You will now automatically vote for your content submissions and comments when you submit them. It is assumed you think the content is good if you are submitting it. It is also assumed you like your comment when you post it.

Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 (PS3) shares were down slightly, -87.94 DKP (-2.01%), to 4,280 DKP (forecasts 42.8 million units sold) today following hiccups with the PS3’s ability to play many PlayStation and PS2 games. Sony had touted better backwards compatibility with the PS3 as it features PS2 hardware within the PS3 so that they would not have the same software emulation problems Microsoft faced with the Xbox 360 last year. Recent reports indicate that 200 games may have compatibility issues—from lack of sound to being unable to load at all. Sony has already responded that they are aware of the issue and that a software upgrade should fix this issue soon. This event alone should not have much of a long-term impact on PlayStation 3 sales, but it is an indicator of other potential faults that may arise with the PS3.

Shares of Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PS2) fell 6.10 DKP (-4.84%) today to 119.90 DKP (forecasts 1.20 million copies sold worldwide) as negative reviews hit the Internet. With summaries like "The Worst Tony Hawk Game Ever Made" (IGN), anticipation for sales of Activision’s repeat cash cow dampened dramatically.

The series had sold 4-5 million copies for each Tony Hawk installment from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (PS) to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (PS2) (VG Charts). Sales began to decline with the Tony Hawk’s Underground installments.

Although the game features more realistic animation due to Neversoft’s use of motion capture, technical glitches have brought down reviews. Many suggest that the PS2 version was merely an afterthought, with Neversoft focusing on the next-generation versions. However, even the reviews for those versions were not glowing. Shares for Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (Xbox 360) were down 2.12 DKP (-2.00%) to 104.00 DKP (forecasts 1.04 million copies sold worldwide) and Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PS3) was down 0.02 DKP (-0.03%) to 66.28 DKP (forecasts 662,800 copies sold).

The simExchange is now open for public sign ups. Just visit the Application page and fill it out. Once you submit the application, you will then receive a confirmation email to the email address you registered. Click on the Accept link and your account will be funded with 1 million DKP and you will be ready to play.

Shares of Gears of War (Xbox 360) (+14.31 DKP +17.07%) soared to 102.20 DKP (forecasting 1.02 million copies sold over lifetime) this afternoon but pulled back to 98.15 DKP (981,500 copies sold) today as a wave of rave reviews declared the game the long awaited killer app for the Xbox 360 (+74.95 DKP +2.00%). The game has been long anticipated for its stunning graphics (rumored as the reason Microsoft included 512 MB of RAM in the Xbox 360), but now its game play has also been confirmed to be equally stunning. Internet fanfare for the game has been equally strong with the release of today's reviews. However, strong reviews have not always translated into blockbuster sales--only time will tell if Gears of War is truly "the next Halo." If so, this game is the killer app Microsoft needed to really accelerate the adoption of the Xbox 360.

Credit for submissions has been adjusted. Credit for submitting articles has been doubled to 3,000 DKP with an additional 3,000 DKP bonus if the submission makes the stock's front page. Credit for submitting images has been doubled to 2,000 DKP with an additional 2,000 DKP bonus if the submission makes the stock's front page. The existing awards has resulted in a significant bias towards submitting trailers. Also remember, the 2x bonus applies to all content that makes the stock's front page, not just the first submission of each category.

Based on user demand, images and video submissions can now have captions up to 30 characters. These captions are entirely optional--but may encourage people to check out your submission and vote up your content.

The lag when loading the Order Book on the Portfolio page has now been fixed. This is unrelated to the other Order Book problem relating to IE6 users.

By popular demand (and cause it just makes sense), the simExchange now features stock charts. The stock chart appears prominently next to the game's stock data on the game's stock page. The stock chart is based on the closing price of the stock each day (midnight Pacific time). Feedback welcome.

There is a known issue regarding the Order Book not loading from time to time when using Internet Explorer 6. This issue does not appear to occur in Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, or Safari. If you still have IE 6 on your computer please try loading the Order Book under IE6. Please post any results, whether you find problems or not, under this post. Thanks!