MAY 29, 2009 • Just weeks after Infogrames sold Atari’s European business to Namco Bandai, Atari president Phil Harrison stepped down from overseeing daily operations of the division. Harrison, best known for his years with Sony’s PlayStation business, had been in the job for 14 months. Atari said Harrison will remain on its board as non-executive Director of the Group. Infogrames CEO David Gardner, and recently arrived COO Jeff Lapin, will lead the mostly U.S. focused Atari......

MAY 28, 2009 • Microsoft Game Studios announced that the Xbox 360 had attained worldwide sales of 30 million units. That number places the console second behind the Nintendo Wii, which has sold more than 50 million units in a year less time. Impact: At 30 million units.....

MAY 27, 2009 • Two million unique users have registered to play Sony Online Entertainment’s Free Realms, a free-to-play MMO that launched on April 28. To date, 75% of the registrants were under age 17, with a significant 46% under 13. Impact: Two million users sounds impress.....

MAY 26, 2009 • According to Nielsen Entertainment’s March survey, watching a DVD at home was the first entertainment choice of 39% of U.S. consumers. Taking in a movie at a theater came in second at 17%, and playing a video game third at 13%. Impact: A great deal of ink has been spilled .....

MAY 26, 2009 • Apple Inc. is planning a new East Coast data iData center. The facility is needed to boost the capacity of its online operations. The server farm may cost as much as $1 billion to compete. North Carolina is the leading contender for the site, and the state is working to complete a package of tax breaks to seal the deal with Apple. Impact: Building on its success with iTunes, the popularity of the iPhone and its App Store has but a seve.....

MAY 20, 2009 • The game peripherals business has seen serious ups and downs during the last decade. What started as a modest secondary market for joysticks, gamepads and steering wheels quickly ballooned into a huge business. The transition tracked with the rise of electronic games as a profitable industry during the mid-1990s. As games became mainstream entertainment, there soon was demand for specialized input devices like h.....

MAY 18, 2009 • Wal-Mart has launched a 77-store test of Ohio-based E-play’s automated video game buyback kiosks.  E-play retains ownership of the machines. Consumers scan the game’s jewel case, after which a buyback price is set. If the consumer approves of the price, the game disc is inserted into a special slot, .....