Finally, Some Good News for Infogrames

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Lyon, France-based Atari parent Infogrames said Thursday that Alone in the Dark and Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit drove a sales increase of 80 percent to €90.1 million (Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM40.4 million) for the first quarter ended in June.

The firm, which is in the midst of restructuring, said that its turnaround initiatives are demonstrating "positive momentum."

Day one shipments of Alone in the Dark and Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit (both for PS3 and Xbox 360) were 1.2 million and 930,000 units, respectively.

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Dragon Quest V Continues Japan Sales Domination

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Dragon Quest V, the DS remake of the Japanese Super Famicom and PS2 classic, is now enjoying its second week at the top of the Japanese sales charts. The game sold 190,000 copies for the week ending July 27, bringing its lifetime total to 834,000 in just two weeks of release.

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Are Game Reviewers Lazy?

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, thinks game reviewers should play through the entire game before delivering the final verdict.

"My pet peeve is that game reviewers are lazy," he told Shacknews. "Not all, but in terms of the reviews [something like] "This game isn"t as good because let"s compare it to that game over there and that game was great." Who gives a, you know, bleep?"

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Final Fantasy House Posts Profit Rise

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Square Enix generated lower sales and higher net income for its April-June quarter, the Final Fantasy house said Thursday.

Net sales for the first quarter were 29.8 billion yen (http://www.mmoabc.com/a_8a8080d21b7cd9fb011b7cda51ae0011./Final-Fantasy-House-Posts-Profit-Rise.htm75.7 million), down from 33.7 billion yen for the same quarter a year ago.

Net income was up to 2.9 billion yen from 2.7 billion yen.

Japan continues to be Tokyo-based Square Enix"s primary market by a large margin. The region generated nearly 26 billion yen of the company"s total sales, while North America and Europe generated around 2.5 billion yen each.

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Rock Band Live Tours With Panic at the Disco

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

MTV Games has announced that the Rock Band Live tour will travel across America in the fall, bringing with it head-to-head competitions that will let Rock Band players compete for a chance to play on the main stage.

The tour will feature the bands Panic at the Disco and Dashboard Confessional. Winners in the player contest will get to play the game on stage between the sets of the booked acts. Other guests include the Plain White T’s and The Cab.

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Rockstar Sweeps Develop Awards

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Rockstar Games has taken a plurality of the awards at the Develop Industry Excellence Awards, according to a statement made by the Develop Conference organizers Thursday.

The company won four awards, the most of the night, including a special grand prix award for competing most to the medium in 2008. Rockstar also took the best in-house developer award, and the visual arts and audio accomplishments awards for work on Grand Theft Auto IV.

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UK Gov: BBFC “More Thorough” Than PEGI

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

A report from the UK House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media, and Sport has revealed that body’s preference in BBFC ratings over the industry self-regulating PEGI system. The BBFC ratings are currently used to classify film.

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Inside the New Xbox Live - Part One

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

“We created a new medium. None of the other consoles were really thinking about online at the time. That was our focus – we were like a crazy bull running around a china shop.”

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The Folly of Pigeon-Holing Gamers

Posted on Aug 1, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Global MU Online War Squad Event

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 5:16 PM

Players will get the opportunity to fight alongside Game Masters (GM) in an upcoming new event from Global MU Online called MU Squad. More...

City of Heroes Adds More Options - Purchasable Character Respecs

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 5:05 PM

City of Heroes has expanded their suite of available purchasable services to include Character Respecs. More...

Jumpgate Evolution MMOABC Interview

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 2:49 PM

We recently had a chance to catch up with Jumpgate Evolution to find out what's currently going on and future plans for the MMO title. More...

Russian version of Age of Conan coming in Q4

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 2:30 PM

1C Company to run and operate a fully localized Russian version in partnership with Funcom. More...

Zu Online: Explore the Submarine World

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 2:07 PM

IGG is releasing an introduction to the submarine world of Zu Online and some of the NPCs and monsters residing there. IGG hopes exploring the submarine world of Zu Online will help players cool off this summer. More...

Myth War II: Saint Pet and Growth Paradise offer

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 12:01 PM

With the month of August right around the corner, the Myth War team will be holding 2 captivating events featuring BIG rewards. More...

Portugal Makes its Play

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Founded just over two years ago as one of the first Portuguese companies to ever venture into the gaming industry, GameInvest has only 40 employees, yet we will produce 10 new and innovative multi-platform games each year for the mainstream pop audience. 

I’m often asked how we were able to establish ourselves as a startup developer in a country that, until recently, had no presence in the games industry. 

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THQ Losses Widen

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

For the first quarter ended June 30, Wall-E game publisher THQ posted higher net sales and wider net losses year-on-year, the firm said Wednesday.

Sales for the quarter were Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM37.6 million, up from Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM04.5 million.

Net loss was http://www.mmoabc.com/a_8a8080d21b77b3a0011b77b3f31e0018./THQ-Losses-Widen.htm7.2 million, an increase from the comparable quarter"s $9.3 million.

THQ said in a conference call that while the movie tie-in Wall-E has sold better than the last Disney/Pixar movie-game, Ratatouille, Wall-E has still not met expectations.

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Game Critics Awards Announce Best of E3

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

The Game Critics Awards, an independent organization that includes journalists from a multitude of media outlets, has announced the nominees for its 2008 best of E3 awards.

The Game Critics Association is comprised of journalists from both enthusiast outlets like GameSpot and major media outlets including Time and The Washington Post. Edge-Online sibling publications GamesRadar and PC Gamer also have journalists in the Association.

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Nintendo Confirms Piracy Suit

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Nintendo has aligned itself with 54 software companies in Japan in a lawsuit targeting parties that import and sell alleged piracy devices, the company has confirmed.

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Nintendo’s Profits Continue to Rise

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Nintendo of Japan announced its first quarter results Wednesday, showing increased sales and income versus the same period the year before.

For the quarter ending June 30, 2008, Nintendo recorded sales of 423,380M yen (about US Joe Keiser.9 billion) and an operating income of 119,192M yen (about USJul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM.1 billion). The company’s net income for the quarter was 107,267M yen (US$994 million). In the same period in 2007, the company reported net sales of 340,439M yen, an operating income of 90,361M yen, and a net income of 80,251M yen.

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Edge at Develop 08

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Develop conference opened in Brighton with a keynote from four of the principal men behind Bioshock telling the story of how it came together. Creative director Ken Levine explained how Looking Glass’ Ultima Underworld was the formative game for him, because “it was all about immersion, a feeling about being in the world”. Getting a job at the studio was like working in Disney World.

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Bourne is Back Home

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Ludlum Entertainment, the owner of the Bourne properties based on books by the late author Robert Ludlum, said Wednesday that it has reacquired the exclusive game rights to Ludlum"s works.

Vivendi Games most recently held the rights to develop, publish and distribute games based on the Bourne franchise. Vivendi subsidiary Sierra published Robert Ludlum"s The Bourne Conspiracy in June, a game developed by High Moon Studios for Xbox 360 and PS3.

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Richard Garriott Last Hope for Humankind

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

This is certainly one of the more unique--if not outright strange--promotional campaigns you"ll see.

NCsoft"s Richard Garriott, the brains behind the MMO Tabula Rasa and the Ultima universe, said Wednesday that he will take "digitized DNA of select video game players and space aficionados" to space when he visits the International Space Station this October.

The U.S. campaign will give Tabula Rasa players the chance to have their DNA sequenced, digitized and sent into space in the "Immortality Drive" time capsule.

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Nintendo DS Successor Ready?

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

The successor to the Nintendo DS could be introduced as early as this year, bringing with it the potential to spur even more growth for Nintendo, Wedbush Morgan"s Michael Pachter said Wednesday.

"We think that the timing of a new product introduction will depend upon the sales profile for the DS, and believe that lower than expected DS hardware sales could trigger an earlier launch for the new device," Pachter said in an investor note.

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Capcom Records Strong Q1 Growth

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Capcom has reported favorable results in its Q1 2008 financial statement, citing the Japanese release of Monster Hunter Freedom 2G as a primary sales driver for the company.

Capcom announced that its sales for the quarter ending June 30, 2008 totaled 16,352 million yen (about USJul 31, 2008 at 1:07 AM51 million), up 14.5% from the same period last year. Operating income was up 43.5%, from 2,075 million yen to 2,978 million yen ($US27.61 million). Net income increased 60.1%, totaling 2,382 million yen (UShttp://www.mmoabc.com/a_8a8080d21b77b3a0011b77b3e95e000f./Capcom-Records-Strong-Q1-Growth.htm2 million) compared to 1,130 million yen the previous year.

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