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 sequel 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.

Good news for Nintendo DS owners, as two good DS games have finally gone on sale over at retail store Circuit City. Now going for an affordable US$ 13.99, it won't hurt so much now to give away Cooking Mama and Big Brain Academy as presents for someone whose birthday is coming up, or for your little brother who has been asking for them for months now. So, for less than twenty dollars including shipping, go ahead and make a friend happy, and get them another game for their DS.

Cooking Mama is an adorably cute cooking simulation game that was published by Majesco Entertainment and released in the U.S. in September last year. Meanwhile, Big Brain Academy is a game that falls under the edutainment category. It was developed by Nintendo and released in June last year. The game tests the player's capacity when it comes to logic, memorization, analysis, computation, and visual identification.

   

Publisher 505 Games today have given European gamers a lifeline by announcing the release date for Cooking Mama on their shores. Cooking Mama is a new innovative cooking simulation game for the DS that fans have already been wildly anticipating over since its successful launch in Japan and America, including sell-outs in many North American game stores. Cooking Mama will be placing a chef's hat and a pinny over European gamers in December 2006 for a Christmas release.

In Cooking Mama, players get to play as a superstar chef in training, but of course you'll have someone to teach you the ropes. Under the watchful eye of Mama’s careful tuition, players get to utilise the full functionality of Nintendo’s handheld system in order to prepare and create over 70 (yes, 7-0) delicious dishes. You won't get bored making burgers and fries all the time either, as the gigantic menu includes just about everything from making simple snacks such as fried eggs, to full cordon bleu-style culinary masterpieces.

Those in the US may be thinking that their Cooking Mama fun is all over now that it has been released in the US, but if you've yet to purchase the title then maybe these screenshots straight from Taito and 505 games today will tempt you - and yes, they're in English! Let's just hope that European gamer's tastebuds can hold out till December.

Find the gallery of Cooking Mama screenshots after the jump!

G'day, mates! Ol' St. Nicky will be coming around in a few short months, and if you're reading us from Oz, then we here at QJ will be glad to help you with your Chrissie wish lists! It's no big, as we say back here; we do this courtesy of your fellows over at PAL Gaming Network Australia who've compiled this list. After all, the Pacific should never be a barrier to people who share the passion for gaming.

All dates are subject to change if their respective game publishers decide to change them, though (it's happened before, right?). Stay tuned to QJ for any new updates to this list as we find them.

September 2006:
21: Starfox Command, Joytech Accessories
28: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team
30: Disney's Little Mermaid Ariel's Undersea Adventure, Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long, Age of Empires 2: The Age Of Kings

October 2006:
  5: FIFA 2007
19: Break'em All
22: Crazy Frog Racer
23: Top Gear Downforce
25: Tony Hawk Downhill Jam
26: Clubhouse Games, Mario Hoops 3 on 3, Ys Strategy, Surge Hive, New Zealand Story, The Sims 2: Pets
31: Lunar Knights, Eragon, Justice League Heroes, Tomb Raider: Legend, Arthur and the Minimoys, Bionicle: Heroes, Tom and Jerry Tales

November and onwards at the full article (click on the Full Article link below)!