Apparently consumers just love microtransactions so much that EA has decided to put them in every game it makes going forward. Those ideas sprang forth from the mouth of CFO Blake Jorgensen today during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference - as reported by GameSpot.

GamesBeat is reporting that the Baltimore, Maryland studio that used to be headed up by veteran game developer Brian Reynolds has been shut down by social games publisher Zynga. The studio is responsible for CityVille 2, which Zynga has discontinued. A Zynga spokesperson said the company is trying to place those that were laid off from its Baltimore studio in other studios within the company.

The NPD Group released retail video game sales figures in the United States for January 2013, revealing that Activison's Call of Duty: Black Ops II remained the best-selling title in the region. The top five best selling games for January 2013 were Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Far Cry 3, Just Dance 4, NBA 2K13, and Madden NFL 13. Sales were inflated slightly because NPD Group counted five weeks instead of four to comply with the National Retail Federation calendar.

Rovio's Angry Birds Trilogy has sold over one million copies worldwide, according to developer Rovio and publisher Activision. The duo also announced that the game would be coming to the Wii U and Wii later this year.

Angry Birds Trilogy was released in September 2012 for Xbox 360 with Kinect support, PlayStation 3 with Move support and Nintendo 3DS. The compilation offers three games - Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio, along with extra content such as additional levels, added features and brand new interactive backgrounds and spiffy new animations.

Microsoft announced that it sold 281,000 Xbox 360 units in January in the United States, up from the 270,000 units it sold in the same period a year ago. The company claims that these sales represented $338 million in total retail spending during the month. This is the 25th straight month where the Xbox 360 has been the top-selling console in the U.S.

Consumers in the United States spent a total of $338 million on Xbox 360 consoles and accessories during the month, Microsoft said. The Xbox 360 represents 44 percent of the video game market currently.

DealNews, a web site dedicated to bringing you all the latest news on all the hottest items past and present makes a pretty bold prediction: After Sony makes its big announcement (it is presumed) about the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 3 will see a price drop of 64 percent at retail. They base this price drop percentage on historical retail data for the PS3 versus the PS2 and the Wii U versus the Wii. Here is the crux of the argument:

The PBS Idea Channel has launched its latest episode on YouTube which focuses on virtual currency and the future. The latest episode is called "Are Bitcoins and Unusual Hats the Future of Currency?" and focuses on the popular virtual currency and the commerce that occurs in virtual spaces like Team Fortress 2.

It also explores some of the problems that can occur when your currency might be one tick away from a clever hacker figuring out how to put those virtual coins in a virtual bag with dollar signs on it..

As part of a New York Times article (as reported by Polygon) on the study of violent video games, a new study emerged showing that a decline in violent crime, even as sales of violent video games more than doubled.

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg warns investors that the next Call of Duty will sell less than Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

"The Call of Duty franchise continues to set the bar for innovation and we expect the new Call of Duty game in development for 2013 to raise that bar even higher," Hirshberg told investors during a conference call to discuss financial results this week.

No doubt Activision is delighted that over 100 million Skylanders toys have been sold across the United States. The company announced the milestone at the Toy Fair 2013, reports Destructoid. Activision says that the Skylanders franchise (Skylanders and Skylanders Giants) across all platforms has generated over $500 million since its launch in 2011.

Ubisoft announced that it has shipped well over 12 million units of Assassin's Creed 3 and well over 4.5 million units of Far Cry 3. That number includes all platforms the games are available on - as well as digital sales of both games. Ubisoft's total sales for Assassin's Creed 3 have now passed the 12 million mark worldwide, while Far Cry 3 sales are up over 4.5 million units, the French publisher announced today in its third-quarter financial report.

According to data from IT24.se, Mojang generated revenue of nearly $240 million in 2012, with $100 million of that cash coming from license fees. Mojang's only product is the ultra popular Minecraft, though it is available on Xbox Live, PC, and mobile devices (iOS, Android). The information comes from Thomas Arnroth, a Swedish author who is writing a book about Mojang called "A Year With Mojang: Minecraft Behind The Scenes."

There's a lot of speculation today that Sony will unveil the PlayStation 4 at an event scheduled for February 20. Yesterday Sony put out a video encouraging viewers to "see the future" at an event it plans to host in New York City at the end of this month.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello recently spoke out on the idea that video games can be a catalyst that leads to real world violence during a conference call with analysts to discuss the company's latest earnings. Acknowledging that the industry faces a "perception issue" when it comes to videogames Riccitiello also said that games can also be "a voice for good," and that there is no research to back up claims that video games directly cause real world violence.

After announcing that Grand Theft Auto V would be getting released a little later in the year than was previously announced and expected, some financial analysts have decided to adjust their opinion on Take-Two Interactive's future earnings. One such firm is BMO Capital Markets.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Edward S. Williams said in a note to investors that Take-Two moving the upcoming launch of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V for the PS3 and Xbox 360 from a spring 2013 release window to Sept. 17 will have an impact:

Nintendo has cut its hardware sales forecast after a less than stellar performance in the fourth quarter. Projections for the Wii U have been revised down to 4 million by the end of the fiscal year that ends on March 31 - from 5.5 million. Nintendo also says that it now expects to sell 15 million units during this fiscal year - down from 17.5. The Nintendo DS will sell 2.3 million units during this fiscal year, down from a previous forecast of 2.5 million.

Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said that his company is closely monitoring violence in his company's catalog of video games in the wake of the recent school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Iger said during a Q&A with Brian Grazer at an HRTS Newsmakers Luncheon that he has directed employees "to take stock in everything we’ve got that can be considered near the line or over the line," according to Deadline.

According to GamesIndustry International, computer and console peripheral and accessories giant Logitech will stop manufacturing and selling video game console accessories. The exit out of the market is the result of a 14 percent drop in sales to $615 million for Q3 FY 2013.

As a result the company will sharpen its focus on PC and mobile accessories.

ArenaNet's Colin Johanson says that the popular online-focused RPG Guild Wars 2 has managed to sell over three million copies since it was released and launched in August of 2012. He made the announcement as part of an update on the game's official site detailing what new content the company plans to bring to Guild Wars 2 players in the next few months.

Analyst Colin Sebastian of Baird Equity Research has laid out nine predictions for 2013 in a new research report from the firm (which you can read in full here (PDF)).

En Masse Entertainment and Bluehole Studios announced that their massively multiplayer online role-playing game Tera soon be switching from a monthly subscription plan to free-to-play. While the exact date for this switch from paid subscription to free has not been revealed, the companies say it will happen sometime in February.

Melbourne Australia-based indie game developer Endgame Studios is tired of the high prices that gamers in the region have to pay for video games (compared to Europe and other regions) and has decided to voice their opinion about how much they think it sucks. In a post entitled "A stand against exorbitant Aussie game prices!," the studio says that Australian gamers are asked to pay 50 - 100 percent more than American consumers due to - according to publishers and distributors - currency exchange rates.

Speaking to GamesIndustry International, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says that Nintendo's continued weakness contributed to 11 percent of the decline in U.S. video game sector in the month of December. Pachter also said that there was evidence that consumer fatigue has set in - even when it comes to popular games like Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

Update: GamesIndustry International is reporting that Electronic Arts has been revealed as one of the five publishers looking to buy intellectual property or other assets from THQ. Some are also speculating that Ubisoft could be part of that group too.

As news of the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings in Newtown, Connecticut were coming to light on December 14, the finishing touches were being put on a deal with the Nevada Economic Development Board and Take-Two Interactive (see Vegas Inc. for the details). This week that deal is being questioned by the media in the state.

Hugo Smits, founder of indie developer Goodbye Galaxy Games has responded to the concerns of developer Jools Watsham who lamented about the potential uptick in 3DS piracy after a hacker claimed that he was able to load pirated software onto Nintendo's hand-held. Goodbye Galaxy Games has developed a number of games for DSi-Ware including Flipper, Flipper 2, Ace Mathician and the upcoming game Color Commando.

The Conservative Party of the United Kingdom (the Tories) have created a page on its official website detailing the planned implementation of upcoming tax breaks for the region's video games industry. According to the page on the official web site, tax breaks will officially go into effect on April 1. The page goes on to note that the new tax incentives will give a financial boost to the video game industry and "help level the playing field" against other countries already offering breaks for their own video game sectors.

In what can only be described as the first non-shocking news story of 2013, THQ announced that it was delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange over the Christmas holiday period. The company's stock will now be traded on the OTC (over-the-counter) Markets - at least until Chapter 11 bankruptcy has been sorted out.

Runic Games has hit a milestone with its PC isometric action RPG, Torchlight II: one million sales. A tweet from the official Runic Games Twitter account revealed the milestone.

"We had an amazing 2012, and proud to say that Torchlight2 has sold over one million units! Thank you! Happy New Year's Eve everyone :)," Runic Games confirmed.

Mojang's popular world building game franchise Minecraft had a wonderful Christmas / holiday season, according to tweets from company co-founder and Minecraft creator Markus 'Notch' Persson. According to Notch, the company sold 453,000 copies of the game across all platforms during the Christmas season.

"Across all platforms, Minecraft sold 453k copies on dec 24! Wowzers! <3," he tweeted.

He corrected himself in a follow-up tweet shortly thereafter: