According to recent marketing GameStop received, they will be allowed to sell Gears of War early! I quote:

"Since Gears of War is not street dated, you may begin to sell the game as soon as it hits your stores on 11/8."

We have known for some time now that the game shipped on the 7th. However, this news is new to us, and is great news!

It is no secret that Sony has been losing a lot of money in their gaming department since they decided to enter the market with the PS1. Two class action lawsuits, enourmous production costs, and the failure of the PSP serve to hurt them, not help them.

Today, some new news arises that may mean Sony could file for bankruptcy.

First, let's talk about the raw numbers. If you look at the following picture, you can see a graph of Sony's cumulative losses directly from Sony's investor relations.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20061019/sony04.jpg

Basically, this is a work-up of Sony's cumulative losses for the year and into the next year:

PS3 semiconductor production delay loss : $330 million
PS3 Japan price drop loss : $160 million
PS3 HDMI inclusion loss : $140 million
SCEI's present platform loss(namely PSP) : $300 million
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SCEI's total new loss : $930 million
SCEI's already accounted PS3 loss : $1.8 billion
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Total SCEI loss by March 31st 2007 : $2.73 billion

Next, let's talk about a pending lawsuit between Sony and Microsoft. Sony recently announced that the 360 core unit REQUIRED the HD-DVD drive to even work. Microsoft took offense to this and is taking this matter to court. This defamation and misrepresentation suit could cost Sony millions more. FYI, lawsuits of this kind are common, and usually happen between competing products like automobiles, laundry detergents, and food stuffs.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/10/19/sony-claims-xbox-360-requires-hd-dvd-etc-thus-costs-700/

Finally, let's talk about Sony's confidence in their own product. Today, IGN reports that Sony is unsure if they can even meet the already reduced shipment allocations, touting "obvious production issues" as the reasoning.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/740/740720p1.html

Now rumors hit the net that Sony may even delay the PS3 until next year so they can have a stronger launch, both with better titles and more systems on the shelves. This would also allow the Nintendo hype to die down a bit. This is as of yet unconfirmed, but at this point would be the smartest move Sony could make.

Stay tuned as we cover this story.

Yes folks, you heard that correctly. CNN reports that actor Wesley Snipes is now a wanted man. He was brought up on federal tax evasion charges today, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. He could do anywhere between 16-40 years in prison if convicted!

Wesley is nowhere to be found, however it is expected that he will turn himself in tomorrow. Stay tuned for more on this breaking story!

Discuss this in our fourms:

http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/thread.php?forumid=127505&threadid=993861

We have received info that Wii and PS3 kiosks are on their way to stores, some arriving as early as tomorrow! Look for these kiosks at your local Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and GameStop/EB stores, but be sure to call them first to make sure it has arrived. Different locations and chains may receive them on different days, though they are all expected to be in place and running playable demos by the end of next week at the latest!

A local BestBuy in my area says that they expect their PS3 tomorrow when their Sony rep arrives. They did not know about the Wii, but they had heard it was coming very soon.

To see what the kiosks look like, and find out more about them, visit the link below to our previous coverage!

http://rated-m.blogspot.com/2006/09/exclusive-first-look-at-wii-and-ps3.html

For those that don't know, the PSU official sundtrack is FREE! That's right, free! For reserving with GameStop/EBGames, you get the entire 9 track official soundtrack absolutely free. Best part is, you can go pick up the disk now!

Track listing:

1.) Save The World - Orchestra Short Version
2.) Clyez City - Guardians Colony
3.) Holtes City - Parum
4.) Ohtoku City - Neudaiz
5.) Dagora City - Moatoob
6.) Result 01
7.) Result 02
8.) G March - Long Version
9.) Save This World - Vocal

For more on this disk, see your local GameStop or EB store now or click the link below!

Source: http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=B200176A

We recently brought you a first look at the Special Edition for the upcoming Smackdown VS. Raw 07 for XB360. Today, we bring you a first look at the official box art for the Special Edition. We warn you, IT'S UGLY!

So I finally got word back from E-Bay this morning concerning PS3/Wii auctions on E-Bay. Why were they getting pulled? Will they continue to get pulled? Is the 90 day deal with Sony true? We finally got the e-mail we've been waiting for, and now we will share it with you all, along with some of the questions we sent along to them.

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RM: "What can you tell us, if anything about the PS3/Wii situation on E-Bay?"

E-BAY: "I want to first clear up some confusion surrounding the Playstation 3 auctions, as per your questions via e-mail. There is no "90 day deal" between E-Bay and Sony. I understand that many game store employees were told this during meetings of some sort, but it is not entirely true. There is certainly a deal though, but it is not what you think. Sony asked us to cancel PS3 auctions for the sole protection of the consumer. I am sure you are aware of what happened last year with the Xbox 360 console. We didn't stop any auctions, even ones with reservations mind you, and what happened was a disaster. People bought what they thought was an Xbox 360, and instead received a picture of one.

Neither Sony nor E-Bay wanted this to happen this time around. Therefore we came to the agreement that our terms of service be altered in this case. We will be continuously pulling auctions down until launch."

RM: "How come you have allowed some PS3 auctions to go through, and others are cancelled immediately?"

E-BAY: "Quite simply, we were overwhelmed. I'm sure you noticed that when the auctions first started coming up, we pulled every single one of them. Then about mid-day, we were hit with a flood of auctions. Our staff worked very hard to get through them, and still does to this day. The ratio of completed auctions is far lower than the number you mentioned in the e-mail, and we have cancelled about 65% of all the auctions that have been up so far. This is a rough number.

We have put a block on the accounts of nearly a hundred users, and had about that many fraud claims both with us and PayPal. The bans are due to people reposting the console after it has been pulled, and in most cases is unrelated to the fraud claims."

RM: "Have you been to various internet sites that are talking about this situation to see what the public says?

E-BAY: "I personally have not. I can tell you though that colleagues of mine have been to a few popular forums, and the general public is just as misinformed as you were. This is a special case, and the original TOS does not apply here. Between Sony and ourselves, we decided to do it this specific way. For the safety of our consumers, and nothing more, we will continue to pull down a healthy number of auctions every day. Keep in mind also that just because a few auctions make it through, it does not mean it is ok to post them. Our official stance is that placing the PS3 auctions on E-Bay is considered a violation, and they will be removed if we catch them.

Do not place your Playstation 3 reserve on E-Bay. We require that you actually have the console in your possession, and request that you take an original photo of that console with your E-Bay user name in the photo somewhere. Make sure to list your auctions clearly. Auctions will be allowed once the console has been launched, but we will still be watching them very closely to prevent cases of fraud."

RM: "How will Wii auctions be handled?"

E-BAY: "As of yet we are not removing Wii auctions. Nintendo hasn't spoken with us regarding the matter, and we didn't really see the inflation that the PS3 was getting. If you happen to remember, we allowed reserve auctions for almost every console to date, including the Xbox 360. We also allowed reserve auctions for the Elmo TMX as far away as 6 months from it's launch. I will say it again, the Playstation 3 situation is unique within itself. If you are a seller, DO NOT POST IT. If you are a buyer, DO NOT BUY IT. Sellers run the risk of losing their E-Bay account, and buyers run the risk of fraud. Please wait until November 17th to post or buy the Playstation 3."
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So there you have it. Stay tuned as we bring you the freshest news daily!