It appears the U.S. console gaming industry has fallen into an autumn slump, generating $250 million less revenue in September than the same time last year. All in all, NPD Group analysts report that revenue was down about 24 percent. This figure includes only consoles, physical games and accessories. What the report does not include are used sales, rentals and digitally distributed games.

Once again, Microsoft's venerable Xbox 360 weighed in as the top console in terms of sales. This marks the system's 21st consecutive month as number one, holding about 49percent of video game system market share.

However, the 360's run is expected to be abruptly cut short next month by the Wii U, Nintendo's upcoming console offering. The Wii U is expected to debut for $299, a price point the company can manage because of its modest hardware. Perhaps the system's most defining feature is its controller though, which will tout a versatile 6.2-inch LCD display.

The reason for the decline is not discussed in-depth, but a substantial drop in hardware sales indicates part of the problem may simply be stale equipment. The report suggests aging consoles have already reached their saturation points as American consumers look forward to next-generation hardware.

In terms of console game sales, Borderlands 2 came in at second place, just behind Madden NFL 13 which occupies the top slot. Considering Borderlands 2 had only been around for about two weeks during September, the folks over at Gearbox will probably sleep soundly tonight. 

Android malware may be on the rise, but that doesn't mean that Google has to sit back and wait for its customer base to be affected. A closer look at the most recent update to the Play Store reveals Google has been developing its own malware scanner for Android devices.

The team over at Android Police got up close and intimate with the latest APK release of the Google Play Store and discovered something called "App Check" within the code, which has every indication of being a device-side malware scanner for the Android platform.

From the code, it appears that App Check will serve a couple of functions. Firstly, it will scan all your pre-installed apps to check that nothing on your phone or tablet is doing something dodgy under your nose.

The second component of the scanner will be to check new installations, and block them from being installed if they contain malware. If that sounds a little too restrictive, it looks as though you will get the option to override any preventative measures the malware scanner makes.

Further indications of the malware scanner in the code of the Play Store include images of a shield, and exclamation marks on triangles, which indicate the "All-good" and "Oh no!" results of a scan respectively.

Protecting the future

While evidence of the scanner is available in the current version of the Play Store code, it's important to note that it hasn't yet rolled out as a fully functioning feature. Instead, it's likely to be there for future updates to the Play Store.

When it does launch, it will work hand in hand with Google's server-side malware protection for the Play Store, known as "Bouncer".

Given Bouncer can only protect apps that are delivered through the Play Store directly, and does nothing to protect from malware delivered from legitimate websites, the introduction of a device-side scanner is a positive move from Google and the Android platform as a whole.

Via: Android Police