According to GameSpot, execs at Viacom (NYSE: VIA) are pleased with the initial acceptance by consumers for its high-profile game The Beatles: Rock Band. The company said that expectations for the title, which is distributed by Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), have been surpassed, and that a quarter of the inventory has already moved off retail shelves. Impressive.

Recently, I wrote an article about The Beatles game and how it might impact the Guitar Hero franchise from Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI). I'm a shareholder of the latter, so I'm obviously biased on the subject. I want Rock Band's competitor to win the battle, no question.

So much for the notion that video game sales would turn around in August. Slumping sales pushed the slide for video game sales to six straight months. During August, 15% fewer games were sold than a year earlier, and the drop was more than industry analysts expected.

Just because the overall sales dropped, it doesn't mean that some companies didn't turn in a good month. Sony (NYSE: SNE) saw sales increase, thanks to the company's decision to slash the price of its wildly popular PlayStation 3.

Fair or not, Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) has a reputation for a shallow pipeline of shareholder-enhancing software. It is known simply as the Grand Theft Auto publisher. There's more to Take-Two, of course. There are sports titles, for example. There's BioShock. How about the big hit for the Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii, Carnival Games? What about Borderlands?

That's all well and good, but if you look at the company's latest earnings report, you'll have no choice but to conclude that the one-game reputation is firmly intact.

Take-Two's top line plummeted 68% during the fiscal third quarter. Net loss on an adjusted basis came to 66 cents per share. There was a huge profit of 93 cents per share in the year-ago period, driven by the fourth edition of Grand Theft Auto. Not a great comparison. At least the performance was a little better than expectations. According to Earnings.com, Wall Street was calling for a loss of around 68 cents per share.

So you've heard the news I'm sure. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is not standing still in the video-game wars. It recently reduced the price of the Xbox 360 Elite system by $100. We now have parity between an Xbox 360 unit and a Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 console.

It's going to be interesting to see how hardware sales perform in the coming months. Intuitively, one would have to expect a bump in the number of units sold for both companies. But which one will win out?

Well, it had to happen sometime. Nothing lasts forever, right? Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) and its fabulous Wii system are no longer hot. To be certain, the Wii is still very, very popular. But from an investing/trading standpoint, you've got to sit up and take notice of the story and highlight not only how it's changed, but how it may change in the near future.

According to Bloomberg, Nintendo's top line decreased 40%, while the profit line tumbled a little over 60%. The Wii unfortunately took a huge hit to its momentum: sales of the console, which competes with Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360, plunged 57% in terms of units. Besides issues relating to the fad and its possible death, the yen, as expected, also had an effect on Nintendo's prospects.

I was looking around today for a stock to buy. I came up empty-handed. One of my ideas was Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI). I was intrigued this week by reports that said the company wants to have the launch to end all launches for the next Call of Duty title. Quite frankly, I think there's a chance the company will succeed with this. So, naturally, my thoughts turned to shares of Activision Blizzard as a possible buy candidate. Although I already own the stock in a longer-term, taxed portfolio, I wanted a trade for my Roth IRA.

Well, I couldn't buy the company. It's up today (3% at the time of this writing), and I do not want to buy any stock when it's up. Not now, at any rate. The market has come too far too fast, in my opinion, and I want to trade carefully. But, while looking at Activision Blizzard, I came across this article from Ben Kuchera over at Ars Technica. He discusses comments made by the publisher's CEO, Bobby Kotick, on Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) and its PlayStation platforms.

Earlier in the week, I discussed Sony Corporation's (NYSE: SNE) new PSP system that is set to arrive in the fall. It didn't make me want to buy the stock. And I don't think the Nintendo DS has anything to worry about.

Now, I'd like to mention a smart move by Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY). According to reports, Nintendo is programming a new Super Mario Bros. adventure for the Wii. What's really cool about it is the fact that it isn't 3D. Now, don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with 3D games. But I always think the idea of returning Mario to his 2D roots is a good one. That kind of environment is where Mario really shines; 2D is in the plumber's DNA, believe me.

The news flow is abuzz this week with stats about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and its Xbox 360 console. According to reports, the company has sold 30 million units of the gaming hardware around the world. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY) is still in first place with 50 million Wii consoles sold. And Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE)? Well, the PlayStation 3 is decidedly third with roughly 22 million systems moved through retail channels. And don't give me that Xbox-360-had-a-year-over-Sony excuse. Doesn't matter. Microsoft has so far played it well.

But I'd like to see Microsoft do even better when it comes to the Xbox 360. I think, out of all the investments Microsoft makes that are outside of the core operating system asset, the Xbox 360 is the one with the most potential promise.

The news continues to be bad for Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) shareholders. The Wii is slowing down. While it remains a powerful force in gaming hardware, it's just not as compelling in terms of sales as it used to be.

Bloomberg tells the tale. The data for April sales show that the Wii sold less than half as many consoles in the U.S. this year as compared to April of 2008. Last month, the Wii moved 340,000 units. A year ago, the Wii sold over 700,000 units. That's a big difference. Now, don't get to thinking that Nintendo has now given up its crown. The Wii still outsells both the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 in domestic locations.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) has a lot of great franchises. Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft ... these brands are very valuable to shareholders. But there's one franchise in particular that could use a little help in the buzz department. And according to a recent press release from the publisher, that's exactly what it will be getting via a fresh reboot.

The Tony Hawk skateboarding games have been very popular. Unfortunately, you don't hear about the franchise that much anymore (well, I don't, at least). All we hear about is the Guitar Hero series of games. As a shareholder in Activision Blizzard, I'm hoping that this situation will soon change for the better. When Tony Hawk: RIDE is released this fall, it will use a special skateboard controller that will supposedly make the gaming experience completely new and unquestionably exciting.

It's been a busy week for video-game investors. Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) reported earnings on Thursday. Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) also came out with numbers. In addition to those two, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and THQ (NASDAQ: THQI) both published their respective results as well. It's interesting to see how the market has reacted to the stats.

EA successfully scored a beat on the bottom line. On an adjusted basis, EA posted a loss of $0.37 per share. The analyst community thought that a $0.43 per-share loss was possible. Not bad. It was reported that EA has been aggressively cutting costs to improve its situation.

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), a video-game publisher that competes with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), and Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), reported some cool first-quarter numbers on Thursday after the bell. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 8 cents per share. According to analysts, Activision Blizzard was only supposed to do around 5 cents per share.

Not only was the bottom line solid, but revenues on an adjusted basis also came in ahead of expectations. And you can thank the usual suspects for powering up the quarter. You've got Call of Duty. You've got Guitar Hero. You've got World of Warcraft. These best-of-breed franchises are selling a lot of copies on Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3, Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360, and Nintendo's (OTC: NTDOY) Wii.

This source says that Nintendo's quarterly operating income plunged more than 40%. The forecast for the year was likewise troubling. Nintendo believes its profit may drop 12%. This guidance was worse than expected. We've talked here before about Nintendo perhaps seeing a slowdown in the Wii fad. We've also discussed the issue of currency pressures. According to this article, the problems caused by the yen might be abating somewhat.