2012’s 
losing streak for video game sales unfortunately kept right on going in March.
Sales of video game software were down 25 percent compared to last year. Hardware sales were down 35 percent, according to The NPD Group, which tracks the numbers. The totals, while disappointing, were within the range expected by Wall St. analysts.
The 
war on terror has taken an odd — and kind of fun — turn.
The U.S. government has hired a white hat hacker collective to dig through used video game systems in an effort to track down bad guys.
If Microsoft 
was looking to ratchet up the stakes in its ongoing battle with Sony, it sure managed to do so with Tuesday’s hiring of Phil Harrison.
In addition to filling the Redmond-based company’s quota of tall, bald game industry superstars, Harrison brings an insight into how things work at Sony that Microsoft has had to guess at for years. And, after being out of the spotlight for the past few years, he’s likely coming in hungry to make his mark.
Jedi 
wannabes will finally have a chance to join the Rebellion this spring.
After a series of delays, Kinect Star Wars will hit store shelves on April 3…and Microsoft is rolling out all the stops to promote it.
Microsoft’s 
Kinect technology has taken on a life of its own since its introduction 14 months ago. What started out as an amusing new way to play games is now being utilized by doctors and carmakers.
And now, theme park designers.
A group 
of Chinese workers that make the Xbox 360 are unhappy with their jobs. Really unhappy.
Roughly 150 employees of a Foxconn Technology plant in Wuhan, China threatened mass suicide earlier this month in protest of job transfers. No workers followed through with the threat, though 45 did ultimately decide to quit, reports The New York Times.
Microsoft 
continues to roll out new entertainment offerings for the Xbox 360.
The second wave of content providers for the recent user interface revamp of Xbox Live has hit the console, bringing some familiar names. Starting today, U.S. users will be able to access content from ClearChannel’s streaming radio service iHeartRadio and Verizon FiOS customers will be able to access a limited selection of live channels.
For years, Microsoft 
has used the Xbox 360 as a Trojan horse to get into people’s living rooms. Now, it’s launching a full-scale attack on your other entertainment devices.
Starting Monday, Xbox 360 owners are being prompted to download a free new user interface for the console, which expands Kinect voice control, introduces a broad entertainment search option and adds a slew of new content options that have nothing to do with gaming.
While Microsoft 
hasn’t uttered a peep about the next iteration of the Xbox, it’s one of the industry’s worst kept secrets that development is well underway. Now, a new rumor from a blog that has a decent track record when it comes to Microsoft information has a few new theories about what we can expect.
If MS Nerd is correct, the Xbox 720 (or Xbox Next, or whatever Microsoft decides to call it) is currently being developed under the codename “Loop” — and the machine may run on a modified version of Windows 9.
Microsoft’s plans to 
add television content to the Xbox 360 just took a major step forward.
The company unveiled an extensive partner list Wednesday, announcing that nearly 40 global content providers will stream programming through the game console starting this year. Included in the list are heavy cable hitters Comcast, HBO and Verizon FiOS.
Chris Morris: Journalist 