The NPD has released its US video game industry figures for October, which reveal that total monthly revenue from hardware, software and accessories among all manufacturers fell to $1.07 billion, constituting a 19 percent drop from what the American gamer spent over the same period last year. After being toppled from its chart-leading ways in September by a price cut-boosted PS3, the Wii has regained its sales throne by chopping $50 off its own entry fee, making itself buoyant in the US, if not the world. The PS3's own sales have suffered a slump after the September euphoria, while the 360 is still wearing the dunce cap in third place. Microsoft's response has been to keep banging that drum about being the only console to show year-to-date growth, but when you're selling less than half as many consoles as Nintendo, you have to grasp at whatever straws are nearby. Speaking of Nintendo, its DS sales so far this year have continued at such a rate as to threaten its own 2008 hardware sales record -- set by the Wii -- with ten million units sold. So there you have it: Sony fails to maintain its September lead, Nintendo keeps churning, and Microsoft keeps hoping for better times ahead. Full list of figures after the break.

Read - Wii regains hardware top spot following US price cut
Read - Xbox 360 leads in year-to-date growth
Read - DS poised to break US hardware records

Live Sky TV viewing via Xbox 360 didn't make it into the most recent dashboard update, readers report page 17 of the network's most recent SkyMag indicates it will arrive around mid-October. Additional details flesh out what's available, while all Xbox Live Gold members (in the appropriate areas) will get access to the Sky Player similar to the PC implementation, you will need a Sky subscription with the appropriate channels to view sports and movie content. Look out for more updates at the skyplayer.com/xbox360 site, while those of us beyond the network's reach wonder whether we can expect other features like Twitter (you're following us, right?) Facebook and 1080p instant-on movie streaming to arrive at roughly the same time.

[Thanks, David]

We don't know exactly how to say this without overloading your nerd subsystem, but this R2D2 unit packs eight consoles, an integrated sound system and a projector for throwing your Jet Grind Radio sessions onto a wall. The only extras you'll need are the masses of controllers you see above and the steady constitution to not erupt into geek euphoria. Popular Science reader Brian De Vitis is the man you have to thank for this splicing of console goodness, and he's been kind enough to also provide a picture of the R2's mobo-laden innards. It awaits just past the break.

[Via Hack N Mod]

Dubbing itself "the industry's sole bright spot in 2009," Microsoft has spun some depressing console sale decline numbers from NPD into a self-congratulating piece on the Xbox 360's singular success this year. Through the first seven months of 2009 the console has shown 17 percent growth, despite July's losses for the Big Three's respective slabs of home hardware. Microsoft also points out that the 360 has been the number one platform for third-party sales through the entire year. Of course, this is nothing Sony can't rectify with a bit of dirt cheap PS3 Slim magic, right? Right? Nintendo meanwhile probably can't hear Microsoft's bragging through the thick, cash-lined vaults it's built for itself off the back of ceaseless peripheral sales.

Finally, your lovingly prepared SNES model is getting some well-heeled new friends to hang out with. Cubeecraft is a website wholly dedicated to the paper-based recreation of cultural icons, and it's prepared a pair of exquisitely detailed clones of the NES and Dreamcast. While some such projects might require patience and finesse, putting together the above templates doesn't even ask for any glue or tape. So what are you waiting for, grab your scissors and run to the links below for full 150dpi printouts -- just be sure to make the time for some imaginary Contra action afterwards.

[Via Technabob]

Read - NES cutout
Read - DC cutout

In one of the more unexpected developments from NAB 2009, Qtv is pushing its streaming media player platform for consoles. Not an altogether radical idea we know, but what's different here is a plan to launch first on the PlayStation 2 and move to newer hardware later. From the makers of the Qcast technology behind the GameShark Media Player, Qtv includes YouTube and access to streaming video from other sources, plus pictures, music and video (DivX, h.264, XviD & more) from USB devices or networked computers. The PS2 may not be the first HD set-top box we thought of, it does have the highest installed base. The Qtv player launches later this year and will be available on Mac and PC as well for "less than $50," although thanks to the free 30-day trial the hardest part may be remembering where we left our PS2s.

This may look like a beloved iMac, but make no mistake, it's just a shell of its former self. CGCC forum member Logicdustbin decided to gut the all-in-one and replace its innards with a Sega Dreamcast and 15-inch LCD monitor. The result? The iCast, a beautiful homage to simpler times. Hit up the video after the break to see this Fronk-en-shteen in action, playing a game that'll assuredly prepare our children for a post-apocalyptic world.

[Via hack a day]

The last time we heard someone proclaim the death of the game console, it was EA's head of international distribution saying that an open gaming platform distributed within cable and satellite set-top boxes would take over within 15 years -- a prediction at which we laughed pretty heartily, given that most cable companies can't even manage to get a functional DVR out the door. So it's fairly surprising to hear the former VP of Xbox Europe make the exact same prediction, and bump up the timeline pretty dramatically: Sandy Duncan, who was with MS for 15 years, recently said that dedicated game devices "will die in the next five to 10 years," and that "most of this stuff will be 'virtualized' as web services by your content provider." Of course, Duncan's now with YoYo Games, which is a web-based gaming company, so he might be a little biased, but there's truth in his statement that the console gaming market is risky and that launch costs of new hardware are incredibly high. Still, as Duncan should know first-hand, it's an investment that can definitely pay off, and we think consumers are always going to demand choice and quality -- two things that aren't exactly synonymous with cable and satellite hardware.

[Via GameDaily]

So there are video game console auctions, and then there are video game console auctions. This one would definitely fall into the latter category, boasting "Über 90 Telespielkonsolen" (over 90 video game consoles) and encompassing most of the glorious achievements and glorious failures of the video game industry. Sure fire winners include a Magnavox Odyssey, Virtual Boy, Neo Geo Pocket, Intellivision and Atari Lynx, with a NES clone thrown in there for good measure. In fact, the collection could probably be better defined by what's not included, which other than the exception of current-gen consoles is not a whole dang lot. Make sure you peep the read link for all bazillion consoles from their various angles, and if you've got a few grand laying around -- and can stomach the shipping cost from Hamburg -- why not give it a shot?

This whole PS3 delay game has really become something of an amusing sideshow at this point: after so much bad press concerning nearly every single aspect of the console, you'd think that Sony would do everything possible to ensure that things run smoothly from here until launch, and yet word on the street is that Europe may be victim to still another postponement. It should be noted we have no independent confirmation of the following information, but Spanish gaming site MeriStation is reporting that Ken Kutaragi recently admitted that supply problems for Japan and North America could force the European PS3 launch to be delayed until May -- which would mean that Japanese and American consumers might have their systems nearly six months before the eager gamers in the rest of the world. Now keep in mind that Kutaragi also supposedly said that Sony has not modified its European launch plans at this time, so right now we're only looking at a "what if" scenario. Still, this rollout has been plagued with nothing but problems since day one, and as much as we'd like to see Sony pull this one off considering the shaky condition it's currently in, we're starting to think that these little issues and public gaffes may add up to big problems.

[Thanks, Mercenary]

Press releases are boring. We go through literally hundreds of them a day, and for the most part, they're self-serving documents full of half-truths and inflated claims about products and services. So imagine our delight when we stumbled upon this little doozy of a release from marketing firm Ipsos Insight, which details a study done on behalf of the Immersion Corporation concerning gamers' preferences and purchasing plans with regards to the trio of next-generation consoles. You probably remember Immersion as the company that successfully sued Sony over the use of computer-controlled vibration technology in its PlayStation and PS2 Dual Shock controllers, and since Sony has apparently neither paid Immersion the $90 million it owes nor licensed the rumble tech for its SIXAXIS PS3 gamepads, the release comes across as a thinly-veiled reminder that gamers really, really like playing with input devices that shake and buzz in their sweaty hands.

Not only does the (completely unbiased) poll report that 72% of the 1,075 respondents agree vibration feedback enhances their game experience, it goes on to note that 59% of those surveyed would prefer rumble on the PS3 controller, while only 8% care about motion / tilt sensing (sorry, Nintendo). As if these numbers didn't paint a clear enough picture of the message Immersion is trying to convey, two further questions spell it out even more explicitly: when asked if the lack of rumble capabilities would affect their buying decisions (apparently 74% of those polled weren't even aware of the "no rumble" policy -- clearly no Engadget readers amongst that bunch), 5% said that it would definitely cause them not to buy a PS3 and 32% claimed that they were less likely to pick one up for this reason and this reason alone. Now obviously Immersion knew exactly the results that it wanted before it conducted this "study," and probably phrased the questions in order to get the most desirable data set, but even non-statistics majors like ourselves could have figured out that gamers accustomed to the fun of Dual Shock would be in for a letdown the first time they picked up a rumble-free SIXAXIS controller.

Okay, Sony, the cards are on the table, and even if these numbers are skewed, you know full well that you can't be the only player in the game without a little vibration action going on. So what's it gonna be: are you going to keep hoping that some appeals court finally overturns the numerous prior decisions against you, or are you going to shell out some dough just like Microsoft and Nintendo did, and finally give the majority of your target audience what it wants? To us, it doesn't really seem like much of a choice at all.

With next-gen console news being released at such a fast and furious pace these days, it's starting to feel a little bit like Joystiq around here, so instead of reporting and analyzing every little snippet of new information in separate posts, we've rounded up the latest and greatest PS3 revelations into one tight bit of prose. Since pricing is such an important issue to most consumers, we'll start there -- but unfortunately, the news ain't good. You probably already heard that those lucky gamers in Japan will be able to pick up their 20GB boxes for the equivalent of $428, but despite all the hoping and praying you've been doing, Kaz Hirai has reaffirmed that the recent price cuts apply to Japan only -- though he threw the rest of the world something of a bone when he also announced that everyone will be getting an HDMI port on his/her low-end system. Speaking of high prices, Impress is citing "multiple sources" in predicting that most Japanese PS3 games will cost in the neighborhood of ¥8,800 to ¥9,800, which is between $75 and $85 here in America -- ouch, that's like a whole month's allowance for us, and well above the going rate for 360 games. As long as we're dwelling on the negatives, we should also mention that not only will HDMI cables be absent from the box, both Hirai and Ken Kutaragi are leaning away from even including component action with either package. Now on to the good stuff (sorry, there's not much). First of all, it's been confirmed that all PS3 games will indeed ship region-free (though it's up to the developers to code in multilingual support, and Blu-ray movies will remain region-locked) and secondly, the inclusion of Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD (7.1 channels) is a done deal. Finally, and perhaps least importantly after all these downers, is the fact that the Wii-inspired, rumble-free controller has officially been dubbed "SIXAXIS" -- though without the shakin' action, we imagine that many of you could care less what they chose to call it. Anyway, that's all for now from the exciting PS3 frontier, but keep your broswer tuned to this channel, as we'll have just a little more Sony-related amusement for you later today.

Read- No price drop [Via Gamesindustry.biz]
Read- Japanese game speculation [Via IGN]
Read- Region-free, no component [Via PS3 Fanboy]
Read- SIXAXIS
Read- Dolby

As much as we would have loved to devote the entire day to Wii-related goings-on, we also had some other important business to attend to; and besides, there are several blogs out there that are much better at covering gaming minutiae than ourselves. Still, amongst all the hustle and bustle of product announcements, press conferences, and rumor mongering, there were a few tidbits of info that seemed to fall by the wayside, so we thought it was only right to wrap those up into one tidy, bite-size post. Perhaps the biggest "non-news" of the day, so to speak, is that Wii has lost the DVD playback functionality that had been promised in earlier-speced versions of the console -- and the reasoning behind it kind of makes sense, as one less feature supposedly brought down the price of the console, and everyone already has a DVD player to begin with. On a more positive note, we also learned that at least Nintendo-produced discs -- and perhaps third party titles as well -- will be region-free, meaning that if you live in the US but have a hankering for one of those crazy, nonsensical Japanese cooking / weight loss / "thinking" games, all ya gotta do is import. Wanna learn more? Keep on reading...