Michael Pachter is at it again, analyzing and giving his thoughts on matters concerning the game industry. This time, he laments how much money could have been made if a timely game tie-in to the blockbuster The Dark Knight was released. He says Warner Bros. and EA may have missed out on US$ 100 million. More after the jump.

 Team Ninja's leading man, the guy with a few smiles and a thousand words, behind the Tecmo-published Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series deserves his own QuickJump Quicklist, so here's something dedicated to Tomonobu Itagaki and all his greatness. We've collected some lines from Itagaki that are either very amusing, or so badass fanboys would rather follow him around and wipe his sunglasses clean for a living.

Find all that at the full article!

EA greatness coming your way! Electronic Arts has released its line-up of games down at E3 in Barker Hangar and Le Merigot Hotel.

Here's a shortlist of the games it's showcasing in E3: Madden NFL 08, NBA LIVE 08, NASCAR 08 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08, Burnout Paradise, SimCity Societies, The Orange Box, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Crysis and Hellgate: London, The Simpsons on three platforms, Army of Two, Boogie, MySims, The Sims 2 Castaway, Medal of Honor Airborne, Need for Speed ProStreet, EA Playground, Skate, and Rock Band.

Says EA Games Label President: "In the next six months, EA will launch the most exciting line up of games in our 25 year history. We’re publishing brand new games ... delivering innovations in blockbuster franchises..." Some of these games will be available for demos for those who are lucky enough to attend E3.

For a quick lowdown of EA's wicked line-up, click on the full article.

Since GameStation was picked up by GAME for £ 74 million, a lot of people have been talking about a possible investigation by the Competition Commission over its larger market share and possible monopoly. GAME is unfazed by this talk and isn't worried about it. Why?

GAME's chief executive Lisa Morgan spoke to MCV regarding this, and stated that the company believes everything is in order with regards to their purchase of the franchise.

Blockbuster would not accept an offer that had any potential conditions attached to it. The deal will be subject to a regulatory review process and that will be an ongoing process during the first ten weeks. We have taken considerable advice in this area and we are confident and comfortable to proceed.

So given this new information, we have to wonder what the mega retailer has planned for their new acquisition. While some have speculated that a massive closing of stores will happen, Morgan assured that this wouldn't happen. In typical PR fashion, she stated that "we are looking forward to putting new GAME and Gamestation stores into the market. This transaction is not about store closures – this is about bringing a second brand into the fold and serving more customers."

All well and good if it pushes through. Now, what if an investigation is held and the Competition Commission finds Game to be holding too much of the market, what happens then?

Dallas-based movie rental giant, BlockBuster Inc., is rumored to be jumping in on the games rental wagon - again. Yep, again. In case you guys don't remember, or are way too young to actually know about it, BlockBuster did allow gamers to rent out their favorite GBA games.

Although this time, of course they'll have to cater to a more modern audience. So, instead of them good ol' GBA games, BlockBuster will reportedly be renting out games for the Nintendo DS. Now, all this has been picked up from the rumor mill. But it has been said that the rental store had already carried out a test run of its new venture by having some of the branches rent out DS games.

Seeing that the test run was a huge success, it looks like the idea will be staying a little longer to rake in more revenue for the US$ 5.23 billion-worth company. According also to Play Nintendo's source, there will be around 15 DS games made available which will include the latest Pokemon games in the lineup. Each DS game will be tagged with a rental price of US$ 4.99 a week.

So check out the nearest BlockBuster near you. It's definitely a cheaper way to enjoy your DS, eh?

Disney Interactive Studios has announced that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will be setting sail on May 22. This multiplatform title is inspired by both the upcoming film "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and, to a certain extent, last year's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

"With the action, excitement, unforgettable characters and expansive locations from the blockbuster films, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will be the definitive 'Pirates' video game experience for fans," said Craig Relyea, vice president of marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. "Our games go beyond the films to introduce legendary pirates, new locations and unique endings that will satisfy the pirate in each of us."

Of course, there will be action and lots of it. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will also feature gameplay that takes advantage of the distinctive features of today's next gen videogame platforms. Case in point: the Nintendo Wii console will feature full Wiimote support for swinging and thrusting motions that are similar to fighting with a sword.

While legislation to incur stricter penalties for mature games isn't exactly taking off, it looks like the retailers aren't going to be taking any chances. According to insider info taken from the GameStop retail chain, any employee caught selling M-rated (that's 17+) games to minors will be fired.

This info comes in light of GameStop's conference call last week, wherein managers were informed of the stricter policy. The new rule further details that not only will the offending employee get the boot, but his direct superiors (the managers) will suffer a similar penalty - probably in an attempt to reinforce command responsibility. It will be remembered that GameStop is a member of the ESRB Retail Council, alongside Circuit City, Best Buy, and Blockbuster Video.

Given the sort of flak we've been hearing on gaming (not just here, mind you), we'll consider this as a form of good news from the retailer's side - glad to know they're doing what they can to ease the flames. Unfortunately, we do see one loophole to this rule - what about the parents buying these games for their minors? Then again, that's just us. What's your say on this, guys?

This next article is about prestige games. While we were quite sure already what point we would like to drive at, we wanted to be sure. So we went to our mini library, picked up a Webster's and looked up the meaning of the word.

Prestige: reputation or influence arising from success, achievement, rank, or other favorable attributes; distinction or reputation attaching to a person or thing and thus possessing a cachet for others or for the public.

Before we proceed, pardon us first this bit of explanation: In the movie industry, prestige films are those that are not expected to do blockbuster numbers but brings pride to those who are part of it. They are funded by various studios and actors are asked to accept lower rates. Book publishers likewise, also support books that are award-worthy but not necessarily top sellers. Both of these art forms gained prestige, so to speak, because of their favorable attributes (read: content).

Now, here comes the serious question: Why are there no prestige titles? The problem, unfortunately, lies in the big companies' metric of success. For them, a game is successful whenever it brings high revenues.

Reviews are important only before and during a game's first weeks in the market. In the event that sales wouldn't pick up, they abandon the title. Abandon, in the sense that they try to distance themselves from it. You don't believe us? Look at these:

• Capcom dissolves Clover Studios because of disappointing sales for their last project. The latter's last project happened to be Okami, a title that received high reviews and commendations across the industry.
• Last year, Microsoft dropped Psychonauts because of being unpopular. The game was then picked up by a much smaller company, Majesco.
• UbiSoft released Beyond Good and Evil. It was supposed to be a series. But because of disappointing sales, the planned series was dropped all together.

These are just the recent things that readily comes to mind. Given the time, we are sure we'll be able to find a lot of other similar cases out there. A good number of excellent titles but because of economic reasons, are lying at the bottom of the heap, dusty and forgotten.

The solution, as easy and as naive as it sounds, lies in inner values. Until the day publishers and developers take pride in content rather than revenues, things wouldn't change. And until the day the triumvirate (giants Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft ) takes the industry into this direction, it would remain an unpaved and crooked road for prestige titles.

Clover was born with a mission: to produce creative, innovative games. Two years ago, Capcom claimed that the industry had grown stale on a diet of recycled sequels and genres and that the time was right to look past muscles, cars, football, and guns and introduce some truly original (obscure) content and ideas into the scene. So starts Clover.

There were some hits on Clover's part: Viewtiful Joe, God Hand, and Okami were all artistically original and were amazingly fresh. The problem is that they were only critical hits. The hardcore and the appreciative loved them. They "got it" because they were fresh, bold, and at times satirical. Nobody else did.

Capcom is after all in the business of making money. It's only logical that they drop a venture that isn't profitable anymore. We as gamers can't really blame them and zealously (fan-boy-ish-ly) call them evil. So what exactly can you blame on Capcom?

The full article awaits after the jump!

Atari's Shiny Entertainment Studio has recently been acquired by Foundation 9 Entertainment, the largest independent game developer in North America.

Shiny Entertainment is best known for its work Earthworm Jim which will remain an Atari property unlike the two games that were based on the hit blockbuster, "The Matrix." They join the incredible F9E studios family which includes The Collective, Backbone Entertainment, Pipeworks, ImaginEngine, and Digital Eclipse. The team will co-locate with The Collective in 2007.

"Shiny Entertainment fits well with the current studios of Foundation 9 Entertainment and aligns with our long-term goals for the future. The studio has tremendous talent and experience working with big Hollywood franchises and will be working with us on a major, as-yet-undisclosed day and date release. The Shiny team will only add to our capabilities and technology base." said Jon Goldman, Chairman and CEO.

The company is currently at work on more than 20 titles including two new editions of its original property, Death, Jr., to be published by Konami; Dirty Harry to be published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment; and, Sonic Rivals to be published by Sega. The company’s Backbone studio recently shipped MechAssault: Phantom War for the Nintendo DS, published by Majesco Entertainment.