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'Saints Row: Money Shot' rated, alleged screens posted
Over the weekend, a rating for something under the super classy title "Saints Row: Money Shot" appeared on the Australian Ratings Board database. All we know officially is that it's developed by THQ Digital Phoenix and earned an MA15 rating. Unofficially, however, we have some screenshots posted by MSXboxWorld, which look to us like grabs from a video. The screens reveal what looks like a Saints Row-themed light gun game or rail shooter. Achievements also posted on the site, worth 200 points, suggest that this is an XBLA game (or Saints Row: The Third DLC). There's even a description of the premise: "You are Cypher, a deadly assassin in the world of Saints Row, and you hunt the most elusive targets with the most sophisticated weaponry that Ultor has to offer." You can apparently control the movement of each bullet to weave its way to the intended target. Officially, the planned Saints Row XBLA/PSN/3DS game, Saints Row: Drive By, was cancelled. But, to engage in a bit of conjecture for a moment, the concept and appearance of this game seem tailor-made for 3D. Could the project have been resurrected? Or is this all just media for a cancelled game, with the Australian rating a vestige of its former development?
MX vs. ATV dubbed a noble, though not successful, experiment
In trying to reinvent itself, THQ has tried some interesting things; unfortunately, many of these experiments haven't been successful. Take, for example, MX vs. ATV Alive, the publisher's budget-priced take on the motocross mainstay. "We were trying to take some of our learnings from the free-to-play market and see if we could apply them to the console world," CEO Brian Farrell explained to investors on an earning's call today. "The idea was [...] to come out with a robust product at a $39.99 price point, build a larger install base more quickly, and then monetize that install base through rapid and large-number of DLC drops." The only problem is ... the game didn't move enough units to, in turn, move enough DLC to make the experiment a success. "The key learning there was that it was not a successful experiment," Farrell admitted. "The $39.99 price point, while good – it gave us good acceleration of sales – just wasn't enough to drive the install base to where we wanted it to be. Obviously the correlary to that, is that on a lower install base, the amount of DLC sales are not what we anticipated." Farrell blamed the "high fixed cost of goods in the current console market" for preventing the publisher from hitting a low enough price to drive meaningful DLC sales. The CEO concludes, calling the game a "noble experiment" that he thinks will have "a long shelf life at $39.99."
Pictionary and Dood's Big Adventure coming to uDraw on Wii
Rather than a once-off gimmick, THQ's trying to make the launch of its uDraw Wii drawing peripheral seem almost like a miniature console launch. Those who grab the tablet this holiday will also have the option of picking up launch games Pictionary and Dood's Big Adventure. In the latter, you'll play through 60 levels as a "Dood" of your own creation in "a world where coloring books come to life." There seems to be a definite Drawn to Life influence (also published by THQ!), with players creating much of said world with their own doodles. In Pictionary, you'll lead a team of space soldiers as they venture to the barren, post-apocalyptic planet of Pictionaria where a wayward prison transport has just crash landed. Sgt. John Hawk and his crew are ready to recapture the vicious convicts, but are they prepared for the bug-like but also robot-like Insectagons that would die to protect their home world? ... No, no, it's Pictionary. %Gallery-99638% %Gallery-99639%
