Boris Schneider-Johne, product manager for Xbox 360 at Microsoft Germany, explained the company's stance on the importance of exclusive titles. "That is difficult to assess. In the past, in the eighties and nineties, that was a major issue. I remember the big 'Mario vs. Sonic' debates. What we see today is that the influence of exclusive titles on the sales curves becomes ever smaller," Schneider-Johne told Golem.de in an interview. "In addition, we are in a situation that there is a head-to-head race on several consoles and that nobody is super clear in leadership - especially in matters of the PlayStation 3 against Xbox 360." "Given the production costs of the games, it is hardly possible for developers to commit itself exclusively to someone. Now Sony makes its own games for the console, we make our own games for the console. The titles are exclusive, as they are also attempts turnout the best of the console, but someone like Electronic Arts or Activision can have a business model of rarely developing for a console exclusively. Therefore, the exclusive title is a little less important." Read the full article

The PlayStation 3's Blu-ray player may boost sales of the console, according to market research firm iSuppli. "Going forward, the PlayStation 3's Blu-ray player is likely to help propel its sales. Sony will do more to increase the adoption of the PS3 by introducing creative marketing strategies, such as bundling software, online services and accessories together in order to maintain pricing and to boost adoption by new users," the iSuppli report said. "Meanwhile, Microsoft slashed the price of its Xbox 360 by $50 earlier this year in order to help stimulate growth and to stave off any advance from the PS3." "All these moves are likely to have a huge impact on the video-game market over the next few years. However, when the next generation of consoles hit the market in the late 2010 to 2011 time frame, the competitive cards will be reshuffled again for Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony." Read the full article

Russia's invasion of Georgia Friday is eerily similar to the storyline of a video game, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. "The year is 2008, and the world teeters on the brink of war. Radical ultranationalists have seized power in Moscow - their goal, the reestablishment of the old Soviet empire. Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan - one by one the nearby independent republics slip back into the Russian orbit. Russian tanks sit in the Caucasus Mountains and the Baltic forests, poised to strike to the south and east. The world hold its breath, and waits," the storyline for Ghost Recon reads. U.S.-allied Georgia launched a surprise military offensive to retake South Ossetia earlier Friday, triggering a Russian counterattack. Unlike the 2001 tactical shooter, there are no reports of U.S. involvement in the conflict or a major political upheaval in Moscow. "For one small group of elite soldiers, the war has already begun: U.S. Special Forces Group 5, First Battalion, D Company. Deployed on peacekeeping duty to the Republic of Georgia in the Caucasus, this handful of Green Berets represents the very tip of the spear - the first line of defense. Equipped with the latest battlefield technology, and trained in the latest techniques of covert warfare, they strike - swiftly, silently, and invisibly." "They call themselves 'The Ghosts.'" Read the full article

With Sony more than doubling PS3 sales in the April-June quarter from last year, the company is reportedly still struggling to reduce the console's production costs. "The activity of video games has instead returned to profit, thanks to an increase of 16.8 percent over a year of its quarterly turnover pulled off by the sales of the PlayStation 3 console, by the growing popularity of the handheld PSP model, and games that accompany these two multimedia platforms," an AFX report said. Back in January, Nikko Citigroup's Kota Ezawa told BusinessWeek that Sony cut the cost per machine to around $400 now, from above $800 just before it went on sale. This was a result of shrinking the PS3's chips and tweaking its design, as Sony continues its efforts to trim down production costs. "The PS3 console is still unprofitable alone, but Sony is struggling to gradually reduce the cost of production." Read the full article

Microsoft said Friday that the Opus motherboards are indeed making their way into pre-HDMI Xbox 360s sent in for repair, but stopped short of suggesting that the board will prevent Red Ring of Death failures. According to Microsoft, there are "some speculations that the new Opus motherboard is supposed to prevent the Xbox 360 console from having the three red flashing lights issue." "Unfortunately, I don't have access to information regarding the internal construction of the console," a Microsoft rep told GameRush Entertainment. "Regularly updating console components is commonplace within the industry and is a standard aspect of the business for a variety of reasons including cost reduction, improved manufacturability and improved performance." "We do not provide details on these updates." Read the full article

The decision made by Xbox head Don Mattrick to pull a teaser trailer for Bungie's new Halo project out of Microsoft's E3 press conference was reportedly done to prevent the game from overshadowing titles developed by Microsoft Game Studios. "The Microsoft executive that was in charge of their show at E3 is Don Mattrick and apparently there is some possible drama going on behind their evolving relationship with the now independent Bungie," Jacob Metcalf said. "The only person above Don Mattrick in Xbox is Robbie Bach then the chain of command goes to Steve Ballmer and the board of directors. Don ordered the new Bungie Halo game to be cut from the E3 briefing at the last moment and essentially gag ordered Bungie from showing the game off that week." "Don didn't want a non-Microsoft studio game to overshadow all of the Microsoft Studio developed games. He then went on to make a little quip about having an E3 briefing that was not all about Halo." "This is sort of like inviting someone to the prom and leaving them at home at the last minute while they can't get another date," he said. Read the full article

Today, details are coming in about what Bungie intended to reveal at Microsoft's E3 press conference. While specific information about its upcoming Halo project remain a secret, the developer reportedly planned to show a sixty second "knock'em down" teaser trailer, only to have it pulled at the last minute. "Bungie had a sixty second knock'em down teaser trailer made that was going to unveil the game and it was going to be the close to Microsoft media keynote at E3," Jacob Metcalf explained. "This was going to be followed up by Bungie doing their separate press event later on in the week on Wednesday to show off the new game." "Microsoft has never really explained why they prevented Bungie from going on with their media event on Wednesday at E3. It has to be a new Halo game since if it was an new IP Microsoft would not have their hands on the control of the brand and would not have had the power to silence Bungie about it." Bungie informed fans that plans had been changed on Tuesday, later promising something "further down the road." Meanwhile, Microsoft maintains that the announcement was held back for a "more dedicated event." "So soon Bungie and Microsoft will come to terms about when and how Microsoft is going to unveil this new Bungie developed Halo game and then show it to the public," he said. Read the full article

The absence of the Xbox 360 and PC "psychological action thriller" Alan Wake from this year's E3 is a bad sign for a game that some believe may never see the light of day. The long-in-development title is "unlikely to see release this year," said Chris Morris of Forbes. "Alan Wake is eagerly awaited by core gamers, who were disappointed by its lack of mention at Microsoft's press conference." Shane Kim, vice president of strategy and business development for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment business, said the game is still alive and well, but noted that the company "wanted to show games that would be coming out this year" at the press conference. "We're so tired of noting Alan Wake's absence from major Xbox press events that it's not even funny. The last time we saw the 360 and PC psycho thriller was back at X06 almost two years ago," said Andy Robinson at CVG. "The absence has led to plenty of speculation that the game has been canned, though developer Remedy promises it's still in development, even going far as stating that the 'the media blackout won't continue for too much longer.' Though that was back in April when it said that." "The Microsoft game studio action horror game was completely absent. That is not a good sign," said Jacob Metcalf. "I sort of doubt that this game will ever hit the shelves," he stated last month. Remedy Entertainment has been quiet about the title, but reiterated this week that "the official release date of Alan Wake is to be determined." "It will remain that way until Remedy/Microsoft Game Studios say otherwise." Read the full article

Microsoft said Wednesday that the decision to pull Bungie's latest Halo project from its E3 press conference was made to help trim the presentation, an "embarrassment of riches" already planned to be shown, and the feeling that the title deserved a more dedicated event. "We had an embarrassment of riches," said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of Microsoft's Xbox games business. "We felt we could do this game more justice with a more dedicated event." Bungie let its fans know that plans had been changed by posting a letter on Bungie.net Tuesday, later addressing questions and promising something "further down the road." The decision to pull Halo out of the line-up last minute helped trim Microsoft's press conference to under 90 minutes, from 2 1/2 hours. Mattrick also noted that the company left out Grand Theft Auto IV. "Two big kahunas were left out of the show, and we were still able to deliver a strong performance," he said. Read the full article

After Microsoft claimed that the introduction of Xbox Live avatars was a much fresher approach than the competition, Sony said Wednesday that Home is on track and trying to copy others is not its plan for the PlayStation 3. "I don't know enough about Microsoft's avatars. I think we're going in a bit of a different direction with Home. We made a line in the sand and made a strategic decision on Home and that's where we're going," said SCEA president Jack Tretton. "My understanding is that it's a more simplified vision. That may be enough for some and not enough for others. We are who we are. You have to be who you are. You can't backpedal down a road if it doesn't appear it's going to plan. You have to be aware of what's not resounding with people." "We've got a plan for PS3. I think the worst thing we could do is look at the competition and try and do what they're doing," he said. Read the full article