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01/16/06 | | Shawn Rider
category: industry
As reported by GameDaily Biz, NPD Funworld calculates the videogame industry\'s take last year at around $10.5 billion. It looks like games have reached a major milestone, and that is thanks to some (possibly) surprising trends in 2005: portable gaming and female gamers. Sure, the Xbox 360 launch was a major boost to the industry in Q4, but the success of the industry in a highly transitional year (new console launches are never great for software sales) is attributed to handheld gaming and female gamers. Get more on this story right here.


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01/15/06 | | George Holomshek
category: industry
It took a while, but Sony\'s PSP was finally able to top the Nintendo DS in sales last week (January 2-8) in Japan. As reported by Joystiq, this is the first time since April of 2005 that the PSP has outsold the DS. Sony managed to move 132,757 PSPs off shelves and the DS jumped into shopping karts 91,379 times. George has the details in this News blurb.


01/10/06 | | Shawn Rider
category: industry
Word comes that Take Two, whose publishing label is now 2K Games, has acquired Irrational Games, creators of such amazing titles as SWAT 4, Freedom Force, and the classic System Shock 2. Irrational was also lauded this week with the \"Best PC Developer\" award for 2005 from IGN (for SWAT 4). In addition, the team was cited by Gamespot for \"Best AI\" in a game (also for SWAT 4), and both SWAT 4 and Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich were included on GameSpy\'s top 10 games of 2005 list. Get more on the acquisition here.


01/04/06 | | Shawn Rider
category: industry
Bandai and Namco have officially inegrated their North American operations. They are now known as Namco Bandai Games America Inc. It looks like Bandai will be moving into the former Namco Hometek headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Namco is well-known for classic games dating back to Pac Man and Dig Dug, but also for recent hits like the Soul Calibur series. Bandai holds several popular anime/manga/game franchises as well, including Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, .Hack, and many more. Click here for the official press release.


11/11/05 | | Shawn Rider
category: industry
Danc from Lost Garden ruffled a lot of feathers with his article about Nintendo\'s Revolution controller a couple months ago (as did all the greatest gaming websites). Now he\'s come out again with another sharp bit of criticism and advice for the industry: Broaden your horizons, or remain a niche form of entertainment. It\'s easy to forget about how few gamers there really are when we put ourselves into communities where everyone shares our interests. Why is there such a crisis about getting women involved in gaming? Because ultimately, the games industry cannot survive if it does not diversify, both in the people who make games and in the people who play games. Danc\'s article is an absolute must-read for anyone who truly loves games.


11/03/05 | | Aaron Stanton
game: Phantom
category: industry
Infinium Labs has faced an upward battle for recognition as a legitimate player in the game industry. Ever since HardOCP.com published an article challenging the track record of Infinium Labs\' founder Tim Roberts, the company has been defending itself as much as it has been promoting their products. Numerous delays in releasing the Phantom game console have not helped their case any, and now they\'re facing additional problems. Apparently, the U.S. SEC is now investigating Infinium Labs for what amounts to unpaid taxes and poor payroll keeping. Just one more brick in the wall...


11/03/05 | | George Holomshek
category: industry
Sony recently confirmed to Playstation Magazine that they will utilize a non-centralized system for online multiplayer on the PS3, sticking with their departure from Microsoft\'s Xbox Live or Nintendo\'s Wi-Fi Connection services. Sticking with an online gaming strategy similar to how the PS2 currently handles online gaming means that game publishers have much greater flexibility with their online content. It also means that gamers will need different accounts for each game they play online, and also makes it more difficult for developers to insure an even playing ground in online multiplayer.


10/11/05 | | Shawn Rider
category: industry
Gamestop completed its buyout of EB Games this week, making it the single largest game retailer in the country, as reported by Game Daily Biz. The merger creates a company with 4200 retail outlets worldwide, and expected annual revenues of $5 billion. Analysts expect the merger to lead to an increase in the used game market, which has recently been attacked by game publisher organizations as being detrimental to their business. The merger may well mean lower trade-in prices for gamers, too, which might in turn lead to an increase in traffic for online game trading sites as gamers flock to more worthwhile deals. And the news can only be seen as an indication that pre-release reservations and package bundles will enjoy unbridled growth. That could be problematic for gamers expecting to preorder an already very pricey PlayStation 3.


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The cake is a lie.