That long string of numbers and letters you 
have to type in when redeeming a Microsoft Points card might seem random, but a group of hackers recently discovered it wasn’t.
Today, Microsoft is licking its wounds after taking a $1.2 million loss once that information was made public.
The competition is getting fiercer, but 
when it comes to online video sales, Apple is still king of the hill.
New data from IHS Screen Digest shows that iTunes was the leader in movie electronic sell through and internet video on demand last year, besting pushes from Amazon, Wal-Mart and others with a commanding 2/3 market share.
[In exclusive comments made to Gamasutra editor-at-large 
Chris Morris, the executive producer of Conan O’Brien’s talk show discusses how Microsoft tried to woo the comedian to take his show onto Xbox Live – and why it was ultimately too much of “a leap of faith” for the Conan team.]
U.S. talk show host Conan O’Brien has been a familiar face on late-night TV for the past 18 years, and even when he had his nasty falling-out with NBC in early 2010, most people expected he would wind up at another network – which, of course, he did.
But before TBS came calling, Microsoft did its best to entice the comedian to bring his show to Xbox Live to help launch an original content channel on the console. The company and the performer have never addressed the reports of the conversation.
When Conan O’Brien and NBC parted ways in early 2010,
the talk show host had a lot of suitors. Most were the usual suspects – Fox, Comedy Central, HBO… but when word leaked out that Microsoft was interested, it caught a few people off guard.
Reports at the time said the company was considering launching its own programming channel for the Xbox 360 – and was interested in lassoing O’Brien as the tentpole. Neither party ever talked about the discussions publicly – or even confirmed them – but last month at CES, Jeff Ross, executive producer of “Conan” finally gave some details during the “Hollywood Creative Masters” Super Session.
Kinect, Microsoft’s recently launched motion 
capture device for the Xbox 360, has lived up to its reputation as one of the holiday’s must-have gifts.
The software giant says there were 8 million Kinects sold through the end of the year. That’s far beyond the company’s 5 million estimate (which was raised from an initial estimate of 3 million right before the system’s launch).
With backings by Oprah Winfrey, Ellen 
DeGeneres and just about every gift guide the media has written, Kinect for the Xbox 360 has become the “must have” gift of the 2010 holiday season.
The motion capture device has sold more than 2.5 million units since its Nov. 4 launch and Microsoft seems well on pace to meet its sales target of 5 million before the end of the calendar year. But do those sales mean it’s time to buy Microsoft shares?
Family fun titles are the heart and soul 
of Kinect’s early lineup. Game Party in Motion, on the surface, seems to have the right elements to fit in with this, gathering some arcade and boardwalk favorites — but once you start playing, you’ll realize exactly how lousy it is. It has some of the worst controls of any Kinect title, making it impossible to fully enjoy the games. And rather than consistantly relying on people’s natural movements (such as with billiards, where virtually everyone knows how to mimic a shot), it requires an elaborate series of motions that don’t make sense. The menus give you no sense of where your hand is on screen, which can make it hard to navigate. This is one Kinect title you’ll want to avoid.
Read more at Common Sense Media
Activision has done something no 
other publisher has been able to do this year – pull the video game industry out of its retail sales slump for the second consecutive month.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops” led the industry to an impressive 9 percent gain over the 2009 retail sales numbers. Add in hardware, Kinect and the rest of the assorted offerings and the gaming industry made $2.95 billion last month, according to The NPD Group. That’s the best November on record.
There’s no denying that Nintendo 
is the videogame industry’s most powerful force. With sales of its handheld DS topping 43 million and the Wii selling more than 30 million, it’s the indisputable market leader.
But despite that success, there’s something very old school about Nintendo. Its consoles and games don’t capture the bleeding-edge sensibilities of the industry. That’s what makes the fight for second place so interesting.
The battle over video game motion control devices has moved to the accounting department.
Sony and Microsoft are both claiming to have momentum on their side with their new devices, releasing updated sales figures. No matter how you slice it, though, it’s clear that both the PlayStation Move and Kinect are enjoying a strong holiday season.
Chris Morris: Journalist 