Best Buy has nothing on this 
geek squad.
Los Angeles is under siege, with as many as 45,000 video game industry insiders and onlookers descending upon the Los Angeles Convention Center for E3—one of the loudest, glitziest—and sometimes gaudiest—trade shows of any industry.
The videogame industry has one mission 
in mind during next week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo: It needs to impress.
Sales are down across the board for hardware and software so far this year, with overall revenue for the games biz down more than $560 million over 2009, or 11%, according to NPD Group. Industry earned $20.2 billion last year.
As the video game industry gets set to 
show off the games that will dominate the charts in the back half of 2010 and early 2011, what better time to see what has been driving sales for the first half of the year?
After a disappointing 2009, software sales are down 8 percent so far this year, according to the most recent numbers from the NPD Group, which tracks game sales. That’s a shortfall of over $500 million. The numbers should begin to rebound in the coming months – but so far, 2010 hasn’t been too encouraging.
The midway point of 2010 is 
fast approaching, and so far there’s not a lot to cheer about in the video game world.
Sales of software titles are down 8 percent year to date—a shortfall of more than $200 million, according to the most recent numbers from the NPD Group, which tracks video game purchases.
We knew it was coming – and today 
Sony has made it official. The PlayStation 3 now supports stereoscopic 3D games.
PS3 owners who happen to have a 3D set can download a total of four games and demos that showcase what the system can do. (A firmware update making the console 3D ready was quietly pushed to owners two months ago.) The downloads will be free for people who buy one of Sony’s Bravia 3D sets, which go on sale later this month.
Mix three groomsmen, a tiger and major 
memory gaps, then subtract one tooth and you’ve got the ingredients for the most popular On Demand film in the delivery system’s history.
Avail-TVN has put together a list of the 20 most-watched video on demand titles and “The Hangover” tops the list. On Demand viewing has grown exponentially in the last three years, with titles often bowing the same day as the DVD goes on sale, so it’s not too surprising that the list is made of recent films. (None was released earlier than 2007.) There are some surprising omissions, though. No Disney-Pixar film made the cut, for example.
Read more (and see the Top 20) at Variety’s Technotainment blog
The jokes were pretty easy when “Red 
Dead Redemption” was announced… “Grand Theft Horse” cynics called it. “Yet Another Doomed Western” was another popular phrase.
Today, we can wipe those snarky asides away and call it something else: A bonafied hit. Take Two Interactive Software reports that it has shipped 5 million copies of the game so far – and it’s so bullish on the title that it’s raising its fiscal forecast for the year.
Jason West and Vince Zampella, whose 
abrupt dismissal from Activision earlier this year shocked the gaming world, are teasing an announcement next week – in the heart of E3 – that has both insiders and gamers buzzing.
“Big time announcement at E3 next week. stay tuned, kiddies!” the pair said in a Facebook posting.
Going in to the keynote of today’s Worldwide Developer 
Conference, pretty much everyone knew Apple would be rolling out its fourth generation iPhone. But the Cupertino-based company still managed to spring a few surprises on the crowd.
The iPhone 4, which goes on sale June 24 – will have a host of new features, including the ability to shoot high definition video and easily edit it on the phone. The device will record video at resolutions of up to 720p, shooting at 30 fps – making the new iPhone a possible tool for guerilla video shoots from indie filmmakers.
It was probably only a matter of time… 
Jetstar Airways has become the first airlines to make the iPad available as an in-flight entertainment option for passengers. The Australian carrier (a subset of Qantas) will rent the tablet computers to interested fliers for AUD $10 ($8.40 in U.S. dollars) during a two-week trial at the end of June.
The iPads will be equipped with movies, TV shows, eBooks, games and more.
Chris Morris: Journalist 