Now that the deal between Vivendi and Activision has been officially announced, it looks like the former will take two-thirds control in the popular developer and be able to compete more effectively against the video game industry's de facto big shot--EA.

And while the $1.7 billion will allow Vivendi to become a more "complete" organization that can offer a wide array of games for people on all platforms, I just can't see how this will benefit any consumers.

Sure, the merger between Vivendi and Activision will finally create a competitor for the behemoth that is EA and with Activision's current streak of 74 percent growth since 2003 as compared to EA's paltry 25 percent, it's certainly possible that the former could overtake the latter in terms of size within the next decade.

But is an environment where two major video game developers control a significant stake of the market really beneficial to consumers? Unfortunately, the answer is no.… Read more

According to a new study that will be featured in the Journal of Adolescent Health, "Exposure to violent electronic media has a larger effect than all but one other well known threat to public health." And what exactly is that threat, you ask? "Cigarette smoking."

According to L. Rowell Huesmann of the University of Michigan, "The research clearly shows that exposure to virtual violence increases the risk that both children and adults will behave aggressively."

And yet, Mr. Huesmann and the gang only cite their proof from a collection of studies performed over the past 50 years. And while this may prove to be somewhat helpful in maintaining their fight against "violent" video games, I think it has everything to do with a fear of change. After all, movies and other forms of media were cited in his study, and yet Huesmann focused on video games.

Invariably, the fight against video games always comes down to a discussion on children and what the future of this world will look like if children stay in constant contact with interactive violence. But unfortunately for these anti-video game zealots, the numbers don't back up their arguments.

Simply put, these people have no clue.… Read more

After sifting through a host of reviews calling Nintendo's new Super Mario Galaxy game "one of the best Mario adventures yet", I decided to head down to my local Gamestop and pick up a copy.

Now, it should be noted that I have played each and every Super Mario game dating back to Super Mario Bros. and have always been a fan of the series. In fact, to this day, I still consider Super Mario Sunshine to be one of the better games in the Mario franchise. Further, Super Mario 64 was simply a marvel of its time and easily one of the best experiences I've ever had gaming.

But after playing through Super Mario Galaxy for the past week, I simply don't get all the hype surrounding the game. Is it a good game? Sure. Is it a great game? No.… Read more

File this one under the "I have no basis for my opinion but I'm going to spew it anyway because it may jumpstart my sales" department. File it under the "convention of fools" department while you're at it too.

According to the Carphone Warehouse -- one of the UK's leading retailers of cell phones and services, sales of camera phones will eventually overtake digital cameras and will ultimately lead to the digital camera's demise.

To prove his point, the company's CEO had the following to say: "It's not all about megapixels. There is high consumer demand for gadget convergence - one all-purpose device to replace cameras, MP3 players and PDAs. The next stage in the evolution of the mobile phone is taking the mobile device beyond talking and texting to fulfill this demand."

Hold on, it gets even better: "The digital stills camera is a disappearing breed, in particular at the lower end of the market. Camera phones are much more convenient for capturing spontaneous shots ? people want to be able to take pictures when they want and where they want. The stand alone DSC may not be extinct yet but there is a chance it will join the VHS video tape, the Cine-film recorder and even the film camera as a technology of the past. The photographic market is changing rapidly and the digital camera's position within it is not assured."

Maybe I missed the memo, but this guy is kidding, right? He can't be this foolish. Shall we take a look at why Carphone Warehouse's CEO may take the prize for the dumbest statement made in the past month?… Read more

With Amazon's decision to become a hardware company and release an e-book reader, for some odd reason, the Internet has been abuzz discussing the possibilities of this "grand device."

In fact, a number of people are already calling it the future of book publishing and they expect it to supplant ink and paper.

Sure. Keep telling yourself that.… Read more

Has it finally happened? Has Sony finally found the solution to its year-long Playstation 3 problem? It certainly looks that way.

According to the company, Sony has cut its software development kit prices in half to $10,250 in North America, $8,600 in Japan and $11,250 in Europe. And while this may not mean much to some, to me it indicates a startling change of course by a company that had heretofore lost sight of what is important in this generation.

And although I've beaten on Sony quite a bit on Digital Home, this change in policy -- namely, price reduction -- could spell trouble for both Microsoft and Nintendo.… Read more

An analyst at Pacific Coast Securities made waves today when he claimed that the next iteration of the Nintendo DS is complete. According to the analyst, the new DS "is thinner (it has no GBA port), has onboard storage, and larger screens."

He went on to claim that Nintendo has no plan of releasing the new version "until sales begin to tail off in all three major geographies."

Wow. So does that mean we will never see another Nintendo DS? Because as far as I can tell, there is no sign of tapering sales and people are running to stores just to have different colors.

Regardless of whether you're a PlayStation zealot or even a Sega fanboy who can't find it in yourself to buy a Nintendo product, you must admit that Nintendo has been incredibly successful with its DS. And if you ask me, sales will continue to be strong and each update will compound growth until one thing finally happens--the Nintendo DS will become the most successful gaming device of all time.… Read more

Warner Music Group--a company that originally took Apple and its iTunes service to task for not allowing it to sell music at a premium--has changed its entire outlook on the music downloading business and has praised Apple for knowing what is best for everyone involved.

"You need to look no further than Apple's iPhone to see how fast brilliantly written software presented on a beautifully designed device with a spectacular user interface will throw all the accepted notions about pricing, billing platforms and brand loyalty right out the window. And let me remind you, the genesis of the iPhone is the iPod and iTunes--a music device and music service that consumers love," Warner Music Group's CEO Edgar Bronfman gushed, according to a blog post by Simon Aughton on MacUser.

Am I the only one that enjoyed a hearty laugh after reading this clown wax poetic on how wonderful Apple is? If you look closely at what he said, you can almost see him kneeling at Steve Jobs' altar begging for forgiveness. Now that is what I call comedy.

But why has Warner Music seen the light all of a sudden? After months of claiming that his company knew what was best for consumers, Bronfman finally found out the hard way that the music industry knows nothing about consumers.… Read more

If you've been following the world of video games, you've probably come across an interesting piece from Team Xbox that claims a new update to the Xbox 360 will allow us to download old Xbox games.

And while I think this is a smart move on Microsoft's part -- everyone seems to want to play old games -- I just can't see how it would benefit the company that much.

According to reports, the first wave of available games will include Halo, Fable, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Burnout 3. Interestingly enough, these games were also some of the more popular titles released for Microsoft's former console, which leads me to believe Microsoft is looking to turn this into a PR victory after the first month of downloads. After all, would anyone really download Kabuki Warriors for just one more thrill?

Regardless, Microsoft may be showing its hand too early. Simply put, I just don't think anyone wants to download games that were released five years ago and hold little value. More than anything, I think people want to download games that came out a decade ago to go back to the good ol' days and finally come to the realization that some of the best games ever released really did come out then.… Read more