Nerve-Damage
10-31-2005, 04:32 AM
In a recent meeting with shareholders, THQ President and CEO Brian Farrell mentioned the company's plans for next generation development. THQ, developer and publisher of Tak, Destroy All Humans! and WWE Day of Reckoning 2 is one of the biggest 3rd party developers and publishers in the industry, so when Brian Farrell talks, gamers listen!
First up, the bad news. The company's two biggest Xbox 360 games have been delayed. MotoGP 2006 - a futuristic street racer and The Outfit - a first person shooter set in (you guessed it!) World War II will both be delayed well into next year. While this is bad news for European PAL gamers, it doesn't really affect Australians, since the games will probably be ready before the Aussie 360 launch anyway. Another 360 game, Saint's Row, has also been delayed until midway through next year.
Now the good news: Brian Farrell announced that THQ has 13 games in development between all three next generation consoles, and four will be released within the next six months. When asked how many of the rest would be released within next fiscal year (which ends March 2007), Farrell would only say that they had many more games in the pipeline for the future. There were no more specifics, but Farrel did let slip that several WWE wrestling games were in production for next-generation systems.
When asked about how much support each of the new consoles would be getting from THQ, Farrell and Edward Zinser, THQ's chief financial officer, estimated atheir resources were splt 40 percent for each of the Xbox 360 and PS3, and 20 percent for the Nintendo Revolution. While that sounds slightly grim for Nintendo fans, Farrell was keen to mention that those figures were only the current load, and initial work on Nintendo's new console was increasing. In the meantime, THQ's focus was "a little less on Revolution until we see more". He said he expected both the PS3 and Revolution to launch sometime in 2006.
Finally, when asked if they had heard anything about a new Gameboy from Nintendo, Farrell and Zinser said they had not. "We haven't heard anything - but between the PSP, DS, and the legacy GBA...that's a pretty robust handheld market."
About the future of the company and industry as a whole, Zinsner finished the report with this statement "Entertainment and games seem to be somewhat recession-proof. Even in bad times, parents keep buying games."
Written by David Low
First up, the bad news. The company's two biggest Xbox 360 games have been delayed. MotoGP 2006 - a futuristic street racer and The Outfit - a first person shooter set in (you guessed it!) World War II will both be delayed well into next year. While this is bad news for European PAL gamers, it doesn't really affect Australians, since the games will probably be ready before the Aussie 360 launch anyway. Another 360 game, Saint's Row, has also been delayed until midway through next year.
Now the good news: Brian Farrell announced that THQ has 13 games in development between all three next generation consoles, and four will be released within the next six months. When asked how many of the rest would be released within next fiscal year (which ends March 2007), Farrell would only say that they had many more games in the pipeline for the future. There were no more specifics, but Farrel did let slip that several WWE wrestling games were in production for next-generation systems.
When asked about how much support each of the new consoles would be getting from THQ, Farrell and Edward Zinser, THQ's chief financial officer, estimated atheir resources were splt 40 percent for each of the Xbox 360 and PS3, and 20 percent for the Nintendo Revolution. While that sounds slightly grim for Nintendo fans, Farrell was keen to mention that those figures were only the current load, and initial work on Nintendo's new console was increasing. In the meantime, THQ's focus was "a little less on Revolution until we see more". He said he expected both the PS3 and Revolution to launch sometime in 2006.
Finally, when asked if they had heard anything about a new Gameboy from Nintendo, Farrell and Zinser said they had not. "We haven't heard anything - but between the PSP, DS, and the legacy GBA...that's a pretty robust handheld market."
About the future of the company and industry as a whole, Zinsner finished the report with this statement "Entertainment and games seem to be somewhat recession-proof. Even in bad times, parents keep buying games."
Written by David Low