via kotaku

According to today's Forbes profile on the company that published Keiji Inafune's epic shooter, Capcom is in deep about forty million bucks getting Lost Planet out the door, on store shelves, and into the minds of gamers.

Forbes details Capcom's executive VP of publishing in North America and Europe Mark Beaumont and his efforts to shake up the company's marketing. In the case of Lost Planet, advertising and awareness came to a cool $20 million. Combined with a $20 million development budget and you'll see where that $60 you plop down goes.

So where did that twenty mill go? Theater advertising, the two Xbox Live demos, TV spots, community funding—it all costs money. Apparently, a lot of money. ...

via gizmodo



Essentially a Mini Me for your DS Lite, this Mini-DS holder holds your precious DS games so they don't slip out of your pocket when you're leaning over to snap your upskirt pics.

As cute as having a little DS is, the fact that it can only hold two DS games makes this kinda iffy. However, if one of those games is the DS-Xtreme DS Media Enhancer, then you've got no problems. Plus, it's only $7.90.

Buy at Play asia ...

THQ released financial results for its fiscal third quarter (October through December) today, and afterward, company executives jumped on a conference call for a grilling from industry analysts.

When asked about how the company was planning to compete with the expected release of heavyweights like Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV later this year, a THQ executive said the company would do what it could to avoid a head-to-head fight with either game. While it isn't shy about releasing licensed fare like Nickelodeon-based titles or WWE games in the same time frame as industry-wide blockbusters, the publisher has "strategically placed" original offerings like Destroy All Humans!, Juiced, and Saints Row around the bigger releases rather than be overshadowed by them.

Also on the topic of Saints Row, one analyst asked how much the publisher was spending to port the open-world Xbox 360 gangbanger to the PlayStation 3. While THQ execs wouldn't put a dollar figure on the answer, one of them called the price to get the game to the PS3 "a fraction" of the original development cost, saying 15 percent was "not a bad guesstimate" on the cost of porting an Xbox 360 game to the PS3, or vice versa.

A couple things THQ has planned for both systems are in-game advertising and microtransactions. Specifically, THQ plans to put both into at least four games in its fiscal year 2008 (April 2007 through March 2008). So far, three games are confirmed to have them: the freshly named Stuntman Ignition, a new Juiced, and the next MX game. All told, the publisher expects to collect about $5 million from downloadable content and in-game advertising in the next fiscal year.

via gamespot ...

THQ released financial results for its fiscal third quarter (October through December) today, and afterward, company executives jumped on a conference call for a grilling from industry analysts.

When asked about how the company was planning to compete with the expected release of heavyweights like Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV later this year, a THQ executive said the company would do what it could to avoid a head-to-head fight with either game. While it isn't shy about releasing licensed fare like Nickelodeon-based titles or WWE games in the same time frame as industry-wide blockbusters, the publisher has "strategically placed" original offerings like Destroy All Humans!, Juiced, and Saints Row around the bigger releases rather than be overshadowed by them.

Also on the topic of Saints Row, one analyst asked how much the publisher was spending to port the open-world Xbox 360 gangbanger to the PlayStation 3. While THQ execs wouldn't put a dollar figure on the answer, one of them called the price to get the game to the PS3 "a fraction" of the original development cost, saying 15 percent was "not a bad guesstimate" on the cost of porting an Xbox 360 game to the PS3, or vice versa.

A couple things THQ has planned for both systems are in-game advertising and microtransactions. Specifically, THQ plans to put both into at least four games in its fiscal year 2008 (April 2007 through March 2008). So far, three games are confirmed to have them: the freshly named Stuntman Ignition, a new Juiced, and the next MX game. All told, the publisher expects to collect about $5 million from downloadable content and in-game advertising in the next fiscal year.

via gamespot ...

Traditionally, THQ hasn't been shy about spreading its WWE-licensed games around to different platforms. The company has made games based on the professional wrestling company's in-ring offerings for the PlayStation 2, the N-Gage, and everything in between.

However, 2006 was a fairly light year for the company's WWE license because its only major offering was WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 for the PS2, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360. A PlayStation 3 version had been announced but was later canceled because THQ said the series would debut on Sony's next-generation system in late '07.

The PS3 isn't the only system looking forward to its first WWE game because THQ confirmed plans to step into the ring on the Wii and DS. In an investor conference call, the publisher said it would be releasing WWE products on Nintendo's latest systems sometime in its next fiscal year, which runs from April 2007 through March 2008.

There was no indication if the Nintendo games would fall under the SmackDown! vs. RAW banner, or if they would be separate series, as was done with WWE titles on the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

via gamespot ...

Traditionally, THQ hasn't been shy about spreading its WWE-licensed games around to different platforms. The company has made games based on the professional wrestling company's in-ring offerings for the PlayStation 2, the N-Gage, and everything in between.

However, 2006 was a fairly light year for the company's WWE license because its only major offering was WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 for the PS2, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360. A PlayStation 3 version had been announced but was later canceled because THQ said the series would debut on Sony's next-generation system in late '07.

The PS3 isn't the only system looking forward to its first WWE game because THQ confirmed plans to step into the ring on the Wii and DS. In an investor conference call, the publisher said it would be releasing WWE products on Nintendo's latest systems sometime in its next fiscal year, which runs from April 2007 through March 2008.

There was no indication if the Nintendo games would fall under the SmackDown! vs. RAW banner, or if they would be separate series, as was done with WWE titles on the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.

via gamespot ...

Once known as the driving force behind the TurboGrafx-16, Hudson Entertainment has been enjoying a higher profile in the US of late with the aid of some larger companies. Nintendo has been releasing its old TG-16 games on the Virtual Console, and Konami today announced that it would be bringing a trio of new Hudson titles for Nintendo platforms to the US.

This spring, Konami plans to release Wing Island and Kororinpa Marble Mania for the Wii, as well as Honeycomb Beat for the DS. Already confirmed for release in Europe, Kororinpa requires players to tilt the Wii Remote in order to navigate marbles through more than 40 mazes in single-player, or race to a finish line while collecting crystals in head-to-head multiplayer action.

Wing Island is another inhabitant of the European Wii's first-quarter release schedule. As a young bird who flies planes for a living, players will have to show their proficiency at a number of tasks, from guiding a group of planes in formation to fighting fires and dusting crops. Over the course of 25 missions, players earn money to upgrade their aircraft, and will be given the opportunity to compete against one another in minigames meant to test piloting skills.

For portable players, Konami is preparing Honeycomb Beat, a DS puzzle game in which players touch hexagons on the screen in order to flip them and change both their color and the color of any adjacent hexagons. Using that gameplay mechanic, the game challenges players to clear puzzles by creating specific patterns on the game board or to clear rapidly rising lines by making all the hexagons on them the same color. In addition to more than 200 puzzles, Honeycomb Beat will include a number of unlockable customization features that let players change the game's colors, background images, and music.

via gamespot ...

Once known as the driving force behind the TurboGrafx-16, Hudson Entertainment has been enjoying a higher profile in the US of late with the aid of some larger companies. Nintendo has been releasing its old TG-16 games on the Virtual Console, and Konami today announced that it would be bringing a trio of new Hudson titles for Nintendo platforms to the US.

This spring, Konami plans to release Wing Island and Kororinpa Marble Mania for the Wii, as well as Honeycomb Beat for the DS. Already confirmed for release in Europe, Kororinpa requires players to tilt the Wii Remote in order to navigate marbles through more than 40 mazes in single-player, or race to a finish line while collecting crystals in head-to-head multiplayer action.

Wing Island is another inhabitant of the European Wii's first-quarter release schedule. As a young bird who flies planes for a living, players will have to show their proficiency at a number of tasks, from guiding a group of planes in formation to fighting fires and dusting crops. Over the course of 25 missions, players earn money to upgrade their aircraft, and will be given the opportunity to compete against one another in minigames meant to test piloting skills.

For portable players, Konami is preparing Honeycomb Beat, a DS puzzle game in which players touch hexagons on the screen in order to flip them and change both their color and the color of any adjacent hexagons. Using that gameplay mechanic, the game challenges players to clear puzzles by creating specific patterns on the game board or to clear rapidly rising lines by making all the hexagons on them the same color. In addition to more than 200 puzzles, Honeycomb Beat will include a number of unlockable customization features that let players change the game's colors, background images, and music.

via gamespot ...

A news post on the Web site of Zorro Productions has revealed that a Wii game based on the masked defender of justice is on track for release later this year.

While the company didn't reveal much about The Destiny of Zorro, it did say it was being developed by Pronto Games. Pronto's previous games include Dungeons & Dragons Eye of the Beholder for the Game Boy Advance and National Treasure Puzzle Quest for mobile phones.

According to the site, Pronto's approach to game design is to make it fast, fun, and small. For Zorro specifically, the studio is looking for something instantly engaging. It claims, "the game is easy to understand, with challenges for casual gamers but with an interest level that will attract hard core gamers, too."

via gamespot ...