Holiday cheer may be in short supply 
for the video game industry this year.
While there are bound to be some hot titles and big sellers, it will take a true Christmas miracle for the industry to see retail sales hit positive territory in 2010. Year to date, they’re down over 8 percent and analysts say it will be hard for any month in the fourth quarter to top 2009’s numbers.
Retail sales might be in the tank, but that doesn’t 
mean 2010 has been a year of bad video games. It’s quite the opposite, in fact.
While shoppers have been more picky about what they buy — and spending more time with games that have extensive multiplayer elements — there are a lot of highly rated titles on shelves and others coming soon. The good news? That makes it easy for gift buyers to find something for everyone.
Here are some suggestions that can’t be overlooked.
Supreme Court Justices grilled attorneys 
Tuesday on the issue of video game violence, but seemed to preliminarily side with the video game industry on First Amendment issues.
The case – Schwarzenegger v EMA – revolves around a 2005 California law that made it illegal for retailers to sell violent video games to anyone under 18.
While most of Washington, DC will 
be focused on mid-term elections Tuesday, the justices of the Supreme Court will be thinking about video games.
The Supreme Court is schedule to hear oral arguments on Nov. 2 in the case of Schwarzenegger v. EMA, by far the most important challenge – legal or otherwise – the video game history has faced.
It takes extraordinary circumstances to 
unite Hollywood filmmakers, one of rock’s most outlandish stars and a porn company. But when you’re facing off against 4chan, any ally is a good one.
4chan, for the unfamiliar, is the Internet’s most infamous message and image board. And its denizens are the online equivalent of Beetlejuice. Mutter their name and they’ll appear, but you may not like the results.
A lot of people might not know Zynga’s name, but they 
sure know its games. “Farmville,” “Mafia Wars,” and “Café World” are some of the biggest titles on Facebook – and continue to draw hundreds of millions of players per month.
That has led to massive growth at the social gaming company. And now SharePost, an exchange for shares of privately held companies, has put a valuation of $5.51 billion on Zynga. If accurate, that would make the company the second largest publisher in the video game industry – ahead of Electronic Arts and far ahead of Take-Two Interactive Software, but still less than industry leader Activision-Blizzard.
Two years ago, Nintendo could do no 
wrong. The Wii was at the height of its retail domination and competitors were scrambling for second place.
Today it’s a much different story and the looming holiday season could be a crucial one that determines the strength – and perhaps the future – of the company’s core console business.
Investors in the video game space 
understandably focus a lot of their attention on the larger publicly traded companies.
Publishers like Activision, Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive, after all, have some of the biggest titles in gaming. Privately held publishers, on the other hand, tend to either be based outside of the U.S. or lack a major intellectual property.
Even “Halo: Reach” couldn’t bring 
the video game industry out of its slump in September.
Software sales at retail stores were down a shocking 6 percent last month to $614 million, according to The NPD Group. That’s vastly worse than analysts were expecting and could scare investors, who were holding out hope that September would be a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for game sales.
News that an adult entertainment industry 
performer tested positive for HIV has prompted most porn film studios to shut down production to ensure the safety of their actors and actresses.
Most big companies, including Vivid Entertainment, Digital Playground, Hustlerand Wicked Pictures, have voluntarily suspended production for an unspecified period.
Chris Morris: Journalist 