It’s been 16 years since Nintendo showed 
up at CES – but with competition growing and a revolutionary product launch looming, Mario and Co. are packing their bags and heading to Vegas this January.
The company will be one of the flagship exhibitors in the 2011 CES Gaming Showcase when the consumer electronics tradeshow returns to Las Vegas Jan 6-9. All totaled, more than 35 video game companies will be part of that display.
First it was Hulu, then the major networks. Now, 
Viacom has blocked Google TV units from accessing its content, including all Comedy Central programming.
It’s the latest in a series of hindrances for the latest set-top box competitor and couldn’t come at a worse time. With the holiday season approaching and shoppers debating whether to splurge for the device, there is less and less programming to watch via Google TV.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops” 
continues to devastate entertainment industry records.
Activision today announced the latest installment in its multibillion dollar franchise has generated sales of $650 million in its first five days on shelves – an 18 percent (and $100 million) improvement over last year’s “Modern Warfare 2”. That makes the game the highest opening entertainment property – of any sort – in history.
Hulu’s subscription service – taking the Web-
based operation beyond the PC – has moved out of its beta period and is welcoming all who are interested. Hulu Plus officially launches today – and, even better, it’s getting cheaper.
The company has scaled back the $9.99 monthly fee it has charged since late June to $7.99 – and says it will issue refunds for the difference to early adopters who were in the beta. The price cut is a welcome one, but still higher than the $4.99 figure many people were expecting.
While no one will mistake 
October as a joyous month for video game sales, there were a few nuggets of good news from NPD this month.
Retail software sales were up 6 percent – the first time the industry has seen growth since May. And the Xbox 360 saw hardware sales increase – the only console to do so. Otherwise… well, things weren’t so good.
Apple has filled one of the biggest 
holes in the iTunes catalog. The Beatles catalog is now available for download.
After years of teasing, disappointment and back and forth, the Cuppertino-based company (which has become one of the most powerful forces in the music industry) and the iconic band have come to terms. It’s unclear at this time whether Apple secured exclusive digital rights to the band’s songs or if EMI, The Beatles’ record company, will be striking similar deal with other providers.
Microsoft has a hit on its hands
with Kinect, the motion capture device that lets players act as the controller for the Xbox 360. The company says it has sold more than 1 million units in the first 10 days of availability.
That’s a significantly stronger start than Sony’s PlayStation Move – which shipped 1 million units in its first month of availability, but did not sell that many. It also underscores the “must have” status of Kinect as the company gears up for the holiday shopping season.
Sonic Solutions’ RoxioNow has 
taken a big step forward in its ongoing expansion, today announcing an integration of the streaming media service onto HDTV chipsets from Trident Microsystems.
The service, which is used by Blockbuster, Lionsgate and Best Buy (among others), will now be built-in to forthcoming sets – a more direct approach than the app format many other companies are taking with today’s Internet-enabled sets. Trident is one of the top three semiconductor providers to both TV and set-top box manufacturers. Its clients include Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic, Motorola and Roku.
For the second year running, Activision’s “
Call of Duty” franchise has broken all-time entertainment industry opening day records.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops,” the latest installment in the $3 billion franchise, had opening day sales of $360 million in the U.S. and U.K – a number no entertainment property (film, game or book) has ever come close to.
Search giant Google says it wants to take TV into 
the future, but the networks are pretty comfortable with the present. Fox has joined CBS, NBC and ABC (along with Hulu) in blocking its content from appearing on Google TV.
Uses who use the service’s Web browser to access the network’s site will still see the Web page itself, but will receive an error message when they attempt to stream any programming. Typical PC users, of course, still have access to all of the content.
Chris Morris: Journalist 