THQ has unveiled its financial scorecard for this fiscal year's opening quarter and though it looked pretty at first, things quickly went south as we checked out how much it lost. Apparently, bigger revenues don't necessarily translate into bigger profits as you'll find out in the full article up ahead.

Fresh from acquiring assets to dip themselves into the casual gaming market, "creative hub" publisher THQ will now set out to raise the curtains off their much broader lineup of games for fiscal year 2009. And aside from tending some exclusive titles for the Nintendo Wii, THQ has a couple of mainstream franchises piled up for a comeback. All these are to be demonstrated at the Game Press Event in San Francisco. Head to the full story for more info.

THQ just released details regarding its profits for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008.

Aside from money matters, however, the company's CEO also hinted at when they'll be releasing the next installments of their Saints Row and Red Faction franchises. Details await in the full article.

If you're eagerly awaiting the WALL-E film you may want to check out the upcoming video game version as well, regardless of which system you own. That's right, THQ plans to release the video game version on all major gaming platforms to promote the movie's release. How faithful will the games be to the WALL-E movie? Find out after the jump!

Back in the industry news, "creative hub" publisher THQ announced a first quarter sales dip of approximately US$ 34 million, while reporting a significantly lowered quarter net loss of US$ 9.3 million. Despite the drop from US$ 138.8 million to US$ 104.5 million in sales of Ratatouille, Cars, and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2007, the publisher is confident about its US$ 240 million sales target for Q2 2007.

 

Achievements for the company during Q1 included a penetration of the online market in China, after THQ signed an agreement with Shanda, a local game operations firm, to deliver the long-standing PC game Company of Heroes to the blossoming PC market in the region. While details were scarce, it was hinted that the title would definitely cater to the online segment.

Brian Farrell, CEO of THQ, assured attendees at the recently concluded press conference that the current quarter performance appears to be as they expected. He remained confident that their lineup of family-friendly and casual games for the Nintendo Wii and DS will keep the company "well positioned" for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, de Blob, Stuntman: Ignition, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, on the other hand, have been selected as for Game Critics' Best of E3 2007 Awards, while a whispered sequel for Red Faction back in February was confirmed at the conference call. Details on the sequel have not been revealed as of press time.

Future prospects of the company appear to be cautiously optimistic, after Farrell noted a faster pace of PlayStation 3 hardware sales that seem to outweigh the platform's software sales. The company also plans to dive into in-game advertising more so this 2008, claiming to be in talks with Nickelodeon and Pixar to discuss in-game ad revenue shares.

Not only does this new Ratatouille trailer from Heavy Iron Studios and THQ bring home the bacon, it also brings home the cheese, the wine, the olives, the lasagna... it just brings a lot of food to the table!

In Ratatouille, players get to play as the master chef-slash-rat Remy as he goes through 20 exciting missions that will relive portions of the movie, as well as flesh out Remy's character even further. As an added bonus, the game also comes with an unlockable sneak peek of Disney/Pixar's next movie, "WALL-E", which tells the story of a robot who wants to travel the galaxy.

Now, what's in this trailer, you might be wondering? Besides Remy, the ratty chef running for his little life, we also have gameplay mechanics such as running, jumping, and rolling on round food objects. The trailer also notes some of the game's features, such as multiplayer options and minigames.

In any case, you can expect delicious action and multiplatform gaming delicacies below, because in Ratatouille, everything tastes good. Enjoy!

It's challenging enough to aspire and actually become a chef in the real world, but when you're furry, you live mostly in dark places and you're six inches long from snout to butt, it becomes even more daunting. Such is the case with Ratatouille's star Remy, a French mouse who wants to show the world his culinary prowess in Pixar's latest project.

THQ has been chosen to develop the game for just about every console from the high-powered Sony PlayStation 3 to the all-but-dead Game Boy Advance. This is the Exterminator Escape gameplay video for the Wii. Have a look:

As you may guess, the game is a platformer with lots of jumping, running, lifting and throwing. The camera view looks tight at this stage and the graphics aren't bad at all. Sounds are right on the money with the stellar voice acting and the occasional comic relief from the characters.

Pixar features are among the better games adaptations, following former successes. It looks like this game is not going to be an exception to that track record. We can't wait until Ratatouille scurries into our consoles later this year.

 The recent NPD findings painted a positive outlook for the future of original IPs and may have implied that most gamers are already sick of playing sequels, but that doesn't seem to affect THQ. In the Pacific Crest Securities' Digital Media and Entertainment forum, THQ's CFO Ed Zinser emphasized that they intend to derive more of its revenue from intellectual properties it owns - which means  we should expect more sequels from them.

Some of those "intellectual properties" are the licensed franchises like the WWE, Pixar, and Nickelodeon games. He further explained it by saying:

We've got Saints Row which was launched recently, this year, Red Faction from a few years back which you'll be seeing in the future as a sequel, Stuntman scheduled for fiscal '08, Juiced, which is a racing title, MX, which is an off-road racing title, and Destroy All Humans! as well...All launched over the past several years [and sold] a million units-plus, and all titles we believe have sequel potential for the future...You should expect to see sequels on varying platforms--most of them multiplatform--probably on an every-other-year kind of timeframe over the cycle.

Aside from that, the THQ honcho divulged that they are planning to launch a couple of new intellectual properties a year throughout the console cycle. He also said that THQ's list of licensed annualized games will also be expanding. Well, we have nothing against sequels, as long as they offer something new on the table.

Disney announced at their Investor Conference in Orlando that Buena Vista Games will now be known as Disney Interactive Studios (DIS). Senior VP and General Manager Graham Hopper reasoned, "This change reflects our focus on creativity, the weight of Disney content in our portfolio, and the enormous value consumers see in the Disney Brand."

True, although many people do know that Buena Vista is more or less Disney-related in many ways than one, we believe that slapping on the "Disney" name should reflect inspiration on the new game studio's image. You could think of it as an upgrade, like what happened to Pixar Animation Studios.

Will they be limited to Disney games? Apparently not, for they also have plans to publish non-Disney branded video games for all platforms worldwide. Touchstone, Disney, and ABC are the brands to look for on Disney Interactive Studios' published games.

DIS is powered by four internal game development studios, which include Avalanche Software, Fall Line Studios, Propaganda Games, and Climax Racing to develop games for all ages. So keep an eye out!

Disney-Pixar games are a dime a dozen. From Cars to The Incredibles, to a whole host of other games, lots of young gamers (aged 1 to 52) are enjoying the chance to get into their favorite movies and play as its different characters. For next year's summer game, you can expect a massive invasion of culinary rats across all major platforms to date.

We're talking massive here. THQ is going to publish the game on the Wii, NDS, GBA, GameCube, PS2, PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, plus a Mac and PC version.

Ratatouille will have you playing as Remy (not to be confused with fellow QJ blogger Remi) as he goes through key scenes from the movie. You'd have to guide him across a wide array of mini-games, cooking challenges, and head-to-head multiplayer. Players would be allowed to create their own culinary masterpieces, all while trying to evade the perils and threats lurking about the kitchens of Paris.

Are you the next greatest rat-chef in all of history? The game is coming out next year, so you better start preparing those dishes (and evasive skills)!