U.S. gamers spent about the same amount of money on video games last year as they did in 2009, even as sales of consoles and other hardware took a plunge. Purchases of physical game discs slid 5%, in spite of the record-breaking success of "Call of Duty: Black Ops," but downloadable and social-network games made up the difference.
Sears Holdings has become the latest retailer to launch an online movie-download service. The owner of Sears and Kmart is using the same delivery platform as Best Buy, Sonic Solutions's RoxioNow. Will Sears's new service deliver anything more than a "me too"?
Sales of digitally-downloaded video games are surging this year as cashed-strapped gamers buy fewer new titles from retailers in favor of cheaper games that may be purchased online. Game downloads saw a 37% rise in the first six months of 2010.
Pink Floyd won a key ruling against EMI Thursday that could end the sale of its single tracks online. The decision is seen as a win for artist control against record labels.
