There is no rest for the wicked, and so here we are once more with another QuickPeek for all your QJ news and updates wrapped up tight and pretty in Issue #63. More exciting gaming news are here, and more statements - both controversial and reassuring alike - have we heard from the who's who. We also delved into our own little Who's Who in Homebrew for our QJ QuickGuide, as well as some What's What in the legal territory that's ever-broaching on homebrew.

Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey will probably forever be known to gamers as the guy who said Sony would rip Blu-ray out of the PS3 in order to cut down its price tag. I still don't think that's gonna happen, and so does Sony, apparently. Speaking to Business Insider, Sony execs answered a few questions about the PS3 as well as the PSP, not least of which is the matter of the non-Blu-ray PS3.

If you've been keeping up with Electronic Arts' efforts to buy out Take-Two Interactive, then we've got an interesting bit of behind-the-scenes news for you. It seems that EA's own John Riccitiello views the takeover bid as an offered helping hand to the publisher, and this in itself is not going good with quite a few of this industry's leading analysts. Check out all the details in the full article and see what you think about this little hubbub.

In a previous report, we released information that Electronic Arts' made a hardware sales projection for the year 2008. As a reponse to what the company did, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey posted his own projections regarding this matter.

He said that EA's numbers were a bit conservative and that the PS3 will have a strong performance this year. Details of his analysis in the full article.

Analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan, popular for making infamous (and oft accurate, like the PS3 price cut) predictions, may be making another one by predicting that game developer studio THQ will have a significantly lower performance than was first predicted.

THQ, who owns Company of Heroes and Supreme Commander and the upcoming games Saints Row 2 (PS3, 360) and MX vs. ATV Unleashed (Xbox 360, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS), was once given a forecast of US$ 244 million for this quarter and US$ 1.15 billion for the fiscal year. Pachter lowered these estimates to US$ 225 million for the quarter and US$ 1.09 for the year.

The lowered estimates are due to the underperformance of THQ's games Stuntman: Ignition (PS2, PS3, 360) and Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, PC, DS), and also their video game adaptation for Pixar's Ratatouille. Their earlier Pixar video game Cars performed very well in the market but Ratatouille failed to to live up to the success.

THQ once claimed that fees for making video games of owned intellectual properties (like Ratatouille) would be compensated with sales of the game. However, Mike Hickey of Janco has questioned this claim. He believes their line-up is overshadowed by the success of more popular games like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 and Bioshock.

Furthermore, Hickey believes that THQ's casual games market will also be overshadowed by other more popular releases. He backs this up by saying that no THQ titles show up in the 50 top selling Wii games in Amazon. He concludes by saying it'll take "several more years of next-gen (that is, PS3 and Xbox 360 games) installed base maturity" before the line-up of casual games can get "meaningful traction."

 

Things are looking brighter for Take-Two Interactive, as more analysts put trust in the company and believe investors could have their money well placed if they take part in the success Bioshock, Manhunt 2, and Grand Theft Auto IV promise. The first game mentioned already saw its release, but Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey foresees more for the title.

According to the latest research note by Hickey, Take-Two's "management turnaround plan" should boost share value, and upcoming Manhunt 2 will contribute a lot in bringing the dough. For Bioshock, well, he thinks the publishers can take the surprise hit to the PS3, PS2, Wii, and handhelds as the company reaches its 2009 fiscal year.

As for Mafia 2, the next big thing from Take-Two on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC which Hickey expects to experience platinum sales, the analyst suggested, "Additional capital could be used to insure liquidity for working capital needs, fuel potential studio acquisitions, and fund future development projects."

All signs lead to more investors and greenbacks for Take-Two, but our eyes are on Bioshock. Not only is it a Microsoft exclusive, but also a graphical marvel made possible by 360's power. Looks like time will tell how it'll fare on other platforms, or if we're talking spin-offs here.

Buy: [Bioshock (Games for Windows)]
Buy: [Bioshock (Xbox 360)]