Wii

Xbox's mass-market makeover

A new interface and customized avatars gives the Xbox a Wii-like feel. Image: Microsoft

By Yi-Wyn Yen

LOS ANGELES - Microsoft's Xbox 360 is getting an image makeover. To appeal to the "casual" gaming audience, Microsoft executives on Monday said they are aggressively marketing the hardcore gamer console as a multipurpose entertainment machine to watch movies, TV shows, and listen to music.

The approach appears to be the latest tactic to compete with MORE

The game remains the same at E3

The big buzz at the E3 Media & Business Summit is that there's no big buzz this year.

Gaming analysts say they're not expecting any big surprises from the big three  companies – Microsoft (MSFT), Nintendo (NTDOY), and Sony (SNE) – at E3, one of the largest events in the $37.5 billion video game industry. The three main drivers of E3, which kicks off Monday,  will not unveil any new game MORE

Nintendo offers a raincheck for Wii shortage

By Yi-Wyn Yen

For all the last-minute Christmas shoppers who can't find a Wii, Nintendo (NTDOY) is offering gift certificates that guarantee you can pick one up in January. Consumers must pay the $249 for the sold-out video game console at a GameStop (GME) on Dec. 20 and 21 and will then receive an I.O.U. to pick up the Wii after the holidays.

"We expect this to be a great way to MORE

Sega head: Industry stunned by Activision/Vivendi merger

By Jeffrey M. O'Brien

On one level, the proposed $18.8 billion merger of Activision (ATVI) and Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment (EPA:VIV) seems to make a lot of sense. Good mergers maximize revenue by combining non-overlapping products (like the Guitar Hero Franchise, Tony Hawk, and the World of Warcraft phenomenon), and maximize profits by consolidating administrative costs. But in an industry like gaming, there's an X factor, creativity. Sure, these companies fit MORE

Microsoft's Wii-killer

By Yi-Wyn Yen

The Nintendo Wii won't be the only family-friendly game console on store shelves this holiday season. On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox 360 Arcade, its answer to the hot-selling Wii.

The $280 Arcade is relatively cheap (like the Wii), has a wireless controller (like the Wii), and comes with a packaged set of games (like the Wii). The new, low-end Xbox is also being heavily marketed as the "family-friendly" MORE

Bragging Rights: Xbox finally outsells the Wii

Microsoft (MSFT) finally got the bragging rights it's been looking for all year. Its Xbox 360 has defeated the Nintendo Wii — at least for the month of September.

For the first time this year, Microsoft sold more consoles in a single month than the red-hot Wii. Hard-core gamers just had to have the new Halo 3, and the Xbox 360 was the only console that could play it. Anticipation of MORE