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THQ Declares Traditional Hardware Cycles Dead

Posted 8/4/08 4:09 pm EST by in Industry News, thq


It's time to throw out the old playbook, says THQ president and CEO Brian Ferrell, because the the industry's traditional hardware cycles no longer exist.

Ferrell's comments stem from a presentation at today's Pacific Crest 10th Anniversary Technology Leadership Forum.

"We used to always think of this industry as 'the cycle.'" said Ferrell. "I think the reality now is there are several sub-cycles."

THQ's leader sees at least three separate sub-cycles: 1) the handheld market, 2) what Nintendo's done with Wii and 3) the continued competition between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. There's even an emerging sub-cycle in the online world, he said.

"It's hard now to talk about 'the cycle' -- I think we have to talk about all of the cycles," he said. "The way we think about it at THQ is we plan our business around each of those platforms, not around 'the cycle.'"

The success of the Wii and DS combined with the expensive nature of Microsoft and Sony's consoles certainly support Ferrell's theory. The industry no longer shifts all at once. As part of the purchasing public, is this as a positive trend?

Hands-On With More Of THQ's Impressive Wii Games: "Battle of the Bands," "de Blob"

Posted 4/14/08 4:30 pm EST by in Battle of the Bands, de blob, thq, Wii


THQGamers, Stephen's right.

Some of 2008's most promising third-party (and non-licensed) Wii games are coming from a most unlikely source: THQ.

I don't think it's unreasonable to say I went into THQ's Gamer's Day two weeks ago with tempered expectations, but "Deadly Creatures" (which I wrote about last week), "Battle of the Bands" and indie-favorite "de Blob" turned my assumptions inside out.

And that's a very good thing for gamers wondering if Nintendo was going to be the only company who could figure out how to make the Wii work. My time spent with these three, however, convinced me that's not necessarily the case anymore.

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Pixar Character Designer Talks 'Assassin's Creed', 'BioShock,' And Games As Art

Posted 4/11/08 1:50 pm EST by in Pixar Studios, thq


Wall-EWhile at Pixar last week, I passed on the opportunity to tour the animation studio.

Instead, I spent my time speaking with "Wall-E" character designer Jason Deamer about a wind range of subjects, most them completely unrelated to his work on "Wall-E." Deamer has been at Pixar for 11 years and a gamer since the Atari 2600.

I wanted to know what a filmmaker who's not on the level of Steven Spielberg or Peter Jackson thinks about games. Deamer's answers, including why he couldn't finish "BioShock" and an argument in favor of games as art, surprised me.

Missing out on a tour wasn't a big deal.

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Hands-On: THQ's Refreshingly Fun And Dark 'Deadly Creatures'

Posted 4/7/08 12:00 pm EST by in thq, Wii


Deadly CreaturesThere are few experiences more intense than eating your enemy to regain health. And no, we're not talking about a sequel to "Dead Rising.", but THQ and Rainbow Studios' Wii game Deadly Creatures."

At THQ's Gamer's Day last week, I went hands-on with Rainbow's radically different Wii adventure to spend some quality time as a blood-lusting scorpion.

"Deadly Creatures" is unlike anything I've ever played. The closet comparison, which lead designer Devin Knudsen told me was common, is "Spider" on PS One. In fact, while I roamed as a scorpion during the demo, Knudsen told me other playable creature actually is a spider.

We weren't allowed to play as the spider yet. Not to worry. Snapping the Wiimote forward to stab enemies with my scorpion counterpart's tail was good enough.

But something bugged me during the demo: how did Rainbow convince THQ to give the thumbs up to a drastically new kind of game in an unfamiliar genre?

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How I Got Through Pixar Security

Posted 4/7/08 10:00 am EST by in Pixar Studios, thq, Wall-E


Pixar StudiosWould you jump at the chance to take a tour of Pixar Studios? I did.

But leave your fancy electronics at home, kids. I didn't and got in trouble.

THQ held a media event yesterday for their upcoming "Wall-E" game at the filmmaker's headquarters in Emeryville, California. Getting into the studio was no problem, but that changed as a group of reporters I was with neared a tiny theater tucked away at the end of the lobby.

The presentation theater (of which Pixar has several in-house) was to house a gaggle of mostly foreign gaming press to check out four short clips from the near-finished movie and a first look at THQ's "Wall-E" game.

It took an hour to enter the theater and I wasn't even at the end of the line. So I asked the security guard patting me down why Pixar was so paranoid about some game journalists.

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We've Seen The Future Of THQ

Posted 4/4/08 8:00 pm EST by in thq


THQ"Saints Row 2." "Deadly Creatures." "Red Faction: Guerilla." "de Blob." All titles coming from THQ throughout 2008 -- and we've seen 'em up close and in person.

I spent much of Thursday afternoon and evening immersed in THQ's lineup. The journey took me from the inner halls of Pixar Studios to see bits of "Wall-E" in game and movie form, to just outside downtown San Francisco for their annual Gamer's Day event.

A couple of things I learned, which I'll gladly tell you all about next week:

* How a pen can get you in trouble with Pixar security
* Why "Deadly Creatures" and "de Blob" should be on your radar
* How THQ views PSP development over the next year
* Whether Pixar believes a video game can be art
* Why "Battle of the Bands" is far better than you think

Can you tell that I really liked THQ's Wii lineup? And with that, I leave you with a quote from Jason Deamer", a Pixar character designer working on "Wall-E."

"A filmmaker uses all these tools at his disposal -- sound, plot device, suspense -- all of these things to tell the most evocative story that they can. Likewise, a video game maker uses the things that do crossover -- the sound, the movement, the action -- in the same way to create the most compelling property that they can. It's an art, right?"

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