JULY 24, 2007 • For the three-month period between April and June 2007, Nintendo Co. Ltd. released fiscal first-quarter higher than previously forecasted thanks to robust sales of the popular Wii and Nintendo DS game systems. Net income for the quarter jumped 416% to ¥80.3 billion ($675.8 million) from ¥.....

JULY 24, 2007 • SCEA announces that according to preliminary internal data, PS3 sales have increased by more than 135% with Sony’s top five direct retailer clients in the two weeks following the $100 price reduction to $499. Impact: DFC has always fe.....

JULY 24, 2007 • According to NPD Funworld data, for the first six months of 2007 U.S. console hardware sales were up 98%, console software was up 21%, portable hardware was up 27%, portable software was up 35%, and video game accessories were up 56%. Sales of the Wii during the first half of the year wer.....

JULY 23 , 2007 • Most people that follow the game industry are aware that South Korea is a nation that loves their games. DFC estimates that there are over 22 million game-playing consumers in South Korea. This is a remarkable number in a country that has only about 49 million people. No wonder the large video game manufacturers are all focusing their attention on the Korean market. The general stereotype is that consumers in Korea play PC online games like StarCraft and Lineage at .....

JULY 23, 2007 • Considering it is summer, late June and July were awfully busy months for conferences. Of course, the big story was the unveiling of the new, streamlined E3. However, in many ways, the rather sedate 2007 E3 was just another in a series of events that will continue through this fall. Be prepared to rack up those frequent flyer miles. The second annual Hollywood and Games Summit was held June 26-27th in, of course, Hollywood. This was a true joint collaboration as it wa.....

JULY 23, 2007 • With Viacom’s re-entry into the gaming industry comes a lot of buzz and great expectations. Clearly such a media giant could have a profound effect on the gaming landscape. In other words, some caution is in order. Briefly summarized the largest branch on the Viacom tree, MTV Networks, has recently completed an $800 million shopping spree of gaming properties. In the last two years the company acquired the in-game messenger program Xfire, GameTrailers.com, Neopets, .....

JULY 23, 2007 • In recent years there has been a great deal of buzz over the “casual games business.” To an outside observer of the game industry it may seem as if there has suddenly been discovered a wide swath of consumers with different playing habits. In fact what is referred to as casual games have always been a large portion of the game industry. What is often defined as the casual game industry in today’s market is simply describing new ways to generate revenue from product gen.....