Late Night Consoling

Publishers THQ and Majesco (stock symbol: COOL) have announced today an agreement by which THQ will distribute Majesco-published games in PAL territories. All countries which use the PAL standard are affected by the contract, including those in Europe and Australasia. The terms of the agreement cover 14 Majesco games, including Double Fine's Psychonauts and Shin'en's DS shooter Nanostray. Upcoming Majesco games are also affected, such as Black & White Creatures, Aeon Flux, and Jaws Unleashed.

The deal might be just what Majesco needs, after disappointing sales of titles like Advent Rising and the critically acclaimed Psychonauts led to dismal revenues and a resigning CEO. Traditionally, adventure games and their descendents (such as Psychonauts) sell better in Europe than in the United States.

In other THQ news, the publisher has appointed Kelly Flock as executive vice president of worldwide publishing. Flock is a veteran of such companies as Sony Online Entertainment, 989 Studios, Sony Interactive Studios America, and LucasArts.

Electronic Arts has announced that their recently-released Madden NFL 06 has sold more copies in its first week of sales than any Madden game yet, with a claimed sell-through of 1.7 million copies. "Gamers were demanding the best Madden NFL Football ever this year and the response at retail indicates that we delivered the game that everyone wanted," noted EA's Todd Sitrin. Claims linking the game's overwhelming success to any kind of exclusive license have been dismissed as nonsense.

After losing its developer and then getting a new one, State of Emergency 2 has gotten a new publisher as well. DC Studios picked up development rights for the title after original developer VIS Entertainment filed for bankrupcy in April of this year. Now publisher Playlogic Entertainment has picked up the rights to publish the PS2 version of the game. The game was originally set for a Fall release, but Playlogic has only committed to shipping the game some time in 2005.

Gaming retail giant GameStop announced earnings today for its second fiscal quarter ending July 30. The company saw a $70M increase in sales over last year's second quarter sales of $346M for a 20% gain. This also brought net profits for the company up 3% to $7.9M in that quarter.

Progress also continues on the GameStop/Electronics Boutique merger, with both parties answering SEC questions. They expect the deal to complete this September or October.

Following up on the announcement of Game Boy Micro's North American release date and price, Nintendo has revealed the details for the system's launch in Japan and Europe as well. The Japanese Micro will go on sale for 12,000 yen (~$109) on September 13, corresponding with the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. The system will also launch in a total of five different color choices in Japan, including a Famicom-themed scheme. In Europe, the system will launch for 99 Euro on November 4.

The article also confirms some details about the system. It will not play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, only GBA titles. It also uses a different peripheral port than other GBA systems, making it incompatible with the eReader (nooooooooo!) but more notably requiring an adapter to allow the device to connect to older GBAs using the old cables. Nintendo will be selling that adapter, as well as a wireless adapter and a connection cable specific to Micro.

Coinciding with Nintendo's announcement of Game Boy Micro's availability, Sony has announced that their ceramic white PSP is now available for pre-order. It has only been announced in Japan, however, with no mention of a release in the U.S. or Europe. Despite previous legal action by Sony, online importer Lik-Sang has put the white PSP up for preorder on their website for $279.90. Lik-Sang claims the device will be available September 15.

IGN reports that the PS3 was nowhere to be seen at Leipzig's Games Convention, with Sony instead focusing on upcoming PS2 titles and the PSP. The sole mention of PS3 came in the form of a slide showing the console and the words "See You Next Year..."

In the wake of the 360 price details, IGN examines console launch prices over the years and adjusts them in 2005 terms (although they don't really address that the farther back in time you go, the rarer and newer video game technology becomes).

1UP has a video interview with Christian Busic of Treyarch, currently working on Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (PS2, Xbox).