Well no wonder you've got layoffs in the industry recently - not to mention the shutting down of certain studios and whatnot. According to research conducted by EEDAR, only 4% of the total games out in the market ever make a profit - all other 96% just either break even or lose money. Yeouch.

Microsoft has announced that Xbox Live Primetime will not make it with the launch of the New Xbox Experience. Can't say I'm disappointed though, since they only had one game lined up for it. And 1 vs 100 isn't exactly what I'd call hype material.

Sega may not be the console manufacturing giant that it was in the early to mid-90's, but it's pretty happy where it's at right now. The publisher says it's in a good position to succeed and it's looking at companies like THQ to compete with. The game maker, however, said that it doesn't aim to compete with industry giants just yet. More in the full article.

It looks like there's more bad news from the company that can't seem to acquire Take-Two. Electronic Arts is expected to report US$ 111 million in losses at 33 cents per share. This report is for the quarter which ended on June 30. Find out more after the jump!

We haven't run out of Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) reports as of late (with recent freezing problems and banning in other countries). This only goes to show that as far as popularity goes, GTA IV is on top of the list. But business publication Forbes wants to know if this hype will be enough to give the Nintendo Wii a run for its money. More at the full article.

In this day and age, it would seem that the boundaries of traditional gender roles are blurring, even with regard to electronic gaming. Forbes, for example, has recently picked up on what appears to be a surge of female interest in the casual game market.

If this sounds interesting to you, feel free to turn to the full article after the jump for more on gender-related gaming.

Atari just received a warning from NASDAQ stating it may be delisted for low stock market value. Even after patching things up with FUNimation, it seems the video game company is in the red once more. Find the details at the full article.

 

A new Forbes report informs us that Namco Bandai Holdings' net profit for the fiscal year (ended March 31) climbed by 71 percent.

This was due to brisk sales of DVDs and game software. The company however predicts slower earnings this year because of the lower-than-expected sales of games for Sony's PlayStation 3. Bandai President Takeo Takasu notes:

PS3 did not make a good start, which will make the transition from the old game console to the next generation system more prolonged than we had earlier thought.

...This will keep a lid on sales of our video games in the first half, although we believe that sales of PS3 will increase in the second half (to March 2008)

Namco bandai says that it has only sold 300,000 copies of Gundam Musou, far lower than their expected 500,000 copies. It is reported that because of this Namco Bandai plans to release only 23 titles (still a lot if you ask other folks) for the PS3 this fiscal year, compared to the 24 titles for Microsoft's Xbox 360, and the 37 titles for Nintendo's Wii.

Forbes' little profile on Capcom's marketing-boy Mark Beaumont reveals the strategy behind how the critically-acclaimed Lost Planet: Extreme Condition sold that many copies. It's a strategy that should be familiar to gamers by now, but one which Capcom was late getting into, one which also points to the future (or the now) of video game promotion.

According to Forbes, before Beaumont came along, Capcom was still promoting like it's 1995: buy random TV spots, print ads in game mags, that sort of thing. The old-fashioned way.

Mark changed that for Lost Planet, looking towards the twin pillars of first tastes through demos and community networking. You already know the demos. For community, he got Capcom to start a contest for user-created Lost Planet fansites, and along with the demos, jumpstarting word-of-mouth chain reactions. Only with this foundation built did Beaumont bring out the heavy guns: theatrical trailers, TV spots, the whole nine yards of pre-dot-com marketing.

Hey, it worked, didn't it? Bungie's also been doing the same thing for Halo (from I Love Bees to Who Wants To Be A Halo 3 Beta Tester?).

But as Beamont's story pops up in an important business magazine read by guys in gray suits that head major publishers - not to mention Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo - this may help reinforce the trends we've been seeing in the industry. More demos. More interaction with the community. More and more will come to us gamers to promote their material.

At least that's our take on it. But hey, we wouldn't mind an avalanche of good demos. That's one good Moral of the Story we'd all appreciate, right?

Heads up everyone, as a dark and unholy alliance has been forged between Sega Sammy and Sanrio, as announced on Forbes this Christmas day.

In any case, we are still trying to wrap our minds around the fact that Sammy, who is known for the versus game series Guilty Gear, and Sanrio who has spawned the evil that is Hello Kitty, will be teaming up content-wise. According to the report, the companies will be sitting down to "discuss jointly developing new products based on their stable of characters, as well as examining new joint services and online businesses, among others".

Uh-oh. Does this mean that the next Guilty Gear installment will have Bridget walking around with a Kero Keroppi plush toy while Eddie turns... gulp... pink?