Sony Acquires Gaikai

JULY 2, 2012 • A month removed from the Electronic Entertainment Expo one of the bigger rumors from the show has come to pass: Sony Computer Entertainment has acquired cloud streaming service Gaikai for $380 million. With plenty of electronic devices that can benefit from Gakai’s network, the acquisition is clear win for Sony at a modest cost investment. Sony fully intends to utilize Gaikai as the foundation of its own cloud delivery service. What Sony wil.....

Barnes and Noble Spins Off Nook Tablet

APRIL 30, 2012 ● Barns & Noble plans to spinoff its Nook tablet business into a separate company in order to better compete with Amazon.com’s Kindle products. To that end, Microsoft Corp. is investing $300 million into the new company, and will own 17.6%. The partners hope to speed up of the launch of the Nook bookstore worldwide, as well as intoducing more Nook e-readers and tablets on a faster basis.  In related news, Target Stores.....

thatgamecompany Journey Fastest Selling PlayStation Network Title

MARCH 29, 2012 ● Los Angeles-based developer thatgamecompany has broken PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store records with its third title, Journey. In two weeks the game has become the fastest selling first- or third-party title in SCEA’s region. Journey is a fantasy that explores self-discovery in an artful environment often likened to a Japanese garden. I.....

Best Buy to Close 50 Stores

MARCH 29, 2012 ● After reporting a $1.7 billion loss on March 3, Best Buy announced that it would close 50 stores during the next year, as well as cut 400 jobs from its corporate and support personnel rolls.  The retailer wants to cut $800 million by its fiscal year 2015. .....

GOG.com Rebrands

March 26, 2012  ● GOG.com is placing less emphasis on great old games moving forward. While the digital download service has no intention of scaling back its commitment to older catalog titles, the enterprise has plans to add many more recent titles to its selection. The added selection of titles will also .....

Nintendo Network for Console Platforms

JAN. 30, 2012 • During a financial conference call, Nintendo Co. Ltd. announced it would launch its own console network platform.  The new Nintendo Network will support the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. Unlike the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which has been focused upon specific functions and concepts, the Nintendo Network will provide a fuller selection of services  to consumers including competitions and communication between users, as well as the sales of digit.....

Mass Effect 3 Origin Exclusive

JAN. 13, 2012 • BioWare has announced to its large player community that an account with EA’s Origin digital distribution service will be required to play any PC version of Mass Effect 3 – retail and digital copies. In addition, Mass Effect 3 will not be available via Steam. After registration via Origin, a constant online connection will not be required to play the single player portion of Mass Effect 3. .....

Video Game Sales Flat at GameStop

JAN. 9, 2012 • For the nine week period ending Dec. 31, retailer GameStop reported that overall sales were flat at $3.02 billion, compared to the same period last year. Game software sales did grow to 10% to $1.47 billion, but game hardware sales dropped 20%. Other growth areas included digital sales (60%), and used games (3.5%). In the U.K., music, video and game retailer HMV saw its total sales for the same nine week period drop 9.8%. While DVD sales remained .....