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'FarmVille' Provides a Sugar-Coated Taste of the Ag Biz January 31, 2010 
Even while calling Chicago home, Laura Hawkins Grimes is a country bumpkin. Her scenic rural spread has three dairy farms, two ponds and a log cabin, all skirted by a white picket fence as scarecrows stand sentry over her blackberries. The best part is the 40-year-old sex therapist never has to leave her computer to tend to it all.
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Wii Price Cut Nicks Away at Nintendo's Profit January 28, 2010 
Nintendo, maker of the hit Wii game console, said profit for April through December fell 9 percent after price cuts and the rising yen tarnished strong holiday sales. Nintendo reported Thursday a $2.1 billion profit for the nine months through Dec. 31, down from $2.4 billion a year earlier. Sales retreated 23 percent to $13.1 billion.
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Google and the Freedom Business January 22, 2010 
We're now in week two of Google's high-profile battle with China, and the stakes have risen high enough to catch the attention of no less than the U.S. Secretary of State herself, Hillary Rodham Clinton. She cheered on Google's stance in a speech Thursday, saying, "Censorship should not be in any way accepted by any company from anywhere, and in America, American companies need to make a principled stand."
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100M Cellphone Users in Grip of 'Tetris' Addiction January 21, 2010 
More than 25 years after its birth, "Tetris" is the best-selling mobile game of all time, having surpassed 100 million paid downloads on cellphones around the world. Adam Sussman, vice president of worldwide publishing at Electronic Arts' mobile unit, said the milestone marked "a huge moment not just for EA but for mobile gaming in general.
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'GTA: Chinatown Wars' - Lots of Power, Nice Lines, Lousy Handling January 21, 2010 
As gaming devices, the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii both face a similar problem. Game publishers often seem to believe that a game that's popular on the Xbox, PlayStation or PC should also be made to fit on the iPhone or Wii, even though you're really dealing with two very different kinds of platforms.
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Roaring December Caps Gaming's Rotten 2009 January 15, 2010
The overheated weapons and steroid-pumped terrorists featured in "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" made a lot of noise in the gaming industry leading into the holidays. However, by the time receipts were totaled, it was a familiar little mustache-wearing plumber and his arcade-style melodies that sang the loudest during the winter sales season.
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Wii Completes Netflix's Video Game Trifecta January 13, 2010 
It's a triple crown for Netflix. Beginning in the spring, the Wii will become the last of the three current video game consoles to get instant viewing of Netflix movies and TV shows over the Internet. Wii owners who have a broadband connection and a Netflix subscription that costs at least $9 a month will be able to watch those programs with no extra charge.
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CES: The Magic Is Back January 11, 2010 
I was at CES last week, and the magic was clearly back in this show. In the past couple of years, CES has been dominated by one device -- making it more like a one-product waste of time. Two years ago, everyone was talking about the iPhone, making many of us wonder if we were at the wrong event. Last year, it was the Palm Pre, which turned out to be a bit of a flash in the pan.
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Nexus One: You Can Look, You Can Buy, but You Can't Touch January 08, 2010 
The 2009 holiday spirit seems to have faded for Google and Apple, who didn't waste much time getting back to the business of giving each other the stinkeye. First up was Google, which gave its Nexus One smartphone its first official public appearance. It's a phone manufactured by HTC, and it runs on Android 2.1, which is .1 better than the version on the Verizon Droid.
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Mystery Tablet's Not the Only Thing on Microsoft's Slate January 07, 2010 
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday took the stage to deliver a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Ballmer showcased products from several partners at the event, including a tablet device made by HP. He also announced a tie-in with HP to promote the Bing search engine.
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Gaming PCs: If You Want to Play, You Have to Pay - But Perhaps Not Much January 03, 2010 
Personal computers designed specifically for gamers are getting more powerful and more affordable by the month. They're bursting with multi-core processors, powerful video graphics cards and plenty of memory to give you the most realistic graphics and action. I found machines for about $1,000 that can give you decent play.
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'Modern Warfare' Aside, Gaming Industry's Not Bulletproof December 11, 2009 
For all its graphics firepower and blockbuster action, "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" couldn't blow up the perception that the video game industry is still reeling from the recession's aftershocks. Industry market-watchers NPD Group released November sales figures Thursday, showing continued year-over-year declines in software, hardware and accessories.
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'Zelda: Spirit Tracks' - Thorny Challenges Make Up for Cuteness December 09, 2009 
It's easy to take a series like "The Legend of Zelda" for granted. With more than a dozen releases over 23 years, even the most dedicated "Zelda" fan can be forgiven for having skipped a game or two. Some of those games -- the original and 1998's "Ocarina of Time" -- are justly regarded as landmarks.
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Hawk's 'Ride' - Everything Except the Fresh Air December 04, 2009 
"Tony Hawk: Ride" is a groundbreaking video game that fits right in with the namesake skating legend's no-rough-edges appeal. It's a silky smooth experience with an inventive wireless skate deck controller and a friendly learning curve -- but watch out. You can fall here too.
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'Edgy's' Cube Craziness Returns - Hopefully for Good December 03, 2009 
The story of "Edgy" sounds like an iPhone developer's worst nightmare. You create a game that includes a lot of intricate puzzles and levels. Lots of time goes into it, so you think it's appropriate to charge a moderate amount, as iPhone games go. There seems to be no reason for the App Store to reject it -- no shaken babies, no naked ladies, no Internet tethering, just clean old puzzle-solving fun.
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The Making of Mario November 22, 2009 
You might call him the Mickey Mouse of video games. He's reminiscent of a doughnut, round and sweet and comforting. He's also a vessel, devoid of a real personality so you can live vicariously through him. Mario, the pot-bellied Italian plumber with a penchant for rescuing princesses, collecting golden coins and gobbling magic mushrooms, has been around for nearly three decades.
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