"You see it all the time in eBay game listings. "RARE!!!" Of course, this being the internet, it's usually part of the full listing "GEARS OF WAR FOR XBOX 360 – RARE!!!" but occasionally, it's justified. Here we take a look at the different types of retro games and some of the crazy prices they're going for.

The popular desirables
These are the games that sold by the shedload in their day, so hardly count as 'rare' yet still seem to fetch a high price on eBay. Such as…

Final Fantasy VII..."

"You want a single man's fortunes by which you can gauge the current success of Nintendo? Look no further than former chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi, who in the past three years has gone from being Japan's 11th-richest man, to it's 3rd-richest man, to now it's richest man. That's what happens when you own mountains of Nintendo stock, and said stock goes through the roof. While there's been no reports of Yamauchi smashing any marble tables over the news, he is expected to spend at least some of his ..."

"General consensus around the industry recently has tipped the imminent arrival of a new DS, whether it's a new model of the existing machine in a GBA SP sort of way, or an entirely new 'DS 2'.

We contacted Nintendo for a comment and they gave us more than the usual 'rumour and speculation' answer. Which was...

"No announcement has been made by Nintendo and everything reported online is pure speculation and rumour. Our hardware development team always work on the next product after we la..."

"Developer-publisher Midway has taken another loss for the fiscal first quarter of 2008, the company announced today. The company saw $29.9 million in sales, more than twice its performance for the same period last year, but nonetheless, Midway's first quarter net losses were $34 million, while it lost much less - $19.8 million - in 2007's first quarter.

The sluggish performance can be credited to the fact Midway had only one U.S. release during the quarter - an expansion pack for Strangleh..."

THQ has been as successful last year with its Nickelodeon titles (Spongebob, Avatar, etc) as Nintendo was with its DS, taking in over one billion in sales. Obviously happy about it, executive VP of digital media for Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Steve Youngwood left a comment for the press:

"THQ's interactive video games based on our hit shows have continued to help Nickelodeon maintain its position as a leader in gaming entertainment for the family, and we look forward to the addition ...

"TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp's (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld game gear outsold Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) DS portable player more than 2-to-1 in Japan in April, game magazine publisher Enterbrain said.

But in the console market, Nintendo sold five times as many Wii machines as Sony's PlayStation 3 (PS3) in the four weeks through April 27, an Enterbrain report dated Thursday showed.

PSP sales came to 380,867 units, beatin..."

"We're a bit disappointed by this week's ELSPA piracy raid. We went in expecting the pirate-chinning ELSPA Anti-Piracy Unit, wicked raid names like 'operation buzzard' and a dirty pirate who ends up getting 20 years in prison, and an appointment with a bag of pool balls for MESSING with the APU.

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All we've got this week though is the West Yorkshire police, who's boasting about nicking two blokes selling copied games in the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford. Badass.

I..."

""While the Entertainment Software Association remains the preeminent voice for U.S. computer and video game publishers, we can confirm that Activision and Vivendi Games opted to discontinue their membership. The ESA remains dedicated to advancing our industry's objectives such as protecting intellectual property, preserving First Amendment rights, and fostering a beneficial environment for the entire industry. Our high level of service and value to members and the larger industry remains unch..."

Today VGChartz have released updates on the worldwide sales for each console. This info reveals the Wii on roughly 24.7 million sales, the 360 on 18.4 million and finally the PS3 on 12 million. Which is massive boost of two million since last reported

""I am also aware of the [Microsoft Wiimote] rumour and have seen a fake image made by a fan on the web which looks like a Wii Remote with the rumour that such a controller may be launched, However there is no way for us to comment on such speculations."

“All I can say today is, it is not that easy to develop software which leverages the characteristics of the Wii Remote. We are not concerned about what other companies may do but rather more concerned with presenting them with new ideas to ..."

"BLOCKBUSTER also plans on increasing the variety of game titles available to rent, and will be introducing Nintendo DS game rentals at BLOCKBUSTER locations nation-wide. You will also be able to purchase Nintendo DS games, hardware and accessories later this year."

"A NEW futuristic line of poker machines with Xbox-style graphics will rake in a younger generation of gamblers according to experts.

The hi-tech machines will use better graphics and interactive technology to appeal to junior punters and will be designed to be as versatile as a home computer.

The plan for more sophisticated, hi-tech pokies was canvassed at a recent Future Trends in Gaming conference in Queensland, where major industry organisations outlined their vision to attract you..."

"Satoru Iwata has confirmed that there are no plans to cut the price of either the DS or Wii in the considerable future.

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"Our earnings projection for the year is not based on hardware price cuts, and I don't think we are going to need them," he said at analyst meeting (according to Reuters).

It's hardly surprising, considering that Nintendo has recently had to increase its production and is still finding it hard to meet demand in America."

So the rumours of of an official Slim or Lite PS3 are still unknown. But there is lighter and more efficient PS3 coming. In this edition the heat will sink in different parts. The graphics card and CPU will be cooled by different heat sinks, which differs from the original versions only having one big heat sink. This results in the heat sink weighing 350g, whereas the two previous PS3 versions weighed 700g and 500g.

Go!View was the video service unveiled for the PSP. The program will work in with Sky and allow PSP users to download and watch programs and films on your PSP. It's to be launched in the Summer and will be the first PSP download service in Europe. The content will also be able to be arranged into your TV content according to the company. There has be no content, prices or release dates yet. Though i wonder if it will be released outside of Europe to work in with other countries.

Insomniac creators of both the Ratchet and Clank and Resistance franchises has recently made a odd announcement. Engine director Mike Action has stated that "we really wanted to contribute back to the industry" This is accompanied by the release of the Nocturnal Initiative, which is a toolbox apparently aiding in the construction of a game engine. Mike Action also encourages other developers to share there tech as well, that together they can make the game industry better for everyone.

"The EU executive has powers to propose legislation, but decided to give the sector two years to come up with a code of conduct that has wider industry backing than the current one. The industry is also being asked to spend more on advertising its symbols denoting the age suitability of games.

"When children go out to play today they enter the world of joysticks. We are not quite sure where they go and there is real anxiety from parents," EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva s..."

According to an analyst, Nintendo are having trouble selling games for the Wii due to relying too much on traditional advertisement. A prime example used is Super Smash Bros. Brawl which sold 1.4 units during its first week but the sales have now dropped by about 90%, only selling a measly 100 copies a week within the last few weeks. The analyst said they struggled to advertise in a way which would reach a broader audience. The analyst says advertising on GameInformer and 1up.com isn't enough...

"Starting this month's Gamasutra-exclusive NPD analysis, Jesse Divnich examines whether the U.S. market can sustain multiple console FPSes launching in the same month, examining surprising data on Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Army of Two, and updating on the PS3/Xbox 360 hardware battle.

For individual software units, last month we theorized that the next-generation systems have matured enough that it might be possible for 2 AAA “shooters” to be released in one month on the PS3/Xbox 360, with li..."

In a Business Week poll regarding the world's most innovative companies, readers voted Microsoft #5, Nintendo #7, and Sony #9; this is the first time all three have made it into the top 10.

Some interesting mentions: Apple and Google claimed the top two spots, Wal-Mart hit #23, Facebook #25, McDonald's #30, Starbucks #32, and News Corp. (Myspace, Fox, etc.) #43.

Activision have announced that they will be closing there Foster City Studio (formerly known as Z-Axis) at the end of May with as a result of this 45 members of staff losing there jobs though Activision are trying to help them find another within the company. The Groups is more known for such games as Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX and Aggressive Inline series as well as Quake Wars that will be hitting the stores for the Playstation 3 on May 27th for North America and May 30th for Europe and Austra...

Remember how we said The Sims series has sold over 100 million units globally? DS software in Japan alone has matched that mark, effectively meaning nearly every person in the country (there are 127,433,494 of them) has at least one DS game -- talk about a gaming culture!

March's NPD numbers are in, and boy are they a shocker. As always, many thanks to the NPD Group and sonycowboy at NeoGAF for reporting and the actual numbers.

The numbers can be found in the quote.

In regards to hardware sales, the Wii sales are astounding, taking into account that there was only one blockbuster release in March, that being Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Looking at the February NPD, the DS and the Wii both shot up from the previous month. The other systems kept relatively ...

If there is any hope for Take-Two to certainly avoid acquisition by EA, it is if the Federal Trade Commission sees it themselves as an anti-competitive move. EA's hostile takeover deadline, which has been extended from April 12, is tonight for Take-Two's shareholders to make a decision in which Take-Two is also to hold its annual meeting. The Federal Trade Commission is seeking information from EA and investigating any anti-competitive issues involving EA's merger bid. Representatives at EA h...

Looks like the rumour isn't true about Nintendo upgrading the DS. Speaking in response to Enterbrain's chief Hirokazu Hamamura's comments about having "insider info" on the redesign, Nintendo Japan's head of PR flat-out denied it:

"We cannot comment on the specifics of what will be announced at E3, but at the very least there won't be anything like what Mr. Hamamura suggested, so would like to clearly deny this. We're having a hard time understanding what kind of evidence [Mr. Hamamura] ha...