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N+ house Silverbirch posted a major leap in Q3 revenues on Thursday, but losses widened year-on-year as expenditure rose.

Revenues for the June quarter were $4.6m (£2.5m), up 498 percent from the comparable quarter last year, which saw $327K in sales.

Silverbirch said the increase primarily comes from revenues associated with the 2007 acquisitions of mobile firms CrossRoad Mobile and Jambo Mobile.

"These businesses have generated significant organic revenue growth," the publisher said.

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While Sony CEO Howard Stringer doesn’t think the Wii is hurting the PS3, he does admit that Nintendo's refusal to sell hardware at a loss may represent a “superior business model” to his own company’s razor and blades system.

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Mountain View, Calif.-based Orinda Intellectual Properties USA has filed suit against Sony, claiming the PS3-maker has infringed on Blu-ray-related patents.

In an August 20 court filing obtained by Edge, Orinda alleged that Sony infringed on patent number 5,438,560, which in broad terms describes methods for recording and reproducing information via optical disc.

Orinda also named as defendants subsidiaries Sony Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment America.

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Harmonix and MTV Games have big plans for full-album releases for September's Rock Band 2, Entertainment Weekly reports.

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The Entertainment Software Association, the trade body representing the games industry, spent $980K (£535K) in lobbying expenses during Q2 2008, a July federal filing revealed.

First-half 2008 lobbying expenses were $1.7m (£927K),  already topping 2007's year-long total of $1.4m. 2006 lobbying expenses were $1.2m.

By comparison, the Motion Picture Association of America spent $456K (£249K) in Q2, bringing first-half 2008's total to $966K, significantly behind the ESA's spend.

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Sony has announced that its 3D online community service PlayStation Home will go live in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan this fall.

The company has invited Hong Kong and Singapore-based PS3 owners interested in participating in closed beta testing - which is due to kick-off in mid-September - to visit its newly launched Home website for further details from August 29.

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The Sun newspaper’s doctor claims that young males are spending too much time playing videogames at the expense of keeping fit and healthy.

“The only bits of anatomy many young men exercise are their fingers and wrists,” he writes.

“No sniggering at the back, please, I’m talking about computer games.

“All those leisure hours we used to fill with climbing trees or kicking balls have gone.

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PS2 title J-League Winning Eleven 2008 shot to the top of the Japanese software chart for the week ended August 24 after selling 79,000 copies.

The previous week’s bestseller, DS title Rhythm Heaven Gold, dropped a place to No2, shifting 57,000 units to pass the half million mark, while Level 5’s Inazuma Eleven for DS was new at No3 with 41,000 sales.

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US retailers Blockbuster, 7-Eleven and Rite Aid will begin stocking PlayStation Network Cards this September.

The cards, which can be purchased in denominations of $20 and $50, allow users to download content from the PlayStation Store without using a credit card.

Pamida, Meijer and Speedway stores already stock PSN cards, according to Kotaku.

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Activision Blizzard has announced that Guitar Hero World Tour will feature a number of famous instrument and equipment brands, as well as digital re-creations of famous venues.

World Tour, due for release this fall on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and PS2, will feature in-game sponsorships and gear from Ampeg, Audio-Technica, EMG Pickups, Ernie Ball, Evans Drumheads, Guitar Center, Krank Amplification, Mackie, Marshall, Orange County Drum & Percussion, Pork Pie Percussion, Regal Tip, Sabian cymbals, Vox and Zildjian drumsticks.

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As the debate over the future of the console wages on, the gaming community continues to look for the latest trends that will give one of the leading consoles the edge to push ahead of the pack.

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The ESA Foundation will receive proceeds earned from a videogaming competition taking place at the Austin Game Developers Conference in September.

The Level Up Games Charity will charge $20 per player, pitting them against one another in Rock Band 2, Madden 08, I-Play Bowling and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

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Some argue that piracy isn't terribly detrimental to industries such as music, movies and gaming, because pirates are pirates, and they wouldn't have bought the product anyway.

But Germany-based Crysis developer Crytek doesn't completely agree with that theory.

Asked by Edge if Crysis pirates would have bought the game legally if pirated copies were unavailable, engine business manager Harald Seeley conceded, "Well, clearly not all would have."

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Brothers in Arms house Gearbox Software has “definitely had conversations with Microsoft about doing a new Halo game,” according to a Variety report.
 
Ben Fritz with Variety’s The Cut Scene blog backed up rumors earlier this week that Gearbox is working on the unannounced Halo 4, citing an unnamed source.

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Berlin, Germany's Computerspiele Museum has publicly supported the controversial art exhibit Invaders!, a Space Invaders-inspired piece that depicts a pixelated version of the World Trade Center, which is inevitably destroyed by descending aliens.

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Publisher Red Mile has taken Sin City development duties away from Transmission Games.

An as yet unannounced developer will now be responsible for the title, which Red Mile acquired the rights to in 2007, reports GameSpot, while Transmission Games will focus on the development of combat sim Heroes Over Europe, due in 2009 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

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Sony’s PSP has surpassed ten million sales in Japan since launching on December 12, 2004.

According to Famitsu the handheld hit the sales milestone on August 24, a little over three-and-a-half years after it debuted in the country, reports Kotaku.

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Nintendo’s Wii has become the first current generation home console to surpass one million sales in Canada.

According to NPD sales data, the Wii had sold just shy of 1,060,000 units by the end of July, the Associated Press reports via CTV.ca.

The Xbox 360, launched in Canada in November 2005, had sold just over 870,000 units through July, while the PS3, released one year after the 360 and two days before the Wii, had sold 520,000.

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Koelnmesse, organizer of 2009’s GamesCom event in Cologne, has issued a statement claiming that there is little industry backing for next year's Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.

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Mario Kart Wii held onto the All Formats top spot for the second week running in an unchanged top five.

Sales of both Mario Kart Wii and second placed Wii Fit were up 12 percent on the previous week’s total, while Sega’s Olympic duo, Beijing 2008 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, held onto third and fourth and Wii Play to fifth.

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After the aptly subtitled Seven Sorrows left the Gauntlet brand whimpering on the naughty step, you’d think that few would be eager to attempt yet another update to the classic fantasy hack-and-slash. Backbone Entertainment, however, seems to be developing a specialty in dusting off old titles and, with its remakes of 1942 and Commando still cooling on the shelf, the Canadian studio has picked up the gauntlet to, well, pick up Gauntlet for DS.

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