Retail chain this morning had its quarterly conference call and companies Nintendo, , and were somehow included in the discussion. Before we go to the interesting part, let us tell you first that the retail chain performed pretty well last year as it generated more than US$ 5.3 billion for the fiscal year of 2006.
Anyway, during the question and answer portion of the meeting, COO Dan DeMatteo mentioned that there's a perfectly good explanation for the . The number of limited units are rather scarce, DeMatteo explained, because Nintendo intended it to be so. "I don't think Wii supply is going to be an issue going forward, and it's just my opinion, I think Nintendo intentionally dried up their supply because they made their numbers for the year.
Nintendo's new year starts April 1st, and I think we're going to see supply flowing. We were concerned about the dryness of Wii inventory in March, but it looks like April is going to be good," further discussed the official. CEO R.
Richard Fontaine was then asked by Markets analyst about their take on the PlayStation 3 (PS3) PAL launch. The official claimed that , as reported by their European counterpart. Fontaine admitted, "I think the summary of that was that it was a very good launch falling After that, DeMatteo shared that Nintendo DS Lite was able to sell 5 million units in U.
S. alone, prompting the official to call the handheld "phenomenal." The PlayStation Portable (PSP), on the other hand, is pretty much doing good as well with a total number of over 3 million units sold.
He added that the much awaited for the handheld might appear this year. Lastly, the official somewhat placed his faith on Xbox 360 as he mentioned that the console will see continued growth this year, with around 4 to 5 million new users "jumping in." Currently, the installed user base of 360 in U.
S. is at 5 million. Now here's some interesting news.
.. We all know that the will be held in Makuhari Messe in on May 12 and 13, and at one time, has also mentioned that fans will be treated to a lot of surprises during the event.
While the party is still two months away, Square Enix is already dropping hints of what those surprises may be. Japanese daily newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, has recently run a full-page announcement for the said party. What's interesting about the advertisement is that it somehow refers to a new Final Fantasy game.
Please pardon the translation as you all know fluent we are in Japanese-Babelfish, but this is how the print reads (if anyone can read Japanese, please feel free to give us a more accurate translation. It would be much appreciated): The evolution will never stop, the series continues [..
. ] and then Final Fantasy that nobody knows will enter in scene.
Well, the legendary series is now on its 20th year of existence, so a development of this magnitude may actually be very fitting.
So what do you think guys? Is a new Final Fantasy game coming soon? We hope we all finally get the real deal on this matter by May.
Yesterday, we had a report regarding 's rather elusive , which is said to be released on various platforms. Some of you might be interested in the flavor of games that Oxygen brings to the table, so we decided to share with you some of the company's upcoming titles in the for 2007. The titles are grouped according to the platforms which they will be released on, and we also indicated the title's genre, in case you're an Puzzle or platform-only kind of person, and want to take your pick early.
On top of that, we also have the games' scheduled release dates as well as suggested retail prices. Are you ready? You might want to grab a pen and some paper, so you won't forget.
- World Championship Poker 2 (Poker) - April 20 / 19.99 GBP
- Quest for Aladdin's Treasure (Action-Adventure) - May 25 / 19.99 GBP
- C.
I.D 925: An Ordinary Life
(Platform) - October 19 / 24.99 GBP - PDC World Championship Darts 2008 (Darts) - November 24 / 29.
99 GBP
If you're curious about the game, then you're in luck because Big Bubba himself just provided a few exciting features for King of Clubs. The video game is set in the said theme park that promises to become a thriving tourist attraction once it opens. As for gameplay, the title is a mix between action and puzzle genres which will entail players to use trickery and wit.
Furthermore, Bubba King revealed that the title will sport vintage Americana graphics and soundtrack, a most suiting choice to compliment the hot and enchanting Nevada desert. The game has 96 levels, including 10 multi-level challenges, plus bonus areas, and a slew of various in-game gadgets. King of Clubs will also offer a "humorous" multiplayer mode.
King of Clubs is being prepared by . The Wii and PC versions of the game will be available on July 20. The handheld versions will follow shortly.
The game will be priced at 24.99 GBP or roughly around US$ 49.
Enigmatic Captain and the rest of the crew is back and they are set to conquer your hearts with their swords and fantastic adventures!
Interactive Studios (DIS) just announced that on May 22, 2007, it will be releasing new video game : At World's End on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (PS3), Wii, PlayStation Portable (PSP), DS, PC, and PlayStation 2. beyond the events of those films. Our games go beyond the films to introduce legendary pirates, new locations and unique endings that will satisfy the pirate in each of us," said Craig Relyea, Marketing Vice President for DIS.
Disney mentioned that it will release more details in the following weeks dedicated for each system. But as of now, the publisher said that the new video game will sport innovative dueling controls, as well as special moves that can be used to outwit and defeat enemies. The DS version of At World's End was rated E10+ by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and was developed by .
On the other hand, the console versions of the game, as well as the PSP and PC was given to . All versions were rated T by the classifications board. And now we leave you with the immortal words of the great pirate captain, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow.
I think we've all arrived at a very special place, eh? Spiritually, ecumenically..
.grammatically." We all know that the Grand Theft Auto series has for .
Despite that, the company is still beset by a lot of problems and issues. the problems involving Jack Thompson, the issues we're talking about now are the ones coming from within the very walls of the company itself. A couple of days ago, we reported that the major video game and publisher.
The former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was removed from office because he was found guilty of backdating stock options. Current CEO and other top honchos are still not secure in their posts. It is in this light that Take-Two Interactive cancelled its scheduled annual meeting on March 23 and moved it to March 29.
The reason the company gave is "to provide additional time to review the proposed actions of the that could potentially be presented to the shareholders." The official notice explained that the best alternative course of action as of now is a possible sale of the company. To make things more complicated, the notice mentioned as well that "there is no assurance that any specific alternative proposal will be forthcoming.
" It seems that this announcement was taken very well by market players in pre-market trading. Immediately after the notice was circulated, the company's -traded shares went up almost to US$ 22.26 from US$ 1.
50. Those who are involved in the planned take-over include companies Oppenheimer Funds, D.E.
Shaw Valence Portfolios, S.A.C.
Capital Management, and Tudor Investment. The Game Developers Conference ( ) 2007 is now over and here comes the aftermath: reports that was the "comeback story" of the recently concluded conference. The research firm's mentioned that the Playstation Portable (PSP) is now moving on the right track and the PlayStation 3 (PS3) is finally becoming stable.
According to the analyst, PlayStation Home could for Sony as it seeks to build a stronger community for PS3 owners, as well as narrow the gap with 's Xbox Live, which is already a popular and more established online service. Moving on to the PSP side of things, Sebastian didn't specifically but mentioned that there's a big possibility that Sony will revamp the handheld system. He remarked, "Sony could be preparing to bolster the PSP handheld market with a shift in marketing towards a younger demographic, possibly including a hardware price cut later this year.
" Sebastian helpfully added that the way to go is to have stronger software lineup and hardware price cut. Then, the analyst went on and discussed the continued momentum of Nintendo, with its consoles Wii and DS. According to him, Nintendo draws its strength from the .
Lastly, regarding Microsoft, Sebastian believes that the company has a lot of things going for them like of Xbox Live as well as upcoming giant video games and . He marveled at the current services being offered with the console. "The Xbox is one of the few 'living room' devices that can store and over the Internet.
" A lot of things are currently happening at the backstage of : and a Jack Thompson . Despite all these, it looks like the video game developer/publisher is unfazed as Take-Two just reported that its total losses narrowed during the first quarter of 2007. Its net revenue for the three months ending on January 31 was US$ 277.
3 million, while it was only at around US$ 265 million at the same time last year. The net loss back in 2006 used to be at US$ 29.1 million.
But now, Take-Two is saying that its net loss is just around US$ 21.5 million, and quite amusingly, US$ 6.4 million of that was used for legal and other professional fees connected to Take-Two's recent stock option investigation.
Take-Two's cash position was at US$ 138.2 at the end of the quarter, thanks to , and the 360 versions of , , and . If you really want to know, operating expenses fell by US$ 10.
0 million as a result of reduced sales and marketing expenses, not to mention the closure of its three studios in 2006. Despite these good numbers, several research companies headed by Wedbush Morgan are still doubtful about Take-Two's future. Analyst commented, We think that Take-Two's flagship franchise, Grand Theft Auto, will continue to generate significant profits, but it is clear that the profit potential from its sports business and from "everything else" will not be realized in FY:07.
If the company achieves merely "break even" results, profits from GTA will be fully offset by losses from everything else.
This year's E3 will be handled by the Entertainment Software Association ( ). As a matter of fact, the association has begun sending out invitations for Take note that this is not the final list of attendees as the invitation is just "save the date" in nature.
This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo will run from July 11 to July 13, but its location is yet to be revealed. The invitation described it though as "an environment designed to ensure that you can get your business done efficiently and effectively". Furthermore, the ESA letter entices gaming industry would-be attendees to show up by stating that E3 will give them "the opportunity to engage in one-on-one meetings with leading game company executives in an intimate setting, as well as network, socialize, and test pilot major company offerings.
" Other details concerning schedules, transportation, travel planning, and venue will be revealed by the Entertainment Software Association in the full invite to be sent out in April. While there are no concrete details yet as to how many companies will be present at the show this year, ( , , Nintendo).
California-based studio is proud to announce that Line Rider creator recently won a Game Developers Choice Award ( ) for Innovation.
If you are not familiar with Line Rider, it's a Flash-based video game that lets players paint the landscape by drawing one or more lines using the mouse. Pressing the "Play" button prompts the bobsledder to ride the user-created landscape. The second that I saw Line Rider I knew that it was something special.
For Bostjan to be awarded with the Innovation award along with huge titles from Nintendo and Capcom is a true honor, and only validates the Line Rider was licensed by inXile Entertainment and this coming spring. The game started out as Cadez's school project back in 2006. It suddenly became in internet phenomenon and was the seventh quickest gaining keyword in Google just a month after it was released on deviant ART.
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