Fame in the hacking community 
is a rare and fleeting thing. Kevin Mitnick found it – and served time for it. And more recently, the decentralized group “Anonymous” has been the reigning top dog.
But in the last month, a new contender for the throne has made a big push – and a lot of entertainment companies have been casualties of this war.
No one expected May to be a particularly 
stellar month for video game sales – but no one expected it to be a disaster either. Unfortunately, disaster doesn’t begin to describe the month.
Software sales nose dived 19 percent in May, the industry’s worst performance since Oct. 2006. Overall, brick and mortar sales were down 13 percent to $718.8 million. Year to date, the industry is 14 percent off of 2010’s retail sales pace, according to The NPD Group.
Police in Spain have arrested 
a trio of hackers who officials say could be a part of the recent attacks on Sony’s PlayStation Network.
Reuters reports the three suspected members of the loose hacker alliance known as Anonymous are being charged with cyber-attacks against Sony, governments, businesses and banks.
E3 is a magnet for c
elebrities each year. Steven Spielberg regularly shows up. Robin Williams has been seen sneaking into demos. And earlier today, Snoop Dogg was at the YooStar booth to promote the company’s latest game – “YooStar on MTV”.
Before going out to shill the game, the rapper talked with me about his thoughts on piracy after the Sony data breach earlier this year as well as his favorite games.
Nintendo raised the curtain
on its latest videogame console, the Wii U, on Tuesday, but there was one key piece of hardware missing at its presentation — the console itself.
Instead, Nintendo used the Nokia Theater to turn the spotlight on the controller that consumers will use in a variety of ways to play games.
Microsoft is closer to 
turning Xbox into the everything box.
Sticking with a strategy to promote the Xbox 360 console as more than just a videogame player, Microsoft used its pre-E3 presser on Monday to reveal that the device will start offering live TV in the U.S. and integrate YouTube and search engine Bing as part of a relaunch this fall.
(Co-written with Marc Graser)
The NGP has 
a real name at last.
Sony, at its pre-E3 press conference Monday, announced that the next generation handheld system, which was previously codenamed NGP, would be called PlayStation Vita – and would carry a price of just $249 for the Wifi version and $299 for the 3G-enabled version. The system will hit store shelves this holiday season.
Electronic Arts is hoping 
for first blood in the slugfest of realistic military action games this fall.
The publisher announced at its pre-E3 press conference that “Battlefield 3” would hit shelves Oct. 25, two weeks before Activision releases its much-anticipated “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.” Both titles are expected to be massive hits this holiday.
Microsoft is covering its 
bases at this year’s E3.
The company, in its pre-show pres conference, announced a variety of new games and services, designed to appeal to everyone from core gamers to casual gamers to nongamers.
Last November, the Supreme Court 
of the United States heard oral arguments in a case that could have a massive effect on how the video game industry operates. But nearly seven months later, we’re still waiting for a ruling.
The Court once again did not issue a ruling on Brown v. EMA Monday morning, which mildly surprised some industry observers who had expected it to come down as the industry starts its annual trade show. The next opportunity for a ruling in the case will come Thursday, as E3 kicks off its last day.
Chris Morris: Journalist 