GameStop’s Q3 results buoyed by hit game sales

While other companies are screaming that the sky is falling, retailer GameStop said Thursday that sales of hot game titles helped boost its third-quarter profits by nearly 12 percent and offset a sales decline for video game hardware in the quarter. These profits just barely helped the company beat Wall Street expectations. Excluding costs, GameStop’s operating profit of 32 cents per share beat a forecast of 30 cents per share.

Net earnings for the quarter that ended on Oct. 13 were $52.2 million - 31 cents per share, up from a profit of $46.7 million - 28 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Sales in the quarter climbed 8.2 percent to $1.83 billion; analysts estimated $1.73 billion. A year ago the company raked in $1.7 billion.

Sales of new software rose 9.4 percent, and sales of used products jumped 19 percent. These gains helped offset a decline in sales of new video game hardware. But sales at stores open at least a year, which is considered a measure of a retailer’s financial health — fell 7.8 percent. That’s in line with forecast the company offered last week - a decline of 6 - 11 percent.

So what games pulled GameStop’s fanny out of the fire this quarter? According to the company, Madden NFL 10, Halo 3: ODST, Batman: Arkham Asylum, NBA 2K10 and Nintendo’s Wii Sports Resort. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide in its first 72 hours of release as well.

For the fourth quarter, GameStop expects a profit of $1.47 - $1.65 per share; analysts forecast Q4 profits at $1.57.

Gillette, EA SPORTS team up for Champions of Gaming

Gillette and EA SPORTS have teamed up for the Second Annual Gillette - EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Tournament on Xbox 360, a multi-sport online gaming competition that pits gamers from around the globe against each other, and the winners against some of the biggest names in the world of sports, including Gillette Champion Tiger Woods.

Last year the tournament saw more than 350,000 gamers participate last year, and EA Sports expects the same turn out for this year’s event. The Tournament begins on November 18 and runs through February 14, 2010. Xbox 360 owners will be able to compete against others on Xbox LIVE within their geographical region on several EA SPORTS titles including - Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10, EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer 10, Madden NFL 10, NHL 10 and Fight Night Round 4.

Winners who climb to the top of their region on each title will have the chance to be crowned a Gillette - EA SPORTS Champion of Gaming at the Final Event in March 2010. At the Tournament Finals, Gillette Champion Tiger Woods, as well as other sports superstars, are scheduled to take on one of the five Gillette - EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming participants in an EA SPORTS title.

To compete in the Gillette - EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Tournament, gamers must have valid e-mail address, access to a Microsoft Xbox 360, the EA SPORTS video game in which the player is competing, a valid EA SPORTS account in good standing, a valid Xbox LIVE Gold Member account and a valid Windows Live ID with their Xbox LIVE Gamertag linked.

For more information on the event, check out www.gillette.com/easports2010.

Modern Warfare 2 Tops GameFly’s Most Wanted

Video game rental service GameFly has released its annual list of “Most Wanted” games ahead of the holiday shopping season. Of the top 10 titles featured on the across all platforms list, seven have seen brisk retail sales and significant rental activity for GameFly. They include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Halo 3: ODST, Borderlands, Dragon Age: Origins, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Madden NFL 10. Here are the top ten most wanted games according to GameFly subscribers:

1) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - XBOX 360, PS3

2) Batman: Arkham Asylum - XBOX 360, PS3

3) Assassin’s Creed 2 - XBOX 360, PS3, DS

4) Halo 3: ODST - XBOX 360

5) Borderlands - XBOX 360, PS3

6) Left 4 Dead 2 - XBOX 360

7) Dragon Age: Origins - XBOX 360, PS3

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - PS3

9) Madden NFL 10 - XBOX 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2

10) New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Wii

For more information on GameFly, check out www.gamefly.com.

KFC’s 200 Games a Day Giveaway

KFC, EA SPORTS, the NFL, and NFL PLAYERS have teamed up to offer gamers an amazing giveaway: the 200 Games a Day Giveaway. A total of 6,000 Madden NFL 10 games will be given away in 30 days, with another 250 being given away in the next 30 days. To win, KFC has introduced the $5 Madden NFL Box which offers a full meal and a drink for $5. The purchase includes several different options on how to score free Madden NFL 10 games.

The meal includes a choice of one of six of your KFC favorites, a side item and a 32-ounce drink in a Madden NFL cup, all for only $5 (choice of two pieces of Kentucky Grilled Chicken, three Original Recipe Strips, a Twister Sandwich, five Hot Wings, five Honey BBQ Wings or two pieces of Original Recipe Chicken, along with a side item and a drink in the Madden NFL Cup.). The four cups feature NFL players Calvin Johnson, Jr., Philip Rivers, DeMarcus Ware and Brian Westbrook.

Game codes for the 200 Games a Day Giveaway are available on both the 32-ounce drink and KFC’s Madden NFL Box. Customers may visit www.kfc.com/MaddenNFL10 through Nov. 23 to check their codes and see if they are among the 200 daily winners.

The code on KFC’s Madden NFL Box also gives gamers a $10 discount on Madden NFL 10 and free standard shipping from www.EASTORE.com/KFC.

Video game hardware, software sales mostly flat in Sept.

While some might applaud the new batch of sales numbers for the month of Sept., they show that the sector, like many others in the world during this still shaky financial times, is feeling the bite just like everyone else. It is hard to imagine what hardware numbers might look like if Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft hadn’t slashed the prices on their respective home console systems. Even with those price cuts, NPD data for the month showed a meager 1 percent gain over the same period a year ago, with total videogame related sales in the U.S. of around $1.28. Again, if not for cuts, it would have been more downward trending for the sector. Still it’s hard to ignore that compared to August, sales were up considerably in Sept.

On the hardware front, the one relevant console that did not get a price cut, the DS (which includes the DSi and DS Lite), was at the top of the heap moving over half a million units in the month. The good news for Sony - if there really is any in a month that was mostly flat - is that it managed to beat out the Wii and Xbox 360 in the month with 491,000 units. The Wii was close by with almost 463,000 units and the Xbox 360 managed to move nearly 353,000 units. The PSP moved right around 190,000 units in Sept., - which we assume includes both the old model and the new PSP go. Finally, the PS2 managed to move 146,000 units.

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Madden, Batman surprise in August software sales

In what can be considered a bit of a non-shocker, Madden NFL 10 managed to move 1.75 million units in August, followed by Wii Sports Resort and Batman Arkham Asylum. The Xbox 360 version of Madden raked in 928K in unit sales, while the PS3 version managed to sell through about 665K units, followed by the PS2 version which moved about 120K units.

Batman: Arkham Asylum did pretty well on the PS3 and Xbox 360; 303K units of the Xbox 360 version were sold in August followed very closely by 290K units on the PS3. No doubt hardware price cuts that kicked off in August probably helped Batman: Arkham Asylum than Madden did. Full list below:

August 2009 Software Sales:

Madden NFL 10 for Xbox 360, EA - 928,000 units

Wii Sports Resort for Wii, Nintendo - 754,000 units

Madden NFL 10 for PS3, EA - 665,000 units

Batman: Arkham Asylum for Xbox 360, Square Enix - 303,000 units

Batman: Arkham Asylum for PS3, Square Enix - 290,000 units

Madden NFL 10 for PS2, EA - 160,000 units

Dissidia Final Fantasy for PSP, Square Enix - 130,000 units

Wii Fit for Wii, Nintendo - 128,000 units

Mario Kart Wii for Wii, Nintendo - 120,000 units

Fossil Fighters for DS, Nintendo - 92,000 units

Has the Madden NFL currse struck again?

Well, well, well, it looks like the Madden NFL curse has struck again: Madden NFL 10 cover athlete, Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has injured a ligament in his left knee and may be out of action for 3 to 6 weeks, reports ESPN.com. Sure, sure, it’s probably just a coincidence, right?

At least he has his health? Wait.. Well, at least the game bearing his likeness is selling well.