The Last Word: October 23-27

Plenty of gaming news hit the wires this week, most notably the ever-so-sexy world of corporate finances. Five major publishers reported revenues, and it was a bit of a grab bag in terms of results.

In the "Oh my, we're rich!" category, Nintendo posted a $456.6 million profit for the first half of its fiscal year, which ended on September 30. Sales of the DS and DS software kickstarted the numbers, which were up 48 percent over the same period the previous year.

Ubisoft followed in the "Now I can afford those rims" category with a more modest 13 percent increase in profits for the six months through September. Sales of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter were singled out as a major contributor to the company's six-month success, and the game's downloadable map packs also proved profitable, bringing in $3.8 million.

Activision took the "Ramen time" slot, seeing a 15-percent decline in sales for the three-month period ended September 30 versus the same period the previous year. However, the $188.2 million in revenue beat the company's earlier prediction of $130 million, boosting stock prices.

In the "We're rich and we don't care" category, the Entertainment and Devices division of Microsoft took a $96 million hit for the first quarter of its fiscal year, which covers the three-month period from July through September. However, sales of the Xbox 360 helped cut the division's losses by almost half as compared to the same period in the previous year--in 2005, the E&D division lost $173 million. Overall, Microsoft as a whole took in $10.81 billion during the period.

Sony held up the rear in the "How much can I get for this kidney?" category. Delays of the PlayStation 3 and a costly recall of laptop batteries led to a 94 percent plunge in profits compared to the same time the previous year, going from 2005's $240.8 million to 2006's $14.36 million. Sony's gaming division lost $367.5 million for the quarter, mostly blamed on declining sales of PlayStation 2 and PSP hardware and software. Things look to go up from here though, as November's launch of the PlayStation 3 nears.

Sony may have lost a chunk of change, but at least its doors are still open. The electronics giant lobbied to make the sale of exported Sony game consoles to Europe illegal, and it worked. Just a day after Sony said it would pursue its endeavor, Hong-Kong-based game exporter Lik-Sang shut down, citing insurmountable legal costs as the reason for closing.

Enough numbers and business talk already! Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 was in the works, and would replace both Assassin's Creed and Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway as its marquee title early next year--the two latter games were delayed for an unspecified amount of time. Taking a cue from Ubi's Tom Clancy-branded success, Bethesda Softworks is making its own military shooter based on the works of author Richard Marcinko. The game is titled Rogue Warrior and will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in fall 2007.

Millions of online gamers were given a new lease on life, when Blizzard Entertainment announced that The Burning Crusade expansion to oh-so-addicting World of Warcraft would be delayed to January 2007. The game was originally slated for a November release, but Blizzard will use the extra time to fine tune the add-on.

Anti-gamer Jack Thompson was in the headlines again this week, doing his thing. Take-Two Interactive lawyers asked that Thompson be held in contempt of court for his fiery words aimed at Judge Ronald Friedman. Currently, no charges have been filed. Thompson also took another shot at Bully, the latest game from Take-Two subsidiary Rockstar Games. In the game, male protagonist Jimmy Hopkins can smooch another male student, which prompted Thompson to spew in an e-mail to ESRB president Patricia Vance, "Dear Ms. Vance, we just found gay sexual content in Bully, as Jimmy Hopkins makes out with another male student. Good luck with your 'Teen' rating now, Patty."

And last but not least, Toys "R" Us detailed its Wii preorder system, and if you are reading this on Monday or after, you're too late. Preorders, which require $50 down, begin at all retail locations on Sunday, October 29 when stores' doors open.