OCT. 10, 2007 • Thanks to it line-up of accessible games and lifestyle titles, Nintendo Co. Ltd. said that in Japan  51% of Wii users and 53% of DS players are women. Five days later the gamemaker attained market valuation of ¥10 trillion ($85 billion), almost triple the value since launching the Wii a year ago. Nintendo is now Japan’s third-most valuable listed company behind automaker Toyota Motor Corp and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Im.....

OCT. 9, 2007 • The San Jose Mercury News reports that production Xbox 360s will not receive another motherboard upgrade until the third quarter of 2008. At the time, a more efficient graphics chip from ATI, plus smaller memory chips, will be used. The changes are expected to further reduce heat issues, plus lower the production cost of the console. Impact: Given the heat problems generated by the original Xbox 360 design, and the multi-stage a.....

OCT. 9, 2007 • Sony Computer Ent. dropped the price of two PlayStation 3 models in Japan by ¥5,000 ($43) each to better compete with the Wii. The 20GB system now retails for ¥44,980, and the 60GB PS3 will be sold for ¥54,980. On October 18th in the U.S., Sony reduced the price point of the 80GB model from $599 to $499.  T.....

OCT. 8, 2007 • Sony Computer Entertainment America announced the creation of a new in-game advertising business unit, and hired Darlene Kindler, a 25-year consumer electronic industry veteran, as director of Network Advertising. Kindler will be responsible for SCEA’s in-game advertising strategy across all PlayStation platforms.....

OCT. 8, 2007 • Microsoft Corp. and Toshiba announce the creation of the Advanced Interactivity Consortium, an open forum aimed at boosting the adoption of the HD-DVD format, as well as delivering “advanced scenarios” to other platforms, such as digital downloads to DVD players, PCs, TVs, mobile phones and game consoles. Impact: The fight for high-definition storage remains very much alive. What started as a lukewarm embrace of HD-DVD has .....

OCT. 3, 2007 • Since the 1980s, Japan has been a giant when it comes to video games. Of course, this is in large part because after the U.S. game industry collapsed around 1984, it was left to the Japanese publishers and manufacturers to fill the void. Japanese companies Nintendo, Sega and Sony dominated the video game hardware market for over 20 years. Microsoft is the only non-Japanese company to become a major force in video game hardware. Of course when it comes to actual consump.....