Moneyball actor Chris Pratt takes on a dream role in this teaser for Microsoft's Xbox 360's upcoming Kinect Star Wars game, where he goes battle with Darth Vader.

Every other US business has suffered in the past few years. So why not video games?

Research firm NPD Group's data shows that even though Americans spent a whopping $1.85 billion "video game content" in the first quarter, total video game industry sales in the US fell to $995 million in June, 10% less than the previous June, as noted by CNET. The category includes hardware, software, and accessories. The software sector was the biggest area of loss, CNET observed, as it fell 12% to $469.5 million.

This is at least better than back in May, when the overall drop was 14% to $743.1 million from the previous May. According to CNET, May 2011 was “the worst month in nearly five years” for the US gaming industry.

Even so, Xbox continues to be the #1 console in the US. Microsoft reported selling approximately 507,000 Xbox 360 units in America in the month of June.Continue reading...

Microsoft announced today it has sold more than 10 million Kinect systems for the Xbox 360, setting a Guinness World Record for fastest-selling consumer device. As Mashable points out, Kinect sales have slowed since Christmas — but still: Yeah, yeah, yeah indeed.

In other news from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote included this first look at Windows Phone with Kinect for Xbox 360. Microsoft is spending an estimated billion US dollars to market Kinect and Windows Phone 7.Continue reading...

Rockstar Games, best known for Grand Theft Auto, has confirmed a release date for its crime thriller L.A. Noire: May 17th in North America (May 20th in Europe) for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title. The better-than-most-movies-trailer is above.

As part of its billion-dollar global marketing push, Microsoft unveils a new tagline — "Be What's Next" — in commercials tailored to tonight's Golden Globes broadcast on NBC.

The spots "pre-congratulate" aspiring actors as the Golden Globe winners of tomorrow, while promoting the brand's Bing search engine (above) and Windows Phone, below.Continue reading...

An estimated 138 million shoppers will hit stores this Black Friday, up from 134 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

With more consumers getting an early jump on deals online — and skipping stores altogether, with one survey finding that 60% of consumers find Black Friday doorbusters "no big deal" — retail brands are rewriting their holiday marketing playbooks this year, relying on social media in particular to drive sales.Continue reading...

Microsoft's highly-anticipated Kinect for Xbox 360 finally goes on sale in North America today, attracting a crowd to its official launch event in New York's Times Square at midnight, where Ne-Yo performed and dancers took over the area last night in front of Toys R Us, which stayed open late to accommodate eager buyers who'd been lining up since Monday.

Microsoft hopes to reposition its Xbox 360 (with an Xbox Live subscription) as a lifestyle and entertainment system with Kinect.

It's confident that the device will connect with consumers, building buzz with a reported $500 million global marketing budget and promotional tie-ins including Toys R Us, Burger King and Best Buy, which also stayed opened past midnight last night for U.S. shoppers eager to try out the Kinect's motion control, facial and voice recognition features.Continue reading...