233w ago - Various video game publishers have spoke out recently to either condone or criticize second-hand video game sales for eating into their profits.

Atari president Phil Harrison isn't worried though, as he says their future strategy is to make games that people will want to keep hold of stating: "it's no coincidence that the most valuable games, the one's that have the most lifetime as a game experience, are the one's that don't get resold, that don't get traded.

The games that have the embedded community, the embedded commerce, the extended, expandable experiences, are the one's that you would never want to trade, the one's you want to keep hold of. And that's perfectly in line with our future strategy so we're not that concerned about it," he said.

To quote: Speaking at the Atari Live event in London yesterday, the publisher said that to avoid games being sold on by consumers, the industry needs to offer more online features, whether adding extra content, social functions or financial services.

"Second hand game sales represent consumer choice and desire," said David Gardner, CEO of Atari.

"Obviously, it has economically been extremely painful for the...

236w ago - Today MCV (linked above) has published a number of quotes from UK industry leaders who all reach the same conclusion - the PS2 is standing on its last legs and is effectively dead.

The MD of MasterSonic noted that the PS2 market has been virtually killed overnight, while a major international publisher noted this will be the last Christmas for the PS2 and the company won't support it next year.

To quote: MD of Mastertonic Andy Payne - whose Blast label has enjoyed impressive sales during the PS2's twilight years - believes the system is on its last legs, thanks to limited space on the High Street.

He told MCV: "The PS2 market has been virtually killed overnight. There's been no real run-off like with the PSOne, and that's because retail just does not have the space."

Do you still have a PlayStation 2, and if so do you still play it? Feel free to comment below!

237w ago - In the past 2-3 years the games industry has passed over the proverbial cusp that had prevented it from reaching mainstream appeal.

Games are being mentioned in the same breath as top tier films and books, being compared to art and various literature. It is set to take it's place as a prominent form of entertainment.

There are however a few things that are holding it back, small hurdles that need to be overcome. I shall now suggest three changes that the Games Industry as a whole should make to cement it's social acceptance and cultural relevance.

1 - Definitive media outlets

World news has the BBC, CNN and the New York Times. Film has Empire and IMDB, Music has Rolling Stone and NME. All of these are well established and respected sources for people outside of the subject they hold personal interest in. The games industry has Kotaku? Gamespot? Eurogamer? There isn't one site or even a few out there who I would personally dare send an outsider to the gaming world into.

I'm not saying these sites are bad, far from it. Each of those sites above, as well as others serve the 'inner' games industry perfectly. There is an abundant amount of rumor, speculation, news and community in each of these websites. They were born from the very communities that...

249w ago - SCEA product marketing VP Scott Steinberg has said that Sony's "future-proofing" of the PS3 and its plans of a "roadmap" of firmware updates that will add functionality to the machine will make sure the console fulfills a 10-year lifecycle.

Steinberg believes Blu-ray gives the PS3 a significant competitive advantage. "Blu-ray is bigger, and Blu-ray games are going to be the biggest games in the industry" he said.

To quote: Sony would rather update a platform than introduce a new hardware iteration, Steinberg says. "We do not have a planned obsolescence strategy," he says, pointing pointing to the PSP as another example.

"Whether it's Skype or some other peripherals, it's not just a dumb terminal that lies secluded and isn't enhanced with all the recent technologies and opportunities."

Unsurprisingly, he also sees the Blu-ray Disc format as a significant competitive advantage. "Blu-ray is bigger, and Blu-ray games are going to be the biggest games in the industry," he says.

"I think that feeds into [gamers'] choices as well. ...I think there are a lot of great 'a-ha's that consumers are going to find with music, and the movie store. ...You buy it for a gaming machine, but it delivers on a value proposition."

257w ago - By now, you may have heard about the "Major RE5 Reveal at E3″ that Videogaming247 is reporting. Some more information has made its way to PlayStationLifeStyle.net.

Whether or not this information is true is unknown. However we felt it is our duty to give fans a heads up on a HUGE announcement that MAY be coming @ E3.

Please take this as a rumor as that's all it is at this point. No solid information on the subject yet.

From what I have been told, Microsoft is looking to pay Capcom an undisclosed amount, for timed exclusivity of Resident Evil 5. It is still not known if Capcom has accepted the offer... The information we got, was only that Microsoft has made the offer.

If this is going to be announced it will be @ E3. Similar to the GTAIV "showing of the tattoo" a couple of years ago. If this is true, all of you petition fanatics out there better get to work.

Remember this is just a rumor, and nothing is known for sure at this time. Personally I am hoping that this is NOT true.