THQ has unveiled its financial scorecard for this fiscal year's opening quarter and though it looked pretty at first, things quickly went south as we checked out how much it lost. Apparently, bigger revenues don't necessarily translate into bigger profits as you'll find out in the full article up ahead.

Fresh from acquiring assets to dip themselves into the casual gaming market, "creative hub" publisher THQ will now set out to raise the curtains off their much broader lineup of games for fiscal year 2009. And aside from tending some exclusive titles for the Nintendo Wii, THQ has a couple of mainstream franchises piled up for a comeback. All these are to be demonstrated at the Game Press Event in San Francisco. Head to the full story for more info.

THQ just released details regarding its profits for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008.

Aside from money matters, however, the company's CEO also hinted at when they'll be releasing the next installments of their Saints Row and Red Faction franchises. Details await in the full article.

If you're eagerly awaiting the WALL-E film you may want to check out the upcoming video game version as well, regardless of which system you own. That's right, THQ plans to release the video game version on all major gaming platforms to promote the movie's release. How faithful will the games be to the WALL-E movie? Find out after the jump!

At the risk of dropping some rather cheesy puns (that's one), we're letting the guys in some tasty deals GameStop has in store for this week.

The retailer has announced that this week's special will consist of several discounts for the game release of the Pixar movie Ratatouille, for the Xbox 360, PSP, Wii, DS, GameCube, GBA, PlayStation 2, and Xbox gaming consoles. This week's fresh catch will entitle buyers to a US$ 10 price reduction of the game, with the promo proper expected to last until this Thursday, August 9, while supplies last.

Also included in this week's sales promo is a used (original) PlayStation 2 model, which sells for US$ 79.99. For the 360 and PSP owners, also look out for the custom paraphernalia you'll be getting when you purchase choice titles from the site. Full details are available in the read link.

Not only does this new Ratatouille trailer from Heavy Iron Studios and THQ bring home the bacon, it also brings home the cheese, the wine, the olives, the lasagna... it just brings a lot of food to the table!

In Ratatouille, players get to play as the master chef-slash-rat Remy as he goes through 20 exciting missions that will relive portions of the movie, as well as flesh out Remy's character even further. As an added bonus, the game also comes with an unlockable sneak peek of Disney/Pixar's next movie, "WALL-E", which tells the story of a robot who wants to travel the galaxy.

Now, what's in this trailer, you might be wondering? Besides Remy, the ratty chef running for his little life, we also have gameplay mechanics such as running, jumping, and rolling on round food objects. The trailer also notes some of the game's features, such as multiplayer options and minigames.

In any case, you can expect delicious action and multiplatform gaming delicacies below, because in Ratatouille, everything tastes good. Enjoy!

Publisher THQ is very happy to announce that the video game title Cars has been made a discount title across almost all platforms. This means that the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions have been added to the "Greatest Hits" basket while the Xbox360 version can now found in the "Platinum Hits" basket.

If you really want to know, even the GameCube (GC) version is now a part of "Player's Choice" retail program.

THQ decided to come up with a sequel called Cars Mater-National for the 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 platforms. Disney Interactive Studios Exec. VP and GM Graham Hopper commented:

We are excited by the tremendous success the Cars franchise has achieved across the world on multiple video game platforms. Our successful and long-standing relationship with THQ has delivered a strong portfolio of Disney/Pixar titles that have become family favorites for gamers of all ages.

The original Cars is now available across all platforms at a suggested retail price of US$ 19.99. On the other hand, the new title Cars Mater-National is expected to careen around retail stores this fall. It will also be available on PS2, Nintendo DS, and GBA platforms.

Well, they DID promise sequels. THQ has announced that they're releasing a new game in the Disney-Pixar Cars license this fall, called Cars Mater-National. It's set to appear on the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and DS, as well as the PS2 and GBA platforms.

According to THQ's PR, this game will feature all-new international characters racing against each other for a chance to race against Lightning McQueen himself in the First Annual Mater-National Race Festival. Just like the first Cars, this has race events and minigames, as well as a new and improved open-world (free-roam?) Radiator Springs.

Mater-National's being devved by Rainbow Studios.

 The recent NPD findings painted a positive outlook for the future of original IPs and may have implied that most gamers are already sick of playing sequels, but that doesn't seem to affect THQ. In the Pacific Crest Securities' Digital Media and Entertainment forum, THQ's CFO Ed Zinser emphasized that they intend to derive more of its revenue from intellectual properties it owns - which means  we should expect more sequels from them.

Some of those "intellectual properties" are the licensed franchises like the WWE, Pixar, and Nickelodeon games. He further explained it by saying:

We've got Saints Row which was launched recently, this year, Red Faction from a few years back which you'll be seeing in the future as a sequel, Stuntman scheduled for fiscal '08, Juiced, which is a racing title, MX, which is an off-road racing title, and Destroy All Humans! as well...All launched over the past several years [and sold] a million units-plus, and all titles we believe have sequel potential for the future...You should expect to see sequels on varying platforms--most of them multiplatform--probably on an every-other-year kind of timeframe over the cycle.

Aside from that, the THQ honcho divulged that they are planning to launch a couple of new intellectual properties a year throughout the console cycle. He also said that THQ's list of licensed annualized games will also be expanding. Well, we have nothing against sequels, as long as they offer something new on the table.

Disney announced at their Investor Conference in Orlando that Buena Vista Games will now be known as Disney Interactive Studios (DIS). Senior VP and General Manager Graham Hopper reasoned, "This change reflects our focus on creativity, the weight of Disney content in our portfolio, and the enormous value consumers see in the Disney Brand."

True, although many people do know that Buena Vista is more or less Disney-related in many ways than one, we believe that slapping on the "Disney" name should reflect inspiration on the new game studio's image. You could think of it as an upgrade, like what happened to Pixar Animation Studios.

Will they be limited to Disney games? Apparently not, for they also have plans to publish non-Disney branded video games for all platforms worldwide. Touchstone, Disney, and ABC are the brands to look for on Disney Interactive Studios' published games.

DIS is powered by four internal game development studios, which include Avalanche Software, Fall Line Studios, Propaganda Games, and Climax Racing to develop games for all ages. So keep an eye out!