Ubi saw net sales up about 26% to €169 million ($263.65 million), while the publisher did €134 million ($209.05 million) over the same period last year. Its Petz, Imagine and MyCoach series from its "Games for Everyone" line also pitched in, representing a third of the publisher's total sales.

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has sold 6 million units, Assassin's Creed has now sold 7 million units, and Rayman Raving Rabbids has sold 1.5 million units. Nonetheless, Ubi owes about 55% of its sales to its back catalog.

As it gets ready to publish Soulcalibur IVon Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 in Europe, along with Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in September, Ubisoft expects its full-year performance to come out a little bit higher than it expected — €1.02 billion ($1.59 million) instead of €1 billion ($1.6 billion). It also plans to announce more casual titles for Wii and DS that it says will help with sales.

We have a dynamic market, a good lineup, and a good start for the first three months," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
All this means we can have a very good year for the company."

Kotick also said he was looking forward to the possibilities ahead now that the combination with Vivendi is finalized.

Full announcement after the jump.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVID) today announced that Activision's stand-alone preliminary financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, which ended on June 30, 2008, prior to the closing of the transaction with Vivendi, on July 9, 2008, were higher than Activision's previously provided first quarter outlook.

For the fiscal first quarter, Activision expects record net revenues of approximately $650 million and earnings per diluted share between $0.16 and $0.18, an increase from Activision's prior outlook of $500 million in net revenues and earnings per diluted share of $0.04 on a stand-alone basis.

Excluding the expected impact of expenses related to equity-based compensation of $0.02 per diluted share and expected one-time costs of $0.03 per diluted share related to the business combination between Activision and Vivendi Games, Activision's stand-alone non-GAAP earnings per diluted share are expected to be between $0.21 and $0.23 per diluted share, as compared to Activision's prior non-GAAP outlook of $0.13 per diluted share which had excluded $0.02 per share for expenses related to equity-based compensation and $0.07 per share for one-time costs related to the business combination between Activision and Vivendi Games.

Activision's performance was driven by the North American launch of Kung Fu Panda early in the quarter, which was the largest launch of a DreamWorks Animation licensed property by Activision. Late in the quarter, Activision had two record setting North American launches from the Guitar Hero franchise - Guitar Hero: On Tour, which was the largest North American launch for the Nintendo DS(TM) in Activision's history and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, which ranked as one of Activision's top-five North American multiplatform launches.

"Activision's first quarter stand-alone net revenues and earnings were the highest ever for a non-holiday quarter," stated Robert Kotick, President and CEO of Activision Blizzard, Inc. "Our significant overperformance in Q1 would have further added to our previously given stand-alone fiscal 2009 net revenues and earnings outlook, making it by far the largest and most profitable year in Activision's history. As we have recently closed our transaction with Vivendi Games, we will be providing an outlook for Activision Blizzard as a combined company moving forward."

Kotick continued, "We are extremely excited about the additional possibilities created by the completion of our combination with Vivendi Games last week and remain very optimistic about the long-term opportunities. Both Activision and Blizzard Entertainment's businesses have maintained their momentum and Activision Blizzard is well positioned to exceed the financial goals set for the combined company."

This is usually a move companies make when their value is high relative to other companies in its sector — halving the share price means more investors may be willing to buy in, while existing investors won't have the value they hold diluted by the increased number of shares.

"This action reflects our strong financial position and our confidence in the opportunities for further growth," said Bobby Kotick, president and CEO of Activision Blizzard. "We believe the stock split will lead to wider ownership by making our stock accessible to a broader base of investors."

Full announcement after the jump.

Activision Blizzard Announces Two-for-One Stock Split
Split to Take Effect Post Tender Offer of Activision Blizzard

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 11, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today that its Board of Directors approved a two-for-one stock split of its outstanding shares of common stock to be effected in the form of a common stock dividend.

Stockholders will receive one additional share for each share of common stock held on the record date. The company expects that the record date for the stock split will be a date shortly after the closing of the company's previously announced self tender offer. Additional information regarding the stock split, including announcement of the record date, will be provided by the company following completion of the tender offer.

"This action reflects our strong financial position and our confidence in the opportunities for further growth," said Robert Kotick, President and CEO of Activision Blizzard. "We believe the stock split will lead to wider ownership by making our stock accessible to a broader base of investors."

About Activision Blizzard

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a worldwide pure-play online and console game publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry.

Activision Blizzard maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia, Chile, India, Japan, China, the region of Taiwan and South Korea. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activisionblizzard.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Blizzard's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Activision Blizzard generally uses words such as "outlook", "will," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes", "may", "expects," "intends," and similar expressions. Factors that could cause Activision Blizzard's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Activision Blizzard's titles in its fiscal year 2009, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Blizzard's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Blizzard's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against Activision Blizzard, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, Activision Blizzard's success in integrating the operations of Activision and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such factors include the further implementation, acceptance and effectiveness of the remedial measures recommended or adopted by the special sub-committee of independent directors established in July 2006 to review the company's historical stock option granting practices, the finalization of the tentative settlement of the SEC's formal investigation and final court approval of the proposed settlement of the derivative litigation filed in July 2006 against certain current and former directors and officers of Activision Blizzard relating to Activision Blizzard's stock option granting practices, and the possibility that additional claims and proceedings will be commenced, including additional action by the SEC and/or other regulatory agencies, and other litigation unrelated to stock option granting practices and any additional risk factors identified in Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and the definitive proxy statement filed on June 6, 2008 in connection with the Vivendi transaction. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and Activision Blizzard assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

The merger was first announced in December of 2007, but has just now been finalized. Through it, Blizzard and Sierra parent Vivendi becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision, scoring 295.3 new shares of Activision stock. It'll also buy 62.9 million new shares for a total of $1.7 billion - the result is that Vivendi owns a stake of about 52 percent in its new parent company.

Santa Monica-based Activision's new name will officially be Activision Blizzard, a moniker change also approved by the shareholders today, but it'll continue to trade on the NASDAQ under its same symbol, ATVI.

Full details after the jump.

Activision Stockholders Approve Combination with Vivendi Games

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 08, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced that, at a special meeting of stockholders held earlier today, it received the stockholder approval necessary to consummate the company's agreement with Vivendi, S.A. to combine Vivendi Games, Vivendi's interactive entertainment business, with Activision's businesses. All of the proposals required to effect the transaction received more than 92 percent of the shares voted. The transaction is expected to close on or around July 9, 2008.

Activision and Vivendi Games will combine their businesses through the merger of a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision with and into Vivendi Games. As a result of the merger, Vivendi Games, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment and Sierra, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision. Vivendi will receive approximately 295.3 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock. Concurrently with the merger, Vivendi will purchase approximately 62.9 million newly issued shares of Activision common stock at a price of $27.50 per share for a total of approximately $1.7 billion in cash, resulting in a total Vivendi ownership stake in Activision Blizzard of approximately 52% on a fully diluted basis and approximately 54% of shares outstanding. As of the closing of the transaction, Activision will be renamed Activision Blizzard and will continue to operate as a public company traded on NASDAQ under the ticker ATVI.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a worldwide pure-play online and console game publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry.

Activision Blizzard maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania, Australia, Chile, India, Japan China, the region of Taiwan and South Korea. More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activisionblizzard.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision Blizzard's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In this release, they are identified by references to dates after the date of this release and words such as "outlook", "will," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes", "may", "expects," "intends," and similar expressions. Factors that could cause Activision Blizzard's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Activision Blizzard's titles in its fiscal year 2009, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision Blizzard's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision Blizzard's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, , the Activision Blizzard's success in integrating the operations of Activision and Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and synergies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. Other such factors include the further implementation, acceptance and effectiveness of the remedial measures recommended or adopted by the special sub-committee of independent directors established in July 2006 to review historical stock option granting practices by Activision Blizzard and its board of directors, the finalization of the tentative settlement of the SEC's formal investigation and final court approval of the proposed settlement of the derivative litigation filed in July 2006 against certain current and former directors and officers of Activision Blizzard relating to Activision Blizzard's stock option granting practices, and the possibility that additional claims and proceedings will be commenced, including additional action by the SEC and/or other regulatory agencies, and other litigation unrelated to stock option granting practices and any additional risk factors identified in Activision Blizzard's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and the definitive proxy statement filed on June 6, 2008 in connection with the proposed transaction with Vivendi. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision Blizzard as of the date of this release, and Activision Blizzard assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of Activision Blizzard and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.

Reported the UK Independent:

HMV said its pre-tax profits rose by 25.2 per cent to £56.6m and total sales grew by 11.3 per cent. Simon Fox, the chief executive, said: "A year ago, we said this would be a year for stabilising the business, but actually it turned into a year of growth. We are only one year into the three-year turnaround strategy, but we are definitely ahead of schedule."

Fox also laid out exactly how much improving game sales had helped:

Mr Fox said HMV increased its share in the booming market for video games and technology products. These accounted for 21 per cent of total UK and Ireland sales over the year, up from just 14 per cent a year ago. Mr Fox added: "[The] games [market] is cyclical, but people expect it to be longer and stronger than previous cycles. The Wii [Fit] is a fantastic product and is still in short supply."

The revenue boost will help HMV renovate 10 to 15 more of its stores to a "next-generation" format, which will include multiplayer games and kiosks, over the coming year. The retailer says its trial stores have shown promising results thus far.

HMV pushes ahead with roll-out of new-style stores after profits soar 25% [The Independent]

"We rely on borrowings to meet our operating needs," said Atari, now that it has no more substantially-valued IP to sell. Atari's majority shareholder, Infogrames SA, will preserve Atari through an acquisition and a $20 million loan, while BlueBay High Yield Investments has also loaned Atari $14 million.

Atari also relies heavily on publishing revenues from a single franchise - Dragon Ball Z, which it says generated 49.1 percent of its net publishing revenues in fiscal 2008. Godzilla accounts for 9.2 percent.

Atari now primarily acts as a North American publisher-distributor for Infogrames-licensed titles. In kind, Atari has licensed its Test Driver and Test Driver Unlimited properties for seven years to Infogrames, and the language in the annual report suggests a tense relationship:

"During fiscal 2008, we completely terminated our product development activities and we granted IESA a seven year license to exploit our last remaining valuable game franchise," the company said. "Further, we increasingly focused our efforts on distributing products published by IESA. These steps substantially reduced our revenues."

Atari also warns, when quantifying its risk factors, that Infogrames' control over the company might be "disadvantageous" to its shareholders, although Atari also said it expects Infogrames to approve the pending merger.

"IESA [Infogrames Entertainment SA] controls us and could prevent a transaction favorable to our other stockholders," Atari said. "IESA beneficially owns approximately 51% of our common stock, which gives it sufficient voting power to prevent any transaction that it finds unfavorable, including an acquisition, consolidation or sale of shares or assets that might be desirable to our other stockholders."

"Additionally, IESA could unilaterally approve certain transactions as a result of its majority position. IESA also has sufficient voting power to elect all of the members of our Board of Directors."

Infogrames SA has long been a majority shareholder in Atari, and announced it would officially acquire the company (and loan it $20 million) in April 2008. One of Infogrames' founders, Bruno Bonnell, was Atari's chairman and CEO until April 2007, presiding over the company's decline.

On April 4, 2007, Bonnell was asked by Infogrames to resign, and the company agreed to pay him to step down. "Golden parachute" scenarios for corporate executives asked to resign during difficult times are not unusual. Yesterday, we reported that Activision chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick earned a $3,079,798 bonus for leading the company through a banner year. So how much did Bonnell receive in departure cash?

Infogrames SA paid Bonnell 3.0 million euros as part of his resignation agreement - that's 4.73 million dollars. In other words, Bonnell earned nearly $2 million more on Atari's poor performance (arguably attributable to his leadership) than Kotick earned in thank-you bonus for his leadership in Activision's record year.

Adding insult to injury, Atari's annual report discloses that Infogrames went over its head to form the agreement with Bonnell:

Neither our Board of Directors nor any member of our management was consulted about the agreement between IESA and Mr. Bonnell and our management was not provided with a copy of the agreement until more than two months after it was signed.

Atari details in its annual report the way that its current activities now largely center on North American publishing and distribution for games developed by Infogrames, though it still holds a library of titles licensed from Infogrames as well, including Dragon Ball Z (FUNimation), Alone in the Dark (IESA),Asteroids, PONG, Missile Command and Centipede (Atari Interactive), Dungeons and Dragons (Hasbro and Atari Interactive), Earthworm Jim (Interplay), RollerCoaster Tycoon (Chris Sawyer and Atari Interactive), and Godzilla (Sony Pictures).

An SEC filing revealed all:

The company's board just approved a $3,079,798 bonus for Kotick, and co-chairman Brian Kelly took home $2,996,556. They had to earn those bonuses, of course, by completing certain benchmarks for the company - Kotick and Kelly were allowed to pass on two of those, though, because they would have been "impractical and inadvisable" in light of Activision's pending combination with Vivendi.

The ones they were allowed to skip were "weighted," by the board, against the other ones, and Kotick and Kelly were found to have "exceeded target" as far as acquiring assets (yeah, scoring Blizzard is not a bad get) and developing the company's business franchises - franchises strong enough that they recently wrapped their best fourth quarter ever even without releasing new titles during that quarter.

Pachter's reasoning, in comments to GamePro, is that the next-gen consoles are not truly mass-market items yet, and won't be until their price point dips to $199.

"Around 90% of last-generation console sales were made at the $199 price point or below," he says. "Only wealthy or hardcore gamers have purchased consoles so far, given that the PS3 is still $399, the 360 is still $349, and the Wii is still $249. When prices drop below $200 (probably in 2010), the mass market [for 360 and PS3] will emerge."

Pachter's been on the warpath for console price cuts, predicting a $50 drop this holiday season for the PS3 and 360 as the console makers try in vain to duplicate last year's stellar sales figures. He's also said the current next-gen line is going to drop below 10 percent growth by 2010 unless they lop $150 off current prices.

The Wii below $200, that's a solid bet. But good gosh, considering Sony's lost more than $3 billion so far, pricing the PS3 below its production cost, can anyone really think we'll see that unit below $200? Or the 360, for that matter? And if makers did follow his predictions, there would be about a one-year mass market for these consoles before market forces dictated the next next-gen console for us wealthy hardcore gamers, around 2011. If that's when these consoles finally enter the mass market, and how long they'll stay, how many good games will we really see in that span?

Price, not GTAIV to Blame for Slow PS3, 360 Sales Analyst Says [GamePro]

The company also said its Japanese sales "decreased slightly," while sales rose in North America and Europe.

We've already reported Sony's unit sales by platform today, and we also took a peek inside the company's losses throughout PlayStation 3's bumpy start, but now we've also learned that Sony's actually closed some of that gap in its cost-of-sales to sales ratio (how much it costs to make a product versus how much the product earns.)

Though, as we reported earlier, Sony took a hit because the PS3 still costs more to make than they recoup at its current price point, the company says that its price reductions were "successful," in that "a significant increase" in PS3 sales ultimately cut 2007's losses nearly in half over the course of the year. The resulting broader userbase in turn drove software sales, which also helped. Sony says it also benefited from reducing its advertising and marketing expenses.

Finally, Sony credited strong PSP performance buoyed by the success of the slim and lite model for helping reduce losses in its game business segment.

Even as the current console generation marches on, PlayStation 2 sales and software both have kept reliably chugging like a newly-slimlined little Energizer Bunny. But Sony's fiscal 2008 annual report shows that both PS2 hardware and software have begun to demonstrate a decline.

Sony sold .98 million fewer PS2s than it did over last fiscal year, and PS2 software sales are down 39.5 million units year-over-year, too.

According to the report, Sony is planning on continuing decline for the PS2 in its ninth year since release. "However, on the back of worldwide hardware expansion, there are plans for a diversified portfolio of software titles to be released, and, thus, Sony will strive to maintain the scale of this business," said the company.

How are Sony's other platforms stacking up? Chart, and more delicious numbers, after the jump.

Still, though, PS2 software sales dominated over PS3 and PSP software, with almost three times as many units sold. Interestingly, it's the PSP that's sold more hardware than either the PS2 or PS3, moving a total of 13.89 million units, over four million more than last year.

PSP sold 55.5 million units of software, a small .8 million-unit bump over last year, putting it on par with PS3 software at 57.9 million units. PS3 software made a grand leap to reach that point, though, up 44.6 million units over last year.

Worldwide hardware unit sales (increase/decrease year-on-year ):

PS2: 13.73 million units (a decrease of 0.98 million units)
PSP: 13.89 million units (an increase of 4.36 million units)
PS3: 9.24 million units (an increase of 5.63 million units)

Worldwide software unit sales (increase/decrease year-on-year ):

PS2: 154.0 million units (a decrease of 39.5 million units)
PSP: 55.5 million units (an increase of 0.8 million units)
PS3: 57.9 million units (an increase of 44.6 million units)

Sony's fiscal 2008 annual report delineated potential risk factors to its investors, outlining that "the large-scale investment required during the development and introductory period of a new gaming platform may not be fully recovered." The loss figures were provided as an example of the "significant negative impact" introducing a new platform can cause at first.

"In the past, large-scale investment relating to capital expenditures and research and development for the manufacture of key components, including semiconductors supplied for [PlayStation 3] was also recorded within the Electronics segment," the company said.

In order to stay competitive, said Sony, it had to invest large amounts of money in research and development to introduce the PlayStation 3 into the market, and these sorts of expenditures don't always get recouped, especially if a platform "fail[s] to achieve such favorable market penetration... resulting in a significant negative impact on Sony's profitability."

Even if it can recoup its investment, Sony said, it's still possible to have lost large amounts of money on the platform's introductory period, and even a successful PS3 might take a while to replace what it cost to produce. These possible outcomes are currently a risk for the company, Sony said.

"We believe the transaction is set to create a formidable new digital media powerhouse and the most valuable interactive entertainment company worldwide, unlocking the value of industry juggernaut World of Warcraft, and possibly also setting a new benchmark for profit margins among publicly traded video game pure-plays"

Along with the rosy outlook, Sebastian is raising the company's target price (the price at which buyers will purchase the stock) from $33 to $40.

Activision Blizzard formation set for July 8 [GamesIndustry.biz]

The company more than doubled its net revenues for the quarter, reporting $539.8 million as compared with $205.4 million in the second quarter of 2007, even while the company spent $12.4 million on the stock-based compensation plan it recently approved for its Board.

Notably, results also reveal that Take-Two has spent a total of $5.3 million in legal fees over the last six months, the lion's share of which have been spent fending off Electronic Arts' acquisition bid.

As for BioShock, which now heads for both the PlayStation 3 and the movie theatres, Take-Two said it has shipped 2.2 million units to date.

Board chairman Strauss Zelnick emphasized the company's overall value:

“Take-Two’s performance has exceeded expectations through the first half of fiscal 2008, clearly demonstrating the creative, operational and financial strength of our business,” Zelnick said. “Our results reflected the extraordinary success of Grand Theft Auto IV, the value of our catalog of titles, and our ongoing initiatives to improve the efficiency of our operations.

"We look forward to continuing to enhance stockholder value by building on our broad portfolio of internally developed and owned interactive entertainment brands, leveraging the opportunities in the current industry cycle, and operating our business in an effective manner.”

Zelnick's statement on "continuing to enhance stockholder value" seems to indicate he has no immediate plans to yield to EA's bid.

Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two, added, “Based on the Company’s stronger than expected results, we have increased our financial guidance for fiscal 2008 and are confident in our ability to continue to perform for the balance of the year. Furthermore, Take-Two is extremely well positioned in an industry that is experiencing explosive growth. We believe that our exceptional creative talent, diverse range of hit products, and the proven global demand for our titles will be the drivers of increasing value over time.”

In its first week, GTA IV sold 6 million units, to the tune of $500 million in net sales.

As for BioShock, Take-Two said it had shipped over 2.2 million units since its late August debut, though GTA IV sales were the primary driver to $98.2 million in profits on the quarter for the publisher.

Under the agreement, no transaction will be completed until the FTC has finished its probe, which can take up to 45 days instead of the customary 30.

"We've entered an agreement with the FTC to modify the scope," said an EA spokesperson. "This is a normal part of the review process, which allows us to move through the review as expeditiously as possible while giving the FTC additional time in which to complete its full review and work."

At the time EA last extended its tender offer until June 16th, corporate development VP Owen Mahoney said the extension would allow the FTC further time to complete its investigation. However, there are only 7 business days between now and the expiration of EA's current offer, not 45 - so it's reasonable to infer EA will extend its offer again to allow the FTC to fully complete its probe.

EA declined to comment on plans to extend the offer, but the spokesperson said, "You'll hear from us on or before the expiration."

The FTC also does not comment on the specific details of individual investigations.

The company's existing investors also helped out this funding round, and Time Warner said Turbine was "an important addition to [its] entertainment initiatives."

Both Time Warner and GGV look to be betting big on the growth of online worlds; full announcement follows the jump.

TURBINE SECURES $40 MILLION IN FINANCING

Time Warner Inc. and GGV Capital

Join Existing Partners in Fueling Online Game Leader’s Growth

WESTWOOD, MA — June 4, 2008 — Turbine, Inc. today announced that it has raised $40 million in equity financing. Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and GGV Capital, a leader in expansion-stage venture capital investments in the U.S. and China, led the investment along with existing investors, Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Tudor Ventures and Columbia Capital. The investment will be used to further accelerate Turbine’s growth as a global leader in online entertainment.

“This is truly an exciting time for Turbine. The addition of Time Warner, one of the world’s largest media companies, and GGV Capital, one of the financial community’s most sophisticated investors, adds a level of access, perspective and experience to Turbine that is singularly unique in the global online entertainment space,” said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “Turbine has an extraordinary team, incredible technology and a growing portfolio of games based on some of the most popular brands ever created. With this funding we are uniquely positioned to change the future of online entertainment as we bring new titles to market, expand the platforms we support and introduce new technologies to sustain self-evolving game worlds.”

An online entertainment veteran, Turbine is recognized globally for its industry-leading technology platform, groundbreaking game graphics and its exceptional ability to create and operate multiple massive, persistent online worlds that power hundreds of thousands of interactive social gaming experiences. The company currently operates three award-winning franchises around the globe and is one of the largest privately-held online gaming studios in North America.

“Our investment in Turbine is an important addition to Time Warner's entertainment initiatives,” said Rachel Lam, Senior Vice President and Group Managing Director of Time Warner Investments. “Online interactive entertainment is a huge growth market and we are very excited about Turbine, its unique capabilities and the obvious opportunities that exist with our own broad portfolio of IP.”

“The demand for massively multiplayer online worlds is exploding both geographically and in terms of platforms served,” said Hany Nada, managing partner, GGV Capital. “Turbine is a proven leader in massively interactive online entertainment and the incredible technology that supports it. We look forward to marrying our strengths both here and in Asia with Turbine’s unique capabilities.”

In April 2007, Turbine launched The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, the first and only MMORPG based on the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, and has quickly established itself as an emerging leader. The Lord of the Rings Online was named PC Game of the Year 2007 at the 25th Annual Golden Joystick awards and The New York Times proclaimed it “a major achievement of interactive storytelling, the first game truly worthy of the 'Lord of the Rings' franchise and a must-play for just about anyone with an interest in Tolkien or the future of online entertainment.” Turbine also created and operates Dungeons & Dragons Online™, which was named Best Multiplayer Game of 2006 by the British Academy of Television & Arts, and Asheron’s Call®, which was named one of the Top 50 Games of All Time by GameSpy and is one of the longest running massively multiplayer online games in the industry.

About Turbine

Turbine, Inc. is the premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Turbine has grown to become one of the largest privately-held online gaming studios in North America. Turbine has created some of the world’s most popular and award-winning online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, Dungeons & Dragons Online™ and Asheron's Call®. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit www.turbine.com.

About Time Warner Investments

The Time Warner Investments group targets non-control strategic investments that have a clear impact on Time Warner's divisional operations and directly enhance the Company's ability to meet specific strategic goals. Time Warner Inc. is a leading media and entertainment company, whose businesses include interactive services, cable systems, filmed entertainment, television networks and publishing. For more information, please visit: www.timewarnerinvestments.com.

About GGV Capital

GGV CapitalTM is a leader in expansion-stage venture capital investments in the United States and Asia. Focused on driving expansion-stage innovation worldwide, GGV Capital’s highly diverse team manages over $1 billion from its offices in Silicon Valley, Shanghai, and Singapore. The firm invests across a range of sectors in information technology, services and healthcare, as well as the consumer growth sector in China. GGV Capital has provided capital and helped accelerate international expansion for its worldwide portfolio of high-growth companies, particularly in the U.S. and China. GGV Capital’s portfolio includes Alibaba (HKSE:1688), athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN), Boston-Power, BCD Semiconductor, Endeca, hiSoft, QuinStreet, SuccessFactors (NASDAQ: SFSF), and WildTangent. For more information, please visit www.ggvc.com.

Ubisoft also credited a "sharp ramp-up" of its Games For Everyone casual range, which includes Jam Sessions, My Word Coach and My Life Coach, among others, for its profit climb, along with successful launches for Assassin's Creed and its Imagine DS titles for girls.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the company now has 14 franchises with unit sales in the multimillions, and plans to launch five new IPs in addition to new casual brands. "Going forward, 2008-09 is set to be another record year for Ubisoft," said Guillemot.

The first fiscal quarter brought strong results for GameStop, with earnings up 151.4 percent to $62.1 million, and sales up 41.8 percent to $1,813.6 million. The planned new store openings would grow GameStop's international store base by 25 percent, as part of the company's stated goal of developing its market share globally.

Sales of new game software increased an "amazing" 72 percent, according to GameStop - hit the jump for GameStop's top five sellers during its record first quarter.

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Take-Two)
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo)
3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
4. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2(Ubisoft)
5. Army Of Two (Electronic Arts)

Notably, GTA IV topped the list even though only five days of its sales fit into the fiscal first quarter.

GameStop chairman and CEO R. Richard Fontaine credited a 34 percent increase in game console install bases and an expanding demographic that is now 38 percent female for the company's growth.

"We continue to attract and serve a broader consumer base as videogaming continues to attract the core gamers and is moving towards becoming mainstream family entertainment," Fontaine said.

It's Riccitiello's second time ever buying EA stock, and this time he purchased 20,000 shares, at about $48.37 each. The move comes one day after EA extended its deadline to acquire Take-Two.

Capcom credits problems in the arcade division to widespread home console expansion, as well as stiffer competition in the arcade industry. Worldwide fuel price struggles, Capcom said, meant fewer visitors to shopping mall arcades, while the popularity of card-dispenser kids' games has begun to decline, further harming arcade operations.

Capcom also said it lost money when its "Donkey Kong Banana Kingdom" machine suffered malfunctions, adding that the major area of income for the arcade business is the sale of peripheral products like trading cards.

If not for the write-off, NCsoft stood to gain in profit 48 percent on the quarter and 8 percent on the year. The publisher's sales increased 4 percent to $84.3 million on the popularity of the Lineage series in Asia and strong performance for Guild Wars and City of Heroes in North America and Europe.

In particular, NCsoft said its first quarter brought all-time record sales for Lineage II, which launched in 2003 and continues to be the company's top-selling title with 35 percent of the publisher's total sales.

NCsoft's U.S. sales reached $10.4 million in North America and $8.5 million in Europe, and $9.2 million in Japan, numbers dwarfed by its $47.7 million performance in Korea, which accounts for 57 percent of the publisher's total sales.

Later this year, NCsoft will launch its third closed beta for Aion, slated for a launch later this year. NCsoft will also roll out a more casual online portfolio with Point Blank, Punch Monster, Dragonica and Love Beat

"As proven once again in the Q1 financial results, we strongly believe our key franchise products, such as Lineage and Guild Wars, will meet our sales target with a strong customer base and continued content updates going forward," said NCsoft CFO Jaeho Lee. "We plan to ensure the smooth launch of many new products in the next two to three years, which will strengthen our position as a global leader in online games."

A look at Sony's recently-announced financials show a significantly improved condition for the company's PlayStation business year over year. Sony's game division lost $1.2 billion on the year - last year, though, that number was over $2 billion.

So the company's clearly closing an internal gap. Its own figures, however, seem to show $130 lost on each PS3 it ships. The Guardian, however, points to the profitability of the PSP and continuing strength of the PlayStation 2 to paint a different picture. From its article:

"On Sony's own figures, the games division made a loss of $130 for each PlayStation 3 shipped. Let's assume that it's making pots of money on the PSP and the PlayStation 2: the PS2 is now hugely profitable and still sells more games than anything else. These two platforms could easily have made a profit of $1.2bn in the year. In that case, the total PS3 loss would have been $2.4bn shared between 9.24m PS3 consoles, or $260 per PS3 — including any attached Sony games."

Is Sony losing $260 on every PS3 it ships? [The Guardian]

The company said that in the event it has to delay titles to benefit their long-term quality, it'd take a big hit on the quarter that wouldn't necessarily be indicative of an annual loss. Moving away from a quarterly guidance model is a method by which companies can keep their stock from slumping on short-term problems.

The decision's likely due to some volatility EA saw during the year thanks to delays such as Mass Effect PC's push-back that don't actually indicate financial losses — it just means the company makes money in a different quarter than it may have planned. Shifting to an annual guidance model may allow the company more flexibility as risk levels rise in the burgeoning video game industry.

EA did not, however, note any specific plans to delay any upcoming titles. Executives explained their decision:

"The nature of our business is fairly variable quarter to quarter based on release schedules. We've a multi-year business plan for the first time," said chief financial officer Eric Brown, who replaces the recently-departed Warren Jenson. "We're looking out 3-plus years as opposed to 3-plus quarters, and we think its appropriate... so that we're making good decisions for the long term."

"We'll be providing an update on the full-year guidance, but we'll be speaking to our full-year expectations versus just 90-day expectations."

CEO John Riccitiello said that analysts' high estimates for EA's first half had surprised him, given that key title Spore doesn't come out until September. "We said 63 to 68 percent of our revenue is expected in second half," he said.

What might EA do to prevent further delays? Riccitiello told analysts that while he hopes ship times to improve, improving quality is an even higher priority. "I can say without hesitation our quality is going to be up this year versus the prior year. Ship timing is going to be improved versus prior year."

But in the event those two conflict? "Ship time will give before quality," Riccitiello said.

"Were it not for The Sims and the WoW box sales, it'd be a pretty dismal sector," said Riccitiello, responding to an investor who inquired about "soft" PC retail sales. "The fastest growing [sector] is subscription, microtransactions-based and casual games, many of which are pretty much centered on the PC. One of the things we try to look at at EA is the total business represented on PC game software, and we're seeing a growth in business there. It's been growing for several years... it's categorized wrongly by looking simply at the box side of the equation."

Despite having 27 titles that sold over one million units during the year and a total $3.7 billion in sales, that loss on the quarter was only a portion of the company's overall $454 million loss on the year, a hefty blow after last fiscal year's $76 million profit.

However, both sales and revenue growth were decent for the company, beating analyst expectations. Crunching the numbers, it appears as if EA could have made around $30 million, if not for the costs largely due to its acquisitions - specifically the $620 million purchase of BioWare and Pandemic in October 2007, finalized in January 2008.

While Activision recently said it's the number one publisher in North America in dollars, EA says that its 19 percent market share in the region makes it the leader; EA's market share in Europe is 20 percent.
Instead of focusing on the loss, EA highlighted its successes, reporting itself the number one third-party Wii publisher in Europe throughout the year with 15 percent market share, eight points up from the year previous. Its North American market share on the Wii also was up one percentage point to 11 percent.

The company's "EA Partners" global distribution unit saw its strongest year yet, the company said, thanks to Rock Band and The Orange Box. As for EA's owned IP, the company gained a few in 2008 with MySims, Army of Two, Skate, Boogie, EA Playground and Smarty Pants, and gained development talent through the BioWare and Pandemic acquisitions. During the year EA also signed an agreement with Hasbro for the exclusive rights to create games based on Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Nerf, Tonka and Littlest Pet Shop.

Notably attending to its prior bad acts, EA also said that its December 2007 employee satisfaction survey showed "significant improvemente" since 2004, with a double-digit gain in "employee engagement."

"A year ago, we committed to an aggressive change agenda at EA," said EA CEO John Riccitiello. "Our employees stepped up to the challenge and we finished fiscal year 2008 with non-GAAP revenue up 30% to $4 billion - a record for any third-party publisher. Our operating margins were flat to our prior year."

"On balance, we're very pleased with our revenue growth, but not yet happy with our profit margins. In fiscal 2009, we expect to deliver another $1 billion in revenue growth and to double our operating profit on the strength of our slate of titles."

Strong worldwide sales for Call of Duty 4, Guitar Hero III and Spider-Man 3 drove the considerable growth, supported by Transformers: The Game and Shrek The Third. NPD data also shows that GHIII was the year's best-selling game in the U.S. and Europe in dollars during the year, while CoD4 was the number two worldwide best-seller in Europe, and the number one highest-earning PC title worldwide. Both franchises have surpassed a billion dollars in sales since launch.

It was the most profitable fourth quarter ever for Activision, even though the publisher did not release any new titles during that period. With its overall growth outpacing the rest of the market by more than four times, the company is now the number one console and handheld software publisher in dollars, according to NPD Group data.

Activision also said that a thriving video game industry overall bolstered the $1.39 billion growth on the year and near-doubling on the quarter. On the company's call to investors, chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick said he expects the install base of next-gen consoles to continue growing by 60 percent over the coming year, and that current software price points should hold, though he said the company would "monitor prices closely and remain mindful of competitive practices."

Kotick also said the Guitar Hero franchise would "continue to expand, through more SKUs and more hardware innovations, including the first peripheral ever created for Nintendo DS."

Also upcoming on the company's release slate are Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; Kung Fu Panda on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, Windows PC and DS; Guitar Hero: On Tour for DS, and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith for Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2.

Additionally, a game based on the upcoming James Bond: Quantum of Solace film will release concurrently in Q3, developed on the same engine as CoD4. Kotick also said that "we're reinventing Tony from the ground up," hinting at big announcements to come regarding innovation on the Tony Hawk: Pro Skater franchise. "This won't be your father's Tony Hawk," he promised.

Activision also announced today that it will release downloadable content "for certain key titles" at the end of 2008, an area in which the company says it sees "continued growth and emerging opportunities."

Primarily, the company looks ahead to the finalization of its merger with Vivendi Games (notably including Blizzard Entertainment and its market-leading World of Warcraft), which still requires stockholder approval and other closing procedures.

Through the partnership, the company is planning moves into the MMO business in both North America and Asia. Activision's September 2007 acquisition of Bizarre Creations also positions the company, it said, to enter the racing game genre.

Kotick said that the company's studio structure positions the company advantageously, as it "allows studios to maintain creative culture which gives edge in attracting talent and fostering creativity." He also said that Activision remains the only publisher not to delay a key title during the year thanks to its proficiency in next-gen console development and the strength of its studio structure.

"Fiscal 2008 marks the 6th consecutive year we have grown our business," Kotick. "This achievement would not have been possible without the creativity, hard work and dedication of our employees and our commitment as a company to deliver long-term shareholder value."

"Over the last two decades Activision has had many successful years. However, this fiscal year was a breakthrough year for the company."

THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell said that most of its struggles were due to a crowded and competitive market for kids' games, as well as key franchises — Juiced, Stuntman and Conan that ultimately "were simply not competitive."

"Insufficient game quality led to inadequate sellthrough, resulting in markdowns at retail," Farrell said.

Farrell said the company spent heavily to promote Juiced and Stuntman, and had to take a loss when those titles fail to perform. What growth THQ did see, Farrell credited to Frontlines: Fuel of War, MX vs. ATV Untamed and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, all of which exceeded expectations.

Farrell also said the kids' market, in which THQ has several franchises, was the most competitive in years, and that the company's currently struggling to compete with music games and Nintendo first-party titles.

Nonetheless, THQ appears to have placed its faith in the Wii, concentrating much of its upcoming original IP there. Although Saints Row 2 and Red Faction Guerrilla are still the "anchors" of its lineup, Darksiders, De Blob, Deadly Creatures, Big Beach Sports and All Star Cheer look likely to be slated for Wii along with other unannounced projects, though the company did not announce specific platforms.

New installments in existing franchises for fiscal 2009 include WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, Disney/Pixar's Wall-E film tie-in, and its previously-revealed Nickelodeon portfolio. The company will publish a game based on DreamWorks' Animation's unannounced 2010 fall film, and has slated WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania for 2009.

Notably, the company seems to have an eye on the free-to-play, microtransactions-driven online gaming market in Asia, highlighting the co-publishing agreement it's signed with Shanda Interactive to bring Company of Heroes Online to China in 2009.

THQ is more confident about the year to come, with three new initiatives in place: "We are rolling out a stronger slate of products. We have put in place and are executing against initiatives to improve our product quality and competitiveness. We are also realigning our cost structure to generate significant operating leverage in fiscal 2009. We believe these initiatives will restore profitable growth and improve value for shareholders," said Farrell.

"We faced a number of challenges, but I believe we have the right strategy to overcome these challenges and achieve significant growth."

The sluggish performance can be credited to the fact Midway had only one U.S. release during the quarter - an expansion pack for Stranglehold. On the other hand, its European launches included Unreal Tournament 3 and BlackSite: Area 51 for the PS3, Game Party and Cruis'n for the Wii, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends for the DS, and Hour of Victory for the PC.

Looking ahead to next quarter, Midway expects the release of NBA Ballers: Chosen One for Xbox 360 worldwide and for PS3 in North America to support $18 million in sales.

Also on the road ahead for Midway, the company hopes to reap the benefits of a recent executive reorganization as it fired CEO David Zucker and replaced him with interim president and CEO Matthew Booty. The company also promoted Miguel Iribarren to senior VP of Publishing and Martin Spiess to the role of executive VP of its Midway Games Ltd. subsidiary.

The company's investor call marked Booty's first outing speaking to the investor community. Booty said he's been with Midway his entire career, most recently as VP of Worldwide Studios, and that his two goals now are to deliver a solid 2008 lineup and to put the company back on the path to profitability. "My intent is to improve execution on a number of fronts to deliver on the commitments we've made to quality," he said.

At its recent press event in Las Vegas, Midway announced Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and the troubled publisher is clearly hoping it, along with This is Vegas, TNA Impact!, The Wheelman Unreal Tournament 3 for the Xbox 360, and Blitz: The League II. The company seems to be hopeful that the new lineup and the fresh executive leadership will help put the troubled publisher on track for brighter days.

In fact, Booty said that the initial revelation of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe garnered enough attention when it was announced to knock GTA IV off of the top position on Gamespot, and the trailer took the number one spot on GameTrailers. He promised further information on the game leading up to an anticipated launch in the fourth-quarter of 2008.

When asked why Stranglehold and Blacksite suffered critically and commercially, Booty said that the success of a game depends not only on its quality, but on the timing and manner of its launch, including surrounding marketing efforts. Essentially, Booty said the releases suffered from poor timing, but expressed confidence that they've resolved their timing issues for the 2008 lineup.

Finally, will Midway consider bringing more titles to the Wii as a way of capitalizing on its broad install base? "In terms of bringing some of those PS3 and 360 games out for the Wii, I think the games that are successful on the Wii are made specifically for the Wii in terms of audience and technology," Booty said. "Where appropriate - for example, we've brought some of our Mortal Kombat titles over to the Wii - we'll take a look at it."

Marvel will no longer be involved in direct toy operations, it said, to increase its focus on entertainment and licensing opportunities. The company is also looking ahead to its next three years of character franchises — including an Iron Man 2 film to be released on April 30th, 2010.

Following the Iron Man sequel in April, Marvel will follow up with Thor on June 4th, 2010. Also up ahead? An "Avengers-themed summer," with two Avengers movies planned for May (The First Avenger: Captain America) and July of 2011 (The Avengers). The results announcement didn't reveal whether video game tie-ins were planned for the upcoming films — but it did show that they're working on a Spider-Man musical with music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge.

Marvel chairman Morton Handel said, "Marvel's self-produced feature film slate launched this past weekend with a performance that firmly establishes Iron Man as a major new film franchise, and the Company eagerly awaits the June premiere of The Incredible Hulk, Marvel's second self-produced film. In addition, Marvel has been investing in other important areas of growth such as the Internet where, to lead the Company's newly formed Global Digital Media Group, Marvel recently announced the hiring of Ira Rubenstein. Marvel has a strong foundation to build from, and the Company is adding infrastructure to maximize these opportunities."

THQ's survived a series of hard knocks in the market thanks to the strength of its kid-friendly titles based on licenses from the likes of Nickelodeon and Pixar, even while its stock has taken a serious dive since January of this year. The company's about to announce its fiscal fourth quarter results tomorrow - as a new year begins for THQ, is it on track for smoother sailing?

It's been somewhat of a mixed bag for THQ over the last few months - the company saw a studio acquisition (Big Huge Games) at the beginning of 2008, while on the other hand, its Sandblast and Rainbow studios just recently saw layoffs, according to reports. While it's canned a couple of its former key franchises, Stuntman and Juiced, it saw a boost in sales last quarter thanks largely to its WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 and MX vs. ATV Untamed.

Thanks mainly to its family portfolio, though, THQ's hung in there, and most analysts seem to believe the worst is behind the company, seeing them poised to climb in the year ahead thanks to more attractive license opportunities for 2009 — for example, analysts frequently comment that they expect THQ's upcoming game based on Wall-E to perform better than did the Ratatouille game, because robots are more likable than rats.

Both Cowan Group analyst Doug Creutz and Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter expect THQ to remain a little conservative on its 2009 estimates, since it turned out to disappoint on last year. Still, Creutz says the publisher can outperform the overall market by 20 percent, while Pachter thinks it'll stay in line with overall market growth of 10-15 percent.

So with games based on more Nick properties including The Naked Brothers Band: The Video Game, Tak and the Power of Juju, Avatar: The Last Airbender, SpongeBob Squarepants and Back at the Barnyard, THQ may turn a cautiously optimistic eye to the future — we'll see when results and future guidance are revealed tomorrow.

For more details on THQ's upcoming Nickelodeon portfolio, check out our earlier story. Note the "parkour-inspired" gameplay for the Tak and the Power of Juju game — everyone's catching the parkour trend train, it seems.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 division was the $1.56 billion revenue standout amid a period of very little growth in the company's other businesses - Microsoft's whole-picture revenue was $14.45 billion, barely nudging the needle above the $14.4 billion it reported during the same period of 2007. Microsoft's overall profit actually slumped 11 percent.

The $14.45 billion performance for the company was less than analysts were expecting from Microsoft, but the company still promises to make expectations for its upcoming fiscal fourth quarter ranging from $15.5 billion to $15.8 billion.

NINTENDO NEWS: NINTENDO ANNOUNCES RECORD SALES AND PROFITS, INCREASED SHIPMENTS FOR WII CONSOLE

April 24, 2008

Nintendo Co., Ltd., has announced record revenues and profits for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008. Nintendo posted sales of more than 1.67 trillion yen, an increase of 73 percent over the prior year. Nintendo also reported FY08 operating profits of more than 487 billion yen, a year-over-year increase of 115.6 percent.

The company also increased projected shipments of the popular Wii™ home video game console for the current fiscal year. During the 12 months ending March 31, 2008, Nintendo shipped 18.61 million Wii console to its distributors and retail customers globally, bringing the worldwide total to 24.45 million since its debut in November 2006. For the fiscal year that began April 1, 2008, Nintendo forecasts global Wii console shipments increasing to 25 million.

Nintendo also forecasts shipment of 177 million Wii software units for FY09, while the FY08 shipment was 119.6 million units. Through March 31, 2008, Wii enjoys a life-to-date tie ratio of 6.07 games per system worldwide.

During the 12 months ending March 31, 2008, Nintendo shipped 30.31 million Nintendo DS™ systems worldwide, bringing the total worldwide shipment to 70.6 million. By March 31, 2009, Nintendo forecasts shipments of an additional 28 million Nintendo DS systems. Nintendo also forecasts shipment of 187 million Nintendo DS software units for FY09, while the actual FY08 software shipment was 185.62 million. Through March 31, 2008, Nintendo DS enjoys a life-to-date tie ratio of 5.24 games per system worldwide.

The company announced a full-year dividend for Nintendo shareholders of 1,260 yen per share (including the interim dividend of 140 yen already paid), 570 yen higher than the annual dividend of 690 yen paid one year ago.

All FY09 financial projections are based on an anticipated ratio of 100 yen to the U.S. dollar, and 155 yen to the euro.

For more information about Nintendo, please visit www.Nintendo.com.

In a call to investors and analysts, Zelnick and crew chalked up the better than planned for quarter to sales of stuff like Carnival Games and Manhunt 2, plus portions of Take-Two's back catalog. I'm not much of a gambler, but I'd be willing to wager that next quarter, they'll do much, much better.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2008 Financial Results [Take-Two]

"Driven by robust domestic and international sales, GameStop achieved the most successful holiday season results ever," said company chairman and CEO Richard Fontaine. "Video game software sales grew by 45%, while the next generation installed base is now triple last year's base and a very positive leading indicator for future sales growth."

GameStop Reports Record Holiday Sales

Total Sales Increase 35% Over Previous Year

Holiday Same Store Sales Increase 20%

Fiscal 2007 Earnings Guidance Raised by $0.13 per share

GRAPEVINE, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer, today reported sales results for the nine-week holiday period ending January 5, 2008.

Total sales for the 2007 holiday period were $2,334.4 million, a 34.7% increase from the prior year holiday period of $1,732.8 million. Comparable store sales for the holiday period increased 20.0%.

R. Richard Fontaine, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Driven by robust domestic and international sales, GameStop achieved the most successful holiday season results ever. Video game software sales grew by 45%, while the next generation installed base is now triple last year's base and a very positive leading indicator for future sales growth."

The top five video games sold during the holiday period were Activision's GUITAR HERO III and CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE, ASSASSIN'S CREED by Ubisoft, Electronic Art's ROCK BAND and Nintendo's SUPER MARIO GALAXY.

Fontaine also stated that he "was particularly pleased with record holiday handheld sell-outs of the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP. The Nintendo Wii, even in the face of on-going seasonal shortages, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, proved to be on many holiday wishlists as new console sales were very strong.

"Video gaming is redefining itself and attracting more players than ever as demonstrated by the growing number of Wii parties and Guitar Hero fests held not only at home, but also on college campuses, cruise ships and any place people are having fun."

Updated Guidance

Based on sales trends to date, GameStop is increasing its fourth quarter 2007 comparable store sales guidance from a range of 7.0% to 9.0%, to be in a range of 15.5% to 16.5%. Full year comparable store sales are now expected to be in a range of 23.5% to 24.5%.

In addition, GameStop is also increasing its fourth quarter diluted earnings per share guidance to be in a range of $1.09 to $1.10. Full year earnings per diluted share guidance is now forecast to be in a range of $1.75 to $1.76, which is $0.13 per share higher than guidance issued on November 20, 2007.

Note that guidance does not include debt retirement costs.

Full year 2007 sales and earnings results and fiscal 2008 earnings guidance are expected to be released in mid-March 2008.

Hickey said the GameStop's holiday period typically represents 75 percent of Q4 reported sales, which means that "the street is looking for $2.027 billion in holiday sales, or +17 percent year-on-year."

Analysts: Buy GameStop Shares Now [Next Gen]

Atari Gets Warning From Nasdaq [Forbes]

This evening's Take-Two Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2007 Results Conference Call wasn't exactly a Queens of the Stone Age concert, I know shocking right? There were some marginally interesting tidbits that floated out of the stream of fiscal data.

Here's a break-down of highlights and fun quotes, including one confirming the non-existence of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Wii:
*BioShock has shipped more than 2 million copies
*Carnival Games shipped more than 500,000 units since its