Seventeen years ago, Panasonic tried to 
break into the video game industry, lasting only three years before it was forced out. Now it’s ready to try again.
The company has unveiled the Jungle, a new handheld gaming system that will target players of online games. It’s a niche other companies have left wide open, but analysts—to put it kindly—are extremely skeptical about the company’s odds of success.
Given the economy, it’s no secret that this
holiday season is likely going to be a cautious one – but a new survey by the NPD Group shows that entertainment companies might have a rough go of things at retail stores.
NPD has released its annual holiday retail outlook– and while most shoppers say they plan to spend about the same as last year, the general lack of “must-have” products has people less enthusiastic about movies, video games and electronics than they were last year.
[In his latest opinion piece, Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris tackles the just-announced Panasonic Jungle, asking some tough 
questions about the surprise MMO-focused handheld system launch.]
There’s a line between brave and foolish – and earlier this week, Panasonic vaulted over it like an Olympic long jumper.
The Jungle, the electronics company’s upcoming handheld gaming system, was unveiled Tuesday – and immediately met with a combination of skepticism, confusion and indifference.
Last year, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” 
set an all-time entertainment industry record for opening day sales – and has gone on to become one of the best selling titles in the industry’s history.
No one was expecting the follow-up – “Call of Duty: Black Ops – to match those numbers, but a comment today from a GameStop executive might have some people rethinking their estimates.
Ubisoft’s Rabbids franchise has been
fairly synonymous with the Wii since that console’s launch. Now the company is looking to take the bug-eyed bunnies further.
Ubisoft and Aardman, the company behind Wallace & Gromit, are working together to create a pilot and several shorts based on the franchise.
[With Def Jam Rapstar, Konami and Autumn 
Games are trying to break into a genre whose peak may have already come and gone — Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris looks at the risks.]
Launching a new IP is always risky. Launching it in the fourth quarter is doubly so. But launching it in the fourth quarter in a genre that peaked two years ago? That, some might argue, borders on madness.
4mm Games and Terminal Reality are giving it a whirl, though, with Def Jam Rapstar set to hit shelves on October 5.
On Friday, Nintendo said goodbye to its 
executive vice president of sales & marketing with a Princess Peach-adorned cake and the entire staff wearing masks with her Mii’s visage on it. On Monday, Cammie Dunaway starts her new job as U.S. President and Global Chief Marketing Officer for KidZania.
If you haven’t heard of the company before, don’t worry. You’re not alone. While KidZania has eight ocations around the world (including Mexico, Japan and Dubai), it hasn’t hit U.S. shores yet. That’s something Dunaway’s going to change.
Besieged from all sides, Electronic Arts has capitulated 
and made a last minute change to its upcoming reboot of “Medal of Honor,” removing the ability for players to assume the role of the Taliban in the game’s multiplayer mode.
Greg Goodrick, executive producer of the game, announced the decision in a blog post Friday morning, citing feedback from military families as the reason for the move.
Bowing to pressure from consumers, the military and retailers, 
Electronic Arts has made a last minute change to its upcoming “Medal of Honor” video game and will no longer allow players to play as the Taliban in the game’s multiplayer mode.
Citing feedback from friends and family of fallen soldiers, the company on Friday announced in a blog post that the enemy in the multiplayer component of the game would be renamed “Opposing Force” to mute the controversy.
It was pretty hard to find anyone who 
liked Nintendo Wednesday afternoon.
Loyal fans were upset to learn they’d have to wait longer than expected for the 3DS. Nintendo investors were ticked that the company abruptly changed its fiscal 2011 earnings guidance. And shareholders of other publishers were annoyed, since Nintendo’s woes brought the entire gaming sector down on Wall St.
But the party was going strong at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, Calif.
Chris Morris: Journalist 