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megaman79 on 26 February 2009
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THQ: de Blob Sells Over 700K

By Kris Graft

February 26, 2009

"The competition on the Wii right now is from Nintendo. That's what we've got to attack. The people who buy Nintendo games, [we want to] get them to buy things like de Blob."

THQ's unique paint-splattering Wii game de Blob has sold over 700K units worldwide, CEO Brian Farrell said on Tuesday during the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco.

Even in a wretched retail environment, the game has been able to hold its original $49.99 price point after about five months of availability. “We can make money on games like that," Farrell said.

Farrell described a "three-prong" Wii strategy that includes the publishing of high production value, "Nintendo-esque" games like de Blob, value titles like Big Beach Sports, which has sold over 1.3 million units, and licensed titles such as those found in the publisher's Nickelodeon portfolio.

The exec also hinted at an upcoming unannounced Wii game that is "very focused ... niche" but nonetheless expected to do well on the platform.

"The competition on the Wii right now is from Nintendo. That's what we've got to attack," he added. "The people who buy Nintendo games, [we want to] get them to buy things like de Blob."

As for the upcoming release of the Nintendo DSi handheld, Farrell said THQ would be migrating its "biggest brands" to the platform, adding that there will be new gameplay opportunities thanks to the DSi's new features



“When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking. ...if the employees were always minding themselves to do whatever the market is requiring at any moment, and if they were always focusing on something we can sell right now for the short term, it would be very limiting. We are trying to think outside the box.” - Satoru Iwata - This is why corporate multinationals will never truly understand, or risk doing, what Nintendo does.