Macworld.com - Blizzard Entertainment has announced that World of Warcraftâ??s subscriber base has reached 11.5 million players worldwide, continuing its reign as the worldâ??s most popular multiplayer online role-playing game.
Source:World of Warcraft adds another half million subscribers
(Macworld.com)

PC Magazine - Sony has reduced the price of its second-generation PlayStation 3 revision by 35 percent, to $448.73, according to a teardown report by analyst firm iSuppli this week.
Source:Sony Cuts PlayStation 3 Costs; Will It Matter?
(PC Magazine)

PC World - The words “free” and “Xbox 360″ are like J.D. Salinger and a gaggle of paparazzi — never seen together. Still, Popular Science just invoked them with this curious bit of homebrew trickery that might (and having not tested it, I stress might) save you the $100 Microsoft hoodwinks consumers to pony up [...]

NewsFactor - Sony could soon break even on manufacturing its PlayStation 3 video-game console, thanks to a new reduced-cost design. A teardown study by iSuppli found key changes in components from the last generation of PS3s.
Source:Sony Nears Breakeven on Manufacturing Cost for PS3
(NewsFactor)

InfoWorld - It’s hard to be a geek at Christmastime. Sure, there are lots of cool tech toys and gadgets on display on store shelves, and a few may have landed under your tree this year. Perhaps Absolutely Mad: 50 Years of Mad Magazine on DVD, a Microsoft Xbox 360, an Apple MacBook Pro 2008 [...]

InfoWorld - It’s hard to be a geek at Christmastime. Sure, there are lots of cool tech toys and gadgets on display on store shelves, and a few may have landed under your tree this year. Perhaps Absolutely Mad: 50 Years of Mad Magazine on DVD, a Microsoft Xbox 360, an Apple MacBook Pro 2008 [...]

Reuters - Dentsu Inc, Japan’s largest ad agency, said it would team up with game maker Nintendo Co Ltd to launch a video distribution service on Nintendo’s wildly popular Wii console.

Source:Nintendo, Dentsu to offer video on Wii
(Reuters)

Reuters - Despite the sluggish global economy, video game sales remained recession-proof in 2008 as game sequels were snapped up by fans and music games struck the right note.

Source:Sequels keep video games buzzing in 2008
(Reuters)

PC World - Video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) said Friday it plans to cut 1,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its workforce, after announcing in October it would cut just 6 percent.
Source:EA to Increase Workforce Cuts to 10 Percent
(PC World)

AP - “This song is dedicated to Debbie Harry,” flinty-eyed Lisa Hsuan purrs into a microphone on the red-lit stage of Hyperion Tavern. It’s a cozy dive where patrons drink Coke and beer from bottles and a fading chandelier dangles overhead.

Source:Boom in music video games helps original artists
(AP)

PC World - How did Sony’s PlayStation 3 solve an astrophysics puzzler? Easy: With a pallet full of sleek sable doppelgangers crunching the interstellar math in tandem.
Source:Nothing Escapes the Pull of a PlayStation 3, Not Even a Black Hole
(PC World)

CNET - Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software posted a wider quarterly loss on Wednesday and forecast a sharp drop in sales revenue for the current quarter.
Source:Take-Two posts quarterly loss, issues warning
(CNET)

AP - Notwithstanding the success of Wii bowling, video games exist largely to give most of us abilities we don’t already have. I’m not even talking about careers as exotic as NFL quarterback or spaceship captain; I mean physical activities like executing a backflip or scaling a cliff.

Source:'Prince of Persia,' 'Tomb Raider' flying high
[...]

Reuters - Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc said on Friday it will cut 1,000 jobs, or 10 percent of its work force, as part of a restructuring plan that will save around $120 million a year.

Source:Video game maker EA to cut 1,000 jobs
(Reuters)

PC Magazine - Is the PlayStation 3 on the wane? Consider this: unit sales of both the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii are still increasing on a year-over-year basis. Sony’s PlayStation 3 is not.
Source:Is the PlayStation 3 Dying?
(PC Magazine)

AFP - US videogame sales were a bright spot on November’s bleak economic landscape, climbing to nearly three billion dollars, according to market research firm NPD Thursday.

Source:Videogame sales shine despite economic gloom: report
(AFP)

PC Magazine - A November report from the NPD Group shows a large disparity between sales of the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. One obvious reason is the difference in price, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggests that the differenc is also due to the sagging sales of HDTVs.
Source:Analyst: Slow HDTV Sales Hurting [...]

AP - Americans may be cutting back on holiday shopping, but they are still buying video games ? to the tune of nearly $3 billion in November, according to data from market researcher NPD Group.

Source:November video game sales near $3 billion
(AP)

PC Magazine - For the third year in a row, Nintendo says they’re not sure they can meet demand.
Source:Uh-Oh: Nintendo Wii Shortages Looming, Again
(PC Magazine)

PC World - Sony Computer Entertainment will open up its Home online virtual environment to all PlayStation 3 users from Thursday, it said Wednesday.
Source:PlayStation Home Arriving as Open Beta From Thursday
(PC World)

NewsFactor - After much delay, Sony Computer Entertainment is opening its Home on Thursday. The Home virtual community, originally scheduled for a 2007 launch but hit with several delays, will be available to PlayStation 3 owners worldwide free of charge.
Source:Sony Opens Its PS3 'Home' for the Holidays
(NewsFactor)

PC World - In many offices, approved gaming in the workplace is limited to the receptionist’s engagement in rounds of Minesweeper or Solitaire when the phone isn’t ringing. Admins may sneak off to Pogo during lunch, and the IT guys may stick around after hours for a game of Counter-Strike, but by and large video [...]