Console Watcher

The high definition disc format wars could be over after reports revealed that the main backer of HD DVD, Toshiba, is preparing to fall on its sword. Toshiba's move came after WalMart anouncing that they are moving to Blu Ray exclusive. The move would mean consumers won't have to worry about choosing a format that could eventually become obsolete. But the reduced competition could eliminate incentives for the rival Blu-ray camp to keep prices low.

It's official. WalMart has made it public that it would stop selling the HD DVD discs and machines in June when supplies are depleted. The decisions was probably triggered by actions taken by other parties wuch as Best Buy, the largest electronics retailer, to promote Blu-ray as its preferred format ...

The HD DVD camp is slashing player prices in a last-ditch effort to revive the ailing format. HD DVD has been eclipsed by its competitor Blu-ray in movie and player sales since the formats launched in Australia. Today, Microsoft cut the price of its HD DVD player add-on for the Xbox 360 by half to $129.95. On January 22, Toshiba, the main backer of HD DVD, cut the prices of three of its players by as much as 50 per cent.

This is the release of the v1.5 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare™ patch by Infinity Ward.

Although sales figures are regulary given for the United States and Japan, things are always kept secret in Europe for some strange reason or another which makes judging world wide sales tricky.

Nintendo's profit for the first nine months of the fiscal year nearly doubled from the previous year, propelled by booming sales of its hit Wii game machine. The company said group net profit at Nintendo, which also makes Super Mario and Pokemon games, totaled 258.93 billion yen ($US2.43 billion) for the nine months ended December 31, up 96.3 per cent from 131.92 billion yen for the same period in fiscal 2006.

Microsoft's Xbox Live service, which allows Xbox gamers to play against each other and download content over the internet, suffered ongoing problems over the holiday period. XBOX Live gamers have reported being unable to download a free game offered as compensation for network service interruptions due to more service ...