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The Almighty Dollar EXPAND STORY TEXTSSubscribe to this tag Activision: Gamers 'demand' to pay more for Call of Duty 91 Evil publisher Activision loves the color of money, and apparently having the biggest game franchises in the world just doesn't rake in enough cash for the nefarious company. With that in mind, A... Black Friday: Here's what Kmart's selling 20 Black Friday is almost upon that, that dread day when human dignity shrinks to the size of an ant's testicle and Americans all over the country seem to take pride in the fact that they've imitate... Brink dev: PC games can't justify 'AAA' budgets 89 PC games. They have better graphics, better online support and, depending on who you ask, better controls. Despite all these advantages, however, the PC game market has had its death-knell rung s... Shield your eyes: Limited edition 360 controller out soon 38 Remember that ugly/fugly/fug ugly limited edition GameStop-branded Xbox 360 controller from way back when? Why am I even asking -- how could anyone forget?Major Nelson reminds us that the black a... Sega's ignorance of Toejam & Earl explained 17 Sega has always been ridiculously keen to exploit and whore out every franchise that's ever been popular, cramming them into remakes, re-releases and crossover games at the drop of a hat. However... Want to earn thousands of dollars? Make iPhone in-App ads 17 If there's one thing that Apple's App store has demonstrated, it's that there is mad bank to be made from making little bits of software that cost a handful of dollars. Even better, a few Apps th... Buy Xbox 360 Elite, get $50 rebate 49 Microsoft wants your money, but not all of it. Big MS is upping the ante in the price drop battle by offering a $50 rebate to anybody in the United States who purchases an Xbox 360 between now an... Kick your World of Warcraft habit for just $14,000! 41 Where there are World of Warcraft players, there are people with dollar signs in their eyes lining up to take advantage. Cue Washington State's ReSTART clinic, a rehab center that aims to help Wo... Reticulating splines: Maxis hit with layoffs 16 Shacknews brings even more bad news today as a series of layoffs have hit Maxis, the developers of Spore, The Sims and other Sim titles. Electronic Arts told Shacknews that: "Often in the ... Microsoft 'destroyed development culture' 27 Microsoft ruined fun, which is something we all know. However, according to FASA Interactive founder Jordan Weisman, Microsoft ruined far more than that. It in fact destroyed an entire studio aft... THQ to buy Midway San Diego for $200,000, TNA not included 5 I don't tend to get interested in the "business" end of gaming -- stock prices, mergers, hostlie takeovers, etc. I don't know a lot about business or economics and I'd rather be talking... Kotick: I would raise game prices higher if I could 157 Modern Warfare 2 might be causing a stink in the UK thanks to its disgusting RRP of £54.99, but if you think evil publisher Activision cared, you'd be mistaken. In fact, CEO Bobby Kotick ha... Wii Sports Resort sells 500,000 units in US, Nintendo boasts 39 We all knew Wii Sports Resort would be popular, and Nintendo wants to be absolutely sure that nobody is left with a shred of doubt over the Wii's ability to print money, revealing that the game h... WipEout HD: Now with intrusive, sluggish advertising! 68 The most common argument you ever see during a debate about in-game advertising is one I tend to agree with myself: It's okay so long as the adverts don't negatively impact the gameplay. So, what... How to make 1 million dollars before your balls drop 32 Hey, you! Yea, you! Do want to make money quick? Do you want women, power and fast cars? Do you want to be snorting cocaine off a hooker within the next six weeks? Well, if you're Lil' Poison, Ar... PS3 production costs down 70% (CAN I HAVE A PRICE CUT PLZ!?) 45 Great news! Sony CEO and executive VP, Nobuyuki Oneda has boasted to the world that PS3 production costs are now down by 70%. This is great news for ... well ... just Sony, really. Good news for ... World of Warcraft shifts 8.6 million units 25 With the immense popularity of World of Warcraft, I'm surprised to even see people outside when I look out of the window. Becoming a reclusive and trendy shut-in is now quite cool, and for that B... Red Faction: Guerrilla reaches one million units shipped 22 It looks like Volition's hope for a word of mouth success for Red Faction: Guerrilla worked out for the developer after all. THQ sent out its June quarter results today and the company earned som... DO WANT these Koei Visa Cards: Someone get them for me 14 They're only available in Japan, so I have no applicable use for them. Nevertheless, my wallet feels naked and empty without a hot Koei Visa card in it. Videogame-themed credit cards seem to be q... Celebrate Thursday with BioShock 2 gamerpics and themes 13 Curse you, Cult of Rapture, for making me have to squint me eyes in order to see your newest BioShock 2-themed wares.Besides a free PlayStation 3 theme, which can be downloaded by clicking here, ... Microsoft patents playable advertising with 'Advertars' 29 Oh Microsoft, you and your wacky patents! Hot off the heels of discovering that Microsoft has patented squad-based dynamic co-op, the Internet has also found out that Microsoft has reserved the r... Valve: Let players fund videogame development 54 Some would say that the games industry would be better for everybody if publishers weren't around. Similar to how record labels helped kill music and become an unnecessary middle-man between musi... Game industry sees biggest sales slump in nine years 28 With the NPD results rolling in, it's been made clear that things are not all roses and gumdrop rainbows in the land of videogames, with the industry seeing a fourth consecutive month of decline.... PSN emulating coin-op arcades with pay-as-you-go Trash Panic 22 If you fondly remember an age where coin-operated arcade machines were king, you may feel nostalgic about the pricing structure of Trash Panic's latest incarnation, which utilizes a similar pay m... Modern Warfare 2 enjoys huge UK price hike, costs 54.99 102 It's been a while since I lived in England now, but I still remember how annoying it was to spend £49.99 on a brand new videogame. It looked like things would calm down as I was leaving, wi... Microsoft won't rule out pay-to-play in 1 versus 100 17 Microsoft already makes tons of cash on Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. It also makes plenty of money from advertising on Xbox Live. Why not make some more? Despite being ad-driven itself, 1 vs. 10... P.E.I. goes to bat for Longtail Studios with tax breaks 8 Two Canadian provinces, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, have agreed to a bare-knuckle brawl to the death, both hoping to curry the favor of Longtail Studios, an iPhone and Wii developer bas... EVE Online: Banker's virtual theft causes real life panic 33 Mega-popular MMO EVE Online prides itself on its realistic, player-controlled economy. In a scarily familiar episode of games-imitating-life, EBank, EVE's largest virtual bank, has been shut down... Tecmo Koei: Please drop the PS3 price! 41 It seems that the backlash against the PlayStation 3's high price is continuing to resonate across the industry, as CEO of the newly formed Tecmo Koei has joined Activision in voicing his desire ... 100 million used games traded annually in US 13 In news that is sure to make a number of publishers vomit into their hands, it's being estimated that the number of used games being traded in the US has reached 100 million a year. That equals a... PC version of Trine costs 2x the PSN version (update) 24 In a weird turn of events, platform puzzler Trine will costs twice as much on PC as it will on PSN, costing $40 instead of $20. Bizarrely, developer Frozenbyte had no clue about the price differe... Sony charging so much for PSPgo because ... well ... it can! 38 Earlier today, we ran a story about SCEE's Andrew House claiming that Europeans don't care about the expensive nature of the PlayStation brand. Well, he didn't stop there, becoming quite candid a... Sony: Europeans consider 'features' and not 'price' 46 Like a petulant child making up excuses to get out of taking a bath, it seems Sony will say anything to dodge the issue of a price cut. A particular favorite tactic of Sony's is to speak for the ... Videogames seen as 'meaningless bullsh*t' by Hollywood folk 48 Ian Stevens, head of Vin Diesel's Tigon Studio, has said that Hollywood only takes videogames seriously when there's money to be made, with most of them viewing games as pointless toys until they... Expanding PSN will let Sony 'break even' 24 Sony might not be rolling in mad bank right now, but SCE president Kaz Hirai remains hopeful that the PlayStation brand will provide the key to clawing back some cash. The secret lies in the Play... Xbox 360 sales hit 30 Million, Microsoft boasts 39 Microsoft today announced the sale of 30 million Xbox 360s around the world, crowing about "record growth" in 2009. Of those 30 million 360 owners, 20 million of them are part of Xbox L... In-game advertising to be worth $1 billion in five years? 11 Media analyst Screen Digest has predicted that in five years time, in-game advertising will be worth $1 billion, turning it into an irresistible prospect for businesses. Audience media habits and... Wiis cost 45% less to make while Nintendo raises Euro costs 32 Just in case you felt you haven't heard enough about how Nintendo has way more money than you do, let it be known that Wiis now cost 45% less to manufacture than they did at launch, meaning that ... Microtransactions voted most anticipated development 21 Breaking MEGATON news: Game developers and publishers absolutely love taking money from us, and look forward to a day when they can take even more than they already do. That seems to be the messa... Devil May Cry series hits 10 million shipments 19 Capcom has nothing to cry about with the Devil May Cry franchise (I made a funny joke), because the ludicrous action series has just recently shipped its 10 millionth copy. Hurray!The most recent... Two-year-old for sale over Xbox Live. One previous owner. 25 There's been a bit of controversy in Florida after nasty pranksters spammed Xbox Live and offered a two-year-old girl for sale. The worst part of the prank? The girl was real, and the unwitting m... Square Enix chats bollocks about 'casual' games 12 The farcical "casual games" conversation has come up once again, with RPG publisher Square Enix looking to fully exploit the market. Not put off by the fact that a large amount of its n... Second-hand games part of the ecosystem, claims Microsoft man 18 The used game debate is one that shows no sign of slowing down, with most publishers ironically (read: hypocritically) raging such capitalistic practices. We've covered the majority of these outb... Perry: Say goodbye to single-player games 40 Dave Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment (Earthworm Jim, Messiah), has been speaking at DICE 09 in Las Vegas, where he talked about used games, growing technology and the short future of the si... Industry is 'dazzled by bling' according to Conduit developer 15 Eric Nofsinger, chief creative officer at High Voltage, has criticized what he believes to be the short-sightedness of game developers. He's accused games of having bloated budgets with little re... Shocker: PS3 will remain the most expensive console on the market 26 Just in case you don't like surprises, let it be known that the PlayStation 3 shall continue to be the most expensive console on the market right now. While some think that Sony's refusal to slas... New IP will probably suffer in 2009, says Sega Europe chief 12 To be honest, isn't fresh IP the first casualty in any situation? As if new and original games didn't already have a hard time getting the marketing and the green lights they deserve, Sega Europe... Oklahoma tax break proposal snubs mature videogames 23 An Oklahoma state senator has proposed tax breaks for game developers, but only if the games being made aren't rated M for Mature by the ESRB. Films, commercials and TV projects already get tax i... Metacritic pressure and percentage review scores are ridiculous, says director 14 Splash Damage studio director Paul Wedgwood has criticized a prevailing trend in the industry for publishers to put undue emphasis on Metacritic scores, something which can affect a studio financ... IRS advocate likes taxes for virtual goods 44 The whole "should virtual goods be taxed?" debate has been a matter of concern for quite a while now, and while I doubt many of us are keen on the idea of giving the government even mor... Black Friday at SplitReason - 20% off all Destructoid swag, today only 23 Buy our crap!  I'm happy to announce that our T-shirt supplier SplitReason is having a 20% off sale today on all Destructoid merch. including our new Kamikaze shirt (pictured) and the Retrof... Fail sense is tingling: Take-Two talks about subscriptions for 'triple A titles' 47 The warning lights are blinking, and that can mean only one thing -- another publisher is saying some very worrying things about how the digital age can help them nickel n' dime consumers. Take-T... Viacom gives Rock Band guys more money than you'll ever see in one place 14 How much money is Rock Band worth? More Nazi gold than has ever been smelted, if Viacom's absurd $300 million bonus to the development studio is anything to go by. Viacom is to award Harmonix fou... EA CEO buys own company's stock for $1 million 10 Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello must be a very confident man, despite his company suffering an alleged $310 million dollar loss. The silver-haired Lothario has just plonked down $1 million t... PlayStation 3 outperforming Xbox 360 in software sales? 64 You really wouldn't imagine it, but according to financial reports, it would appear that several huge publishers are making more money from the PlayStation 3 than they are with the Xbox 360. One ... Target Mountain? Target to have exclusive content in Shaun White Snowboarding 7 Do you like Target? I mean really, really like Target? If so, you won't want to miss the chance to ski down Target Mountain in their special edition of Shaun White Snowboarding for the Wii.Ubisof... Publishers employ subtle anti-second-hand game measures 30 Game developers and publishers have been whining for a while now about second-hand games, deciding that their industry is a special snowflake which should be exempt from one of the most widesprea... People dislike paying $60 for videogames? Why? Why!? 32 Who would have thought it? There are some people out there who think that $60 for a videogame is too much! Actually, there's quite a lot of people, if a recent survey is anything to be believed.F... Battered economy doesn't affect Xbox, claims Microsoft 7 The US economy may be in bad shape, but that hasn't reflected on Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, according to executive Robbie Bach. The division currently looks after several com... Dyack: Industry consolidating like 1930's Hollywood 20 Prophetic Silicon Knights boss Denis Dyack has made one of his bold predictions, suggesting that a series of big mergers, similar to ActiBlizzard, is heading our way. Comparing the games industry... « NEXT « next - expanded blog view		Save cash!   See "Black Friday" video game deals New on Destructoid.TV play all videos Loading Destructoid Videos Win this! Dive in! meetup+play for a chance to win a PC Dtoid Twitter    Got news?   tips@destructoid.com Reviews & Previews Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles review Left 4 Dead 2 review Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex review Arkedo Series - 02 SWAP! review EyePet review more reviews Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks Monster Hunter Tri Hooking onto, under and above Just Cause 2 PS3's 256-player MAG Rooms The Main Building more previews - The Dtoid Army is 50778 strong - Showing Cblogs with 3+ faps   show all Call for entries: do the wrong thing New to Dtoid? Read the survival guide  Originals Jim Sterling: The ultimate PC gamer to-do list Think L4D2 is an expansion? 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You're a f*cking idiot You are so not ready: City Bus Simulator 2010 The wrong thing: Only cream and bastards catch 'em all. The Videogame Show What I've Done: Assassin's Creed 2 Weekend Destructainment: Mohawk grenades! Actual good games are coming to the Wii Virtual Console RESPECT = DESERVED (NSFW) Black Friday: Wal-Mart has a great PS3 bundle More Project Natal at Gamefest 2010 Chugging along with Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks People who suck at TF2, Rejoice! (short but game related) Today's TeeFury shirt wants you to play outside Review: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Learn about UPlay from soothing female voice Gameloft: Devs scaling back game development on Android Black Friday: GameStop deals leaked for your pleasure Are You a First Person Shooter N00b? 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