September typically 
marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season for the videogame industry. From this point through late November, publishers will release at least one potential blockbuster each week.
Holiday sales make up roughly 40 percent of the overall industry revenue—and the year’s biggest hits are born then. But as publishers prepare for the fourth-quarter battle, what better time to see what has been driving sales this year?
Perhaps more than 
any other entertainment field, video games are seasonal. While an occasional blockbuster is released in the first or second quarter, the Sept.-Dec. timeframe is when publishers really make their bank.
The last four months of the year not only make up more than half of the industry’s annual sales, but the titles released in that period can pay dividends well into the following year, as illustrated by the best-selling games of 2011 (through the end of August).
Heard the incessant 
praise about the Assassin’s Creed franchise, but still haven’t gotten around to playing the original game? For shame!
The good news is you’ll soon be able to overcome this gaming faux pas — and no one has to be the wiser.
The continuing customer 
backlash at Netflix is taking on staggering proportions. The company (whose stock, by the way, is down another 7 percent in trading this morning) has lost a quarter of its value in the past month.
Things don’t look to be slowing down, either – and competitors are viewing that as a golden opportunity to swoop in and steal some of those disgruntled customers.
As a musician, 
Gene Simmons was responsible for some of the most iconic music of the 1970s. But if he hadn’t been even savvier in the business arena, the world might never have known.
“Creativity is fine, but it’s like having a car without the fuel,” he says. “We have an inferred fiduciary duty as creators of content to make sure that the distribution model is as big as it can be, and reaches as many people as possible in as many ways as possible.”
We certainly have no 
problem getting caught up in the fun of playing games, but the people who create them have their pocketbooks to worry about, too. In this column, finance expert and GameSpy contributor Chris Morris guides you through the tricky corridors the gaming industry’s financial side, touching on big-time business decisions and how they matter to the common gamer.
Not too long ago, publishers tended to turn their noses up at social games. Mafia Wars? Poker? Sure, they were mild distractions to entertain people in-between status updates… but a viable economic force? No way! Then FarmVille took off — and the bubble began growing. Big-name developers and executives began defecting. And publishers began investing. Flash-forward to today: No one’s foolish enough to say social (or mobile) games are going to replace console releases anytime in the foreseeable future, but at the same time, no one’s foolish enough to consider the field an afterthought anymore, either.
Electronic Arts, of course, is the biggest publisher to immerse itself in the social network gaming waters. Between its 2009 acquisition of Playfish (which consisted of a $300 million offer with an additional $100 million earnout) and its buyout of PopCap earlier this year (for $750 million and additional earnouts that could ultimately push the price over $1 billion), EA’s not taking the new casual gaming movement lightly.
Given that NCAA 
Football BY EA Sports is a year old, we’re willing to give it a few breaks, but the number of problems with this game are so overwhelming that it’s impossible to write them off. The frame rate is so choppy that players seem to be staggering on screen. The controls are frustrating and imprecise. The graphics are sub-par for what the iPhone and iPod Touch are capable of. And because of that, the game ultimately just isn’t much fun. The playbook is fine, though, and if you’re a die-hard NCAA fan, you may find something to like here. Just don’t get your hopes too high.
For years, customers 
and analysts have pestered Netflix to add video games to its rental operation. In a few weeks, they’ll finally get their wish.
Netflix has announced plans to add titles for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii to its catalog in the coming weeks. The new options will come as part of the company’s plan to split off its DVD-by-mail service into a separate brand and website called Qwikster.
Couldn’t get a 
ticket to this weekend’s iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas? That doesn’t mean you can’t watch it.
The Clear Channel-sponsored mega-concert will be streamed in high definition exclusively on Microsoft’s Xbox 360, giving gamers (and their families) the chance to see the acts perform live.
Gamasutra columnist Chris Morris 
looks at how Netflix’s recent decision to add video games to its rent-by-mail service could pose a threat to competitor GameFly and shake up the video game rental market significantly.
Maybe it’s a good thing that GameFly has been unable to get its act together and launch that IPO it filed for last February – because if it had, its stock would surely be taking a prison yard beating today.
Netflix has made some baffling moves in the last couple of months, and Sunday’s announcement that it would be spinning its DVD-by-mail service into a separate division certainly qualifies as one of them. But the addition of video games to its offerings could be just what the business needs to prop that service up for a few more years.
Chris Morris: Journalist 