One of the more heated issues in the video game industry right now is the thrust of some studios to fight video game rentals and second hand game sales. GameStop tosses in its two cents saying that this will only end up hurting gamers, and even sales of new games.

Earlier this month, comScore found that the Nintendo Wii was the most popular item in UK search engines, which is why it doesn't really come as all that surprising that the console has turned out to be the most popular item on UK's eBay. Read how the handhelds and other consoles fared in the full article.

It looks like another high profile game has slipped the noose and found its way to Wal-Mart once again. This time it's Harmonix's Rock Band that saw its scheduled November 20 release date broken.

Darklor, a member of the official Rock Band forums, reported buying a copy of Rock Band from a Wal-Mart branch in New York.

Read the entire article right after the jump!

Kotaku has put up an autographed Xbox 360 Guitar Hero guitar from Penny Arcade Expo on Ebay. The proceeds of this auction will be donated to Child's Play, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games. The guitar was signed by various people including Tycho, Gabe, and the makers of Guitar Hero.

More details and information about this in the Full Article.

Master Chief is not only saving humanity but the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) as well. In case you haven't heard yet, Microsoft is currently running an auction for the newly released behemoth FPS Halo 3 from Bungie Studios. What's in store is the so-called Ultimate Halo 3 Package containing:

• The only Xbox 360 Limited Edition Halo 3 console that has been personally signed by Bill Gates.
• The only Limited Edition Halo 3 Zune 30GB media player personally signed by J. Allard.
• The entire Halo Trilogy: Two copies of Halo 3 (Legendary Edition and Standard Edition), plus the Halo Triple Pack for Xbox (Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack)
•  Xbox 360 HD DVD player.
• Rare special aluminum storage case with over US$ 400 worth of accessories (two Limited Edition Halo 3 Wireless Controllers with an exclusive Todd McFarlane Collectible Figurine, Messenger Kit, HDMI AV cable, extra 120GB hard drive, and a Halo 3 T-shirt).

For tax purposes, the total retail value of the said package amounts to a staggering US$ 2,000. The auction is happening on eBay and the last we look, the starting amount has already been up to US$ 2,150. Our Read link below will take you to eBay's page for the Halo 3 auction.

 

Despite CharlieOscarDelta.com's efforts to get everyone who registered into the Beta and the promise of more tokens to be given out in the future, some people still tried to climb the fence. It's been confirmed that Microsoft and Infinity Ward have been banning people who have been taking advantage of a glitch to get into the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Beta.

The glitch worked (past tense), by giving someone who has a Beta token (under your gamertag, for instance), and letting them download it partway. When they abandon it on their console you'll find the game on your "recent downloads" list on your console, allowing you to download it yourself. It's effective enough to have some people sell the service over in eBay.

Watch out for the release if the Beta wasn't enough for you. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows PC) will be released on November 5.



Buy: [Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3)]
Buy: [Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)]
Buy: [Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360)]

Accompanying BioShock's (for Xbox 360 and PC) imminent release are limited edition BioShock Xbox 360 faceplates given to BioShock community members and random gaming store employees. The BioShock Xbox 360 faceplates are only limited to 5100 kits, and some those who were lucky enough to snag one are now putting them up on eBay, fetching at least US$ 100.

The kit contains a BioShock-themed faceplate, a lanyard, a BioShock XBLA theme pack code card, as well as a pamphlet. While US$ 100 may seem a bit too pricey for just a faceplate with a lanyard and theme pack thrown in, it seems that many collectors and BioShock fans are still eager to get one of these rare items: the highest bid for a BioShock faceplate kit as of this writing is US$ 152.20.

Missed out on the Comic-Con event, and an opportunity win one of Microsoft's 300-themed Xbox 360 Elites? In case you're looking for a second chance to pick up one of these 10 beauties, we've picked up word that one of the lucky winners has decided to offer up his/her prize over at eBay.

This auction is expected to last until Aug-07-07 18:30:00 PDT, while the auctioneer (aka khazara!) also appears to have mostly positive feedback over at the auction site, and further explained the mechanics of the contest this console was won from. The offer seems legit, although we warn potential buyers that the current bid stands at US$ 630.00. Expensive? This...is...EBay!

 

Die-hard fans of the long-running satire series "The Simpsons"? Here's some good and bad news for you: Good news is that Microsoft churned out The Simpsons Movie-themed Xbox 360s. The bad news is that there's only a hundred out there, and they will be distributed to special promotions (read: you have to win one in a contest to get one of these babies).

Sad? Don't be. There's currently a Homer-fied Xbox 360 floating in eBay, still up for grabs. So far the current bid as of this writing is US$ 4,000.11 - no price cuts here, folks. But the idea of getting a The Simpsons-themed Xbox 360 will be very much worth it; you will have the chance to shout, "D'oh!" if the ring of death strikes again.

  

Check out the Via link to bid!

It's common knowledge that the Christmas holidays are very important for boosting market sales. This also applies to the gaming industry, as Paul Hochman of Today notes. He writes that the big three console makers will be having some problems this holiday season, facing their "biggest shakeup in years," due to some deficiencies on each console maker's part.

For the Xbox 360, Hochman cites its persistent problem of product malfunctions - the now-infamous Red Ring of Death - something that Microsoft is scrambling to fix with an allocated US$ 1 billion budget and an extended 3-year-warranty. Microsoft also advised customers to wait at least one week while their console is being repaired.

In Nintendo Wii's case, all seems peachy for the console. However, there's one spot that Nintendo hasn't managed to fully fix, and that's undersupply.

With an almost chronic case of undersupply, the quest for a Nintendo Wii usually involves the following inconveniences: queuing up in long lines in Best Buy once a fresh stock becomes available, getting overpriced Wiis on eBay, and limiting the allowance of sales to one console per buying group. This problem has prompted an apology from Nintendo's CEO Satoru Iwata, who promised to use Nintendo's Mario video game factory for Wii production.

Finally, Hochman cited the PS3's current underperformance, saying that Sony's PS3 trailed behind and sold only about 90,000 units in June, compared to Xbox 360's 198,000 and the Wii's strong 435,000. He also mentioned that Sony loses about US$ 300 every time a PS3 console is sold, with the total estimated loss of US$ 2 billion for the fiscal year that ended in March.

For those wondering why Sony is willing to take such losses, there is a reason behind that: According to Hochman, when Sony's Blu-ray wins the format wars and becomes the sought-after format for home viewing - partly with the help of the PS3 - then the PS3 losses will be more than worth it.

Check out Hochman's take on each of the console's good points in the Full Article!