“Rock Band” ready to roll out second edition

NEW YORK (Billboard) - “Guitar Hero” won’t be the only music videogame to launch its sequel in time for the holidays.
MTV and Harmonix will release “Rock Band 2″ in September exclusively for the Xbox 360, and for other consoles before the end of the year
The developers are releasing few details at this time, but what’s [...]

Nintendo launches new fitness video game in U.S.

Nintendo Co Ltd launched its “Wii Fit” exercise game in the United States on Monday, hoping to get gamers off the couch and appeal to new audiences such as women and older people.Nintendo is banking on “Wii Fit” to further broaden the appeal of its Wii gaming console, which has already become a smash hit [...]

U.S. game sales jump 47 percent in April on GTA4

U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 47 percent from a year earlier, as Take-Two Interactive Software Inc’s “Grand Theft Auto 4″ and Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii console stole the show.The popularity of “Grand Theft Auto 4,” however, failed to boost sales of Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp’s PlayStation 3, which [...]

Xbox 360 sales surpass Wii, PS3

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its Xbox 360 game machine beat Nintendo Co Ltd’s (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) Wii and Sony Corp’s (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) PlayStation 3 to reach 10 million units in U.S. sales.“History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins [...]

Grand Theft Auto IV breaks UK first day record

“Grand Theft Auto IV”, the gangster-themed computer game that earned both critical claim and strong criticism, broke first day sales records in Britain, according to an industry body’s initial estimates on Thursday.The Entertainment Retailers Association, which represents 5,000 stores selling games, music and films, said the game — published by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc — [...]

Microsoft cuts Xbox 360 prices in Europe

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) cut the prices of its Xbox 360 video game console in Europe by up to 28 percent on Monday to try to spur sales in a key battleground in the fast-growing industry.The 80-euro decrease results in cuts of 18 percent to 28 percent across the three Xbox 360 models, [...]

Microsoft to stop making HD DVD players for Xbox

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) will stop making video players based on the HD DVD standard for its Xbox 360 game system, a move that comes days after Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) pulled the plug on the high definition movie technology.The move, announced on Saturday, follows recent decisions by Hollywood studios such [...]

Microsoft says end of HD DVD won’t hurt Xbox 360

Microsoft Corp does not expect sales of its Xbox 360 game console to suffer if Toshiba Corp discontinues HD DVD technology, Microsoft said in a statement on Monday.“We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace,” the company [...]

“Rock Band,” “Guitar Hero” drive digital song sales

In the two months since MTV Networks and Harmonix released the music-based videogame “Rock Band,” players have purchased and downloaded more than 2.5 million additional songs made available after the game’s initial distribution. Activision, meanwhile, said it has sold more than 5 million new songs via download for “Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock” since [...]