Back in mid-August, we were talking about video game statistics, and despite the fact we got into sales numbers a few times in the meantime, I think now is the perfect moment for a new video game statistics roundup. While back then we mainly talked about sales of games for various platforms during July, now we'll get to a more interesting topic - the consoles battle, and the September hardware sales. Ready or not, here we go...

The strategic situation looks like this: Microsoft's wise decision to cut prices for the Xbox 360 helped its console stay in front of the Sony PlayStation 3 in the US, while Nintendo's consoles are dominating the market without having anything to worry about, at least for now.

When talking about money, lower prices lead to a smaller profit overall, since in September 2007, total hardware sales were as high <-125x125 Button - right->as $546 million (we're only talking about US consoles sales, keep that in mind), while last month, the market was as low as $498 million.

If you're curious about sales numbers - and I bet you do - here you have them: Xbox 360 sold 347,000 units in September, up from 195,000 in August, while PlayStation 3 got up to 232,000, from a "tiny" 185,000, during the previous month. As I was saying earlier, Nintendo owns everywthing, and the numbers show this clearly - the Wii sold no less than 687,000 units during September.

At last, let's talk about handheld consoles, shall we? With Microsoft missing in action here, we have the Nintendo DS leading the way, with 537,000 units sold, while Sony's PSP only managed to score 238,000 sales.

If you were wondering, all the data above comes from NPD Group. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask, and you'll get your answer!

I know a lot of people who build a new gaming computer, and then jump right to Crysis, Age of Conan, or any other game that became notorious in the last year, maybe two, the most. That's fine, but I think most of those who get their first gaming computer these days are missing a lot of games, like Far Cry(the original, not the new one!), Warcraft 3(addons included) and, of course, Half Life and Half Life 2!

While Half Life, the original, may seem like a Ford T on the highway, these days, Half Life 2 is a game worth checking out, especially since Half Life 2: Episode 3 won't come out that fast. After all, despite its age - over 4 years now, Half Life 2 can still put most low-end video cards to the test when pushing settings to the max, and that's pretty good for such an "oldie."<-180x150 Small Rectangle - right->

The sad story is that when Valve announced the gaming community that Half Life 2 would get Episode 3 in time for last year's Christmas, everything was looking just great. Unfortunately, things proved to be quite different, since we'll soon reach another Christmas, and I see no sign of Half Life 2: Episode 3. I don't have eagle eyes, but I'm not blind either, so I have to ask: when will we get Half Life 2: Episode 3???

Talking to Kikizo, Doug Lombardi, Valve's the marketing director and official voice, made a terrible confession - "The next time you play as Gordon will be longer than the distance between Half-Life 2 to Episode 1, and Episode 1 to Episode 2."

Why such a big distance, to push Half Life 2: Episode 3 way into 2010? Well, it seems Valve is very busy to promote Left 4 Dead, its upcoming zombie shooter, but I only hope one thing - they won't leave all Half Life fans to die waiting for the third episode. After all, I am sure even some gaming chicks are waiting for a new encounter with Gordon Freeman, right? Anyway, since boys will be waiting for Alyx Vance to come join Gordon once again, we all have somebody to wait for, but 2010 sounds sooo far...

Despite the two expansion sets that came out so far - The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, World of Warcraft is aging. Nevertheless, it remains the world's largest MMORPG when it comes to its user base, with almost 11 million subscribers. As it usually happens with such epic games, players start dropping it at a certain time, looking for something new. The interesting part is that most of those who migrated from WoW to Warhammer Online returned to Blizzard's masterpiece.

In an interview with GamesIndustry, Paul Sams said there's nothing out of ordinary with these people leaving WoW and then getting back to it, since everything follows the pattern of any major MMO - "We've certainly had some of that happen, which is the same thing we experienced with Age of Conan and each time an MMO has come out we've seen some amount of reduction of use."<-125x125 Button - right->

Now, here's the good part - "The good news is that we've seen a significant number of people, well over half, that cited Warhammer as their reason for leaving - they've already returned."

Until Warhammer Online reaches the user base WoW has - if this ever happens - a lot of time must pass, I guess. For now, they are plagued with registration troubles and server troubles, and the number of registered users is getting closer to the 800,000 mark.

This is it, boys and girls, so if you left World of Warcraft for Warhammer Online, and would like to share your thoughts with us, don't be shy and step forward. We're waiting for your confessions!