HDTV

The trifecta is now complete: NCR's Blockbuster Express service has hiked DVD rental prices.

Starting Tuesday, customers who want to rent films from Blockbuster Express will be locked into the new 3-2-1 Plan. During the first 28 days after a "hot movie" is released, customers will pay $3 for the first-night's rental, followed by $1 on subsequent nights. After the 28-day window passes, the same film will be offered for $2 for the first night. All other films that don't make the "hot movies" or "recent releases" categories will be offered … Read more

Get ready for another blockbuster Call of Duty launch.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said in a research note yesterday that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which is scheduled to hit store shelves next week, will likely become the bestselling game this year, and could very well beat out its predecessor, Call of Duty: Black Ops, in total sales.

"If Modern Warfare 3 receives strong review scores, it should at least match predecessor Black Ops' sales (over 25 million units) due to the network effect," Pachter said. In a follow-up interview with IndustryGamers, Pachter said he thinks Modern Warfare 3 will outsell Black Ops by 10 percent during its first six weeks of availability and generate a total of $1.1 billion during that time.

If that happens, Modern Warfare 3 will become the bestselling game of all time, beating out Black Ops, which generated $1 billion during its first six weeks on store shelves. That title took the crown from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.… Read more

First up, some cool news. Today marks the debut of CNET Marketplace, a new section that might as well be called Cheapskateplace. It's home to all kinds of deal goodness, including online and local stuff, plus CNET exclusives (like the one in today's Bonus Deal).

Don't worry: the Cheapskate blog you know and love isn't going anywhere. But you'll find even more deals and sage buying advice (from yours truly) under the Marketplace banner, so I hope you'll check it often.

In the meantime, allow me to collect my jaw from the floor … Read more

Sony has decided to split its television business in three as part of a broader strategy on the company's part to turn the ailing division around.

According to Reuters, which first reported the news, the three units will be LCD TVs, outsourcing operations, and next-generation TVs. The split, which will become official tomorrow, is designed to help the company "make clearer the mission and responsibilities" of the units, a company spokeswoman told Reuters in an interview published today.

Sony shareholders have been calling on the company to fix its television business for years. As Reuters points out, … Read more

Today's deal is a little weird. Awesome, but weird.

Fry's has the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 6100 1080p projector for $699, plus $10.44 for shipping. It's new, not refurbished, making this the best deal I can recall seeing for a 1080p projector.

What's the weird part? The Fry's site says it's "available for preorder," so there's no way to know when you'll actually get it. Hmmm.

Update: It now shows in stock!

Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained cheaply, right? Having just reviewed a similar projector priced at $1,500, … Read more

During the six-month period ended September 30, Nintendo saw its financial performance decline significantly, the company reported in a financial earnings release today.

Nintendo generated 215.7 billion yen ($2.84 billion) in revenue during the six-month period, representing a whopping 40.6 percent decline compared to the same period last year. Even more concerning, Nintendo's net loss hit $926 million, down significantly from the $26 million it lost in the six-month period ended September 30, 2010.

Judging by Nintendo's earnings report, the company was hit by two main issues: hardware and software sales were off, and it … Read more

More than three years after the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, the creator of the franchise, Rockstar Games, has finally revealed that another entrant is on the way.

Web users who head over to the Rockstar Games Web site today will not be able to access its pages. Instead, the site has been replaced with the Grand Theft Auto V logo, along with a promise to launch a game trailer on November 2. Other than that, Rockstar hasn't divulged any details on the game.

Rumors have been swirling for years that Rockstar would launch a new Grand Theft Auto game. However, the company has stopped short of announcing the title, deciding instead to focus its efforts on other popular games it has launched recently, like Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire.… Read more

Although the issues at Netflix are becoming extremely worrisome to shareholders, the company might still be a worthwhile acquisition target, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote in a note to investors today.

How bad are things? Just yesterday Netflix announced that during the third quarter of 2011, it lost 810,000 subscribers. Even worse, Netflix said that it expects that trend to continue, and by the first quarter of 2012, will report a net loss.

Although Netflix's share price had been declining prior to that news, its shares are plummeting now. As of this writing, Netflix is trading at just $… Read more

It's been a while since my last "oh my god can you believe how cheap monitors have gotten?!" post, and today's deal definitely fits the mold. (Huh. Deja vu. Oh, right, yesterday.)

While supplies last, TigerDirect has the Hannspree ST259MUB 25-inch LCD HDTV for $179.99. Shipping adds $12.65.

Given this low-end price, you might be expecting a low-end display. Nuh-uh. The ST259MUB is pretty packed with features, most notably its 1,920x1,080-pixel native resolution, 2ms response time, 10,000:1 contrast ratio, and a pair of HDMI inputs. (It also has … Read more