In a recent SEC filing, Atari revealed that it is in danger of losing the license to the Dragon Ball Z franchise.
According to the filing, on October 18, FUNimation served the company with a notice to terminate the license based on alleged breaches of their licensing agreement.
"[Atari] disputes the validity of the termination notices and has continued to distribute the titles covered by the license agreements," the company stated in the SEC filing, noting that the parties were in discussions attempting to resolve the issue.
Atari, who earned USD 85 million on the Dragon Ball Z franchise in fiscal 2005, noted that "...In the event that FUNimation is successful in terminating the license agreements it could have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations and financial position."
The company is already troubled, posting a USD 69.7 million loss for the prior fiscal year.
Parent company, Infogrames, recently axed Atari's board of directors and named a new chief restructuring officer as part of its attempts to turn the company around.
Blockbuster has announced financial results for the third quarter, with total revenues decreasing 5.7 per cent to USD 1.24 billion.
The company's net loss for Q3 was USD 35 million, or USD 0.20 per common share, compared with a net loss of USD 24.7 million for the same period in the prior year.
Blockbuster blamed the decrease in revenue to the closure and sale of 526 stores, but noted that the decrease was partially offset by a USD 79.2 million year-over-year increase in revenues from its online rental service.
The company estimates its online base at 3.1 million subscribers.
"We believe the actions we have taken over the last quarter have better positioned Blockbuster for the future," said Jim Keyes, Blockbuster's chairman and CEO.
Blockbuster management has implemented a plan to reduce annualized overhead costs by approximately USD 45 million through the elimination of staffing and operational redundancies in their in-store and online corporate support structure and through improvements in other operating efficiencies.
"Going forward, we are focused on protecting our core rental business, developing new retail opportunities, and becoming the preferred provider of digital entertainment," Keyes said.
In a press release, the company recognised that entertainment content would eventually be provided through digital delivery but did not specify how it planned to provide that service.
"Our goal is to continue to increase our membership base by providing even more ways for customers to get the entertainment they want through our stores, through the mail and through new technologies," said Keyes.
Over 20 million customers worldwide used Blockbuster's services each month during the third quarter.
I never cease to be amazed by the number of completely ludicrous items out there that cater to a mere 0.0001% of the population. Take this corkscrew, for example. It takes corks out of bottles. Big deal. It also has some gold on it and has some fancy engineering behind it. The price? $72,000. Yes, that's right, $72,000 [or Ł34,615] for a corkscrew. What really doesn't make sense about this sort of thing is that, generally speaking, you need to be pretty good with money to make enough to afford this thing, and if you are, you wouldn't waste 72 grand on something so frivolous. But what do I know?
EA has announced financial results for the second quarter, with a net loss of USD 195 million.
Net revenue was USD 640 million, down 18 per cent from the prior year. Gross profit was USD 245 million, down 45 per cent year-over-year.
Sales were driven by Madden NFL 08, FIFA 08, NCAA Football 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, and My Sims, each selling over one million copies. Madden NFL 08 sold 4.5 million copies and was EA's best performing title in the quarter.
The company released 58 SKUs across 13 platforms in Q2.
Net loss for the quarter was $195 million as compared with net income of USD 22 million for the prior year. Diluted loss per share was USD 0.62 as compared with earnings per share of USD 0.07 for the prior year.
"Our strategic priorities on quality, innovation and managing cost are showing progress," said EA CEO John Riccitiello.
"Highly accessible new properties like Skate and MySims have broken through with consumers and EA Sports continues to deliver great experiences on every platform. We've also announced a restructuring as part of a plan to better align cost with revenues."
On October 29, EA's Board of Directors approved a reorganisation plan that will result in the closing of certain facilities, including EA's facility in Chertsey, England.
The company will also be "relocating and/or eliminating certain job positions, incurring costs in connection with lease and other contract terminations, and incurring IT and consulting costs to assist in the reorganization of business support functions." It expects that these actions will result in pre-tax cost savings of approximately USD 25 to 30 million.
With a 12 per cent share in North America, and an estimated 13 per cent share in Europe, EA is the number one third-party publisher on the Nintendo Wii this year to date.
EA will be launching over ten titles this holiday season, including The Simpsons Game, Need for Speed Pro Street, Hellgate: London, Rock Band, NBA Live 08, SimCity Societies and Crysis.
Net revenue for Q3 is expected to be between USD 1.325 and 1.575 billion. For the fiscal year ending in March 2008, the company expects net revenue of USD 3.35 and 3.65 billion, up USD 150 million from previous guidance.
Update: During a conference call, CEO John Riccitiello commented upon the new 40GB PS3 and recent 80GB PS3 price cut, noting that the company would look at the hardware sell-through numbers after Thanksgiving. "We remain supremely confident that this is a three-horse platform race," said John Riccitiello.
He expressed a certain amount of surprise at EA's current position as the number one third-party developer on the Wii, something he said he never would have foreseen when he returned to the company in April.
Following up on recent comments about the need for change in the current videogame market business model, he noted that EA would be testing new pricing models in Asia during fiscal 08 and 09. Some non-core titles in the Western market may also be subject to the new pricing models, but he did not elaborate.
He expects Rock Band to be a hot product, recommending that people wait in line on November 19th if they want to obtain the "band in a box," noting that EA won't initially be able to produce enough supply to meet the expected demand.
Finally, Riccitiello noted that the title that EA is working on in collaboration with Stephen Spielberg is scheduled for a Q4 release, with the next Warhammer game to be released in the first half of fiscal year 2009.
THQ has released financial results for the second quarter, reporting a net loss of USD 7 million compared to net income of USD 11.6 million a year ago.
The loss is consistent with the company's recently revised financial guidance.
THQ reported net sales of USD 229.3 million, down from USD 240.2 million the same period last year, driven primarily by Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille, as well as Stuntman: Ignition and Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights.
The company noted that it doubled its Nintendo DS revenue from the prior year, driven primarily by Ratatouille and Drawn to Life, a new original property.
"While we are disappointed with our recently revised fiscal 2008 financial guidance, we expect a solid second half to drive THQ's thirteenth consecutive year of revenue growth," said Brian Farrell, THQ president and CEO.
"Our proven holiday line-up features WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, scheduled to release on twice as many platforms as last year. We have already shipped Cars 2: Mater-National, a sequel to last year's top-selling family title, as well as games based on Nickelodeon's popular Avatar, Nicktoons and SpongeBob characters," Farrell said.
THQ also recently announced Saints Row 2 for Xbox 360 and PS3 in fiscal 2009. Other upcoming titles include Disney/Pixar's Wall-E, Red Faction 3, and games based upon the UFC.
For Q3, the company expects net sales of USD 490 million and GAAP net income of approximately USD 0.61 per share. For the fiscal year ending March 2008, THQ expects net sales of approximately USD 1.06 billion.
Midway has released third quarter financial results showing a net loss of USD 33.5 million, a 50 per cent increase from last year's third quarter loss of USD 22.2 million.
Net revenues for Q3 were USD 36.7 million, up from USD 27.4 during the same period last year.
During the quarter, Midway released Stranglehold worldwide for the Xbox 360 and PC. The Xbox 360 version became a top-10 title in the UK for the five weeks following launch according to Chart Track as well as a top-10 selling Xbox 360 title in North America for September according to The NPD Group.
The PS3 version of Stranglehold shipped on October 29, with the European release to follow later this month.
"We are happy with the response to our first front-line next generation game, Stranglehold, and believe that it has provided a solid foundation to build our standardised toolset for all of our next generation titles," said Midway CEO and president David F. Zucker.
"Additionally, our commitment to our expanded direct presence in Europe has been validated with strong results for Stranglehold throughout the territory."
Midway expects net revenues of approximately USD 80 million for the fourth quarter, with a net loss of approximately USD 0.21 per basic and diluted share.
The company is lowering its financial outlook for the full year 2007 to reflect the movement of certain Nintendo Wii and DS titles out of this fiscal year as well as lower expectations for PS3 product sales due to delayed release dates.
For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2007, Midway now expects net revenues of approximately USD 160 million, with a net loss of approximately USD 0.95 per basic and diluted share.
"We remain confident that our technology strategy and product plan position us to grow both revenue and market share as we move into the heart of this console cycle," said Zucker.
"In the coming months, as we reveal more details on our strong line-up of new IP and major franchises for 2008, we expect to show investors how we plan to realize significant growth in 2008".
Playlogic announced that it has successfully closed USD 12.3 million in equity through a private placement, concluding the successful completion of the USD 10 million private placement previously announced.
As a result of the equity raised, Playlogic has achieved a positive equity position as of September 30.
The proceeds of the private placement were used to reduce the company's debt position, finance new games, and enhance its working capital position.
"This capital raise has resulted in a strong improvement of our balance sheet ratios," said Playlogic CEO and president Willem M. Smit.
"These newly attracted funds will allow Playlogic to continue to execute on its business plans and to meet its release schedule. The successful completion of this transaction positions the company to further accelerate its growth."
The total amount of USD 12.3 million was placed with both existing and new shareholders, all of whom are accredited investors. After the private placement, the company has 38.5 million common shares outstanding at the end of the third quarter.
Playlogic recently announced that it is working on an undisclosed first-party title with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
The company expects to file and disclose its Q3 figures on November 5.
We've definitely heard of cellphones causing certain keys to not work properly, but this story just takes the proverbial cake.
For reasons unknown, a small family car left in a UK car park was found to be intermittently sending out signals which blocked over a dozen other key fobs from functioning. Reportedly, the vehicle's owner was "unaware of the problems his car had been causing," but the malicious whip had been setting off alarms and leaving motorists without a way to unlock and / or crank up their own rides.
Interestingly, there's no mention as to what exactly was wreaking all that havoc, but the owner of the ill-willed motorcar has reportedly promised to fix the issue (or call off the prank).
Was just checking Play Asia tonight (major hong kong seller of video games and more) and noticed that they have announced they have in stock Harry Potter And The Order of The Phoenix Single and 2-Discs Gift Edition.
The DVDs are on sale for $22.90 and $24.90 for the 2 Disc Version.
The DVDs are region 3 but are in English language
Ł12 for an early chance to get your hands on the latest Harry Potter sounds great to me.
Al Qaida has begun methodically "grooming" children and young people to carry out terror attacks in Britain, the head of MI5 has warned.
In his first public speech since becoming director general in April, Jonathan Evans said the Security Service now knew of at least 2,000 individuals who posed a "direct threat to national security and public safety" because of their support for terrorism.
However, he said that MI5's efforts to counter the terrorist threat were being hampered by the continuing need to divert resources to tackle "unreconstructed" spying by old Cold War adversaries such as Russia and China.
Addressing the Society of Editors Conference in Manchester, Mr Evans said that the number of individuals identified as having links with terrorism had risen by 400 since the last assessment by his predecessor, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, a year ago. And MI5 suspected that there could be another 2,000 whom they knew nothing about, he said.
Mr Evans warned that the terrorist problem had not yet reached its peak and he endorsed Prime Minister Gordon Brown's assessment that Britain was facing a "generation-long challenge" to defeat it.
"Terrorist attacks we have seen against the UK are not simply random plots by disparate and fragmented groups," he said.
"The majority of these attacks, successful or otherwise, have taken place because al Qaida has a clear determination to mount terrorist attacks against the United Kingdom. This remains the case today, and there is no sign of it reducing."
Mr Evans highlighted the way that al Qaida was targeting vulnerable young people as terrorist recruits, with teenagers as young as 15 and 16 years old having been implicated in terrorist plots. "As I speak, terrorists are methodically and intentionally targeting young people and children in this country," he said. "They are radicalising, indoctrinating and grooming young, vulnerable people to carry out acts of terrorism."
Mr Evans said that the terror plots were being directed from a widening range of countries beyond the tribal areas of Pakistan where al Qaida's "core leadership" was based. There were now signs that al Qaida in Iraq was seeking to promote attacks outside that country while terrorist training and planning against the UK was being carried out in war-torn Somalia.
Mr Evans said it was a matter of "some disappointment" that MI5 was still having to deal with "unreconstructed attempts" at spying by countries like China and Russia - which still had the same number of undeclared intelligence officers in the UK as it did during the Cold War. "They are resources which I would far rather devote to countering the threat from international terrorism - a threat to the whole international community, not just the UK," he said.
An investigation into a Europe-wide child pornography network has led to 92 arrests across eight countries, prosecutors say.
The network made videos of children being abused and sold them to 2,500 customers in 19 countries, says the European police force, Europol.
The films were mainly produced in Ukraine, Belgium and the Netherlands, and most of the victims were Ukrainian.
More than 40 of the arrests were made in Britain, European prosecutors say.
Police have seized thousands of computers, videos and photographs in their investigation - code named Operation Koala.
The investigation began in July 2006, when police in Australia found a video on the internet showing an adult abusing two young girls.
The girls were identified by police in Belgium and the offender, their father, was arrested.
He in turn led investigators to the producer of the video, an Italian man who operated in Belgium and the Netherlands but also owned a studio in Ukraine.
'Tailor made'
The names of 2,500 customers were recovered from his computer.
An analyst for Europol, Menno Hagemeijer, said the customers came from many different countries and all walks of life.
"We have identified schoolteachers, swimming instructors, lawyers, IT specialists," he said.
Mr Hagemeijer said the videos had been "tailor made", with customers ordering specific acts to be performed by specific children.
Twenty-three children aged between nine and 16 who were shown being abused have been identified. Twenty-one are from Ukraine and two from Belgium.
European prosecutors have stressed that the operation is continuing and there are likely to be further arrests.
Trion World Network has announced the hiring of former SOE executive director of development and San Diego studio manager Nicholas Beliaeff.
Beliaeff will helm the company's new office being established in San Diego, California. Trion also has locations in Austin, Texas and in the San Francisco bay area.
Joining Beliaeff at Trion's new San Diego will be Bill Trost, Robert Hill, and Brandon Bogle, all former key players at SOE, as lead game designer, senior producer, and principal engineer, respectively.
"Trion continues to build an exceptional studio organization and unique worldwide publishing network for server-based games and connected entertainment," said Lars Buttler, Trion's CEO and co-founder.
"We are thrilled to have Nicholas, Bill, Rob, Brandon, and other outstanding game developers seed our San Diego studio."
At SOE, Beliaeff built the console division and launched new IP such as Untold Legends and Field Commander as well as operating SOE's EverQuest I & II and EverQuest: Online Adventures franchises. Prior to SOE, he worked for Strategic Simulations, Inc., The 3DO Company, and New World Computing.
Trion recently announced a USD 30 million round of funding, with participation from Time Warner, GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity Fund, and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.
Check back tomorrow for an exclusive GamesIndustry.biz interview with Dr. Lars Buttler.
Child's Play, a non-profit organisation begun by the creators of the Penny Arcade comic strip, has announced the opening of its annual charity drive.
The organization, which started as a fundraiser for the Seattle Children's Hospital, has raised over two million dollars in toys, games and cash through its online toy drive and annual charity auction to over 45 hospitals worldwide.
"For the first ten months of the year, our community makes, plays and breathes games," said Kristin Lindsay at Child's Play. "Our holiday drive is not only an opportunity to share that joy with those that need it, but it's also a great way to show the strength of our culture."
Now in its fifth year, Child's Play works in conjunction with Amazon.com to create wish lists for participating hospitals. Individual donors can choose to give new items ranging from toddler toys to music CDs, videogames, game consoles and accessories delivered directly to hospitals in need.
The annual Child's Play Fundraiser Dinner Auction will be held on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington.
The semi-formal evening features a silent auction, dinner and live auction. Last year the dinner raised over USD 200,000 in one night, with all fundraising proceeds going directly to the Child's Play network of hospitals.
Additional information can be found at the organisation's website.
Jaws were dropping all around when our own Adam Frucci brought back video of his harrowing 377-foot-high ride in a glass-bottomed car on the Odaiba Ferris Wheel in Tokyo, but now the Chinese are going to top that wheel with the tallest one in the world. Today, construction began on the Great Wheel of China, a $99 million Ferris wheel that will tower over Beijing at a stupendous 680 feet when construction is complete in 2009. This is not just any Ferris wheel, though.
You won't be sitting in swinging and swaying benches on this baby. Each one of its 48 cars is like a gondola, air-conditioned and holding 40 passengers, for a total of 1920 stomachs pressed against the top of their abdominal cavities as the big wheel keeps on turnin'. Nobody's talking about how long it'll take to load this beast. Too bad there was so much bickering over the design of the gigantic wheel, because originally the plan was to complete construction in time for next summer's Beijing Olympics.
The DeLighTable by Kloss is a slick, 25-mm-thick coffee table that has a touch surface built in. It reacts to finger touches and glasses being rested on it, creating streams of light as you run your fingers across it, as you can see in the above video.
It doesn't house a computer or anything, so you won't be able to go through your pictures on it, but it's still really cool. It's been in development for a few years now, but it hasn't been available for sale until now, it'll set you back a cool $2,300 [Ł1,106], which actually seems somewhat reasonable for what you get, and will take four to six weeks to build.
The only real issue I have about it is how it's getting its power, as it has a cord running to the wall that really hurts the sexiness that this thing would bring to your living room. I guess if you have an outlet on the floor you could make it kind of subtle, but there's no real way to escape having a cord visibly snaking out of a leg of your coffee table.
an article at the personal site of Douglas Crockford, a gent who worked with LucasArts during the NES days. He takes a look at the silly amount of content censored to get the game Maniac Mansion acceptable for Nintendo and the Nintendo Entertainment System.
"'Well, Mommy, I'm worried! He hasn't eaten in 5 years. / YEAH, SO!!! / and he's been bringing those bodies, and he carries those bodies to the basement at night.' [sic] This was from Weird Ed's dialogue with his mother, Nurse Edna, in which Ed tries to get his mother to recognize the terrible things that have happened to his father over the past 20 years. What was Nintendo's problem with the dialogue? ... In fact, Nintendo's interpretation of the speech was that Dr. Fred was a cannibal, that he was eating the bodies. That was never our intention, so we changed Ed's speech to 'He hasn't slept in 5 years,' which helps to explain why Dr. Fred is never seen in his bedroom. But even if we had intended that Dr. Fred was a cannibal, what's the harm? He would have been one under the influence of the evil purple meteor. The game recognizes that it is bad, and your mission is to rescue him from this unhappy state. Who would be offended?"
Antitrust regulators in the US have cleared Electronic Arts' acquisition of VG Holding corp, parent company of development studios BioWare and Pandemic.
The publishing giant swooped for the two studios last month for USD 775 million.
The Federal Trade Commission included the deal as part of a list of 'early termination' reviews, where the review was completed within 30 days as required by the antitrust law, reports the Associated Press.
The deal is expected to officially complete in January.
Creative Technology, the company behind the Sound Blaster range of PC sound cards and one of Apple's closest - if still somewhat distant - rivals in the mp3 player market, has seen its share price jump 11 per cent.
The rise is due, according to a report on Bloomberg, to optimism ahead of the Christmas sale period, when it is expected that the X-Fi sound cards and Zent mp3 players will sell well.
The company's share price has climbed 24 per cent in total since the end of October, when it posted a first quarter profit of USD 1.3 million, compared with a USD 21 million loss a year earlier.
As of the lunch break in Singapore, the share price had hit SGD 7.35, and was heading for its biggest rise since August last year.
Cost-cutting measures, including the sale of a Malaysian factory and ceasing to trade on NASDAQ seem to have been effective.
Amsterdam-based publisher Playlogic Entertainment has announced financial results for its third fiscal quarter, with profits totalling USD 2.1 million, up from a loss of USD 4.6 million last year.
Net revenue was also up, from USD 1.5 million last year to USD 3.7 million this year, a rise of 154 per cent, attributed principally to sales of Obscure II and Xyanide Resurrection.
Executive vice president Rogier W Smit was pleased with the results: "The net profit of USD 2.1 million shows that our policy of cost control, on the one hand, and investing in our future growth by acquiring and publishing more high quality products, on the other, is paying off."
Playlogic recently announced that it had agreed a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment America to publish PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable titles in the US as well as its existing deal in Europe, and closed a funding round worth USD 12.3 million.
Majesco has announced that it has formed a new development studio to focus specifically on the casual market.
The LA-based team will be led by former Sega exec Bill Petro, taking on the role of vice president of internal development.
"We're excited about the opportunities that will result from this initiative and believe this move will allow us to build the same or better product as we do externally with similar or reduced costs," commented Jesse Sutton, CEO of Majesco.
"We also firmly believe that the creation and ownership of intellectual property increases long term shareholder value."
WASHINGTON (Nov. 6) - NASA scientists said they discovered a fifth planet orbiting a star outside our own solar system and say the discovery suggests there are many solar systems that are, just like our own, packed with planets. The new planet is much bigger that Earth, but is a similar distance away from its sun, a star known as 55 Cancri, the astronomers said on Tuesday.
The giant planets that orbit 55 Cancri, as depicted in this artist's concept, are inhospitable to life. But astronomers say it's possible water could exist on a moon of the newly discovered planet. Four planets had already been seen around the star, but the discovery marks the first time as many as five planets have been found orbiting a solar system outside our own with its eight planets, said Debra Fischer, an astronomer at San Francisco State University.
Life could conceivably live on the surface of a moon that might be orbiting the new planet, but such a moon would be far too small to detect using current methods, the astronomers said. "The star is very much like our own sun. It has about the same mass and is about the same age as our sun," Fischer told reporters.
"It's a system that appears to be packed with planets."
It took the researchers 18 years of careful, painstaking study to find the five planets, which they found by measuring tiny wobbles in the star's orbit. The first planet discovered took 14 years to make one orbit.
They said 55 Cancri is 41 light-years away in the constellation Cancer, a light-year being the distance light travels in one year -- about 5.8 trillion miles.
The newly discovered planet has a mass about 45 times that of Earth and may resemble Saturn, the astronomers said.
It is the fourth planet out from the star and completes one orbit every 260 days -- a similar orbit to that of Venus.
"It would be a little bit warmer than the Earth but not very much," said Jonathan Lunine, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona.
The planet is 72 million miles from its star -- closer than the Earth's 93 million miles, but the star is a little cooler than our own sun. "If there were a moon around this new planet ... it would have a rocky surface, so water on it in principle could puddle into lakes and oceans," said Geoff Marcy, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley.
But the moon would have to carry a lot of mass to hold the water, he said. Water is, of course, key to life. "This discovery of the first-ever quintuple planetary system has me jumping out of my socks," Marcy added. "We now know that our sun and its family of planets is not unusual."
Marcy and other astronomers strongly believe that many stars are hosts to solar systems similar to our own. But small objects such as planets are very hard to detect.
Technology that would allow scientists to detect planets as small as Earth is decades away, the scientists agreed. The researchers have been looking at 2,000 nearby stars using the Lick Observatory near San Jose, California, and the W.M. Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The inner four planets of 55 Cancri are all closer to the star than Earth is to the sun. The closest, about the mass of Uranus, zips around the star in just under three days at a distance of 3.5 million miles.
Atari has filed its delayed Q1 financial report, posting a loss of USD 11.9 million or USD 0.89 per share.
Losses were up more than 50 per cent from the year-earlier period, when Atari reported a net loss of USD 7.3 million, or USD 0.54 per share.
As reported earlier, Atari did not file its quarterly report for the period ending June 30, 2007. The company also delayed filing its annual report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007.
The annual report, eventually filed in September, showed a net loss for the year of USD 69.7 million.
With today's filing, the company anticipates that it will be current in its periodic reporting obligations. In July, NASDAQ had threatened Atari with delisting, granting the company an extension until November 5 to file the 10-Q form. Atari asked for an additional day.
Atari was recently served with a notice to terminate its Dragon Ball Z license by FUNimation, and previously sold its rights to the Stuntman and Driver franchises.
The company did not hold a conference call for first quarter results, but did hold a shareholders meeting today. In its quarterly report, Atari stated that it had "substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern."
NCsoft has announced its financial results for the third quarter of this year, with operating and net income down 8 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
But in the same time period sales rose by 5 per cent overall, including a massive 81 per cent jump in Europe, mostly due to the release of Guild Wars: Eye of the North.
Sales by region showed that of the KRW 80 billion (USD 88.3 million) total for the quarter, 55 per cent was attributed to Korea and 45 per cent to overseas.
Of that 45 per cent, North America accounted for USD 15.1 million, Europe for USD 9 million, Japan for USD 8.6 million and Taiwan for USD 2.9 million.
The most popular title by sales was Lineage 2, which took USD 35.8 million, followed by the original Lineage which took USD 26.2 million.
Meanwhile Guild Wars sold USD 14.4 million, and the City of Heroes/Villains franchise, now wholly owned by NCsoft, took USD 6.3 million.
A good fourth quarter is expected with the release of Tabula Rasa, while Aion - which will launch next year - is currently in closed beta
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has said that the company is committed to revitalising the James Bond brand - "one of the greatest videogame franchises of all time" - while revealing the publisher has two projects based on the license in development.
The publisher secured the Bond licence in 2006 after Electronic Arts ended its deal with MGM Interactive for the rights to create titles based on the James Bond films.
"Bond is one of the great videogame franchises of all time and that really was a result of Golden Eye," commented Kotick at a BMO Capital Markets conference.
"I think the key to re-energising the Bond franchise is going to be ultimately the highest possible game quality."
For Kotick, EA's Bond titles – which included GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and From Russia With Love – suffered because the publisher had too broad a portfolio, leaving the brand neglected.
"It suffered a lot because it wasn't a focal point of Electronic Arts' efforts over the past five years and they have such a broad portfolio of franchises that this one didn't get the attention it deserved," said Kotick.
"We have our best development studios working on the product, we have a second team working on another Bond product and we're putting great resources against it," he added.
A new in-school program uses basic characters and themes from Nintendo's Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl videogames to teach elementary and middle school students about science.
Nintendo of America, The National Institute of Aerospace, and Nortel LearniT have partnered for the new educational tools.
Now through December, a variety of printable lesson plans and classroom activities developed by NIA are available to students and teachers online.
"We're honoured to have our characters take what sometimes may seem like dry topics and help make them come alive for students," said Nintendo of America's George Harrison.
"The collaboration provides an opportunity for children to learn 21st century science using 21st century tools with characters they're familiar with."
Pokémon are already currently used in online math, science, and language arts via the Pokémon Learning League.
"We are thrilled to offer educators a resource program that utilises popular characters to enhance the learning experience for students in fields of study that will only grow more crucial as we move forward in the 21st century," says Robert Lindberg, president and executive director of the National Institute of Aerospace.
The National Institute of Aerospace is a non-profit research and education institute headquartered in Hampton, Virginia, USA.
Mars isn't the only heavenly body that NASA is trying to colonize with robots: the US space agency is currently working on a prototype rover named ATHLETE that may be cruising around the moon within the next decade.
Short for All Terrain Hex Limbed Extra Terrestrial Explorer, ATHLETE sports six wheeled "legs" attached to a hexagonal frame loaded with cameras and sensors, allowing an Earth-bound operator to get a 360-degree sense of his or her surroundings. While the current iteration is only half as big as the final version will be, this rover will eventually be able to land and carry up to 20 tons of gear -- but without any sort of onboard defense system, it will probably stand little chance against the first Decepticon attack. Video after the break...
Over at the Consumerist, a Gamestop shift manager going by the mysterious moniker of G has posted an interesting look at the store's lesser-known policies and procedures. Among the tips for savvy shoppers:
Cashiers will sometimes give a 10% "shopworn discount" for gutted games if you complain about it. Also, unopened gutted games can be returned just as new games.
Used games you don't like can be exchanged for others within seven days (just don't abuse the policy or it'll be taken away)
Pre-orders are fully refundable at any time (don't let a fearful employee tell you otherwise)
First-party accessories have more resale value (and are much more reliable than off-brand)
To get a Wii, ask when a store gets weekday shipments, call daily around that time, then hightail it over there before they're sold out again.
The post also includes some pleas to be patient with the pre-order pushers who are forced by their corporate overlords to sell those reservations and discount cards. They're just trying to keep their jobs, after all. Why can't we all just get along?
Macrovision has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire information database provider All Media Guide Holdings.
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, AMG is one of the largest and most comprehensive entertainment information databases with reviews, biographies, ratings, images, titles, credits, essays, and descriptive categories for music, movies and videogames.
"Metadata is a critical component of media commerce and demand for rich descriptive data such as reviews, album art, artist biographies and accompanying editorials is growing quickly," said Karl Ryser Jr., president of AMG.
"It takes years to accumulate a high-quality database of metadata, and AMG has become an essential partner for its customers.
"Joining together with Macrovision puts us in an even better position to help more consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers and content owners collaborate with customers to create outstanding online media experiences," Ryser Jr. said.
AMG's metadata encompasses information for more than eleven million song tracks, one million unique albums, millions of compact discs, more than 500,000 cover images, eight million streaming sound files and tens of millions of relational links.
"In an era when consumers have many choices, cell phone manufacturers, electronics device makers and service providers want to make video and all other entertainment content quick and easy to find," said Fred Amoroso, CEO of Macrovision Corporation.
"AMG plays a critical role in enhancing the overall consumers' user experience in searching, discovering, purchasing and enjoying entertainment media. Its offerings complement our existing solutions and partnerships for helping content owners monetize their digital media assets and device makers retain and grow their customer base."
CultuurInvest, a new Flemish investment fund founded by the Flemish Ministry of Culture, will be supporting the development of The Path, an upcoming game from Tale of Tales.
CultuurInvest will be providing an investment of euro 90.000 according to a contract signed in Brussels.
"In games industry terms, the amount that CultuurInvest is investing is next to nothing, but for a small independent developer like us, it means the difference between being able to make a game or not," Tale of Tales said in a statement.
"This is the first time we will be working with investment money (as opposed to arts funding), so we're a bit nervous about that. It's like we suddenly levelled up."
Tale of Tales is a Belgian game development studio best known for an MMO-screensaver called "The Endless Forest."
"The Path", a single-player horror game, will be the company's first commercial release. It is the first game to be supported by the CultuurInvest fund, which exclusively finances companies and projects in the cultural industries.
NCsoft Europe's MD, Geoff Heath, has spoken to GamesIndustry.biz about the recent deal to wholly acquire the City of Heroes/Villains IP from Cryptic, and set up a new studio in the US to continue work on the games.
In the interview he confirmed that work on the existing titles will be ongoing, but also hinted that the company may now look to expand the City of IP with a new title not related to Heroes or Villains.
"We'll be bringing out more City of products, some more chapters in the current series, and we're obviously looking at how we can expand the City of franchise generally," he said.
And responding to the question as to whether or not that would specifically mean a new game, he said: "I think you'll get a bit of both, yes."
Although the game will effectively be under new management much of the staff base will be moved over to the new studio to ensure continuity.
"A lot of the people who had been working on the City of Heroes will transition over to that studio and it will be run by Brian Clayton, who was our senior product manager there - in that respect there aren't a lot of changes."
Double Fusion has entered into in-game advertising partnerships with Kuma Games and Aeria Games for their free-to-play titles.
The multi-year agreement with Kuma covers original titles such as Kuma\War and DinoHunters as well as television-based properties such as Dogfights and Shootout! for the History Channel and The Kill Point for Spike TV.
"Our partnership with Kuma Games adds to the variety of titles and the broad reach we can offer advertisers," said Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO of Double Fusion.
"The unique value of Kuma's games is that many of them have content rooted in existing TV shows from The History Channel and Spike TV, which have large fan bases. Through Kuma's games, marketers can reach to the core gamer, and well beyond."
Elements of the deal include media pre-roll, interstitials and dynamic in-game product placement with 3D objects, allowing for advertisers to develop seamless campaigns across game, TV and the web.
Double Fusion also announced a partnership with online game operator Aeria Games for their free-to-download MMO racing game Project Torque.
Double Fusion will provide the technology enabling dynamic ad placements, and its sales force will manage the sale of advertising to advertisers and agencies in the North American and European markets.
"Project Torque is another phenomenal example of the high-quality online games coming to market today that are natural fits in the Double Fusion network," said Epstein.
"Introducing advertising into the game will bring Aeria the revenue that enables them to continue bringing top-quality gaming experiences to players for free."
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is to acquire Travellers' Tales and its parent company TT Games.
The group will continue to be known as TT Games and will continue its existing relationships with Lego, LucasArts and Guinness World Records.
"TT Games is very successful and respected in the game development and publishing world," said Barry Meyer, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros.
"They are a great fit for us and the right next step for Warner Bros. as we grow into a significant presence in the games space."
The Lego Star Wars franchise has sold over 12 million units worldwide. Traveller's Tales is also working on Lego Batman, to be published by Warner Bros., and Lego Indiana Jones: The Videogame.
"Warner Bros. has an extraordinary track record in nurturing and developing intellectual property in television, in movies and now in games," said Tom Stone, managing director of TT Games Publishing.
"That history combined with their world class distribution muscle promises a very exciting future for all of us at TT Games."
We could almost swear we've heard this same scenario played out in a 80s era sci-fi drama, but apparently, this ain't out of any movie script. By utilizing 14 orbiting satellites and enlisting the assistance of NASA's Applied Sciences Program, scientists are reportedly observing our planet's environment to "help predict and prevent infectious disease outbreaks around the world."
Apparently, the satellites collect environmental change data, which is then forwarded on to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Defense and broken down to estimate and track epidemics. The remote sensing technology is currently be used to target and track malaria (among other things), and NASA surveillance systems can also be used to determine if a given outbreak was caused by "natural circumstances" or if bioterrorism was to blame.
Phew, at least we know 28 Days Later won't become an infamous example of life imitating art... right?
Take-Two has announced a proposed settlement to class action litigation related to the "Hot Coffee" controversy.
Back in 2005, the company was sued after it was revealed that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas contained a "Hot Coffee" pornographic mini-game.
Under the proposed settlement, which must be approved by the court, neither Take-Two nor Rockstar Games admits liability or wrongdoing.
"If the case had continued, we believe the court would have agreed that Take-Two was not liable for consumers acting independently to modify their games with third-party hardware and software to access normally inaccessible content," said Take-Two CEO Ben Feder.
"Nonetheless, we believe it is in the best interest of the Company to avoid protracted and costly litigation to prove our case and to finally put this matter behind us."
Consumers will be able to exchange their original versions of the game, re-rated AO by the ESRB when the content was revealed, for M-rated versions. They may also be entitled to a USD 35 cash payment if they can provide a proof of purchase.
According to Take-Two, to qualify for benefits consumers will have to swear that they: "(a) bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas before July 20, 2005; (b) were offended and upset by the ability of consumers to modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; (c ) would not have bought the game had they known that consumers could modify and alter the game's content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; and (d) would have returned the game, upon learning the game could be modified and altered, if they thought this possible."
Take-Two said it will spend at least USD 1 million in settlement benefits, with its total out-of-pocket costs capped at USD 2.75 million. Those costs do not include the plaintiff's legal fees, which Take-Two has agreed to pay.
Full details, including the requirements for receiving a replacement disc or a refund, will likely be disclosed after the court has approved the settlement later this month.
The Harry Potter novels are the UK's most re-read books, a survey suggests.
JK Rowling's hit series beat JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice into second and third place respectively.
The survey of 2,034 people, conducted to mark the 2007 Costa Book Awards, found 77% of UK readers re-read books.
Other top 20 re-visited reads include Tolkien's The Hobbit, Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and the Bible.
Top 10 re-visited reads
1. The Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
4. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
5. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
6. 1984 - George Orwell
7. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
8. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
9. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
10. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Based on survey by Costa
The research also showed that 43% admitted to deciding whether they will finish a book after only the first chapter.
"The public want instant gratification and there has never been a more important time to remind the reading public not to judge a book by its cover," said literary agent Simon Trewin.
The survey also found that almost a fifth of readers read their favourite book more than five times.
With filming under way on the sixth Harry Potter film, Newsround can exclusively reveal that actress Helen McCrory will play Narcissa Malfoy.
The Potter team have been after her for a while.
She was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange in the fifth Potter movie, but couldn't play the part because she was expecting a baby.
Now she's set to play Draco's mother and Bellatrix Lestrange's sister, who's played by Helena Bonham Carter.
Now the two will end up playing sisters in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Other casting includes Jim Broadbent as Professor Horace Slughorn.
An announcement on who will play young Tom Riddle and Lavender Brown is expected very soon.
Harry Potter and Half-Blood Prince is due to hit cinemas towards the end of 2008.
What's on it?
Two discs. One has the film, the other has the DVD extras.
The film
Most of you will have already seen it. If you haven't, it's an excellent adaptation of the story.
Which are the best bits?
Seeing some of the behind the scenes stuff in the Tonks feature. The long version of the scene where Umbridge inspects Professor Trelawney's Divination lesson is great.
Fans who are particularly into the books will enjoy the Secrets of Harry Potter documentary, although now those that have read Deathly Hallows will have had a lot of their questions already answered.
Fans who are more into the films will enjoy the editing feature where they can try putting together a scene in the Room of Requirement.
DVD extras
Trailing Tonks - this features Tonks actress Natalia Tena roaming around the studio visiting various sets and production departments.
We see a bit of filming going on, and she does bring us some interesting insights into what goes into making a film like this.
Additional scenes - bits that were filmed but cut out of the movie. A real range from complete scenes, to odd shots that were trimmed out.
Hidden Secrets of Harry Potter - a documentary looking at the significance of this story in the overall series. And seeing what clues there are to the final two adventures.
Magic of Editing - a lovely little feature showing how a scene is put together choosing shots from different angles, putting on different sounds and even using different kinds of music. And we also get a chance to have a go at putting together a scene ourselves.
Half-Blood Prince sneak preview - it looks as if when you use the extras DVD in a PC, you'll be able to access an early look at the sixth film on the official website.
But at the moment I can't seem to access this feature with my DVD - presumably because it won't be activated on the website until the DVD is available in the shops.
Any weak bits?
OOTP is the longest story, and it would be nice to have a feature explaining how together the team behind the movie decided what should be cut out of the book.
There's nothing from JK Rowling on here. Perhaps one day we'll get a DVD commentary from her (where as we watch the movie she talks about the scenes we're seeing).
TOKYO -- Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. posted a net loss in the fiscal first half and slashed its full-year forecast while the release of some of its new game machines is behind schedule.
The company, which makes arcade and pachinko parlor machines and video-game software as well as operates video arcades, said it booked a group net loss of 20.27 billion yen ($183.2 million) in the six months ended in September, compared with a year-earlier profit of 38 billion yen.
Its poor business performance reflects the increasing difficulty and costs of developing new arcade-game machines and game titles amid stiffer competition to supply more sophisticated products. Faster transition of consumer demand has also shortened the product life cycle.
Through the fiscal year ending March, Sega Sammy expects 1 billion yen in group net profit, well below its previous estimate of 35 billion yen.
Sega Sammy's interim group sales fell 19% to 231.05 billion yen from 283.55 billion yen. It now forecasts full fiscal year sales of 540 billion yen, down from the previously estimated 670 billion yen.
It would be the worst earnings results for Sega Sammy since the company was formed in October 2004 through a merger of Sega and Sammy.
The company said sales of pachinko machines, arcade equipment and game-software titles won't meet their original targets this fiscal year.
In its biggest business, pachinko machines, the company didn't receive regulatory approval for certain products as early as expected, and the launch of some models was delayed for quality-control reasons.
Its supply of some new arcade machines is also falling behind schedule, while its arcade operations are struggling in the absence of new hit products.
In the consumer-products division, the cost of developing video-game software is increasing as the company tries to better meet consumer demand, Sega Sammy said. Software sales are faring well overseas, but domestic shipments will likely fall short of its forecast, it said.
Sega Sammy's financial results are based on Japanese accounting standards.
The Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD is about to hit the shops so Lizo caught up with some of the stars of the film.
He asked them about the movie's success, the latest filming and the actress who plays Ron's girlfriend, Lavender Brown.
What do you feel about the success of the fifth movie?
Daniel (Harry): "The way you have to look at the money it made is that it's not lots and lots of people going to see it once, it's lots and lots of people going to see it again and again. And that's incredibly flattering and a real compliment."
Emma (Hermione): "I'm really pleased how well this fifth one has done because you know normally with franchises the first one is pretty big and it gradually sinks downhill from then. But Harry Potter just seems to be getting more and more successful."
How is filming going on the Half-Blood Prince?
Daniel: "It's going very well. So far we've been doing a lot of work with Slughorn, who is being played brilliantly by Jim Broadbent."
What's the actress who plays Lavender Brown like?
Rupert (Ron): "I was involved with the Lavender Brown audition and the whole Lavender thing. Her name's Jessie and she is really cool and it's going to be really funny."
Emma: "She seems really sweet and perfect for the role of Lavender. The casting is so good and I am looking forward to her scenes with Ron. I think it's going to be quite a comic film."
Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger has said that he regards videogames as "another promising creative engine" for the company.
Iger is quoted in today's New York Post telling investors that he intends to use a multi-platform approach, similar to Disney's recent music strategy, to push the company's game sales.
"We intend to use it to do exactly what we did in the music business to our video games business, but on a much larger scale," he said.
Tie-ins with popular movie and TV series, such as High School Musical, have seen Disney's music division produce USD 100 million in income. Disney has just launched a High School Musical game.
"We are a publishing company on the outside of the video games business," admitted Iger. "But where they [other companies] may not have a cable channel, or a movie company, or even a record business, or a radio business, or online - we have all of those. We intend to use them fully."
Iger said the company's intention was to focus on games it develops itself. It has increased spending on game development from USD 100 million in 2006 to a projected USD 175 million in 2008.
In July of this year, Disney announced that it had acquired the UK's Climax Racing Studio, and Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios.
Konami has allayed investor fears by reporting a strong financial performance in the first half of its fiscal year, ending in September.
Konami's stock recently fell heavily on the news that Metal Gear Solid 4 had been delayed into 2008.
But Konami has posted increases of 12 per cent in sales, 29 per cent in operating income and 23 per cent in net income over the same period last year.
It attributed the increase to particularly strong sales of its baseball titles for PS3 and Wii. It also noted the continuing good performances of the Dance Dance Revolution and Pro Evolution Soccer series, and Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops for PSP, which sold well in Europe.
In the filing, Konami noted that the games industry, while "thriving", was changing in nature. It predicted that the days of dominant platforms like the PlayStation 2 were over, and that global markets would diversify.
"Previously, a single home gaming platform was the market leader worldwide, but that pattern has changed," said the release. "Whichever platform best caters to users’ preferences in a particular country or region, in terms of the games available to be played on it, is now the one that will dominate the local market."
Konami's guidance for the fiscal year is now 295 billion yen in revenue, 33 billion yen in operating income and 18.3 billion yen in net income.
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Games-Services has announced that it has concluded a deal with NVIDIA for the graphics card company to be worldwide and main partner to the 2008 Electronic Sports World Cup.
Additionally, while the three previous finals have been held in Paris, next year's grand final will be held in California.
Preliminary events will be held in over 50 countries, and next year's event will aim to build on the success of this year's final, which attracted over 1 million spectators online.
Games-Services' CEO Matthieu Dallon explained the decisions: "NVIDIA has an international reputation for graphics excellence, so they are the ideal partner for us in this event.
"We made the decision to move because we felt it will be great for competitors, spectators and e-sports as a whole. It's part of our continuing efforts to ensure ESWC's skilled cyber-athletes gain the recognition they deserve by creating our most spectacular event ever in California."
The ESWC was inaugurated in 2003, and although eSports has become much popular in the West since then, a lack of sponsorship saw the recent demise of the World Series of Video Games.
Meanwhile the first Championship Gaming Series final will be held in December in Los Angeles.
The Championship Gaming Series has announced details of the breakdown of prizes that will see over USD 1 million distributed to gamers in the finals event in Los Angeles in December.
The event, which will be broadcast to a potential audience of 350 million in the US, UK, Asia and South America, will feature a USD 500,000 top prize for the team crowned world champions.
Among the games being contested by each team are Counter-Strike: Source, FIFA 07, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade and Project Gotham Racing 3.
Twelve teams of ten players will vie for the prize pot, including two teams from the UK - Birmingham Salvo and London Mint.
In addition to the team prizes, some individual events will also take place, each offering USD 5000 top prizes.
The first round of the finals event will take place on December 6 at Sony Studios, with the grand final concluding the event on December 14.
In the UK the CGS will be broadcast on Sky One, Sky Two and Sky HD, while in the US it will screen on The 101.
The third event in Tiga's Playing for Keeps series has been unveiled - a panel discussion and workshop on the topic of commercial models.
The event will take place on November 22 at 3pm at S J Berwin in London, with the panel session featuring Jason Kingsley from Rebellion, Martyn Brown from Team 17, Rob Murphy from SCi and Nick Button Brown from EA Partners.
The workshop will be presented by GIC's Rick Gibson, who will discuss the findings of his research on the subject, examine current commercial models and look at other potential distribution channels.
The event is held in partnership with UK Trade and Investment, and to register attendance contact Stephanie Rickwood.
Vivox, a provider of voice services for online games and virtual worlds, has secured USD 7.8 million in a second round of equity financing.
Benchmark Capital led the round, and its general partner Mitch Lasky was appointed to the Vivox board. Strong support was also received from the company's existing investors, Canaan Partners and GrandBanks Capital.
"We are incredibly excited to have Benchmark Capital and Mitch Lasky involved with Vivox," said Rob Seaver, founder and CEO of Vivox. "Benchmark's clear visions and track record in the sector, and Mitch's successful background in senior roles with Disney, Activision, JAMDAT and Electronic Arts are tremendous assets to Vivox."
"The proliferation of virtual worlds and online games has created a tremendous opportunity for the Vivox communications platform," said Lasky.
"Voice is a transformative feature in games, creating an entirely new level of engagement and social connection among players. Vivox is uniquely positioned to deliver scalable, carrier-grade voice services through its industry-leading technologies and expertise."
Vivox will use the funding on product development, sales support and marketing. It's current customers and partners include CCP Games, The Electric Sheep Company, IBM, Icarus Studios, K2 Network, Linden Lab, Pixel Mine and Wizards of the Coast, among others.
Trilogy Logistics, an independent logistics provider to the UK entertainment market, has secured a contract as primary service provider to 505 Games.
Trilogy will provide 505 Games with full primary distribution and logistics requirements, including warehousing, UK distribution, refurbishment and returns.
"The Trilogy team has demonstrated a 'can do' attitude and presented a compelling proposition which included direct and proven experience in supporting companies like 505 in its endeavours to break into new markets," said 505 Games sales director Ralph Pitt-Stanley.
"In a period of exceptionally strong growth for our company, choosing the right partner is essential to our success and Trilogy is that partner."
505 Games has signed with Trilogy just as their 2007 Christmas line-up prepares to hit retail with products such as Fashion Designer: Style Icon, My Pet Dolphin and Left or Right Ambidextrous Challenge.
Greg Bondar, CEO of the Game Developers' Association of Australia, is continuing to lobby the Australian government on the issue of tax breaks for games developers.
According to Bondar over 300 companies are now involved in the development of videogames in Canada, where the government offers state aid to the industry, and stated that 56 per cent of those are "developing proprietary technology" as a direct result.
To underline the situation the GDAA has invited Warren Currell, from Sherpa Games, to share his experience on the Canadian system, and specifically how it promotes the creation of IP and cultural products, as well as helping employment.
Last month Bondar met with Australian Senator Stephen Conroy, Shadow Minister for Communications and Information Technology, to discuss a proposed 40 per cent tax break scheme, and has also set-up a petition on the subject.
The GDAA's Game Connect: Asia Pacific event takes place in the Melbourne Convention Centre from November 15 - 17.
Mad Catz has announced the acquisition of fellow videogames peripheral manufacturer Saitek, alongside results for its second financial quarter of 2007.
The deal cost Mad Catz USD 30 million, USD 15.5 million of which was in cash and borrowings, and the rest in convertible notes at a rate of 7.5 per cent.
The company's fiscal results were solid, and although net sales dropped sharply year on year, a significant drop in administrative and general costs led to a net income jump of 340 per cent to USD 872,000.
Saitek is best known for its premium quality PC flight simulator peripherals, and that deal follows its acquisition of Joytech from Take-Two in July this year.
Speaking on the deal, Mad Catz president and CEO Darren Richardson stated his belief that it would strengthen the company's overall offering.
"Saitek significantly enhances Mad Catz' position as one of the world's leading games peripherals companies and provides us an entree into the businesses of PC mice, keyboards and speakers and electronic chess and intelligent games.
"Its outstanding vendor operations personnel in China and administrative personnel throughout the company will not only help us grow Saitek's PC businesses, but will also support Mad Catz' continuing growth initiatives on a global basis."
Mad Catz' share price fell 10 per cent today following the announcement and results, to stand at the time of writing at USD 1.07.
Flashman Studios has announced the hiring of Tony Periera as its director of business development.
Periera has worked in the game industry for 18 years. At Capcom, he was involved with acquisitions and developer relationships on titles such as Okami, Darkwatch, Harvey Birdman, and MotoGP 07.
"Besides being an all-around good guy and well known to almost everyone in the industry, Tony possesses an abundance of publisher knowledge that we will be able to leverage across our entire client base," said Flashman Studios' CEO Brad Young.
"We are very excited to have him on board."
Flashman Studios represents game developers and intellectual property in the interactive entertainment industry with a particular focus on the videogame market.
Pereira will provide Flashman Studios clients his insight and experience in game submission, marketing direction and establishing publisher and first party relationships. In addition, he will work closely with clients on company finance, cash flow management and project budgets.
Dutch police have arrested a teenager for stealing virtual furniture from Habbo Hotel.
According to a BBC report, the 17 year-old has been accused of stealing 4,000 euro (GBP 2,840) worth of virtual furniture that was purchased with real money.
Five other juveniles have been questioned by police, who were alerted by the Sulake Corporation, owners and operators of the Habbo Hotel virtual world.
"The accused lured victims into handing over their Habbo passwords by creating fake Habbo websites," said a Sulake spokesperson.
"In Habbo, as in many other virtual worlds, scamming for other people's personal information such as user names has been problematic for quite a while."
Although the spokesperson acknowledged that scamming has occurred in many countries, he noted that this is the first time police have taken action.
"It is a theft because the furniture is paid for with real money. But the only way to be a thief in Habbo is to get people's usernames and passwords and then log in and take the furniture," the spokesperson said.
Six million people in more than 30 countries play Habbo Hotel each month.
AdSense for Games' Bernie Stolar anticipates that videogame advertising it will become a billion dollar industry by the year 2010.
"We're talking with every major publisher, and there's a lot of excitement here," he told GamesIndustry.biz.
After working for the likes of Atari, Sony, and SEGA, Stolar became an advisor to Adscape Media in 2005. In 2007, he helped convince Google to purchase the company, which it renamed AdSense for Games.
'If you look at research, there are more people playing games than watching television. So what does that tell you? That tells you there's a whole different audience," Stolar said.
"The demographics have changed. So the rules have changed."
Even as more people of different age groups are playing games, companies need to take advantage of the new demographic without alienating players.
"At the end of the day, we can't piss off the customer. We can't over-populate a game with ads. If you're going to do that, you better give the game away for free," he said.
Sports games are the most obvious genre that integrates well with in-game ads, but Stolar thinks that fighting games and adventure games could also work well. Eventually, however, almost all genres will be subject to advertising.
"I would say 80 per cent of games [will have] advertising in them by 2010," Stolar predicted.
The complete interview with Bernie Stolar can be found over on GamesIndustry.biz.
