Despite making poor Cooking Mama look like a bloodthirsty butcher, PETA still loves Mama. Even so, Joel Bartlett of PETA is asking the cooking guru to, "Pledge to be veg for 30 days." Maybe they just want to play Cooking Mama (DS, Wii), but can't because of all those non-veg dishes. Bartlett even sends Mama a letter. Details in the full article.

After PETA's assault on Cooking Mama's "brutality" (with a bloody game to boot), a feisty Mama responds that her dishes cater to all sorts of tastes, and not just for vegetarians. "I create my recipes to a broad range of tastes and preferences," said Mama. More from Mama in the full article.

Why Mama?!? This is what's on the mind of many fans of Cooking Mama (DS and Wii) as they find that the adorable cookin'-loving Mama has become the unwitting recipient of animal rights group PETA's rage. Why? Cos she serves dishes with meat.

Majesco Games just announced that the Cooking Mama franchise has sold 1.6 million units. The original Cooking Mama for the Nintendo DS, joined by its sequels Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends and Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Nintendo Wii proved that a unique concept coupled with innovative controls do wonders. More details at the full article.

After crunching some numbers, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has predicted good profitability for Majesco Entertainment in its coming fiscal year. Much of its previous success was owed to its popular series Cooking Mama for both the DS and Wii platforms and is expected to push the company into a good financial state this 2008.

Read more about what Pachter had to say in the full article!

Who would've thought that Office Create's Cooking Mama would be such a smashing success in the video game market in Europe. Already, the cooking sim has had over 1 million satisfied customers and is ranked as the most successful title 505 Games has released to date.

For more information, check out the full article after the jump!

Still hungry even after the Thanksgiving feast? Don't worry, another world of food still awaits you... in the gaming world, that is.

From awesome booming voices that exclaim CHICKEN when you pick them up to Gyro Plates being served in Dracula's castle, check out a sampling of fine food that you can encounter in the gaming world, and it awaits you in the full article.

Cooking Mama has served up 500,000 units for the Nintendo DS version since its release 11 months ago. Rightfully enough, Majesco Games has recently announced the development of Cooking Mama 2.

Aside from getting half a million in sales, Cooking Mama has won "Most Innovative DS Design of E3 2006" from IGN and the "Nod Award" from GameDaily, saying that Cooking Mama is "a fun DS game that uses the stylus to near perfection"

Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends promises to be just as fun but with much more challenge as budding chefs out there will be serving up their treats to nine friends who will be judging their works. A Wii version has also been announced to be in the works.

The cult hit that took the gaming community by a silent storm will be serving seconds. 505 Games, in a collaboration with Cooking Mama Ltd., has announced a sequel to Cooking Mama for both the Nintendo DS and the Wii, slated for a release early next year.

The game will be published for Europe and will (and must!) contain new recipes and challenges. The game will have twice as many mini games and will now feature a multiplayer mode for the DS. The multiplayer mode will pit players' cooking skills against each other in a cook off. It sounds like an Iron Chef version for Cooking Mama (Iron Mama?).

Ian Howe, Managing Director of 505 games says: "Following on from the phenomenal success of Cooking Mama, we're thrilled to be bringing Cooking Mama 2 to Europe. Cooking Mama delivered a truly original IP and Cooking Mama 2 promises to build on its success."

Don't you just hate it when you find out about a really good deal, but the catch is, that deal's over and done with? If you do, then we're all pretty much in the same boat, having just discovered that actual limited edition Cooking Mama lunchboxes were up for grabs only two weeks ago at Harbour City, Hong Kong. The giveaway took place in a local event promoting the game itself.

Apparently, one only had to make a purchase at any F&B outlet and donate HK$ 30 (that's about US$ 3.80) to be able to claim one of the few lunchboxes lovingly designed by none other than Miss Chinatsu Higashi.

It's just too bad the event's over and done with, really. As even with the rather ridiculous premise of being a Cooking Simulator, many of us loved how Mama went all sparkly-eyed over our clumsy attempts at peeling carrots and potatoes, and would like that extra Cooking Mama touch on our lunches.

We'll leave you with a picture of one of the nice things we can't have. Here's hoping for a similar promotional event taking place closer to home - and wishing all eBay trawlers luck on finding this one-of-a-kind gem.