THQ is going to offer up a downloadable Red Faction game soon, and I’m almost certainly going to buy it. It’s a strategy THQ is looking to use across a few of its key franchises: getting their games on people’s minds before the full retail release.
While Red Faction: Armageddon doesn’t launch until March 2011, this downloadable episode (or whatever you want to call it) will launch “three to four months before Armageddon,” THQ VP of core games Danny Bilson said.
For Red Faction, it’s actually being positioned to bring hype for both Armageddon and the upcoming SyFy TV show.
As expected, it’ll hit XBLA and PSN and serve as a bridge between Guerrilla and Armageddon.
While THQ didn’t list off all of the games that would use this strategy, they did name drop Saints Row – no surprise there.
Totally (sort of) unrelated, THQ is wrecking shit these days. They’ve been releasing consistently solid titles over the past couple years and the good games don’t look to be slowing down. It wasn’t but maybe four years ago that I saw them as one of the more pathetic third party publishers.
Times have certainly changed as I now eagerly await a bevyof THQ titles.
Posted by Justin on February 4th, 2010 | 1 comment
THQ had some big announcements yesterday in an earnings report with loads of new titles that should be of high quality – odd saying that about THQ, but they’ve upped their game in recent years.
I’m going to call ‘em out for frowning on those Darksiders numbers if they’re truly disappointed, apparently THQ has shipped around 1.2 million copies of the game already. That’s an impressive number for a new IP, and nothing to be ashamed of.
Judging from reviews, the success is well deserved, too. I’ll have to pick it up one day or another.
THQ announced numerous upcoming titles during the report, and while reports seem a little conflicting, I’ve tried to piece it together. Launching in fiscal year 2011, which actually starts this March, Homefront and a new Red Faction are scheduled for release. READ MORE
Posted by Justin on February 3rd, 2010 | 0 comments
Darksiders may have lived up to expectations over at Metacritic, but it seems THQ is a little bummed about sales of the title. After dumping loads of money into development and advertisements, it looks to have come up a little short.
“[Darksiders] didn’t perform up to THQ’s expectations,” Signal Hill Capital’s Todd Greenwald said, “likely selling less than 1 million units despite heavy marketing dollars [and] 2-3 years of development costs.”
It’s hard to accurately assess this quote and THQ’s disappointment without knowing actual figures. Is “less than 1 million” actually significantly less, or did it hit just shy of the mark?
It’s not easy selling a new IP, much less one that launches just after a plethora of heavy-hitting holiday titles and just before Mass Effect 2 and BioShock 2. What were the expectations here?
When January’s NPD numbers hit, I’ll be keeping a close eye out for Darksiders. If it manages to crack the top 10, or at the very least comes close, it’ll be hard for me to not look at this as overreacting on THQ’s part.
Posted by Justin on December 17th, 2009 | 0 comments
I simply won’t have the time or the money to enjoy all the games I want to as we head into the next year. Who knows, maybe things will start to clear up beyond January, February and March, but it’s hard to look past months filled with BioShock, Mass Effect, Bayonetta, No More Heroes and God of War.
It’s unfortunate because Darksiders is fast working its way up my list of most anticipated titles, but it’s cursed with an early 2010 launch.
Darksiders looks like a really solid action game (of many in 2010, it seems) with a unique look. I’ve been covering Darksiders a lot lately, so I suppose THQ is doing a decent enough getting word out on the game (I am the mecha of gaming news coverage, after all). I only fear that its January 8 launch date will leave it gathering dust on store shelves while gamers are busy playing catch-up for 2009, eventually transitioning into 2010 when Mass Effect 2 hits.
Posted by Justin on December 4th, 2009 | 0 comments
I feel like every time I mention my excitement for Darksiders, I feel the need to mention a warning I got at E3: it really wasn’t all that good at the show. I didn’t get around to playing it though, so I’ve yet to form a valid opinion for myself.
So until that day comes, I’ll continue to hope it’s a quality product and that maybe it just wasn’t Michael’s cup of tea. That, or the demo was just rough.
A new trailer is up showing some of the hellish hordes you’ll be fighting against. I really dig the art, the Warhammer background Vigil Games has really comes through in the world.
THQ is on a roll lately. In one year they put out a quality UFC fighter, Dawn of War II, and my ultimate surprise hit of 2009, Red Faction: Guerrilla. Let’s hope they’re getting behind another great game with Darksiders.
Posted by Justin on November 20th, 2009 | 0 comments
So it’s Darksiders and not Darkstriders? Learn something new every day.
Back at E3, former poster Michael told me Darksiders was nothing to write home about after playing the demo.
Even taking that into consideration, I can’t help but be intrigued by THQ’s upcoming brawling adventure hybrid. The color palette is a bit brighter and there’s almost a touch of Warcraft’s cartoony graphics in it, though it’s still a little darker. It makes for a pleasing aesthetic.
A new trailer is out and while it looks a little rough around the edges, it’s at least looking like a good rental. We’ll see early next year.
Posted by Justin on August 25th, 2009 | 0 comments
I’ve been Red Faction: Guerrilla free for about a week or so thanks to other distractions, but I might get sucked back in soon enough. I stress the word might because it hits Sept. 17, which is only a few days before Halo 3: ODST launches. For as cool as the pack will be, I’m not sure if I can justify dropping the 560 points for something I might play for less than a week.
Regardless, the pack looks great.
It comes with eight new maps and two new modes, one of which is called Bagman and is highlighted thoroughly in the trailer above.
Worth noting, though the video says Sept. 10, Joystiq has been informed that – as mentioned above – the pack won’t hit until Sept. 17.
Posted by Justin on August 13th, 2009 | 2 comments
If you were wondering, yes, I’m still playing Red Faction: Guerrilla on an almost nightly basis. I’m currently being mocked by my fellow 360 players after announcing my retirement from the game, only to hop right back on the next day.
Here’s the thing, it’s just a damn good game and I’m addicted to the multiplayer. If you’ve only ever slogged through the campaign, you’re truly missing out by not going online with it.
I tried to score one of those bad ass hammers THQ gave out not too long ago, but my Haiku just wasn’t enough to win the top prize. READ MORE
THQ has been hurting for a while now, but with the release of UFC: Undisputed the company killed. In their June quarter results, the company shipped out 2.9 million units worldwide and I can assure you the game isn’t done yet.
More important to me, however, is that the company also cites Red Faction: Guerrilla as a hit. THQ has shipped one million units of Volition’s sandbox game, an impressive feat given the relatively small amount of hype the game had going into launch.
I’m sure the guys at Volition are extremely happy about the report, and honestly, I am, too. On Live, we’re still playing Guerrilla and with great sales I’m confident we won’t be waiting too long before seeing a sequel.
Posted by Justin on February 21st, 2009 | 1 comment
Posted by: Justin Sanchez
Wrestling is so fake, cheesy and stupid that I could never watch it today. Like every growing boy, I did go through my phase of enjoying said rubbish, but those days are long gone – more power to you if you like it, but it’s just not my thing.
That being said, wrestling games can be awesome when pulled off right. Unfortunately, that seems to have ended with the N64 days. The last wrestling game I truly enjoyed playing was WCW vs. NWO Revenge. We spent countless hours beating the hell out of each other in 4-player rumbles in matches that were hilariously awesome. So despite my lack of giving a damn about “real” wrestling, wrestling games are an entirely different matter.
