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The Xbox 360 scored its 15th month in a row as the top-selling gaming console, NPD reported yesterday.

With a 42 percent chunk of all console sales, Microsoft sold 371,000 Xbox 360 units last month. Total spending on Xbox hardware, software, and accessories hit $430 million, more than was spent on Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii combined.

Among the top 10 games last month, five of them were Xbox titles: Mass Effect 3, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, NBA 2K12, SSX, and Major League Baseball 2K12.

As usual, the rest of the video game industry was down … Read more

The Xbox 360 continues to be a bright spot in a sluggish gaming market.

Grabbing more than 42 percent of all console sales, the popular platform scored 426,000 in unit sales last month, according to Microsoft.

Xbox aficionados shelled out a total of $383 million in February on hardware, software, and accessories--the most amount spent for any gaming console.

For the month, 5 of the top 10 games in the U.S. were aimed at the Xbox, including Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, UFC Undisputed, NBA 2K12, and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Nintendo saw … Read more

Assassin's Creed III will mark the series debut on a Nintendo home system.

Ubisoft today confirmed that the next installment in its stealth action series is in development for the Wii U in addition to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The game is due for release October 30.

Set during the American Revolution, Assassin's Creed III features a new protagonist with a mixed Native America-English heritage. Named Ratohnhaké:ton but going by Connor, the hero of Assassin's Creed III will inject himself into the ongoing struggle between the Templars and the Assassins.

The game is being built by Ubisoft Montreal and six collaborating studios on a new engine called Ubisoft-AnvilNext. The publisher is promising "breakthroughs in visual quality, character models, and artificial intelligence" thanks to AnvilNext.

Read more of "Assassin's Creed III confirmed for Wii U," and see the new trailer at GameSpot.… Read more

It seemed like the perfect setup--give kids video games that would motivate them to get off the couch and start moving. Not only would they have fun, they would also get healthier.

However, these high hopes may have been wishful thinking. According to a new study by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, kids given "active" video games showed no more overall physical exertion than kids who used only their thumbs to play.

"There was no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general, or at anytime, than children receiving the … Read more

Hulu Plus subscribers can now access the service on the Nintendo Wii videogame console.

The partnership will offer Hulu Plus subscribers more ways to watch their streaming video on their TVs.

That's the knock on Hulu Plus and Amazon right now. Netflix, the No. 1 Web video-rental service, is compatible with many more devices. I should say that's one of the knocks. The big criticism of Hulu Plus is that managers charge the same $8 price for its streaming video but then force advertisements on viewers. But that's for another story.

When it comes to hardware, Hulu … Read more

To celebrate Mark Zuckerberg maybe possibly loosening his death grip on Facebook, Karyne and I give you a little Econ 101 lesson.

Kidding! No we don't. All I learned in Econ 101 was that there is apparently no such thing as a free lunch (then what was that pizza I just found abandoned in the kitchen and ate, hmm?) and that the more scarce a thing is, the more money it will cost.

But scarcity might explain why unvested stocks of Facebook have been some of the highest valued and most traded on SecondMarket--a market to trade stocks in … Read more

Nintendo announces an online gaming network, Twitter censorship stirs up protest, and Facebook is expected to make its stock market launch this week.

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

During an investor assembly this week, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced the Nintendo Network, marking the first time the company has attempted to streamline its online gaming effort in a way that promises a consistent and reliable experience across all platforms, all while delivering the content and features that gamers have grown to expect.

It's no secret that Nintendo has struggled with its online presence and follow-through since the launch of the Wii and DSi, attempting to navigate the fragile balance of a younger-skewing demographic and the inherent dangers of online gaming and interaction.

Unfortunately these real-world issues mean nothing to the average gamer, who has had to deal with 16-digit friend codes, access limitations, and shoddy presentation, not to mention several name iterations that include almost every combination of the words "Wii," "DSi," "Shop," "Store," and "Channel."… Read more

As the case for Web censorship moves forward, Twitter announced today that it'll soon block tweets on a countrywide basis when they violate local restrictions, so we can look forward to our government making it illegal for Nickelback to fight back against their Twitter haters.

We're surprised that some Google users are upset about the company's new "streamlined" privacy policies--don't they know that Google knows more about you than your own mother?… Read more