Sales of video game hardware and software in the United States plummeted last month according to new data from market research firm The NPD Group. The firm’s January figures suggest that sales of video game hardware fell 38% to $199.5 million, down from $324 million in January 2011. Video game software sales slid 38% as well in January, falling to $355.9 million, and sales of accessories in the U.S. dropped 18% year-on-year to $195.2 million. Total industry sales were down 34% to $750.6 million. “January retail performance experienced steep declines with a lack of software launches, and poor Hardware and Accessory performance partly related to bad comps from Kinect-related success in Jan’11,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. “Outside of new physical retail sales, we estimate that the consumer spend on other ways to acquire content including used games, full game and add-on content downloads, social network games, mobile games, rentals and subscriptions accounted for an additional $350 – $400 million in sales.” Callahan noted that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling console for the sixth consecutive month in January, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the top-selling software title. A complete list of NPD’s top-10 games for the month follows below.

The Xbox 720, which BGR exclusively reported will likely be unveiled during E3 this summer, could be six times more powerful than the current generation Xbox 360. IGN broke the news earlier this week and said that the production of the Xbox 720′s graphics processing unit (GPU) is scheduled to begin by the end of this year. IGN said the GPU will be based on ATI’s Radeon HD 6670 GPU and should offer support for 3D technology, 1080p HD output, multiple displays and DirectX 11. Microsoft has also filed a patent that suggests the console will also offer DVR support, which has raised questions of whether or not the company will release two versions of the console, one with DVR support and one without it. Dave Cutler, also known as the “father of Windows NT” also recently joined Microsoft’s Xbox team and is tasked with taking the console “beyond a gaming platform.” 

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Capcom announced recently that Resident Evil 6 will launch on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 20th, and that a PC version will follow soon after. The company said the game will take place in a world where bioterrorist attacks are occurring around the globe, inciting fear everywhere and turning everyone into zombies. The President of the United States decides to address the U.S. until he, too, is attacked and becomes a zombie. Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield will work together to save the world alongside new characters, and we hope to give the game a whirl later this year during E3 — provided it’s on display, of course. The Resident Evil series made its debut in 1996 and the series has achieved global sales in excess of 47 million units. The trailer and press release for Resident Evil 6 follow after the break. 

Capcom® Confirms Latest Installment of the Resident Evil® Franchise Coming to Home Consoles This November

SAN MATEO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, is very proud to announce that Resident Evil® 6 is in full development and scheduled for release on the Xbox360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system on November 20, 2012 with a Windows PC version to follow. Blending action and survival horror, this latest instalment in the multi-million selling franchise, is the most ambitious, immersive and feature rich title of the series to date and promises to be the dramatic horror experience of the year.

Resident Evil 6 portrays a world where an escalation in bioterrorist attacks across the globe has led to widespread fear among the population. In an attempt to quell the panic and curb the bioterrorist activity the President of the United States has decided to speak to the nation but not before the very location of the address itself comes under attack. With the President’s safety compromised the situation for the rest of the world seems hopeless.

In a first for the franchise, Resident Evil 6 sees series favourites Leon S. Kennedy and Chris Redfield come together to face this unprecedented threat. They will be joined by new characters, each with their own unique perspective and involvement in this relentless dramatic horror experience enacted on a global scale.

Since the landmark release of Resident Evil in 1996, the franchise has firmly established itself as a truly worldwide entertainment brand and mainstay of contemporary culture with a series of live action movies, CG anime, manga, novels and numerous merchandising lines. To date the Resident Evil series of videogames has achieved global sales of over 47 million units, while the live action movies starring Milla Jovovich have grossed in excess of $525 million dollars at the box office.

Microsoft had a massive booth at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. It was home to brand new laptops, a huge array of Windows Phone devices, demo stations for Xbox 360 and SkyDrive, and plenty more. Sadly, however, there were no Windows 8 devices on display to give show-goers a closer look at Microsoft’s next-generation operating system. We love Windows Phone in its current state and it seems like we aren’t alone; there were tons of people gathered around the phones playing with them and it looked like plenty of people were impressed, too. Whether or not this new wave of enthusiasm will translate into sales remains to be seen, of course. There were plenty of other sights to see in Microsoft’s booth, so be sure to check out our full gallery below.

New data from Nielsen suggests that console owners are using their Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii game consoles to stream video content more than ever before. “Streaming now represents a reported 14 percent of Xbox 360 time, 15 percent of PS3 time and 33 percent of Wii time,” Nielsen said Wednesday. The market research firm explained that the growth in time spent streaming was driven by services such as ESPN 3, Netflix, MLB Network and Hulu, but that time spent using consoles also increased overall. Console usage during the first half of 2011 jumped 7% from the same time period last year. Nielsen said gaming is the most popular activity on Xbox 360 (34% of usage), the PS3 is most used for DVD/Blu-ray viewing (22% of usage) and the Wii is used most for offline gaming (55% of usage).

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Sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game console trounced the competition in November, nearly doubling PlayStation 3 sales and sales of Nintendo’s Wii console. According to November sales data from leading market research firm The NPD Group, Microsoft sold 1.7 million Xbox 360 consoles in November. While Sony managed unit sales growth of about 70% year-over-year, the company only sold about 900,000 PlayStation 3 consoles last month. Nintendo sold 860,000 Wii consoles, 795,000 portable Nintendo 3DS consoles and 350,000 older Nintendo DS units in November. “This is the fourth consecutive month in which the Xbox 360 has been the top selling hardware system,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. “The gap between 360 sales and sales of the next best selling platform was the largest we’ve seen since December 2008 when the Nintendo DS was the top selling system.” Total industry sales were up less than 1% to $3.00 billion in November according to NPD, and hardware sales dipped 9% from 2010 to $982.4 million. Software sales were up 15% year-over-year to $1.67 billion but accessory sales dropped 34% to $273.8 million despite strong holiday sales of Microsoft’s Kinect controller. The NPD Group’s list of the 10 best-selling video game titles in November follows below.

“A revolution is happening in the living room,” Microsoft proclaimed late Sunday as it unveiled a new update to its Xbox 360 software that enables Kinect-based voice controls for a variety of multimedia content. Repeatedly emphasizing voice controls as rumors of a Siri-enabled HDTV product from Apple that may launch this summer heat up, Microsoft announced a new wave of content set to hit its Xbox platform on Tuesday. A variety of on-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, and EPIX arrive on Xbox on December 6th, and nearly 30 more content sources including Verizon FiOS TV and Vudu will arrive later this month. ”A new era in entertainment begins where all your entertainment is together in one place — your games, movies, TV shows, music and sports,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, in a statement. “With this update, Xbox 360 system owners will experience Kinect voice control integrated with Bing search, making your TV and entertainment experiences more social and personal than ever.” Microsoft’s full press release follows below, preceded by an infographic outlining the evolution of TV and entertainment.

The Future of TV Begins Now on Xbox 360

Kinect for Xbox 360 brings voice control to living room entertainment with update that launches Dec. 6.

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 4, 2011 — A revolution is happening in the living room. Xbox 360 is transforming how you enjoy TV entertainment and is giving you the power to control it with your voice. The next generation of TV entertainment begins with the announcement by Microsoft Corp. of the launch of an all-new Xbox 360 experience including the first group of new, custom applications from world leading TV and entertainment content providers on Xbox LIVE.

“A new era in entertainment begins where all your entertainment is together in one place — your games, movies, TV shows, music and sports,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “With this update, Xbox 360 system owners will experience Kinect voice control integrated with Bing search, making your TV and entertainment experiences more social and personal than ever.”

“Microsoft has just built and delivered it: A single box that ties together all the content you want, made easily accessible through a universal, natural, voice-directed search. This is now the benchmark against which all other living room initiatives should be compared,” said James McQuivey of Forrester Research in “Engaged TV: Xbox 360 Leads The Way To A New Video Product Experience,”^* Sunday, Dec. 4. “…with more than 57 million people worldwide already sitting on a box that’s about to be upgraded for free, Microsoft has not only built the right experience, it has ensured that it will spread quickly and with devastating effect.”

You Say It, Xbox Finds It

How long does it take you to search and find your favorite movie or TV show? Do you find yourself searching hundreds of channels and multiple services and TV inputs? What if the entertainment you craved was simple, discoverable and exactly what you wanted at that particular moment?

Now, finding your favorite entertainment is easier than ever. Last year, Kinect for Xbox 360 revolutionized controller-free entertainment by letting you use your body and voice to play your favorite games and entertainment, turning you into the controller. The power of Kinect combined with the intelligence of Bing search is turning your voice into the ultimate remote control. With Bing on Xbox, you can use your voice to effortlessly find the games, movies, TV shows and music you want and discover the best offerings on Xbox LIVE, by simply saying what you’re searching for. You say it, Xbox finds it. Beginning tomorrow and over the coming weeks, Bing on Xbox voice search will initially be available in English in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. for Zune video, Xbox LIVE Marketplace and select content partners. For those who do not have a Kinect for Xbox 360, text search will be available in Xbox LIVE markets.

All Your Entertainment, All in One Box

This holiday, in addition to offering the best blockbuster and Kinect games, Xbox 360 consoles are set to deliver live and on-demand TV shows, movies, videos, sports, music and news, becoming the best device to experience all your entertainment. TV and movie fans can instantly stream their favorite episodes of current television shows all season long, as well as past favorites and new-release movies.

Xbox 360 is building on its expansive catalog of movies, sports, television and music available through Hulu Plus, Last.fm, Netflix, Zune music and video and ESPN^®, as well as on its existing lineup of great TV providers, such as AT&T U-verse^® TV in the U.S., TELUS in Canada, BSkyB in the U.K., CANAL+ in France, Vodafone Portugal, VimpelCom in Russia and FOXTEL in Australia, by also now rolling out the following new entertainment partners and apps^**:

Dec. 6:

•	EPIX. United States
•	ESPN on Xbox LIVE (ESPN). United States
•	Hulu. Japan
•	Hulu Plus. United States
•	LOVEFiLM. United Kingdom
•	Netflix. Canada, United States
•	Premium Play by (MediaSet). Italy
•	Sky Go (SkyDE). Germany
•	Telefónica España – Movistar Imagenio. Spain
•	TODAY (MSNBC). United States

Later in December:

•	4 on Demand (C4). United Kingdom
•	ABC iView (Australian Broadcasting Corp.). Australia
•	AlloCiné. France (AlloCiné), Germany (Filmstarts), Spain (Sensacine), United Kingdom (Screenrush)
•	Astral Media’s Disney XD (Astral Media). Canada
•	blinkbox (Blinkbox). United Kingdom
•	Crackle (Sony Pictures). Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States
•	Dailymotion. Available in 32 countries globally
•	Demand 5 (Five). United Kingdom
•	DIGI+ (CANAL+). Spain
•	GolTV (Mediapro). Spain
•	iHeartRadio (Clear Channel). United States
•	Mediathek/ZDF (ZDF). Germany
•	MSN. Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, United Kingdom
•	MSNBC.com. United States
•	MUZU.TV. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
•	ninemsn. Australia
•	Real Sports (Maple Leaf Sports). Canada
•	Rogers On Demand Online (Rogers Media). Canada
•	SBS ON DEMAND.Australia
•	Sky Go (SkyDE). Austria
•	TMZ (Warner Bros.). Canada, United States
•	TVE (RTVE.es). Spain
•	UFC on Xbox LIVE (UFC). Canada, United States
•	Verizon FiOS TV. United States
•	VEVO. Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
•	Vudu (Wal-Mart). United States
•	YouTube. Available in 24 countries globally

Early 2012:

•	Antena 3 (Antena 3 de Televisión). Spain
•	BBC (BBC). United Kingdom
•	CinemaNow (Best Buy). United States
•	HBO GO (HBO). United States
•	MLB.TV (MLB Advanced Media). Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States
•	Telenovelas/Sports (Televisa). Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom
•	Xfinity On Demand (Comcast). United States

In October, nearly 40 leading TV and entertainment providers around the world announced they would bring customized, voice-controlled experiences to Xbox 360 systems. Today, MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, and VUDU became the latest leading entertainment providers to announce they are bringing their experiences to Xbox 360 consoles. MLB.TV subscribers will be able to access every regular season game, live and on-demand, in HD picture quality with an array of interactive functionalities. VUDU offers more than 45,000 blockbusters, Hollywood classics, independent films and TV shows, including the largest library of HD content available anywhere, with the highest quality streaming and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound. With VUDU, movies are available the same day they are released on DVD and Blu-ray. More information is available athttp://www.VUDU.com.

The Best Entertainment Platform Offers Choice

Whether choosing the movie you want to watch or the service you want to watch it from, the best entertainment platform gives you a variety of options. Not only is Microsoft bringing all your entertainment and entertainment services to Xbox 360 consoles, it is giving you multiple choices in how you interact with that content, including your voice, your controller and now your Windows Phone. Starting Dec. 6, the free Xbox Companion app for Windows Phone will let you find, learn more about and control content from popular entertainment services on Xbox LIVE.

Microsoft just sold nearly one million Xbox 360 consoles last week alone, but we’re nearing the end of the road for video game consoles according to one industry visionary. Richard Garriott, known for having created the fantasy role-playing franchise Ultima and the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Tabula Rasa, says converged devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets will soon render dedicated game consoles obsolete. Read on for more.

“I think we might get one more generation, might, but I think fundamentally they’re doomed,” Garriott told IndustryGamers in an interview. “I think fundamentally the power that you can carry with you in a portable is really swamping what we’ve thought of as a console.”

Smartphones and tablets have plenty of ground to cover before they can even come close to approaching the capabilities of the current generation of consoles, and we may see next-generation consoles launch as soon as next year. BGR exclusively reported in June that Microsoft plans to unveil its next-generation Xbox console at E3 next year, and Sony may also unveil its PlayStation 4 in 2012 according to recent reports.

Several industry leaders disagree with Garriott’s assessment. In a recent interview with BGR that will be published in the coming weeks, Saber Interactive co-Founder and CEO Matthew Karch suggested smartphones and tablets may never catch up to consoles in terms of capabilities and user experience. Consoles already have such a tremendous technology lead and the physical limitations of mobile devices will be a huge barrier until broadband data speeds and reliability reach a point where the bulk of game processing can be handled remotely.

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Microsoft announced on Tuesday that last week marked the Xbox 360′s best ever week of sales. The company sold more than 960,000 Xbox 360 consoles and more than 750,000 Kinect controllers last week. Microsoft also confirmed that more than 800,000 of the consoles it sold last week were purchased on Black Friday alone. ”We have seen tremendous excitement from customers for our hot holiday gaming offers,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of Home Entertainment at Best Buy, in a statement. “Xbox 360 was among the best-sellers at Best Buy this Black Friday, and is a testament to the continued popularity of the gaming category this holiday.” Microsoft’s full announcement follows below.

Entering the seventh year of its lifecycle, Xbox 360 just closed the biggest sales week in the history of Xbox, selling more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday.

Microsoft’s retail partners are equally excited about our sales performance this holiday.

“We have seen tremendous excitement from customers for our hot holiday gaming offers,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of Home Entertainment at Best Buy. “Xbox 360 was among the best-sellers at Best Buy this Black Friday, and is a testament to the continued popularity of the gaming category this holiday.”

Sales highlights in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday include:

• Xbox 360 sold more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. alone, of which more than 800,000 were sold within a period of 24 hours – the biggest week of sales in Xbox history. (Source: Internal data)
• More than 750,000 Kinect for Xbox 360 sensors were sold in the U.S. – standalone and bundled. (Source: Internal data)

Microsoft is poised to deploy its latest Xbox 360 dashboard update on December 6th, The Verge reported recently. The update will give the dashboard an entire overhaul and will use Microsoft’s Metro-based UI, currently found in Windows Phone and Windows 8. Reportedly, the software will also include new Kinect voice controls, the ability to save games using cloud-based storage and integrated Facebook sharing. The update may include live TV support as well, but that will largely depend on where you live, The Verge said. We’re pretty big fans of the current user interface but are still excited to see any improvements that Microsoft has in store… when we take breaks from absolutely crushing our opponents in Battlefield 3, that is.

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The wait is finally over and late Tuesday evening we’ll be making our way over to our local game store to pick up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The latest title in Activision’s hit series achieved record pre-order figures, surpassing even the staggering pre-orders totals racked by by Call of Duty: Black Ops. The single-player campaign will pick up right where we were left off at the end of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 but, let’s be honest, we’re all in it for the multiplayer matches and revamped perk system. Activision is also offering a “Call of Duty Elite” option that costs $50 per year and allows gamers to connect with other players, manage load-outs and more from the web, a game console or a mobile device. The full press release follows after the break. Frag out!

Microsoft released its Kinect for Windows SDK Beta 2 on Friday that adds support for Windows 8, among other changes. According to ZDNET, Microsoft has two Kinect development kits. One software development kit for commercial usage will be available early next year. The second kit, released on Friday, is targeted at enthusiasts running Windows 7 or the developer build of Windows 8. “Developing Kinect enabled applications is essentially the same as developing other Windows applications, except that this SDK provides support for the features of the Kinect sensor,” Microsoft explained in a note accompanying the release. The SDK also adds support for 64-bit apps, improved accuracy and a number of enhancements to skeletal tracking.

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Microsoft on Wednesday announced a number of new content partners that will deliver movies, television shows and other content to its popular Xbox 360 video game and home entertainment console. New partners include Bravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon FiOS, BBC and Syfy, and the content will be available in the U.S. and a number of additional countries. ”Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” reads a statement from Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.” Microsoft’s Xbox is quickly expanding beyond the gaming genre that made it popular, into new areas that could make it a go-to home entertainment hub for entire families rather than just gamers. Microsoft’s full press release follows below.

Xbox 360 Teams Up With Entertainment Leaders to Transform TV

AT&T, BBC, Comcast, HBO, Rogers, Telefónica, Televisa and Verizon are among providers rolling out new TV entertainment services on Xbox LIVE.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 5, 2011 — A new era in television begins this holiday where your entertainment becomes instantly searchable, easily discoverable and enjoyable in extraordinary new ways from a single device — Xbox 360. Today, Microsoft Corp. announced plans to roll out the next generation of TV entertainment on Xbox LIVE, the online entertainment service for Xbox 360. Nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers, including Bravo, Comcast, HBO GO, Verizon FiOS and Syfy in the U.S.; BBC in the U.K., Telefónica in Spain; Rogers On Demand in Canada; Televisa in Mexico; ZDF in Germany; and MediaSet in Italy, will begin rolling out entertainment services to the console this holiday, in more than 20 countries.

“Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360* and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.”

“We are continually evolving the television experience to bring Xfinity TV subscribers more personalized ways to search, find and watch the content they love,” said Sam Schwartz, president of Comcast Converged Products. “Our recently launched next-generation Xfinity TV platform is enabling us to bring Xfinity On Demand to a gaming console for the first time, and Kinect’s voice and gesture controls will offer our customers an innovative way to discover and enjoy Xfinity On Demand’s huge library of top shows and movies.”

Live and On-Demand TV, Movies, Games, Sports, Music and More

Xbox 360 brings all your entertainment, friends and family together in one place. Now, easily switch from playing your favorite game with a friend out of state or even across the world to watching your favorite TV show with your family members on the same couch, all through Xbox LIVE. Ready to mix things up? Effortlessly switch from games to music to live TV and more, simply by telling your Xbox what you want to experience.

“Microsoft and Verizon share a common vision to transform the ways people enjoy and interact with the entertainment they want — what Verizon calls the borderless lifestyle,” said Eric Bruno, vice president of consumer and mass business product management for Verizon. “FiOS TV on the Xbox 360 is an excellent example of how we’re working with market leaders to erase old technology borders to expand the FiOS TV experience and taking advantage of unique new features including voice- and gesture-control of live TV entertainment via Kinect.  This holiday, Verizon will bring a selection of popular live TV channels to Xbox 360 and will be a leader in delivering live, multichannel streaming HD TV, integrated with Kinect, via Xbox.”

Xbox 360 is the first console to offer access to the world’s greatest TV properties, including BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and LOVEFiLM in the U.K.; Antena 3, RTVE and Telefónica in Spain; Televisa in Mexico; and Bravo, Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand service, Crackle, EPIX, Syfy, TMZ, “The Today Show,” UFC, Verizon FiOS and HBO GO in the United States.

“We have been thrilled with the success of HBO GO. Our ongoing goal is to deliver HBO’s acclaimed programming to our subscribers wherever and whenever they want it, and this relationship with Microsoft is another huge step in accomplishing just that,” said Bernadette Aulestia, senior vice president, Domestic Network Distribution & Marketing, HBO. “HBO GO on Xbox is also a marriage of two pre-eminent brands — both with a reputation for delivering the highest quality of entertainment.”

These new TV and video providers announced today join our existing lineup of great TV and video entertainment partners already on Xbox 360 — AT&T, Netflix and Hulu+ in the U.S., TELUS in Canada, BSkyB in the U.K., Canal+ in France, Vodafone Portugal, VimpelCom in Russia, and FOXTEL in Australia.

“Nearly a year ago, AT&T U-verse became the first TV provider in the U.S. to launch live TV on Xbox 360. Now we look forward to working with Microsoft to deliver even more innovative features that will allow U-verse TV customers to use voice and gesture controls to manage their TV experience,” said Jeff Weber, vice president of video services, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Through our Microsoft partnership, AT&T U-verse TV has been a leader in delivering a multiscreen and interactive TV experience that offers customers more personalization, more control and more integration across devices, all on the industry’s only 100 percent IPTV platform.”

Sports aren’t just a game on Xbox 360. With live and on-demand content from ESPN in the U.S., UFC in the U.S. and Canada, GolTV in Spain and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports in Canada, Xbox 360 completely changes how sports fans experience and interact with their favorite pastimes. The all-new ESPN on Xbox LIVE features thousands of live events and video highlights with enhanced personalization features, split-screen viewing and an updated interface content guide that makes it easy for fans to find the highlights from the teams and sports they care most about. UFC on Xbox LIVE gives fans access to live pre-event videos, a catalog of on-demand video, an Interactive Fight Card and pay-per-view events in stunning HD all together in one place. The energy of the Octagon is coming right into the living room.

In addition to adding the world’s largest TV providers and the best names in sports, the biggest names in Web video, news and music are also coming to Xbox 360, including AlloCiné, Dailymotion, iHeartRadio, MSN with MSNBC.com, “The Today Show,” TMZ, VEVO and YouTube. Whether catching up on the Web’s latest viral videos, watching breaking news, sports and weather, listening to your favorite music, or sitting down to enjoy your favorite games, movies or TV shows — no other entertainment device brings it all together in one place like Xbox 360.

Xbox Entertainment — Personal, Effortless, Social

With Kinect for Xbox 360, there are no remotes, no buttons, no worries. Consumers will prefer to experience entertainment on Xbox 360 because it allows them to easily search and discover content across multiple entertainment providers within Xbox LIVE and interact and enjoy that content in extraordinary new ways. Gone are the days of managing a handful of remote controls, trying to remember what movies are available from what service, and hunting back and forth across television inputs. Using voice search with Bing on Xbox, easily look across a variety of branded services and play the programming you want without ever raising a finger. Having trouble finding last night’s episode of “The Office”? It’s now only a voice command away. Just say “Xbox, Bing, ‘The Office,’ ” and Xbox finds it.

Not only is entertainment effortless on Xbox 360, it is more social and personal. Everything in Xbox has been designed to share with friends. Share recommendations, and show the Xbox LIVE community what games you’re playing, movies you’re watching and music you’re listening to, as well as invite them to join in — even post your game achievements and info about your favorite movies directly to your Facebook wall from Xbox LIVE. It’s simple: With your social network along for the ride, the world’s leading content providers and the magic of Kinect, entertainment experiences are better on Xbox LIVE.

Entertainment Partners on Xbox 360 (Existing and New)

•	ABC iView – Australia
•	AlloCiné – France, Germany, Spain, U.K.
•	Antena 3 – Spain
•	Astral Media’s Disney XD – Canada
•	AT&T** – U.S.
•	BBC – U.K.
•	blinkbox – U.K.
•	Bravo – U.S.
•	BSkyB** – U.K.
•	Canal+* – France, Spain
•	Channel 4 – U.K.
•	Channel 5 – U.K.
•	CinemaNow (Best Buy) – U.S.
•	Comcast – U.S.
•	Crackle – Australia, Canada, U.K., U.S.
•	Dailymotion – Available in 32 markets
•	EPIX – U.S.
•	ESPN** – U.S.
•	Facebook** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets
•	FOXTEL** – Australia
•	GolTV – Spain
•	HBO GO – U.S.
•	Hulu – Japan
•	Hulu +**– U.S.
•	iHeartRadio (Clear Channel) – U.S.
•	Last.fm**– U.K., U.S.
•	LOVEFiLM – Germany, U.K.
•	Manga Entertainment – U.S.
•	Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment/Real Sports – Canada
•	MediaSet – Italy
•	MSN with MSNBC.com – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, U.K.
•	MUZU.TV – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K.
•	Netflix**– Canada, U.S.
•	Rogers On Demand Online (RODO) – Canada
•	RTVE – Spain
•	SBS On Demand – Australia
•	Syfy – U.S.
•	Telefonica – Spain
•	Televisa – Mexico
•	“The Today Show” – U.S.
•	TELUS** – Canada
•	TMZ – U.S.
•	Twitter** – Available in all 35 Xbox LIVE markets
•	UFC – Canada, U.S.
•	Verizon – U.S.
•	VEVO – Canada, U.K., U.S.
•	VimpelCom** – Russia
•	Vodafone Portugal** – Portugal
•	YouTube – Available in 22 markets
•	ZDF – Germany
•	Zune**– Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K., U.S.

Following a premature 21-gun salute on Monday afternoon when Microsoft accidentally erased the Zune player from its Zune webpage a bit early, the Redmond-based company has now confirmed that the Zune player has been laid to rest. First released just ahead of the holidays in 2006, Microsoft’s Zune player was a clear attempt to divert dollars from Apple’s iPod line and in that respect, it failed somewhat epically. The Zune player is survived by Zune software, however — a multimedia experience that will live on in Windows Phones, on the Xbox 360 and on personal computers around the world. Rest in peace, little buddy. Microsoft’s statement follows below.

We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us.

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Sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the United States continued to slide in August according to new data from NPD Group, again dipping more than 20% compared to the same period last year. Overall industry sales slid 23% to $669.9 million last month from $873.8 million in August 2010. Hardware sales were down 12% from last year to $249.4 million, accessory sales were down just 1% to $134.7 million and software sales plummeted 34% to $264.8 million. ”August 2011 sales saw a decline versus August 2010 in all categories except for portable games hardware,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a statement. “In software, the bulk of the decline can be attributed to the shift of the annual Madden release from August to September (8/30 release falls within NPD’s September 2011 reporting period).” Frazier continued, “Even though year to date performance of the new physical portion of the industry is down 5%, more than half of industry sales in this channel are still to be realized in the back four months of the year.  Given the strong release schedule in the coming months, new physical retail sales could still be flat to slightly up once full year sales are tallied.” Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling console for the seventh consecutive month in August with 308,000 units sold. NPD’s top-10 list of video game software title sales in the month of August follows below.