Those $8 Live Arcade games add up. Oh, and think those $3 movie rentals aren’t worth anything? Well, they are… around $240 million. And downloadable content for retail games? If the game has extra content within 30 days of its release, that can tack on an additional $21 million in revenue for a developer on average, assuming of course anyone actually plays the game (here’s looking at you Turok).

The last year has been a staggering one for the company, with $180 million coming in the past 12 months. With the price of Arcade games slowly rising, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see next years numbers coming close to the $240 million number.

Hey Kids! Want to blow up your friends shiny new Xbox Avatar with a rocket launcher? Really? Me too!

Unfortunately, big bad Microsoft says no. Seems use of the Mii knock-offs will be limited for use in E-rated titles only. That means you probably can’t even use one of those cheesy boxing-glove spring loaded launcher thingies. It’s a s shame, all of the mildly positive aspects of this stupid little Avatar system just went clear out the window, splattered on the street, got run over by a car, and then trampled by a parade.

EA Dice Producer Gordon Van Dyke has filled in gamers on what to expect in a new mode coming to Battlefield Bad Company. The mode is Conquest, a territory style battle. However, also coming along are some graphical updates, including improved weather effects. The best part? It’s completely free to download and enjoy. PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers can get it as you read this post.

Fans of the excellent FPS Frontlines will be pleased to learn that the THQ published title is gaining some free content. The release (which is available now) will be one of five, although whether or not all of them will be lacking financial input remains to be seen. This first one is Barnyard, which includes some new weapons and vehicles.

The next five? They could be coming anytime apparently.

Codemasters free to play MMO Archlord is about to become 30% fatter. According to a press release (below), the game will gain a free expansion pack entitled Spirits Awakening. New skills, new monsters, new armor, and new game zones are all part of this freebie. If you’re playing, you really can’t argue with the price, and if you’re not, maybe this will draw you into the game world.


CODEMASTERS ONLINE REVEAL EXPANSION PLANS FOR ARCHLORD MMO

The Popular Subscription-Free MMORPG Readies for All-New Free Game Content

(Warwickshire, UK) – June 20, 2008 – Codemasters Online is pleased to announce an overhaul of its popular MMORPG ArchLord, in the shape of the all-new, free expansion; Episode 3: Spirits Awakening. Due to go live in the coming weeks, Episode 3: Spirits Awakening adds up to 30% new game content to the existing game.

ArchLord Episode 3: Spirits Awakening adds a number of new features & free game content including:

* New Game Content – Up to 30% all-new game content
* All New Zones – 3 new game zones for players to challenge
* New Class Skills – Over 80 new skills
* ArchLord Abilities – New ruling ArchLord skills and abilities
* New Armor & Items – New collectible armor sets with unique stats
* New Monsters & Enemies – New monsters and zone bosses

Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online commented, “We are pleased to be able to set out our exciting new expansion plans for ArchLord. As recently announced ArchLord is now more popular than ever with thousands of new players taking up the challenge every day to compete to become the games all-ruling leader! Episode 3 adds a significant amount of new content to what is already a leading free MMORPG and we look forward to delivering this free expansion to our players.”

ArchLord is a premier free online role-playing game which allows players to download and play the game with no monthly subscriptions or commitments. The online game challenges thousands of players each month to raise an army and compete to become the game’s all-ruling ArchLord, controlling the entire game world and impacting the lives of thousands of players online.

To download ArchLord, visit the game’s official website at www.archlordgame.com

After Tomonobu Itagaki quit Tecmo under what were supposed to be harsh circumstances, it seems his fellow employees are doing the same. Two of them are also filing a lawsuit, requesting overtime pay they were promised totaling $77,000 US dollars. However, they’ll be representing all employees of the company. The employees claim Tecmo has covered up documents to hide their overtime, and officials are looking into their claims.

Chicago Tribune writer Christopher Borrelli takes a look at the harsh and nearly non-existent arcade business in the city. While the article brings back some fine memories, it quickly destroys them as Borrelli interviews former owners on what happened.

“We couldn’t compete with home systems. We did our best, but our customers buy a game for $300 and play on big TVs. We’re asked to pay $14,000 for one machine.”

Ouch. Can’t imagine any other way to put it that sums it up better.

In a move as idiotic as the Monty Python bit referenced above, a reverend in Virginia has decided it’s time for his state to take the next step in human evolution: burning video games.

Said preacher Richard Patrick when asked why he was moving forth with this idea:

It (video games) has a tremendous influence on young people and violence. That’s basically all they see. Most of them try to emulate what they see, when in reality, the people they see don’t even live in those communities.

Hey, it worked for all of those evil books when those were corrupting our youth, right? Look at how well that make society flourish into a prosperous nation of happy peppy people who line their homes in gold and hug each other. *

*The above line was purely sarcasm. No attempt was made to degrade the pastors efforts. Okay, maybe there was.

Gee, guess he wasn’t kidding when he said Ninja Gaiden II would be his swan song.

Longtime Tecmo developer Tomonobu Itagaki has announced he’ll be leaving his employer as of… now. In his wake, he’s leaving Tecmo with a $1.5 million lawsuit. Why? Apparently, Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda called him some naughty names which led to emotional distress.

And to think that stuff only happened in America…

Anyway, Itagaki goes way back to some of the earlier Tecmo Bowl titles on the SNES which puts him at the 15 year anniversary mark. Talk about celebrating with style.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has predicted the video game industry will balloon to $68 billion (yes, billion) by 2012. That’s a growth of well over $25 billion in just a few years. The increase is attributed to substantial increases in the mobile and online gaming sectors.

PC gaming on the other hand is predicted to fall, the only segment of the market that’s predicted to do so. Console gaming will grow by nearly 7%, and that’s with a new generation of consoles releasing in that time frame (at least, most likely).

As expected with any game of this size, Grand Theft Auto IV is getting some fixin’. The actual changes are dull and boring to read about, but for those who have ever froze in the midst of multi-player can attest, these are fine changes. The changes apply to both versions (PS3 and Xbox 360), though certain fixes only affect specific consoles. A full list can be read at Rockstar’s Social Club website if you’re looking for the reasons.

Hello? Anyone out there?

If Halo 3’s stats are to be believed, no, you couldn’t possibly be reading this. You’re dead. You and everyone else on Earth for that matter. By a count of over 43 million, Halo 3’s kill count has officially beaten out the planet’s modern population.

However, consider that Halo takes place in the future with humans living all over the place, and you’d have to think that there would be more humans around. On the other hand, they have been wiped out by the Covenant, so maybe those numbers are still too high. 6,743,784,316 kills? That’s a lot of dying.