Newsbriefs: Wario Wins ToyAward, Burger King Games Raise Profits, THQ Predictions

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 3:53pm PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include Nintendo's Wii and Wario Ware: Smooth Moves taking home a ToyAwards prize, EA sponsoring the 2007 Women In Games International conference, and Blitz's King-starring Xbox games driving Burger King profits up 40 percent. - Nürnberg's International Toy Fair has announced the winners of its annual ToyAwards, giving Nintendo's Wii and microgame collection Wario Ware: Smooth Moves the top award in the 'trend and lifestyle' category. Says the committee on the selection, "The jury chose the product because the play concept of Wii tends to encourage playing PC games in groups instead of alone. In addition, the product not only appeals to player types with an affinity to PCs, but also to new age groups – a real lifestyle theme. The innovative controller – for more fun and movement – and [Wario Ware: Smooth Moves] represents a return to the more classic games in the game console segment." - The latest quarterly earnings report from Burger King has indicated that the fast food chain saw a 40 percent rise in profits to $38 million, from $27 million the year prior, and quarterly sales at $559 million. The chain said its better-than-expected profit rise was due not only to a new 'value menu' selection, but its recent Xbox/Xbox 360 promotional campaign. According to Burger King officials, the campaign, which saw three Blitz-developed games starring the company's infamous 'King' character on sale for $3.99 at all of the franchise outlets, sold more than 3.2 million copies in total. - Major publisher Electronic Arts has announced that the company will be a platinum sponsor of the March 6th 2007 Women In Games International conference, hosted at the publisher's own headquarters in Redwood Shores, California. The conference theme for 2007 is “From Production to Profit: Creating and Marketing Games for Women” and will feature an opening keynote from Maxis/EA VP and head of production and development Lucy Bradshaw (Sims, Spore) entitled, “The Secrets of The Sims Success”. Attendance for the conference is $45 for general attendees, $35 for WIGI members and $30 for students with I.D., and those interested in attending can visit www.womeningamesinternational.org for registration information. - Ahead of Friday's official earnings report from publisher THQ, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter has predicted results will be in line with the company's previously announced strong earnings. In January, the company raised Q3 guidance to revenues of $475 million, compared to prior guidance of $400-425 million on stronger than expected sales of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, Cars, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Wedbush Morgan expects revenue of $1 billion for fiscal 2007, and, the group says, "With THQ close to resolving its options investigation and the strength in the company’s business providing it with sales momentum, we are more confident than ever about the company’s prospects for FY:08." - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister alt.gaming weblog GameSetWatch include a look at From Software's line of Another Century Episode mech games, an overview of the winners of the Becherovka Games 2006 indie PC game competition, and an interview with Gordon Rennie covering, among other things, writing for video games. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Serious Games Source include an educational serious game project in development by Scotland's University of Abertay Dundee. - The latest updates from Gamasutra sister website Game Career Guide include a feature covering a psychoanalysis of Resident Evil and Silent Hill. - Also updated today: the latest Gamasutra job postings, including openings from Crystal Dynamics, Heavy Iron Studios, Paradigm Entertainment, Pine Technical College , Sierra Online, Specialmove Recruitment, THQ, and Virtual Toys.