Halo 3 - Is the Video Game Industry Getting Bigger Than the Movie Industry?

By MoneyBlueBook

Microsoft released Halo 3 - its highly anticipated Xbox 360 video game on Tuesday to much hype and acclaim. In case you didn't know, some enthusiasts have called it the biggest day in entertainment history. I think the only other game that could possibly top Halo 3 in the future is Blizzard Entertainment's upcoming Starcraft 2, but that's a story for another day. The Halo series have been very fun to play, and many people are going to be forking over their money to buy this must-have game. Although I used to be a big computer gamer and still enjoy the occasional video or computer game, today I prefer to just read about it and follow the industry spectacle.

Blockbuster Games are Big Money

According tomedia reports, when Halo 3 comes out Tuesday, the video game is expected to pull in more than $150 million in sales in the first 24 hours, outshining the $151 million that the Spiderman 3 movie did during its entire three day opening weekend in May.

What does this all mean? It means that the video game industry has finally flexed its muscle and shown that it's a force to be reckoned with. Popular blockbuster video games have become extremely profitable, with profit margins up to 90% compared to 40% or so for big time successful movies. Highly anticipated games can now easily outsell at retail what movies rake in at the box office.

Video Games Trumping the Movie Industry?

This made me wonder. Has the video game industry finally exceeded

By MoneyBlueBook

This week, Apple released it's newest iPod Nano model and a new update to its popular iPhone. The company has increased each unit's storage space and the design makeover looks more tantalizing than ever. More the reason not to go out and buy one.

Those who must have the newest and fanciest gadgets will be shelling out a hefty premium to acquire them before anyone else. My advice is to stay away. You don't need it so soon. Give it a few months for the frenzy to level off before you make your purchase. When the initial craze is over, prices will surely drop.

My Hasty Purchase Experience

Back when I was in graduate school I came across this new silver ultra-thin Sanyo cell phone. I was immediately hooked and hastily paid $350 for it. It wasn't even a smartphone or a PDA. It was just a shiny new phone that looked amazing (this is back when thin phones were just being developed). Months later, the fascination of owning this new gadget wore off and I realized that I had made a costly mistake. Newer models had come out by then. If I had only waited a few months, I wouldn't have paid so much.

Here's another example. When the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 video game systems first came out, bidders on eBay furiously bidding the prices to nearly twice or triple what the retail value was. It was all hype, plain and simple. Do the sensible thing and avoid the irrational exuberance.

Another Reason To Wait

By MoneyBlueBook

Most of the major cell phone carriers offer deeply discounted savings for large companies or groups, including schools. If you work for a major business, corporation, or attend college or graduate school, chances are you may be entitled to a hefty discount towards your monthly wireless mobile phone bill. Many businesses and schools have negotiated employee and student discounts with the major wireless carriers. Even alumnus and employees at certain major universities may be entitled to discounted rates due to their current or previous association with their schools.

But for some reason, many people are not aware that these discounts exist, and the cell phone providers certainly aren't motivated to advertise these great discounts, particularly for existing customers. Oftentimes, the only thing you'll need to have to claim these discounts is a valid work or school e-mail address from a participating business or school. I encourage you to visit the links below and check to see what discounts are available to you. Believe me, you will be pleasantly surprised as I was! I was able to get 19% off with Verizon Wireless using my existing graduate school e-mail address. I did not realize that I qualified for such a high discount until I typed in my school e-mail address on a whim. Try it!

Remember to renew your student or employee discount promotional rate periodically since they usually don't renew automatically. Most of the mobile phone discounts are good for a year - just submit a new discount request again when it expires.

By MoneyBlueBook

I recently have been experiencing trouble with my new web host provider, Host Monster. For several days now I've had to call their technical support telephone line to report that my site was experiencing tremendous lag or that my site was completely down. I even suggested that they move my site onto another server since I suspected the server I was on was likely experiencing substantial traffic due to another website. I knew there was no way my site could be the reason the server was experiencing lag. I just don't have much traffic yet.

Only after several telephone calls and persistent nagging did the problems finally get resolved. Now that the site is running smoothly, I can breathe a sigh of relief again.

I would still recommend my host provider to others, but I think if you don't want to take a chance, you should probably stick with more popular and established web host providers like Go Daddy, or the one that I use - Dreamhost.