Video game industry analyst Michael Pachter has said today that he expects the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to receive price cuts again this year, which will lead to the Wii being forced into a price cut as well, in order to keep the remaining price advantage it has over its rivals.

"The Wii enjoyed a $350 price advantage over the PS3 at launch, and a $150 advantage until September. Now, the gap has narrowed to $100, with the feature-laden PS3 a tempting purchase for prospective console households," says Pachter.

"The holiday Wii sales boost was primarily attributable to a $50 gift card promotion offered by Wal-Mart; while we expect similar promotions at holiday next year, we expect the other consoles to be lower-priced by then, further eroding the Wii's competitive price advantage."

Pachter also says that the DSi handheld is most likely overpriced, compared to the iPod Touch, which offers a plethora of free apps as well as better music and video playback capabilities.

"It appears that piracy in Europe and some substitution of iPod Touch games has impacted DS software sales more than we expected, and we have adjusted our estimates for FY:11 to account for further pressure," said Pachter, noting that guidance had to be reduced for DS software.

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Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has given his response to last week's iPad unveiling, calling the device "a bigger iPod Touch," with "no surprises."

Additionally, Iwata denied rumors that Nintendo was working on an HD-enabled Wii and a DS with motion control. "I question whether those features would be enough to get people to buy new machines," he concluded.

Iwata also took a swing at 3D gaming, admitting he does not believe it will catch on, despite the success of films such as Avatar. "I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?" he adds.

So far the main concerns critics have had of the iPad is the lack of multitasking, the continued lack of Flash-support, and lack of USB ports.

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Intellect Wireless, a small company based in Virginia has sued Apple this month over wireless communication technology found in the iPhone, in what has got to be the millionth time Apple has been sued over technology relating to their smartphone.

The patent in question is for a concept meant to "receive and display caller ID information, non-facsimile pictures, video messages and/or Multimedia Messaging Services [MMS]."

Intellect is asking for $10 million in damages from Apple, but will accept a settlement.

The company has so far sued T-Mobile, Virgin, Helio, US Cellular, Motorola, LG, Sanyo, Samsung and HTC over similar patent disputes.

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TechOn is reporting today that large OLED panels should become available mainstream starting in 2010, with LG Display planning 20-inch displays for this year and 40-inch displays by 2012.

Says VP Won Kim, in charge of OLED Sales & Marketing at the firm: "They may be expensive, but it will be possible to buy a 40-inch class OLED TV in 2012."

OLED displays offer superior quality to LED LCD displays, and can be as thin as a a few millimeters.

The current 15-inch OLED display offered by LG has a contrast ratio of 100,000:1 and "color reproducibility range of 98% of the NTSC standard."

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According to recent figures from Valve, active Steam accounts grew by 25 percent, year-on-year, to over 25 million.

Monthly "player minutes" has reached 13 billion, an all-time high, says the company.

Concurrent users hit an all-time high as well in December, at over 2.5 million.

"Steam turned five years old in March 2009," added Gabe Newell, president of Valve. "With the introduction of each new platform feature released over the years - such as the Steam Community, Steam Cloud, and Steamworks - we've seen corresponding growth in account numbers, concurrent player numbers and developer support for the platform. As such, we plan to continue to expand and grow the platform to better serve the developers supporting the open platform and millions of gamers logging in each day."

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Sony has announced that it will debut a new reality series, via the PlayStation Network, beginning later this month dubbed The Tester, in which 11 contestants compete in challenges to win the position of game tester at Sony America.

The show will be available for free to download.

The full press release:

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced it will debut the original competition reality series, The Tester, on PlayStation®Network for free download starting February 18, 2010. In the unique series, 11 hopeful gamers from across the country will compete in grueling physical and mental challenges to win a position as a game tester at SCEA and a $5,000 signing bonus, all under the scrutiny of a panel of judges, including actor/comedian and diehard gamer Hal Sparks. With the launch of The Tester, available for digital download only on PlayStation®3 (PS3™) and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) entertainment systems, SCEA further expands the current library of original and exclusive content on PlayStation Network.

To create The Tester, SCEA teamed up with 51 Minds, the dynamic production company that is the force behind hit series such as The Surreal Life, Rock of Love, For the Love of Ray J, and many more popular TV shows. The Tester will follow contestants over eight episodes as emotions run high, alliances form and they battle with brain and brawn. While donning giant slingshots, paintball guns, and human hamster balls, contestants will be put to the test in a series of elimination challenges shaped around the skills necessary to be a game tester, including dexterity, communication skills and mental prowess. Cast members range in age from 22 – 36 years-old and stem from all walks of life -- from a student, to a paramedic, to a used car salesman.

"Connecting PS3 and PSP owners to great entertainment options and original digital content experiences such as Flower™, flOw and Fat Princess has always been a cornerstone of our vision for PlayStation Network," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing and PlayStation Network. "With the addition of the original series, The Tester, we further establish PlayStation Network as the preeminent destination for digital entertainment in the living room or in the palm of your hand."

The Tester will be hosted by Meredith Molinari, model and host of multiple online music shows. Contestants will be judged by Sparks and Brent Gocke, Release Manager, First Party QA at Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), as well weekly guest panelists such as David Jaffe, Director and Lead Designer of God of War® and Twisted Metal®, and founder of the game company Eat Sleep Play; John Hight, Director, Product Development, for God of War; and Petro Piaseckyj, Managing Producer, International Software at SCE.

New episodes of The Tester will be available on PlayStation®Store for free each Thursday from February 18 through April 8. PS3 owners can also view the latest episode of The Tester with other gamers in the PlayStation®Home Theatre every Thursday, as well as purchase a variety of The Tester virtual items relating to scenes from the show or their favorite cast member.

Since announcing the open casting call in September 2009, SCEA received thousands of videos from gamers across the country, all hoping to be the next PlayStation game tester and an integral part of the first-party development process at SCEA. PlayStation is home to the largest network of first party studios in the video game industry and has launched some of the biggest franchises in videogames today, including Gran Turismo®, God of War, UNCHARTED™, LittleBigPlanet™, Ratchet & Clank®, SOCOM, and more. The winner of The Tester will start their job as an official game tester at the San Diego offices of SCEA following the conclusion of the program.

A trailer and additional information on The Tester is available at www.TheTester.com. The website also features cast and panelist biographies, and audition videos.

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According to the latest Net Applications data, the Google Chrome browser continues to take market share from rivals Internet Explorer and even Mozilla Firefox, moving to over 5 percent market share for the first time, ever.

IE fell to 62.18 percent from 62.69 in December and Firefox fell from 24.61 to 24.41. Chrome moved from 4.64 percent to 5.20. Notably, Firefox has fallen for two months straight, a fact that hasn't occurred in years.

Of note as well is the fact that Internet Explorer 8 has finally surpassed IE6 for most used IE browser, at 22.31 percent to 20.07 percent.

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The Spanish language blog MuyComputer has reported today that Microsoft will be launching the long-anticipated Zune Phone this month at the Mobile World Congress event in Spain.

The presentation of the device will come from Microsoft and Nvidia as the phone will use a Tegra chipset, giving it the ability to play 3D games among other features.

The site adds that the phone will have a 480x272 resolution screen, 720p HDMI-out, weigh 70 grams, and use Windows Mobile 7.

We will keep you updated.

Mockup:

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Microsoft has announced they will begin selling a 250GB HDD add-on for the Xbox 360 in Japan starting next month.

Beginning March 11th, the drive will cost ¥15,540 (about $172 USD).

The drive marks the largest stand-alone unit ever available for the console.

Microsoft has no plans to sell the drive outside of Japan, adds spokesperson Kei Iwasaki, so it seems that North American and European gamers will have to stick to the smaller stand-alone units Microsoft has available in their regions.

The Xbox 360 Elite has 120GB of internal storage.

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