The annual South by Southwest gathering 
has plenty of success stories to crow about, but getting a big break here is harder than ever these days.
The show, dubbed “geek spring break” by some, has grown beyond its music and film roots to become a gathering spot for venture capitalists and some of the biggest stars in the tech world. But as it has grown, it has become more difficult for startups to turn heads.
As Apple ramps up the hype machine on 
the iPad 2, app publishers are hoping to ride the coattails to higher sales.
Developers both small and large are slashing prices on popular apps in hopes of capturing the attentions of people who can no longer resist Apple’s tablet device. And Electronic Arts is leading the charge.
The video game industry got some 
long-awaited good news in February.
Software sales came in slightly better than analysts were expecting, while hardware sales shattered forecasts. For the month, game sales fell 5 percent versus a year ago, according to the NPD. (Analysts had expected a drop of between 6 and 10 percent.) Sales of gaming hardware were up a surprising 10 percent, though.
Gamers went on a buying spree in February, shocking 
analysts and rocketing the video games industry into positive sales territory for the first time in over two years.
Buoyed by an unexpected 10 percent jump in hardware sales and a 22 percent surge in peripherals (led by Microsoft’s record-setting Kinect), video game industry sales are now 4 percent above where they were a year ago year to date, according to the NPD Group.
NBA JAM by EA Sports is, quite simply, a heck of a lot of fun to 
play. Easy to pick up and anything but complicated in its rules, the game focuses solely on the most outlandish parts of the sport — monster slam dunks and huge blocks of opponents’ shots. It’s a bit more aggressive than other basketball games, but the violence is arcade-like and not too concerning. The game further offers impressive visuals and keeps the adrenaline pumping with announcer Tim Kitzrow’s “boomshakalaka”-infused running commentary. The biggest disappointment is the lack of any multiplayer mode, as this is one of those titles that’s more fun with friends.
The video game industry pulled a rabbit out of its 
hat in February – and that rabbit looked a lot like an Xbox 360.
A surprise 10 percent jump in hardware sales and a 22 percent increase in peripheral sales not only led the industry to an increase over the February 2010 numbers, but put it in positive year-over-year country as well, according to data from the NPD Group.
It’s already been a busy year for shooters, but publisher 
THQ thinks they found the formula for first-person success in the upcoming — and somewhat controversial — Homefront.
Due out March 15 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, the game imagines a fallen America in 2027. Players, as you might expect, will join the resistance and fight their way across the country to win back America’s freedom.
That long string of numbers and letters you 
have to type in when redeeming a Microsoft Points card might seem random, but a group of hackers recently discovered it wasn’t.
Today, Microsoft is licking its wounds after taking a $1.2 million loss once that information was made public.
Cindy Taylor knows her days in her 
current job are limited.
While her alter ego of Jesse Jane is one of the most popular porn stars in the industry, the hard truth is that the adult entertainment industry’s audience has tastes that change regularly. And there’s always someone looking to knock the leaders off of their perch.
With a weak slate of titles, February is shaping up to be another negative month for the video game industry.
Analysts expect game sales, which will be announced by the NPD Group after the market closes Thursday, to be significantly lower than the 2010 figures, as publishers once again had a lack of new blockbusters in the pipeline.
Chris Morris: Journalist 