Review: Halo: Reach

Prequels rarely resonate with audiences – regardless of the medium. So when Bungie Studios decided to make its last “Halo” game a prequel, there was some cause for concern.

Thankfully, those fears were misplaced. While the final chapter of “Halo: Reach” is something well known to any fan of the franchise, the game itself is perhaps the best in “Halo’s” nine-year history. And it’s a fitting sendoff for the developer, who is responsible for creating and growing one of the biggest series in the video game industry.

Read more at Daily Variety

Apple revamps Apple TV, iPod and a whole lot more

Apple certainly wasn’t lacking for news at its press event today. We’ve got a story up on the front page of Variety, focusing on Apple TV, right now – and an analysis piece will be in tomorrow’s daily edition. 

One thing that has seemingly been lost in the shuffle is Apple made it clearer than ever that it was gunning for Nintendo and Sony – and it’s not afraid of either company’s gaming legacy. In the meantime, here’s a recap of some of the other news that Jobs & Co. unveiled.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

(Client update) Gamasutra joins the fold

Just a heads up that I’ve added Gamasutra.com to my client roster. I’ll be acting as an editor at large for the site, contributing a couple of stories each week that dig beyond the headlines and look at the business side of gaming.

Further details – along with other recent staff moves and news of a new traffic milestone at the site – can be found at Gamasutra

3D gaming: Five reasons it won’t work

To hear some people tell it, 3D gaming is the wave of the future. In just a few years, you’ll be bobbing and weaving in your living room as you play in an environment that’s more realistic than anything you’ve ever experienced.

Bull.

Sure, 3D can be a cool feature in games, but is it something that will take over the industry? We don’t think so. And we’ve got five good reasons why the pundits are wrong.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Making Movie Game Tie-Ins Work

Video games and Hollywood have always been the Woody Allen and Soon-Yi of the entertainment world. They’re together forever, but the fit has always been an odd one – and a little creepy at times.

The amount of ink wasted bemoaning the sheer volume of crappy movie-based games is copious – and I promise this isn’t more of the same. In fact, for the first time games and movies may have found a good way to co-exist.

Read more at Game Theory Online

Are Weak Madden Sales Signaling Trouble in Gameland?

Try as it might, the video game industry just can’t catch a break this year.

Sales are down 8 percent year-to-date from 2009’s disappointing numbers. Even the most optimistic analysts are now saying that the best investors can hope for is a flat year. And this week has brought new signs that could indicate further weakness—specifically for Electronic Arts and game retailer GameStop.

Read more at CNBC.com

Video Game Investors Brace for More Bad News

The holiday season can’t get here quickly enough for video game publishers.

July sales number for the industry will be released roughly two hours after the market closes Thursday – and analysts expect good news to be in short supply. Consensus is fairly wide this month, but the year over year drop in sales is expected to be between 7.5 percent and 15 percent.

Read more at CNBC.com

Blockbuster enters the games-by-mail market

Blockbuster hasn’t exactly had a lot of success in their battle with Netflix in the movies-by-mail field, so now the company’s aiming to outmaneuver them.

Starting immediately, customers of Blockbuster By Mail are able to rent video games for all the major console systems. The company says it has over 3,000 titles available. Netflix does not currently rent games.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog