Florida's Ban on Slot-Like Games Shuts Hundreds of Parlors
Up to 1,000 strip-mall parlors where people play slot-like computer games are now illegal in Florida, with the governor signing a ban following a federal investigation.
Up to 1,000 strip-mall parlors where people play slot-like computer games are now illegal in Florida, with the governor signing a ban following a federal investigation.
Two hundred-fifty million people play games on Facebook each month, which could help the social network find a way to monetize its vast platform of more than one billion users.
Next week, Sony will unveil the PlayStation 4, and it's not just Sony that needs it to be a hit. After a soft sales start for Nintendo's Wii U, and Microsoft's risky plan for the Xbox 720, the whole gaming world should be rooting for the PS4.
Judging from the gaming news coming out of this year's Consumer Electronics Show, console gaming, like PC computing, is a relic of a sunset era. Get ready for gaming in the cloud.
Nintendo has sold 400,000 Wii U consoles since the system's Nov. 18 launch, plus another 300,000 original Wii units last week. But Microsoft is still the gaming king: Its Xbox 360 outsold both systems combined, moving 750,000 consoles during the Black Friday holiday weekend.
In the latest move in a months-long battle between Japanese pachinko tycoon Kazuo Okada and American casino owner Steve Wynn, Okada has filed a $140 million lawsuit against Wynn, claiming that the actions of his former friend and business partner damaged his company, Universal Entertainment.
It's time to begin tossing around the virtual pigskin again. Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 13 hit stores on Tuesday. In an industry that has suffered three years of brutal declines, its a rare cause for a celebration -- and the industry doesn't want you to forget it.
If you thought Vegas was where the big gamblers went to play, you're behind the times. Sin City has been blown past by another exotic destination once infamous for corruption and mob activity. But you probably won't be heading there to play baccarat any time soon.
Even as investors reel from the stock-market roller coaster this week, Wall Street is moving on, with plenty of news on the way. Next week will bring headlines about retail and gaming earnings, as well as quarterly reports from News Corp., SodaStream and some newly public Chinese firms.
Las Vegas Sands benefits from being more geographically diversified than its major competitors. With a casino resort presence that spans the U.S., Macau and Singapore, LVS is a strong player that can ride out local downturns, and one stock analysis firm thinks its stock is undervalued by 10% to 15%.
Microsoft soundly beat its 2010 sales forecast for the Kinect, a motion-sensor device that enables players to use body movements -- instead of controllers -- to play games on the Xbox console.
Given recent valuations for the likes of Zynga, you'd think investors would be frothing at the mouth for any IPOs in this sector. But only a few players look serious about going public soon, and investors aren't putting as much pressure on them to jump as you'd expect.
Activision Blizzard's shares fell after the video-game maker forecast that 2011 sales would fall short of analysts' estimates and announced that it would cease creating Guitar Hero games because of lackluster sales.
Electronic Arts says its fiscal third-quarter net loss widened as revenue fell, but adjusted results surpassed Wall Street's expectations -- and an optimistic outlook and stock buyback plan helped push its shares higher.












