Kongregate.com is pitching itself as “video games meet YouTube.” YouGame? Whatever the game, the company recently raised one million in venture funding for their ad-supported site. So does Kongregate live up to its ambitions, or did someone use a buzz word (read: YouTube) to raise some Silicon Valley money?

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Sony CEO Howard Stringer caused a bit of a stir over the weekend when telling Smarthouse that if the PS3 failed, it would be because the console was positioned “as a premium Mercedes.” Many viewed the statement as a sign of strategic doubt (or economical acknowledgment) behind the PlayStation’s unprecedented $600 purchase price. So what exactly was Stringer trying to communicate? GigaGamez speaks with Sony’s director of corporate communications, Dave Karraker, to try and clear things up.

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In a move that’s sure to inflate the insertion fee of in-game advertising, a new report suggests that the total reach of video games goes beyond that of retail sales numbers. Much like the pass-along factor of print magazines, the research takes into account multi-player game sessions, rentals, used game sales, and pass-around.

“Retail sales capture only a portion of the total audience playing individual game titles,” said Michael Dowling in a statement to Reuters. Therefore, game publishers should theoretically be able to raise the price of advertising.

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Midway is laying down a lot of money on next-generation gaming. The company has invested a hefty $200 million so far on PS3, 360, and Wii development in an effort to double its current 2% share of the console market. Half of the publisher’s total investment went into development tools alone.

“Really this year it’s about gaining market share,” Midway president David Zucker told MCV. “If we can go to four per cent that would be a huge win for us, and it’s something we really believe we can do. We are looking to do that on next-gen platforms now,” he added.

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A new report from DFC Intelligence predicts that total global portable sales will exceed $10 billion by the end of this year, lead primarily by Nintendo’s DS and Game Boy lines followed by Sony’s PSP. Analyst David Cole added that the DS “has the potential to be the best-selling interactive entertainment platform ever.”

The prediction is extremely ambitious. Portable gaming is sure grow, but keep in mind total sales including both consoles and handhelds equaled a combined and record setting $12.5 billion in 2006. If handhelds alone are to reach $10 billion by the end of this year, they’ll need to “tip” on a whole new level.

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How did we end up paying $60 for new games? Is it because of good ‘ole inflation? How about good ‘old bureaucracy and a more competitive landscape. Forbes examines the 20% increase of next-gen game prices on PS3 and 360. Find out who takes a cut, according to interviews, research, and expert opinion.

Making a profit on new games — it seems — is a tough ball game, alleges the article. According to Namco Bandai president Takeo Takasu, his company needs to sell at least 500,000 copies of each PS3 game to turn a profit. Furthermore, some analysts predict that other publishers need to sell through 1 million copies before seeing black. And even then, publishers only make about $1 per game.

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Game Informer — the highest circulated video game magazine — confirms rumors in their upcoming April issue that a new, black Xbox 360 is coming some time next month. The new system — code named Zephyr — will feature a 120 GB hard drive, HDMI output, no internal HD-DVD support, and retail for approximately $479. Black accessories will also be made available upon release. Just last week, Microsoft declined GigaGamez’s request for comment on the rumored hardware.

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Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘07 for Wii (also on 360, PS3, others) is the tenth iteration of EA’s current yearly golf game. But other than minor changes like analog thumstick swinging, the series’ controls have largely remained the same until now. So does the Wii version live up to its motion-sensing ambitions? EA’s “How does it feel?” living room commercial is clearly positioning the game for broader audience, but does the title ultimately encourage golfing non-gamers to buy the game? Or, better yet (for Nintendo), buy a Wii? Continue reading for our thoughts, review, and analysis.

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Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told the San Jose Mercury News yesterday that there has been a tremendous shift of resources to Wii game development, both publicly — as EA and Pandemic did during the Game Developer Conference two weeks ago — and privately, sans a formal announcement.

“Every publisher has either made the decision and stated it publicly or made the decision and not stated it publicly, but the amount of resource shift [for Wii] has been tremendous,” Fils-Aime said in an interview with the Mercury. “[Publishers and developers] see a business opportunity. Coupled with the lower development costs, it really is a no-brainer.”

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Nintendo sold almost a million video game systems in the short month of February according to NPD sales data released yesterday. To put that into perspective, Nintendo systems made up 54% of all hardware sales in February, more than all other manufacturers combined. Their DS handheld was the top selling platform at 485K units, followed by the Wii with 335K units. Sony’s impressive 7-year old PS2 outsold Microsoft’s 1-year old Xbox 360 by 295K to 228K units, and Nintendo’s 6-year old Game Boy Advance outsold Sony’s newly launched PS3 136K to 127K units. Really.

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