New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better 
Resistance: Burning Skies: The Kotaku Review 
Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle THQ has announced its first quarter results for the financial year ending March 31, 2009. And those results are? Net sales were up to US$US 137.6 million compared to last year’s $US 104.5 million and driven by the WALL-E game, Big Beach Sports and THQ’s wrestling titles. The company, however, did report a net loss of $US 27 million. Says THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell (pictured):
We continued to make progress against our key initiatives during the first quarter. We are beginning to roll out a strong slate of games for the year, including a balance of both owned intellectual properties and major licences. We are making important improvements in our creative development organisation, which we believe will increase our product quality and competitiveness. During the quarter, we also took steps to re-align our cost structure and we remain on track to generate improved operating leverage. We are focused on generating growth at both the top and bottom line, and delivering improved value for our shareholders… We have a robust product slate of key titles scheduled to launch in each of the next several quarters, starting with de Blob in September; Saints Row 2 and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 in the holiday quarter; Red Faction Guerrilla, Darksiders: Wrath of War and WWE Legends of Wrestlemania in our fiscal fourth quarter; and UFC 2009 Undisputed in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.
Aw yes, thrilling stuff. Financial report talk. So financially, so reporty.
This is Portal. Apparently. Apparently it’s also a speed run, of the game’s 14th test chamber. I don’t know, I can’t prove that, I’m just going by what the video’s called, because after watching it I have no idea what the hell is going on.
[via insert credit]
Michelle Van Der Water: She’s been in ER (I know that!), The Inn (okay…) and Max Knight: Ultra Spy (what the hell?). Now, she’s the model behind Resident Evil 5‘s gun-toting Sheva Alomar, according to News.com.au. Originally from the ‘gong in NSW, Van Der Water now lives in LA.
The piece goes on to say the role eventuated after Van Der Water received a surprise call from her agent. She found the experience exciting and the end product pleasing. Well, that’s good to know.
Van Der Water isn’t the first Australian to be involved in Capcom’s survival horror franchise. Christopher Egan found himself on the wrong side of a pair of zombie chomps in the uncompromisingly arse-tastic Resident Evil: Extinction.
Australian Actress to star in Resident Evil 5 [News.com.au, thanks Anthony][Pic]
Street Fighter IV has four new characters: sexy American spy Crimson Viper, the mysterious Abel, luchador and chef El Fuerte and boss character Seth. That’s totally fitting! And which new character do Americans seem to respond to the most? French martial arts dude Abel. According to SFIV producer Yoshinori Ono:
With all due to respect to him, he’s a great character, but honestly we thought Crimson Viper would be a big hit here… We got a lot of marketing data and a lot of advice from our US branch in creating that character. She was kind of custom tailored for the States and we thought people would like her… What we need to do now is find out what his [Abel's]deal is, why they like him and use that information going forward.
Just when you thought Americans would like a sunglasses wearing female spy in a tight suit, they go and fall in love with a large blonde Frenchman. Gotta love Americans. They keep ya guessing.
‘Street Fighter IV’ Producer Perplexed By America’s Choice For Favourite New Character [Multiplayer]
Proof you can’t keep a hopping, adorable mass of singing blobs down, Sony have today announced that LocoRoco will be making the jump from Sony console to mobile phone. And not as an “interactive screensaver”, either, but as a proper LocoRoco game. It’ll be priced at ¥420 (USD$US 3.80), and goes on sale…oh, today! SCEJ、EZweb「LocoRoco MOBILE」配信開始 PSP「LocoRoco」を携帯電話で可能な限り再現 [Game Watch]
Sony Computer Entertainment just announced that it was taking applicants for the Japanese PlayStation Home Closed Beta. Prospective applicants must be over 18 and need to apply between July 31st (today!) and August 11th. The closed beta is slated to start at the end of August. Winners will apparently be selected by lottery, and the Home account must be used with the winner’s account. It’s non-transferable.
The link below has a good picture walk through.
Gaming site Eegra has announced the winners of its first “game makin’ shindig“, defying claims that one can only have game makin’ shebangs. There are nine titles in all, each with two reviews, and they’re free to download if you’d like to have a play.
The competition is of particular relevance as Conor O’Kane, an Australian, took out first prize and bagged $US 2000 with his bizarre-looking Go Beryllium.
All I can say is, I wish I’d known about the comp! I’d have submitted Wizkill, Zafehouse or Blockshooter. Oh, if you’re wondering why there’s been a lack of Game A Weeks, I had to take a bit of a break while I direct my arse off.
Press release after the jump.
PSN vs. Xbox Live, FIGHT! While Microsoft clearly had the jumpstart with online, Sony is slowly but surely coming into its own. While it’s still early, developer Richard Lemarchand from Sony-owned Naughty Dog believes PSN will have an edge that XBL won’t:
I think there’s going to be other things coming down the pipe that’s going to give PSN as a whole a competitive edge… What I will say is as a games designer I’m very excited about net connectivity. I really like how Sony is thinking a little bit outside the box in terms of gamers as modern media consumers. With things like LittleBigPlanet looking towards consumer-generated content and with games like flOw and flOwer — which are art games — Sony is really looking to expand games as culture in the same way that pop music, literature and fine art are culture.
Well, what did you expect him to say?
Naughty Dog Q&A [IGN via Shacknews]
Yes, time for the latest instalment in the long-running “David Reeves tells the press things he wishes he hadn’t” series! This week, the SCEE boss sits down with Kiwi site Buttonmashers, and – amidst the din of what’s obviously the SCEE’s PAL-only party at E3 – proceeds to say a bunch of stuff. Like…when asked about PAL delays in localising PS3 games, he says “…well, the New Zealand office could ask to report to the US instead of Europe, and if you report to the US office, you’ll become an even smaller fish in a big pond… I think you sometimes have to put up with it”.
Brutal Legend was one of the Sierra titles Activision Blizzard kicked to the curb. Bummer! The good news is that developer Double Fine actually owns the rights to the Jack Black staring heavy metal hack and slash and thus actually can make something happen itself. Word is that Double Fine is on the verge of inking a publishing deal for the game. Variety has the scoop, writing:
I don’t know who it will be, but I understand that it may not be a traditional publisher. It could be a more “unique” arrangement. (Sorry to be vague, but even getting this much info was quite a chore.)
Rock on. Though, all this switcheroo business might mean that game’s not out until 2009.
Brutal Legend definitely coming out, new release plan to be announced soon [Variety]
