival publisher EA suddenly involved in the seedy business of domain trolling?

Not so much. More likely, it's the work of a disgruntled gamer. A search for the site's owner brings up an anonymous registration, and

BioShock Infinite - 2K Games You've seen which games wowed us at the recent E3 expo, but the big show isn't technically over until the Game Critics have announced their picks. Representing over 40 publications (including Yahoo! Games), the video game journalist illuminati have officially chosen their fave: it's BioShock: Infinite. The first-person game swept all four categories in which it was nominated, taking home wins as Best PC Game, Best Action/Adventure, Best Original and the coveted Best Overall spot.

Other multiple winners include Battlefield 3 (Best Action, Best Online Multiplayer), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Best RPG, Best Console Game), and Sound Shapes (Best Social/Casual, Best Handheld Game.) Full list

The original "War Games" - Courtesy of MGM

Global thermonuclear war is coming back to a theater near you. And, fittingly, a gamer is helping make it happen.

Deadline reports that the 1983 film 'WarGames' is getting rebooted by MGM, who have tapped Seth Gordon -- the man behind the acclaimed video game documentary 'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters' -- to direct.

It's great news for fans of the original. Starring Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy, 'WarGames' tells the story of a young computer geek who hacks into a government network to play some games and accidentally triggers World War III.  Not only was it
one of the first mainstream Hollywood hits to tap into the burgeoning field of tech hacking and online gaming (it's