Today on Gamasutra 3/28/08

Today's headlines from Gamasutra, the website for Game Developers

Playlogic Sees First Time Full Year Profits, Doubles Sales

Publisher Playlogic Entertainment has announced its financial results for fiscal year 2007, reporting net revenues of $10.1 million, a doubling of revenues over the year prior. Playlogic attributes the growth primarily to a higher number of published titles and higher sales per unit, also adding that profits for the year reached $0.7 million, compared to losses of $12.5 million the year prior. Currently, the company says its in-house studio, Playlogic Game Factory, has extended its ...

THQ, Jakks Announce WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 For Seven Platforms

THQ and Jakks Pacific have announced the development of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, DS and mobile devices, a continuation of a franchise the companies say has shipped more than 37 million units worldwide since 1999. The title, shipping in fall 2008, comes after THQ's recent announcement of legal victory against Jakks in ongoing royalty suits over the use of the WWE license in its ...

Nordic Game 2008 Announces Lego Star Wars, Rock Band Keynotes

Event organizers have announced four keynote sessions for the forthcoming 2008 Nordic Game conference taking place May 14-15 in Malm?, Sweden, including Lego Star Wars producer Jonathan Smith, and Rock Band producers Rob Kay and Ryan Lesser, promising "special guests and surprises galore." Nordic Game representatives say the keynotes are set to "inspire and entertain both the industry and the press with a line up that represents some of most interesting happenings in gaming today." ...

UK Virtual Console Debuts Commodore 64 Titles Uridium, International Karate

Nintendo has announced that the latest Virtual Console update in the UK and Europe has seen the release of the service's first Commodore 64 titles with the addition of Uridium and International Karate, along with Nintendo 64 racing title Cruis'n USA. Nintendo describes the 1986 shooter Uridium, created by Andrew Braybrook (also behind C64 hit Paradroid), as a "high-speed galactic adventure" where players "defend each of the fifteen planets in this classic shoot'em up to ...

Testronic Licenses ETRI's Venus Blue MMO Test Kit

Testronic Labs has acquired exclusive rights to sell and provide services in North America, Europe and Japan for Venus Blue, an MMO tool developed by Korean non-profit government-funded research organization ETRI. Venus Blue is a performance testing tool capable of emulating a large number of MMO players, designed for developers and publishers to perform stress tests for complex online games. The company says a limitless number of users can be loaded into the testing tool, ...

Special: Why World of Warcraft Made It Big

[In the world of MMOs, World of Warcraft is king, and in this vibrant analysis, online game expert Michael Zenke examines just what it is that made WoW so popular in the first place -- including accessibility, polish and simple timing.] Massively Multiplayer Online Games are officially mainstream. A title from the genre has had an entire cartoon episode made about it, features in an advertisement starring Mr. T, and hosts some ten million players ...

EA Announces DS Rhythm Action Exclusive Zubo

Electronic Arts' Casual Entertainment label has announced it is developing a new wholly-owned original IP called Zubo, a music-based rhythm-action game for Nintendo DS and slated for worldwide release later this year. Zubo sets players in the world of Zubalon, where they're tasked with rescuing the world from an evil force. Along the way, players befriend Zubos, feed them and nurture their skills, and help them with their battles against the enemy. EA says music ...

EA Extends Deadline Following Take-Two's 'Poison Pill'

Officials from Electronic Arts have continued with their attempts at a hostile takeover of Take-Two Interactive, with two amendments to its offer to acquire all currently outstanding shares of the company's common stock. Electronic Arts have taken the steps in light of Take-Two's new rejection of its share offer and in particular the changing of the date of the company's annual meeting of stockholders and the establishment of a Stockholders Rights Agreement. Representatives of Electronic ...

Saling The World: Crisis Core, C& C3 Top U.S. Charts

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from March 27th, 2008, see Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII debuting to fast sales in North America, while Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G and Code Geass see a successful first week in Japan. Data for "Saling The World" comes ...

Paramount To Expand Video Game Business

Officials from major movie studio Paramount have confirmed that the company is to expand its games and interactive division, with plans to more directly oversee and finance future games, based both on new Paramount movie properties and films from its back catalog. In an article in Hollywood trade paper Variety, Paramount senior vice president of interactive and mobile Sandi Isaacs commented, "We are entering into deals now where

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