Amazon is trying to give U.S. gamers more incentive to buy physical retail games at its online storefront. The retailer last week told customers via email that it would drop release day delivery rates of certain video games from $5.99 to just 99 cents.

That means that gamers can pre-order titles like Microsoft and Bungie's upcoming Halo Reach, and, for an extra dollar, have the game delivered to their doors on the game's release day. Since ordering from Amazon means not needing to pay state taxes it is cheaper to order from the Seattle-headquartered online retailer, unless of course if you live in Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington. ;-)

Other upcoming games confirmed to be eligible for 99 cent release day delivery include Sony's LittleBigPlanet 2, Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops, Bethesda's Fallout: New Vegas and many more.

Amazon job listings at the time also pointed to expanded efforts in the games business, as the retailer sought a "Designer, Digital Software and Video Games" and "Software Development Engineer, Digital Software and Video Games." As mentioned in an earlier article Microsoft director of Game Platform Strategy Andre Vrignaud announced that he would be leaving Microsoft to take a job at Amazon.

One could only speculate what new and exciting things Amazon has in store for us that hasn't already been accomplished by Valves Steam platform.

Today Sony released a new PlayStation 3 firmware update (Version 3.42/168MB) which is supposed to address certain console security concerns.

The firmware update comes after the August reveal of a fully-functional PS3 USB modchip allows users to play copied versions, of disc-based PS3 games. Mod chips such as these have always been a problem for consoles as they open the door for software piracy on the console platforms.

Users can still use the hacks if they don't update their consoles, but if they don't, they also won't have access to PlayStation Network features such as online multiplayer and further system updates.

Recently Amazon.com acquired Microsoft's director of game platform strategy. The step by Amazon is feeding speculation that the company is planning on a gaming push. With it's cloud technology among other services one could only imagine what the "stealth" project is.

Andre Vrignaud announced his departure last Friday on his personal blog. "Can't really talk about details at this point, but it'll become pretty evident soon enough...and you all know where my passions lie," he said in the blog. He added that he is "excited about where Microsoft is going in the next few years" but is "very intrigued about what Amazon is looking to do."

Vrignaud, who has worked in the game industry for more than 20 years, had been at Microsoft since 2002 and helped oversee the game platform strategy for Xbox, Xbox Live, and Windows. During Vrignauds tenure Microsoft has become a major contender in gaming.