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thq

Let's Blame Nintendo!

Nintendo's doing great! Making tons of money — just look at it go, go, go. What does that mean for its competitors? It means things are hard and not easy. Publisher THQ had a disappointing year with its Disney movie games. According to company CEO Brian Farrell :

The kids' market was extremely competitive during fiscal '08. In fact, it was the most crowded market for video games for kids in recent memory. With a tough Pixar comparison to Cars [Ratatouille] and new competition from Nintendo's first-party titles — as well as new music games — our traditionally strong kids' business did not meet expectations.

Wait, back up. Since when is Nintendo "new competition"? Like, since 1985?! Our advice: Stop passing the buck.
Nintendo Making Life Hard [casualgaming via GamesRadar] [Pic]

2:00 AM on Fri May 9 2008
By Brian Ashcraft
2,559 views, 46 comments

Latest by excel_excel: @RTW: Your the kid, guy, sony fanboy... more »

review

Battle of the Bands Review: Musical Smackdown

The business of rhythm and music games is sort of like the real music industry. Classy little cult hits like PaRappa The Rapper, Vib Ribbon and Ouendan were once the sole territory of the especially hip. You could boast about your Taiko No Tatsujin skills to your rhythm-less pals, or quirk a brow at your uncool peers as you casually hit "play" on your obscure DDR songs during a house party.

Then Guitar Hero and Rock Band happened. Music games are officially big business now, and everyone and their mother (literally) wants in. Next thing you know, you're boycotting the Grammys and defiantly tattooing the word "sellout" on your forehead. Battle of the Bands for Wii is THQ's entry into the rock music arms race—but is it a worthy innovator on the scene, or just a trendwhore leaping onto the bandwagon?

More »

1:00 PM on Thu May 8 2008
By Leigh Alexander
9,043 views, 31 comments

Latest by MrLister: I no longer want this, but I'd love the soundtrack! Some of my favourite songs are on it and you can never get enough undead mariachi covers! more »

marvel super heroes

THQ Gets Marvel License - Sort Of

THQ has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Entertainment that will allow them to make games featuring all of their most popular superheroes...in tiny, super-deformed size. Further cementing their position as the child-friendly publisher established with brands like Nickelodeon, they've earned the right to publish games based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad series of tiny plastic heroes with absolutely huge heads.
"Marvel is one of the true crown jewels in the entertainment industry and we are thrilled at the prospect of both building the Marvel Super Hero Squad brand and further developing our relationship with Marvel," said Brian Farrell, president and CEO, THQ."
Hopefully this means that Activision can stop making kiddie crap like Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and leave the younger stuff to the pros. Look at Spider-Man's head up there! His head is so huge! More »

8:20 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By Mike Fahey
2,362 views, 54 comments

Latest by Garonyldas: Still not as ugly as Bratz or the new Littlest Pet Shop. more »

game announce

WWE Legends Of WrestleMania Enters The Ring

Next year WWE fans will have another game to look forward to along with their annual SmackDown vs. Raw fix, as THQ announces WWE Legends of WrestleMania for the Xbox 360 and PS3 next year. Judging from the title of the press release, which doesn't offer much information other than that the game is coming, LoW will allow players to "Relive, Rewrite, or Redefine History", which means classic battles from WrestleMania events past.
"JAKKS Pacific is pleased to introduce a new WWE videogame property to the fighting genre," said Nelo Lucich, senior vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific. "The WWE SmackDown vs. Raw franchise has captured a collective audience of WWE fans, game enthusiasts and casual players, and we are confident that WWE Legends of WrestleMania will be poised for great success."
The game will be released next March to coincide with WrestleMania 25 in Houston Texas. More »

10:00 AM on Wed May 7 2008
By Mike Fahey
3,104 views, 73 comments

Latest by globones: I expect to see no kevin nash, steiners, or dudleys in this game. more »

hard times

THQ: "Fiscal Year 08 Was A Very Tough Year"

Despite reporting modest revenue growth for its 13th consecutive year, THQ reported a net loss of $35.3 million for the fiscal year ending March 2008. The company's sales totaled $1030.5 million, relatively little change from last year's $1,026.9 sales.

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."

More »

3:40 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Leigh Alexander
1,772 views, 28 comments

nickelodeon licenses

Spongebob Savior: Will Kid-Friendly Licenses Save THQ?

Earlier today, we reported that THQ's portfolio of Nickelodeon titles has hauled in more than $1 billion in sales, with the publisher looking forward to its 2008 lineup of more Nickelodeon properties.

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?

More »

10:40 AM on Mon May 5 2008
By Leigh Alexander
1,026 views, 14 comments

kid's games

THQ Sells A Billion Dollars' Worth Of Nickelodeon Crap

Never underestimate the power of the licensed children's video game. For every one of us who laughs at the very thought of THQ's upcoming The Naked Brothers Band: The Video Game, there are ten children who would savagely tear off your limbs to get their hands on it. THQ, Nickelodeon's long-standing partner in the game-space have revealed just how lucrative the market for licensed Nick-fodder has been for them over the years, claiming sails of over $ billion and 50 million units worldwide. The 2008 lineup features said Nakie Brothers game, a concert tour sim, SpongeBob's Drawn to Life, and games based on their Avatar, Back At The Barnyard, and Tak and the Power of Juju shows. Wait, a Tak game based on the TV show based on the video game? Tak has truly gone full circle. Such is the power of the juju. More »

8:40 AM on Mon May 5 2008
By Mike Fahey
1,206 views, 23 comments

Latest by Jeff Paine: @TheMysteriousStranger: It sounds like something I'd watch, but that's another story... more »

clips

More Saints Row 2, More Busey

Poor Saints Row 2. In a post-GTA IV world, how can it hope to compete? If it keeps looking like this, it won't. But that doesn't matter. We're not here for more on Saints Row 2. We're here for more Busey. I like to think that THQ just went to Gary's house one day, set up a camera and let him talk for a week, then just cut their trailers around his more poignant ramblings. More »

9:40 PM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Luke Plunkett
2,706 views, 67 comments

game announce

THQ Journeys To The Center Of The Earth

Get ready for a big adventure on two tiny screens. THQ has just announced Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D for the Nintendo DS. Based off of the upcoming movie starring Brendan Fraser, the go-to guy for pulp adventure since The Mummy, the game will allow you to relive moments from the film as the three main charaters, with seven worlds from the film represented. The game will also include archeological mini-games, such as digging for fossils and deciphering ancient runes. The movie is of course based off of the classic novel by the father of science fiction, Jules Verne, and is the third major motion adaptation of the book, and is the first ever digital 3-D live action release, utilizing 3-D technology developed by James Cameron and Vince Pace. The game should be on store shelves the day the film releases, July 11th. More »

10:20 AM on Thu Apr 24 2008
By Mike Fahey
977 views, 19 comments

Latest by cdammers: Highly anticipated my arse. If they actually make the game in stereoscopic 3D, it might be quite amusing. If only for all the kids wearing 3D specs on the Tube. more »

clips

Saint's Row 2 Weapons - Ready, Clear!

And now a very special message from the Stillwater division of the Ultor Corporation. It's extremely ballsy of THQ to release this tongue-in-cheek video for Saint's Row 2 on the eve of the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, but damn if it isn't entertaining. This grabbed me as soon as they got out the shock paddles. I will buy any game that allows me to run around on the street shouting "CLEAR!" and lighting people up with a defibrillator. It's like a lifelong dream of mine, and possibly the reason I failed that one first aid course.

10:00 AM on Thu Apr 17 2008
By Mike Fahey
9,174 views, 68 comments

Latest by I can't think of a good name...: I loved the first game and I will love this one even more. more »

clips

New Baja Trailer: Try to Control Yourself

I would have thought that Desert Bus would forever remove both "real-time" and "desert terrain" from the marketing lexicon of any playable video game. As the brand new trailer above shows, THQ/2XL Games' Baja is eminently playable. Suddenly 240-minute endurance races don't seem so bad. I might need a USB glucose drip IV when this comes out in August.

Rough Riding: Hands On with Baja [Kotaku]

5:00 PM on Sun Apr 13 2008
By ogood
6,016 views, 43 comments

gallery

Rockets, Riots, Yeah, This Is A Rocket Riot

First announced last October, Rocket Riot, being developed by CodeGlue and published by THQ, is looking great. Slated for release sometime later this year on Xbox Live Arcade, here are some early screens of the game in progress, which show that, hey, you can make a Worms clone look interesting.
Rocket Riot [Codeglue]

2:30 AM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Luke Plunkett
1,343 views, 14 comments

Latest by cybereal: Worms is the clone, a crappy one imo, what's with all the walking around and jumping and crap? Scorched Earth more »

world of warcraft

Has WoW Peaked?

World of Warcraft's big. Bigger than the Beatles and Jesus combined. But it can't last forever, and one day, sure as the sun rises, it will peak, before beginning the slow, torturous decline into oblivion. Any bets on when that peak will occur? If you ask THQ's Jack Sorenson, it's right now:
I wish I could see the numbers, but my guess is that it probably already has peaked - but it's still a great business.
Hope he's right. No disrespect to WoW, but I'd like to hear about something else in the MMO space for once. All the WoW this, WoW that, it's getting boring!
THQ: "Warcraft has peaked" [Eurogamer] [Pic]

10:30 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By Luke Plunkett
5,124 views, 138 comments

Latest by freespeech: who is this guy saying this crazy stuff????????? more »

warhammer

Wage An Endless War Against This Warhammer 40K MMO Info

A two-year wait gives us plenty of time to read up on THQ's Warhammer 40K MMO, so you can take your time with this. A sentence a week should ration things out nicely. The latest issue of PC Gamer has some real, actual information on the project, including the fact there'll be large-scale combat, you can naturally form squads/chapters and that, according to creative director Joe Madureira, there'll be "tons of stuff hanging off your character, weapons, scrolls... we are going to have the coolest looking characters of any MMO, ever". Oh, and fans of Space Hulk, know that the game will feature, amongst stuff like crumbling cities and alien temples, the ability to explore space hulks.
Actual WH40K MMO details here [PC Gamer, via CVG] [Pic]

8:20 PM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By Luke Plunkett
4,576 views, 58 comments

Latest by Rovient: Ok, so I know everyone here is thinking "They'll split everyone in the universe into good/ evil.". Well, that's not how WoW works so there's no evidence to suggest they'll do that here. for instance, in wow, the alliance and more »

thq gamers day

Red Planet: Hands on With Red Faction Guerrilla

One thing the Red Faction series was known for (if you remember it that is) was its destructible environments. Aside from that though, the series was a pretty typical linear shooter with not a whole lot to make it truly memorable. The developers of the newest game in the series, Red Faction Guerrilla, have taken the game's original concept and turned it on it's ear, creating an open world environment that feels more like GTA type game than either of its predecessors. If you like plenty of explosions and running around in large environments wreaking havoc on everything you see, this is definitely the game for you.

More »

9:00 AM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By fdemarco
4,835 views, 42 comments

Latest by freespeech: "As interesting and graphically pleasing and fun as Red Faction: Guerrilla was, it will need more than exploding buildings and giant destructive mechs to keep me truly captivated." Not me, sounds like wicked fUN!!!!!! i'm in for 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! more »

warhammer

Warhammer 40K MMO Still "Years Away"

As a general rule, I hate MMOs. Elves, grinding, enchanted amulets, yuck. Though I've always set aside a condition that, should I ever run into one that's both decent and based on a franchise or IP that I'm keen on, I'd at least dip my toes in the shallow end. Perhaps the only one to potentially meet this condition at this stage is THQ's Warhammer 40K MMO, so it's with a slightly pathetic frown on my face that I hear THQ CEO Brian Farrell saying the project's "probably still a couple of years out". Bummer.
Interview: Brian Farrell, CEO, THQ [paidcontent, via VG247] [Pic]

5:30 AM on Tue Apr 8 2008
By Luke Plunkett
5,304 views, 43 comments

Latest by Alaron: May the Emperor watch over this and deliver unto us a divine game cast in his image! Praise be to the Emperor! ....god I want this game to be here now more »

thq gamer's day 08

Soft Rockin': Battle of the Bands

It was with great trepidation that I checked out Battle of the bands for Wii. The logo alone left me feeling like it was going to be a cheap Guitar Hero knock off with it's heavy Metal pointy-ness. What I was shown when I actually played was a somewhat convoluted rock band/battle game that seemed to miss its mark.

They were showing of the multiplayer capabilities of the game which meant I was pitted against one of the game's developers. Each player chooses from a number of "bands" each with its own different style and type of music. Then a song is picked from a rather extensive song list although admittedly I only recognized a few titles like "Mama Gonna Knock You Out" and "One Thing Leads To Another." Once the song is picked you are presented with two Guitar Hero like fret boards with the now familiar scrolling dots representing the notes. But, instead of hitting buttons on a plastic guitar, you flick the Wii remote in rythm the direction of the arrow that the little dot has on it. It seemed a little weak and gave me the same feeling I got when playing Boogie. Rather unfulfilling. Every once in a while you could gather firepower or bombs and a little symbol representing that weapon would appear above one of the moving dots. If you flicked in rhythm at the correct time, you would send the weapon over to the rival band, knocking off portions of their points. By the end of the song, the band with the most points is declared the winner.

If this all sounds confusing and weird to you, welcome to the club. It's exactly the same way I felt after finishing playing. My buddy I was with actually quite enjoyed so I'm sure the game will find an audience somewhere, but certainly not with me.

2:00 PM on Mon Apr 7 2008
By fdemarco
2,152 views, 35 comments

Latest by freespeech: sounds pretty cool actually, how about trying it out before condemning it!!!?????!!!!!???????!!??!?!?!?!?!? more »

media

Saint's Row 2, Hijacked By Gary Busey

Give Gary Busey a green screen, some video game footage and whatever marvelous concoction of narcotics he must have on constant drip, and you get three new Saint's Row 2 trailers called Street Lessons With Uncle Gary. Sometimes funny, often scary and always Busey, these new ads will give you a slightly better glimpse of the game than the more dramatic, less footagey trailer that debuted last week.

More »

1:40 PM on Mon Apr 7 2008
By Mark Wilson
6,812 views, 79 comments

Latest by LeLoi: Gary Busey was awesome on that one episode of Entourage. more »