GAMES

This week, Majesco reported its earnings for its fiscal first quarter (which ended January 31). As you may have surmised from the recent news of its potential Nasdaq delisting, things aren’t precisely where Majesco would want them to be, financially. Its net profit for the quarter was $3.8 million, showing a year-over-year decline compared to Q1 2009’s $4.2 million profit.

However, the slightly smaller Q1 still seems big enough to make Majesco happy. “Majesco had a very solid first quarter driven by strong holiday sales of our Cooking Mama franchise,” CEO Jesse Sutton said, “which once again delivered impressive results, and Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.” Yes, that’s right, some of you bought something with the word “Squeakquel” on it.

“Our results were in-line with our internal expectations and we remain on track to deliver improved profitability for 2010,” he added. “We have made significant progress in fine tuning our strategy to meet the challenges of the current operating environment.” The latest announcement from Majesco, of course, is another extension of the Cooking Mama franchise, Crafting Mama.

Majesco reports drop in Q1 profits originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NPD has released its monthly list of the top 20 PC games, and while Star Trek Online made a valiant showing in the month of its debut, landing at number two for the main game and number four for the collector’s edition, it was beaten in the end by the Sims 3: High End Loft Stuff (yes, “Stuff”) content pack. The Sims juggernaut of a brand continued to rock the top 20, claiming six spots total, and perennial favorite World of Warcraft continued to place almost all of its current editions on the list in three different spots.

Other big titles in February were Bioshock 2, the Everquest II: Sentinel’s Fate expansion, and Mass Effect 2. Aliens vs. Predator appeared at a miserable number 19, below something called the Mumbo Jumbo Assortment. Full list after the break. We’ll say this about PC game players: They know what they like, and they stick with it.

[via Big Download]

Continue reading Sims 3 expansion beats Star Trek Online in February’s PC top 20

Sims 3 expansion beats Star Trek Online in February’s PC top 20 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, so North America’s limited edition Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP pack doesn’t include an exclusive camo PSP, or a stand thingy, or a snakeskin-like carrying case. But it does include a “Spirited Green” PSP-3000, a color previously unavailable in America. It doesn’t include a PSP Go, so we’re guessing the “relaunch” hasn’t begun yet.

Launching alongside the standalone game on May 25, the pack includes said green PSP, a copy of the game on UMD, a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, and vouchers for both an unidentified movie download (for US residents only) and exclusive in-game items in Peace Walker, for $199.99.

North America getting its own Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP bundle originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week, we brought you the incredibly exciting news that a Splinter Cell: Conviction demo was confirmed for release on Xbox Live. That thrilling news just got too awesome to bear: the demo will be out this week. March 18, in fact, according to a new Inside Xbox video.

If you’re not worried about spoiling the demo for yourself (which, we suppose, would lead to spoiling a very tiny portion of the game by extension), you can see some of the gameplay the demo covers in the video. Or you can wait until you get to put yourself into Sam’s goggles for yourself. Oh, did we say Sam’s in it? And that there would be goggles? Whoops, spoilers!

[Thanks, Daniel!]

Splinter Cell Conviction demo drops March 18 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you guys like mathematical equations — and, since you’re a regular reader of the Japanese hardware sales feature, we’re guessing you are — then you’re going to love this little ditty we whipped up earlier today:

“A blogger flies west across three time zones at 450mph for five hours. Upon his arrival, he covers a week-long gaming convention. On his return trip, the blogger takes a red-eye with a connecting flight east across three time zones at 475mph for six hours. Daylight Saving Time goes into effect while the blogger is in the air. On the first flight, the blogger is seated between the two lankiest human beings to ever grace the face of God’s green earth. When the blogger arrives on the east coast, how many hours of jetlag is he suffering from, and how long of a nap will he need to take in order to recover? Solve for x.”

The answers are, of course, 14 hours, 35 hours and π, respectively.

- PSP: 64,808 27,470 (73.57%)
- Wii: 33,880 2,361 (6.51%)
- PS3: 28,824 1,061 (3.82%)
- DSi LL: 23,611 994 (4.04%)
- DSi: 15,017 569 (3.65%)
- DS Lite: 4,316 713 (14.18%)
- Xbox 360: 2,764 254 (10.12%)
- PS2: 1,839 73 (3.82%)
- PSP Go: 1,275 21 (1.62%)

[Source: Media Create]

Read: The lanky archives

Japanese hardware sales, March 1 – March 7: Jetlagged edition originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier this month, Take-Two announced the potential movement of one of the titles planned for release in its fiscal fourth quarter, extending from August to October. The choices were: LA Noire, Mafia 2, Max Payne 3, or Civilization V. During our demo of Mafia 2 on Wednesday, we were told the game would make its Q4 release, removing it from the list of potentially delayed titles. If we were the betting type, we’d be looking at one of those two Rockstar titles; after all, we’ve seen Civilization V at this point while LA Noire and Max Payne 3 remain shrouded in mystery.

Q4 release for Mafia 2 (re)confirmed; Payne, Noire, Civ V still on hit list originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lady Gaga was already announced for Rock Band’s DLC update next week — but she’s bringing friends along. The pop sensation will be joined by some, ahem, actual rock bands.

Check out next week’s full list of releases after the break.

Continue reading Rock Band Weekly Redux: Lady Gaga, Cartman, 3 Doors Down, Mute Math, The Subways

Rock Band Weekly Redux: Lady Gaga, Cartman, 3 Doors Down, Mute Math, The Subways originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The one track we were most looking forward to from Green Day: Rock Band was, of course, “Brain Stew/Jaded” from the outfit’s 1995 album. It’s a powerful, triumphant tune — and, apparently, it’s also super hard. The Harmonix crew attempted the song during last night’s “Rock Band Bar Night” event at GDC, and — well, it ended in tears. Or rather, jeers.

You can check out some off-screen footage of their tremendous failure above, or footage of them actually playing the game past the jump. To be fair, the drummer didn’t see the flurry of notes coming at him, due to his attempt to refresh himself with some libations. You know who else was enjoying a few beverages? The drunk dude who kept trying to throw the devil horns up in front of our camera while we were filming. Really, drunk dude? Really?

Continue reading Harmonix gets its ‘Brain Stewed’ by Green Day: Rock Band

Harmonix gets its ‘Brain Stewed’ by Green Day: Rock Band originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s an awfully nice gesture of Sony to invite us to its GDC 2010 press conference — and it’s one where we expect to see some equally nice gestures. That’s a Motion Controller joke, folks. Check back by 4:00PM PST (7PM EST) to catch our full and irritatingly detailed liveblog!

Continue reading Joystiq live at Sony’s GDC 2010 press conference

Joystiq live at Sony’s GDC 2010 press conference originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know, we always thought GLaDOS ran the Portal simulation just so she could discover the true value of friendship, but it may really have been in the name of public service. In the video after the break — created by Freddie Wong, who you probably recognize from his ridiculous (and hilarious) Guitar Hero video — we get a glimpse at the likely ramifications of improper Portal gun training and how a few apathetic “friends” can ruin one of the most exciting experiences ever. And here, all this time, we thought GLaDOS was the bad guy!

Note: For those of you who spot that weird frame at the end of the video — yep, with all that gibberish — don’t bother to decipher it. It’s apparently just another gag from Freddie and “friends.” Yuk-yuk-yuk.

Continue reading PSA: Portal guns are for trained professionals only

PSA: Portal guns are for trained professionals only originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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