Daily News: Don't Fall for Phony Sony Scams

Today's news is all about new consoles and new games and old gamers. We do a little name-dropping (Clint Eastwood). Sony does a little drop in launch numbers. And Microsoft simply drops the ball. Did GameStop foil the console profiteers? And will a simple de-frag cause your numbers to go up? All of that and less is answered here.

• Sony warns about phony PS3 scams? That's right. According to BusinessWeek, a number of websites have been promoting pre-orders on units without the cooperation of Sony. The company says to stay safe, buy only from authorized dealers, such as GameStop, EB, Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
• Did GameStop cancel preorders for games in Ebay auctions? In a word, no. But it shows just how crazy things are going to get in the run-up to the launch date for the PS3 and Wii consoles.
• Want to become a Guitar Hero? Buy one! Viacom's MTV Networks has finalized its purchase of Harmonix, makers of video games Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution.
• Did he fire six shots or only five? Dirty Harry is the latest movie franchise to get its own video game, with Clint Eastwood voicing the iconic character. "It's good," Eastwood says, "I get to see myself as a younger person."
• Wii to include DVD player in Japan? But not in America. That's the word on the street.
• Why is Sony still shrinking? The latest report is that Japan's allotment of PS3 units is shrinking to 80,000. How low can they go?
• Why won't Microsoft take advantage of Sony? The folks at Microsoft keep denying the possibility of a pre-Christmas price drop on the Xbox 360.
• Were they sandwiched between the Depends booth and the Geritol booth? Nintendo showed up at the AARP products show, demonstrating how video games were relevant for a whole new generation, the aging baby boomers.
• Playing more, but scoring less? Maybe your hard drive needs a serious defrag. That's what a bunch of Xbox players think, at least.