It's always a bit daunting (in a good way) to see the quarterly financial figures of your favorite gaming company, and it's the same here, as Midway Games has just posted its numbers for the first quarter of 2008. Sure, they're still losing quite a bit of money, but they're also making quite the killing when compared to previous quarters. In any case, all the numbers, facts, and figures after the jump. Bring your own calculators.

EA Sports can be considered one of the strongest brands in the video game industry. Peter Moore, the president of EA Sports, recently spoke about the image of his company, its current stand on acquisitions, as well as his experiences of working at Electronic Arts as the president of one of their labels. If you're interested to hear what he had to say, head on over to the full article.

Today appears to be Rumor Day. On one hand, we've been told that the next installment of Midway's Mortal Kombat series is a crossover entitled Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. And now, it seems that this same game will reportedly have little-to-no blood and no fatalities. More rumor mongering ensues in the full article after the jump.

Crossovers - it's the stuff of fanfiction and occasional mainstream work like Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Midway,  however, seems to be hinting at something similar for the next installment in the Mortal Kombat series. More universes collide in the full article, right after the jump.

Midway Games has been on a bit of a slowdown as of late with lukewarm reception on some of its releases, controversial resignations, and so-so financial results. The company seems to have felt the need for a change in leadership, prompting old CEO David Zucker to resign and for Interim CEO and President Matthew Booty to take over. Details on the move are available in the full article after the jump.

Right after publishing its financial report for Q4 of 2007's fiscal year, Midway Games has released another announcement: It is switching credit lines. The proceeds from the new credit facility will be used as working capital, among other things. Check out the full article for more info.

With Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 3 and John Woo's Stranglehold under its banner, Midway displayed a strong showing last year. The financial report for fiscal year 2007 did show significant drop in revenues from 2006, but the video game company expects 2008 to be big now that many technology hurdles have been taken care of. For more details, head to the full article.

Though ironic in a sense, publisher Midway Games has come up with increased losses and revenues at the end of the company's third quarter for calendar year 2007. Data derived from the company's financial reports since September 30, 2007 highlights that Midway garnered a year-on-year rise from US$ 27.5 million to US$ 36.7 million in revenue. It was noted, however, that the company also gained a US$ 0.31 loss per diluted share from last year's US$ 0.22 per.

The publisher's main performance highlights were bannered by the previously released Unreal Tournament 3 demo and the release of John Woo's Stranglehold for the Xbox 360 and PC. It was noted that the UT3 demo continued to be one of the top 2 downloaded games on popular PC file portal FilePlanet since October 12.

Midway Games forecasts a great future for the company's overall revenue come the end of the company's fourth quarter on December 31, 2007. The imminent worldwide release of Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 3 (Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Sony PlayStation 3) on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X is highly anticipated, among other mainstream titles such as BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, Xbox 360), Stranglehold (PS3), and Hour of Victory (PC).

Casual and other mainstream titles include Cocoto Racing for the DS, The Bee Game for the GBA and DS, Ultimate Mortal Kombat for the DS, Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am for the PS2, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends for the DS, and Game Party and Cruis'n' for the Wii.

To that end, the Chicago-based publisher foresees a hike up in revenue to US$ 80 million for the fourth quarter, with a US$ 0.21 loss per basic and diluted share. Overall, Midway lowers its annual target due to slow sales of the PlayStation 3 and "movement" of Nintendo DS and Wii titles.

"We remain confident that our technology strategy and product plan position us to grow both revenue and market share as we move into the heart of this console cycle," said Midway president and CEO David Zucker. He concludes that with a strong lineup of releases in the coming months, Midway will be able to accelerate its growth for 2008.

Mortal Kombat fans rejoice! Ultimate Mortal Kombat, Midway Games' Nintendo DS iteration of the legendary beat-em-up, features not only the addictive MK Puzzle Kombat, but a return to the game's 2D roots. And the best part? You can take the fight wherever you go, and fight any opponent using the game's Wi-Fi multiplayer capabilities! Awesome!

As we can see in the game's second trailer, the characters retain their old moves, as well as souped-up animations that's sure to make gameplay a bit more intense. The ridiculous splashes of blood are also back, which makes every uppercut - not to mention any high-impact move - viscerally satisfying. While we don't know just how much of the old has been ported over to the knew, we can't help but wish that the Toasty guy would make his appearance as well.

Glorious 2D action at its finest. Enjoy the video!

 

Top on the UK gaming news is Medal of Honor: Airborne's defense against a trio of invading newcomers. On the week of the release of Midway's Stranglehold, Ninja Theory's Heavenly Sword, and Nintendo's Super Paper Mario, the multiplatform WWII shooter from Electronic Arts still manages to attract the most gamers.

With Stranglehold's arrival at second, Super Paper Mario's debut at fourth, and Heavenly Sword's launch position at seventh, Electronic Arts still enjoys a three-title domination of the top ten games, with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 at third and The Sims 2: Bon Voyage in the eighth place.

Wii Play moves up nine whole spots to reclaim its lovely fifth seat, while More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima gains an IQ point to climb one spot to sixth.

Ninth is held by Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, and still latching on to the last spot on the top ten is Take-Two Interactive's BioShock. In quick summary, you've got the following (for the week ending September 15, all formats in all price categories):

1. Medal of Honor: Airborne (Electronic Arts)
2. Stranglehold (Midway)
3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Electronic Arts)
4. Super Paper Mario (Nintendo)
5. Wii Play (Nintendo)
6. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo)
7. Heavenly Sword (Sony)
8. The Sims 2: Bon Voyage (Electronic Arts)
9. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo)