Turnin' Around: Highlights From THQ's Press Event

Yesterday I visited THQ here in New York City, to check out their upcoming lineup of games for this year's Fall and holiday seasons. Given how heavily the publisher weighs its kid-friendly, casual and Nickelodeon-license titles, I set my expectations low, but after getting a chance to check out a few items of interest, I feel a bit more optimistic.

"In fairness to them, you don't turn around an oil tanker in a day," said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter.

A few titles stood out to me - I'm intrigued to see how Deadly Creatures turns out, as I like the creepy-crawly concept, and I thought Lock's Quest was an unexpected surprise, looking like more of a hardcore title aimed at fans of Japanese-style RTS games. And De Blob put me just enough in mind of Katamari Damacy to pique my interest.

In case you missed it yesterday, check out my posts from the press event:
Hands On With De Blob
Impressions: Lock's Quest
Impressions: Viva Pinata - Pocket Paradise
Impressions: Drawn To Life - SpongeBob Edition
Impressions: Wall-E
Impressions: Deadly Creatures

What do you think, guys? See anything you like?

I didn't know very much about THQ's Wii-exclusive Deadly Creatures until now, but after seeing a fairly early build of the game at the publisher's Fall and holiday preview event today, I'm looking forward to learning more - and tickled gleefully squeamish, too.

THQ's Rainbow Studios, known for the Cars game and the MX vs. ATV series, developed Deadly Creatures as a "labor of love," according to the rep, since the studio's based in Arizona, where its team was inspired by the desert crawlies native to the warm region.

As such, in Deadly Creatures, you can play the action-adventure game either as a venomous scorpion or fabulously gross tarantula, and the different strengths and weaknesses of each animal mean that navigating the game's areas and defeating its bosses, which include a rattlesnake, a gila monster and a horned lizard, among others.

After watching the rep demo it for me, here's what stood out:

Cutest. Robot. Ever. That was the biggest takeaway I got from glimpsing the Wall-E Wii game at THQ's Fall and holiday season preview event today, and as the game is set to launch simultaneously with the movie, I have a feeling that that googly-eyed little guy, whose function is to pick up and compact garbage, will sell zillions of copies of this title whether it's good or not, especially as it's launching on Wii, PS2 and Xbox 360.

Unlike most of the games I saw today, Wall-E's coming out this month, so we'll know for ourselves soon enough, but I still thought I'd share my impressions of the title, along with some screens of the Wii version.

I confess to not having played the original Drawn to Life back when it came out, but I've a pal who's a SpongeBob Squarepants fan, so when I was at THQ's Fall/holiday season preview event in New York City, I had to take a peek.

A rep demoed the DS title for me, and explained the gameplay is similar to the original Drawn to Life - this time, obviously, with a big SpongeBob cartoon theme. It's actually based, she said, on an episode of the TV series where Spongebob accidentally scribbles himself an enemy, "DoodleBob," a drawing come to life.

Like I said, I never played Drawn to Life, but I heard at length from lots of friends and readers that the platforming was nothing to get excited about, so I asked whether they'd taken that feedback and cleaned it up this time.

By now you know Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise is coming to DS, and I couldn't wait to have an early look at it during THQ's Fall/holiday preview event today.

Judging by what I saw, THQ's aiming to take what fans of the original Viva Pinata liked best and put it front-and-center, while also making it portable and by tying it in to the TV series in the hopes of opening frilly neon pinata guts and raining candy down on a whole new audience of fans.

So how's it look?

My Kotaku Tower compatriots have taken THQ's upcoming Wii exclusive De Blob for a paint-spattered spin in the past, but after giving it a try today during the publisher's Fall 08 and holiday preview event, I thought I'd add my own impressions of the single-player mode to the mix.

As we've told you in the past, you play as a pretty cute blob. Squishy blobs are in right now - just think of Independent Games Festival buzz-generators World of Goo and Goo!, to name just a couple. In fact, as Crecente reported last year, De Blob is actually the result of a student project from the 2006 Independent Games Festival.

As such, it retains both the simplicity and attractively colorful, offbeat vibe we often associate with promising indies. What are you a blob of? Color, it looks like, a heroic little splat plunked down in Chroma City, an adorable world that's had all of the hues sapped out of it by the evil I.N.K.T. Corporation.

It's super cute and quirky, but how does it play? Details and screens after the jump.

Impressions: Lock's Quest Mixes Old-School With Innovative Ideas

THQ was here in New York City this week to preview its Fall 2008 and holiday season titles, and to me, one of the most promising titles was Lock's Quest, a DS genre mashup that's a little bit real-time strategy, and a little bit action, due for release sometime this fall.

The first thing that caught my eye when it was shown to me was its old-school vibe: traditional-looking 2D sprites and animation plus anime aesthetic, a little bit of a surprise from a publisher who seems to have hitched its star on family-friendly titles with broader appeal.

So what's cool about Lock's Quest? Hit the jump for impressions and screenshots.

It's Easter Sunday, and all over the country children will be set loose in their backyards, hunting for colorful treats hidden away by mischievous and sometimes sadistic adults. I'm speaking, of course, about Easter eggs, and while here at Kotaku tower we prefer to shop for our Easter treats in bulk after the holiday is over and the prices get slashed, we can still share with our fluffy bunny readers some of the best video game Easter eggs we've come across in our travels. To start us off on our egg hunting adventure, we give you - well...

Adventure - Atari 2600
In the beginning...
In the early days of Atari, programmers weren't given credit for the games they designed for fear of other companies trying to steal them away, but Adventure designer Warren Robinett felt that credit was due. He included a hidden object in the game that lead to a secret room that displayed the words, ""Created by Warren Robinett," which was the first known video game Easter egg. Not exactly the most exciting example, but the first deserves credit.

Robbie Bach says that the continuing success of the Xbox 360 is "another indication of the power of digital technology to transform the way people access and experience entertainment of all kinds."

Bach says that Microsoft sold 17.7 million consoles this season, surpassing their expectations and putting the 360 on track for the biggest year in video game history.

"With its continued momentum in games, accessories and digital entertainment via our leading online service Xbox LIVE, and record-setting games and accessory attach rates, evidence is everywhere that Xbox 360 is thriving," Bach said.

CES press release [Microsoft]

In yet another press release today, Sony announced that they sold over 3.9 million hardware units over the 2007 holiday season. This number of course, is an accumulation of all gaming hardware sold including the PS2, PSP and PS3 in the time from Black Friday, November 23 to December 31. Here's the breakdown:

• PSP: 1.4 Million Units
• PS2: 1.3 Million Units
• PS3: 1.2 Million Units

It's interesting to note that the PS3 sold less units than both the PSP and the PS2. Not only that but the PS2 sold almost as many units as the PSP and is making up a third of Sony's total sales. Not too shabby for a seven year old system.

What Are You Playing This Holiday?

Some of you may have had your long weekends interrupted by work today, so I empathize. Believe me, I do. But with a scheduled holiday going on right now for many of us, we should have the opportunity to play loads of new games during our idle hours. Some of you may have already peaked through the wrapping on your Christmas gifts and know what you'll be playing this holiday and some of you may simply have strong ideas about what's under the tree. Me, I think there's a copy of Final Fantasy III waiting for me, but I can't be sure. Regardless, it promises to be a very nerdy Christmas for me, based on the contents of my wish list.

For those who already have it worked out, let us know in the comments what you'll be playing this holiday.

In a post on the Rock Band Forums, Harmonix Developer hmxsean reaveals that there will be Rock Band DLC next week over the holiday. No announcement what the tracks will be yet, but we do know one thing: PS3 owners will have to wait.

There will be DLC next week. An announcement will go out today or Monday.

Sony's offices are closed next week and the DLC will be postponed for a week until they come back (but they'll be back on schedule the following week when they get a double-dose of DLC awesomeness). It will go up in the Xbox Marketplace as regularly scheduled.

Nothing like waking up the day after Christmas to find yet another gift under your tree, especially one that will keep you rockin' through the new year. If you have the 360 version that is....

A Very Killzone Christmas

Ah CD Projekt RED, we love you, nippley-Christmas card and all. The digital card reads:

On the morrow, once the ale had released its hold on his head, Geralt remembered the bearded old-timer in the red coat and the box with the wolf he had placed in the Witcher's hand...

Later, it was said the old man came from the north.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year spent in the world of The Witcher.

CD Projekt RED

I was stepping into the mini-van this afternoon, bound for Kansas on the way to Georgia, when the FedEx guy stopped by and handed me this nifty Patapon card. As if the nifty tribe celebration wasn't enough to put a smile on my face, inside the signed card was a demo of the game, due out in March. I know what I'll be doing during the trip.

I know a lot of you read my story last week about the Big Texan Steak Ranch waitress in Amarillo, Texas who wanted a Wii for her son so I just wanted to give you all an update on what is happening with it. A terrific guy named Scott Rays stepped forward and donated a brand new Wii and as I write this I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival so I can wrap it and send it down. After being sure I had acquired the Wii I started a round of phone calls to my contacts at the various publishers to see if I could track down some games. EA, Namco/Bandai, Capcom and a few others who have requested to remain anonymous have all donated some games so this lucky guy and his mom should have a lot to open on Christmas morning.

To everyone who wrote in with offers of systems and games, etc: I received so many responses that it would have been impossible to write everyone back personally, so I'll take this opportunity to tell everyone thank you. Due to the huge response they will be well taken care of on the games front. But if you still want to help out this holiday (or any time for that matter), please consider donating to Child's Play or another of the many well deserving charities out there.

I spoke with Rachel (the waitress) personally this morning and she wanted me to thank everyone for all their kindness and well wishes. She said she will be sending some pictures from Christmas morning that I will be sure to post as soon as I get them.

Happy Holidays, all!

Not all of the holiday cards we receive here at Kotaku Tower come via our grumpy mailman. Some pop right up inside our email's mailbox. Take, for example, this touching card from Lionhead Studios, featuring Fable 2's boy and his dog.

Nice picture, but more interesting is the note included:

Hi Kotaku,

Season's Greetings from all at Lionhead Studios! We wish you all the very merry Christmas and the best wishes for 2008, which will be a very busy gaming year (with Fable 2 and our other game...)

Best wishes,
Lionhead Studios

Other game? I can't seem to find any clues on the card...