ollowing yesterday's financial results, THQ's CEO Mike Farrell has discussed the challenges of breaking even on core games, saying that the era of making an investment back selling 700 to 800 thousand units are "unfortunately over."

"The only area where the break-evens are challenging for us, and the industry, is in the core area," said Farrell during a conference cal with investors.

"If you're going to compete in that segment, you've got to have gameplay, storyline, technology, and marketing spend that drive you home with that core consumer, and that's the one segment where the break-even points are still relatively challenging, which is why we said let's just focus on one to two per year" during last year's business restructuring.

When asked to clarify approximately how many units the publisher needs to sell in order to break even, and if a core title could show a return on investment by selling 800 thousand units, Farrell denied that possibility, saying "On the core titles, yeah, 700, 800 thousand units, those days unfortunately, we think, are over."

THQ segments its software into five categories: core gamer, fighting, mass appeal/family, kids, and online. While core titles provide a challenge for the publisher, Farrell says he is comfortable in the remaining categories.

"Fighting, we've been in for a long time, we understand how to do that, so we're very comfortable with the break-evens there," said Farrell, referring to its WWE and WWF wrestling franchise that has been a THQ staple since 1999, as well as the upcoming UFC 2009 Undisputed. "I think those have been relatively stable if not coming down a little bit over time."

"Clearly on kids and mass appeal, the reason we like those markets is the break-evens are relatively low," continued Farrell. "On a game like Big Beach Sports, our break-even was very low, and it's been extremely profitable because we put up big units on a very low investment. So on those three categories we're either [seeing a] flat or declining break-even."

Farrell estimates that THQ can break even on kids titles by selling between 100 and 400 thousand units. With mass market titles, that number varies more.

"The beauty of that [mass market] business is those are all driven by consumer trends and the type of gameplay, and not necessarily cost," he said.

"As you move up the food chain and we get more complex - things like de Blob - the break-even would go up, so I'd give you a similar range, sort of 100 to 400 thousand units in those areas. So fairly low in the kids and mass appeal, as you might suspect, but much higher on the core titles."

As far as break-even points on online and MMO titles, "it depends on the segment of that market," Farrell said.

"We like the way we structured a couple of our initial online investments. We have really no net investment in the Shanda deal, yet we've extracted a lot of learning from that," he continued, referring to a partnership between THQ and Shanda to distribute Company of Heroes in Asian territories.

"Getting into the casual MMO space, we did a joint venture as you know, so I think it was a very smart deal. That being said, the MMO is a pretty significant investment, but we love the prospects for that brand."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...st-challenging ...

By now, this point should be drilled into game makers' skulls. The games industry has morphed into a service-based business. Downloadable content matters. Not only does it increase the longevity of titles both on and off the retail shelf--driving new game sales and preventing trade-ins--it is also an easy way to squeeze out some extra cash from that big-budget boxed product. Hell. A lot of cash.
Activision has announced that the first chunk of downloadable content for Call of Duty World At War, Map Pack 1, has now sold 2 million units. That $9.99 pack of four maps has generated nearly $20 million.
It's another sign that downloadable content is turning into a big business. John Riccitiello, chief executive of Electronic Arts, stated during the company's earnings call that all Electronic Arts titles would be open to digital expansions. Game downloads and microtransactions generated $80 million in revenues for the company last year, and Riccitiello expects EA's online business to exceed $500 million this fiscal year.

Some game players may grimace at the thought of spending extra cash for new maps, but it's a good thing for the industry as it's another revenue model it can turn to "boxed product" business begins to dwindle.

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/285...ontent-matters ...

By now, this point should be drilled into game makers' skulls. The games industry has morphed into a service-based business. Downloadable content matters. Not only does it increase the longevity of titles both on and off the retail shelf--driving new game sales and preventing trade-ins--it is also an easy way to squeeze out some extra cash from that big-budget boxed product. Hell. A lot of cash.
Activision has announced that the first chunk of downloadable content for Call of Duty World At War, Map Pack 1, has now sold 2 million units. That $9.99 pack of four maps has generated nearly $20 million.
It's another sign that downloadable content is turning into a big business. John Riccitiello, chief executive of Electronic Arts, stated during the company's earnings call that all Electronic Arts titles would be open to digital expansions. Game downloads and microtransactions generated $80 million in revenues for the company last year, and Riccitiello expects EA's online business to exceed $500 million this fiscal year.

Some game players may grimace at the thought of spending extra cash for new maps, but it's a good thing for the industry as it's another revenue model it can turn to "boxed product" business begins to dwindle.

http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/285...ontent-matters ...

Today on the Capcom Unity Blog the company announced which games will be showcased at the Electronic Entertainment Expo on June 2 through the 4. The list includes a bunch of useful information including the fact that Lost Planet 2 is "currently coming to PC and 360, implying that it will eventually land on PS3. It also includes two "mystery games" that will be announced at the show, one of them during a press conference and the other will be playable at Capcom's booth.

To save you the trouble of an extra mouse click, we've included the full list right here:


Bionic Commando (PC)

Dark Void (PC, PS3, X360)

Dead Rising 2 (PC, PS3, X360)

Fate/ Unlimited Codes (PSP)

Lost Planet 2 (PC, X360)

Marvel vs Capcom 2 (PSN, XBL)

Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace (DS)

Mega Man Star Force 3: Red Joker (DS)

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP)

Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil (Wii)

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (Wii)

Spyborgs (Wii)

Street Fighter IV (PC)

Untitled Mystery Game #1

Untitled Mystery Game #2
Let us know your best guess for the unannounced games in the article comments below. Here's to hoping it has something to do with the return of the Breath of Fire series!

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/980/980420p1.html ...

The Colin McRae: Dirt 2 'target' screenshots look incredible. But do the in-game visuals live up to them? Judge for yourself with this studio tour video, which gives you a first glimpse of the game in action.


"Introduced by Gavin Raeburn, Senior Executive Producer, the video reveals the tech that will drive Colin McRae: DiRT 2 and how it is enabling the studio to create an off-road racing experience that's set to be peerless in both scope and delivery," says Codemasters.

"Illustrated by the game's first ever publicly-released gameplay footage, Gavin and the team begin by demonstrating the new particle physics system and the water technology."

Game's out in September on PS3, 360, Wii, DS, PSP and PC.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=214503 ...

CEO Brian Farrell adds that 800,000 sales are no longer enough for triple-A titles
On the back of THQ’s recent financial results, CEO Brian Farrell has stated that he believes Sony will cut the price of PS3 this year, whilst also admitting that the Wii market is slowing.
“We are not expecting a price cut at E3 but we do expect one later in the year,” Farrell stated in an investor call transcribed on Seeking Alpha. “But again, that's just our guess – that's not based on any knowledge from Sony.
“We are pleased with Microsoft's momentum at their price point. We are seeing a little softness in the Wii which we kind of think of the glass as half full here, in that the Wii has been going for an unprecedented amount of time without a price reduction.”
Elsewhere in the call Farrell added that the expensive nature of modern games development means that even an impressive 800,000 sales is rarely enough for a triple-A title to break even.
“On the core titles, 700,000, 800,000 units – these days unfortunately we think are over,” Farrell said.
“But within the kids segment, the break evens are very low – depending on the title, how many SKUs you do, per SKU your break-evens are, depending on the platform, somewhere between even 100,000 and 400,000 units.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/34213/THQ-...-a-little-soft ...

Veteran games developer 3D Realms has closed down because of a lack of funds.
Founded in 1987, the firm popularised the concept of shareware gaming and published the seminal Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein 3D first-person shooters.
The company was working on a follow-up title, Duke Nukem Forever, which after being in development for 12 years has become the object of industry derision.
Publisher Take-Two says it will no longer fund development of the game but retains rights to the title.
"We can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title," said Take-Two's Alan Lewis in a statement.
There has been no official comment from 3D Realms, other than a forum posting from the company's webmaster, Joe Siegler, who said: "It's not a marketing thing. It's true. I have nothing further to say at this time."
Other companies with links to 3D Realms or the Duke Nukem series were quick to distance themselves.

Duke Nukem Forever was the most aptly named title in the history of games
Guardian games writer Steve Boxer
In a posting on Twitter, Apogee Software said it was "officially not affected by the situation at 3DRealms".
"Development of the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned and further announcements about upcoming games will be made in the near future," the statement added.
Guardian newspaper games writer Steve Boxer said it was astonishing 3D Realms had not finished the game after more than a decade of development.
"It would have been nice to see another Duke Nukem game, but given they had more than 12 years it's just incompetence of the highest order.
"3D Realms made some great games in the past, but they got overtaken by the 21st Century.
"Sadly, Duke Nukem Forever was the most aptly named title in the history of games. Now, it's just Duke Nukem Never."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8037688.stm ...

Xi developer licenses Unity engine, hires new key staff, embarks on projects for iPhone and Google's Android

Developer nDreams – the studio behind PlayStation Home’s Alternate Reality Game Xi – has announced that it is working on a number of new projects for the service.

The company – which was founded back in 2007 –has also licensed the versatile Unity Engine as the group is set to embark on development for the iPhone and Google's Android operating system.

“We've been delighted with the reaction so far to Xi, our first major project,” said nDreams CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh.

“We're very excited about the other titles that are now in development as we continue to create innovative games in the online digital space."

The group has also made four key additions to its staff.

Mike Souto joins as Senior Producer from his role at Eidos, armed with over ten years of experience in the industry having worked on titles such as TimeSplitters 2, Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the Commandos series.


Andy Gibson - who has previously worked at Gusto, Core and Revolution on projects such as Tomb Raider, Bugs Life and In Cold Blood - has been appoined as nDreams' Lead Artist. He will be joined by new artist Peter Nicholson, who himself has worked at Lionhead and EA.

Babu Madhikarmi joins nDreams as a programmer, having worked at Sprite Interactive and Glu Mobile on over 15 games.

"We're delighted to welcome on board four talented new team members," O'Luanaigh added. "Between them, they have almost 40 years experience in the games industry and demonstrate just how far nDreams has come in the last twelve months."

nDreams' statement added that “new technologies and distribution channels such as Home, Android, iPhone and Unity are a huge opportunity to create innovative games.”

http://www.developmag.com/news/31804...-Home-projects ...

Activision has revealed, via some site called Twitter, the first pictures of the controller to be used for its upcoming DJ Hero game.


Not a great deal has been said about the title so far, other than it'll utilise the new turntable-style controller, and is said to use a set-up that has coloured icons scrolling around a virtual on-screen record.

A report linking electronic dance music DJ Tiesto to the game was denied by the artist.

The game's been confirmed for Xbox 360, "PlayStation" (unspecific) and Wii.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=214476 ...