Hasbro has cashed in on its marquee brands in recent years, breathing new life into decades-old toy franchises like Transformers and G.I. Joe through movie releases and updated product lines. Now, larger toy maker Mattel looks like it wants to follow in Hasbro's footsteps.
Even as investors reel from the stock-market roller coaster this week, Wall Street is moving on, with plenty of news on the way. Next week will bring headlines about retail and gaming earnings, as well as quarterly reports from News Corp., SodaStream and some newly public Chinese firms.
Summer vacation has hardly begun, and the chorus of "buy me, buy me" is already at full volume in homes across the country. And parents can only say no to so many of those requests. So which companies are gong to benefit from the school break? DailyFinance has a few ideas.
Electronic Arts says its fiscal third-quarter net loss widened as revenue fell, but adjusted results surpassed Wall Street's expectations -- and an optimistic outlook and stock buyback plan helped push its shares higher.
Activision Blizzard has added video-game competitor Electronic Arts to its $400 million countersuit against two former executives of "Call of Duty" creator Infinity Ward, claiming that EA tried to lure the executives away while they were still under contract with Activision.
U.S. gamers spent about the same amount of money on video games last year as they did in 2009, even as sales of consoles and other hardware took a plunge. Purchases of physical game discs slid 5%, in spite of the record-breaking success of "Call of Duty: Black Ops," but downloadable and social-network games made up the difference.
How long can Nintendo Wii maintain its position as the reigning video-game console? Microsoft shipped an astronomical 8 million Kinect game systems in the past two months, undermining Wii's leadership -- already weakened by competition from the Xbox and PlayStation 3.
Video-game publisher THQ, who makes the popular uDraw tablet and fighting game UFC, has signed a deal with Mattel to bring Barbie, Hot Wheels and other brands to gaming consoles. Can it help give the gaming company -- whose stock has soared 47% in less than two months -- increase its revenue?
Activision Blizzard's "Call of Duty: Black Ops" video game has raked in more than $1 billion in sales since its Nov. 9 release, making it the fastest-selling video game in history -- and one of the fastest-selling entertainment products of all time.
It has been a tumultuous year for Barnes & Noble, the country's largest bookseller, and its quarterly earnings report reflects that. Total sales for the quarter were $1.9 billion, a bit less of a gain than analysts had predicted, while earnings were a net loss of $12.6 million, also worse than expected.
Videogame publisher Activision Blizzard said its "Call of Duty: Black Ops" has had the most successful entertainment debut ever, generating more than $650 million in global sales in five days.
Stores sold 4% less video-game equipment -- including hardware, software and accessories -- in October compared to a year ago, according to research firm NPD Group. While players are spending more on the games themselves, they aren't shelling out for new consoles: Sales of those systems declined significantly.
Barnes & Noble is hoping to boost holiday sales by testing new toy sections, following the "store-within-a-store" model, in five of its locations.
Stores opened late last night as the eagerly anticipated Halo: Reach video game went on sale in the U.S. and 24 other nations.
StarCraft II, the sequel to one of the most popular PC games of all time, has been a dozen years in the making. But the wait has paid off. Game maker Blizzard Entertainment says it sold 1.5 million copies in the first 48 hours after launch.
Video-game console makers see motion-sensing technology -- playing Madden NFL 11 by running around your living room -- as salvation. Sorry, guys: Games on smartphones, social networks and in the cloud are going to eat your lunch.
Nintendo has debuted its much-anticipated 3-D handheld gaming device, 3DS, and has unveiled a list of games to play on it -- along with an ecosystem of games publishers developing more.
If you live outside Japan and are familiar with the television series Naruto Shippuden and Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee, then you are, no doubt, also familiar with Crunchyroll, an online video service that provides full length episodes and movies of Japanese anime. The site is quickly signing up viewers all over the English speaking world.
Electronic Arts' Web version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour launches the same week the tainted superstar returns to the links for the Masters Tournament. So far, the beta version has attracted a new generation of gamers: the over-40 crowd.
The fastest-growing category in games today is social gaming. Since its start three years ago, the industry is on track to generate over $2 billion by 2012, according to research by ThinkEquity Partners. And yes, VCs are investing aggressively, and the M&A action is heating up.
