Disney is getting ready to loosen their grip on the drawstrings that keep all the Epic Mickey goodness they have in place. Game Informer is currently running a new feature that finally shows us what the redesigned Mickey Mouse looks like. Hit the jump for the pics.

THQ has unveiled its financial scorecard for this fiscal year's opening quarter and though it looked pretty at first, things quickly went south as we checked out how much it lost. Apparently, bigger revenues don't necessarily translate into bigger profits as you'll find out in the full article up ahead.

Fresh from acquiring assets to dip themselves into the casual gaming market, "creative hub" publisher THQ will now set out to raise the curtains off their much broader lineup of games for fiscal year 2009. And aside from tending some exclusive titles for the Nintendo Wii, THQ has a couple of mainstream franchises piled up for a comeback. All these are to be demonstrated at the Game Press Event in San Francisco. Head to the full story for more info.

THQ just released details regarding its profits for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008.

Aside from money matters, however, the company's CEO also hinted at when they'll be releasing the next installments of their Saints Row and Red Faction franchises. Details await in the full article.

If you're eagerly awaiting the WALL-E film you may want to check out the upcoming video game version as well, regardless of which system you own. That's right, THQ plans to release the video game version on all major gaming platforms to promote the movie's release. How faithful will the games be to the WALL-E movie? Find out after the jump!

At the risk of dropping some rather cheesy puns (that's one), we're letting the guys in some tasty deals GameStop has in store for this week.

The retailer has announced that this week's special will consist of several discounts for the game release of the Pixar movie Ratatouille, for the Xbox 360, PSP, Wii, DS, GameCube, GBA, PlayStation 2, and Xbox gaming consoles. This week's fresh catch will entitle buyers to a US$ 10 price reduction of the game, with the promo proper expected to last until this Thursday, August 9, while supplies last.

Also included in this week's sales promo is a used (original) PlayStation 2 model, which sells for US$ 79.99. For the 360 and PSP owners, also look out for the custom paraphernalia you'll be getting when you purchase choice titles from the site. Full details are available in the read link.

Back in the industry news, "creative hub" publisher THQ announced a first quarter sales dip of approximately US$ 34 million, while reporting a significantly lowered quarter net loss of US$ 9.3 million. Despite the drop from US$ 138.8 million to US$ 104.5 million in sales of Ratatouille, Cars, and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2007, the publisher is confident about its US$ 240 million sales target for Q2 2007.

 

Achievements for the company during Q1 included a penetration of the online market in China, after THQ signed an agreement with Shanda, a local game operations firm, to deliver the long-standing PC game Company of Heroes to the blossoming PC market in the region. While details were scarce, it was hinted that the title would definitely cater to the online segment.

Brian Farrell, CEO of THQ, assured attendees at the recently concluded press conference that the current quarter performance appears to be as they expected. He remained confident that their lineup of family-friendly and casual games for the Nintendo Wii and DS will keep the company "well positioned" for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, de Blob, Stuntman: Ignition, and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, on the other hand, have been selected as for Game Critics' Best of E3 2007 Awards, while a whispered sequel for Red Faction back in February was confirmed at the conference call. Details on the sequel have not been revealed as of press time.

Future prospects of the company appear to be cautiously optimistic, after Farrell noted a faster pace of PlayStation 3 hardware sales that seem to outweigh the platform's software sales. The company also plans to dive into in-game advertising more so this 2008, claiming to be in talks with Nickelodeon and Pixar to discuss in-game ad revenue shares.

Not only does this new Ratatouille trailer from Heavy Iron Studios and THQ bring home the bacon, it also brings home the cheese, the wine, the olives, the lasagna... it just brings a lot of food to the table!

In Ratatouille, players get to play as the master chef-slash-rat Remy as he goes through 20 exciting missions that will relive portions of the movie, as well as flesh out Remy's character even further. As an added bonus, the game also comes with an unlockable sneak peek of Disney/Pixar's next movie, "WALL-E", which tells the story of a robot who wants to travel the galaxy.

Now, what's in this trailer, you might be wondering? Besides Remy, the ratty chef running for his little life, we also have gameplay mechanics such as running, jumping, and rolling on round food objects. The trailer also notes some of the game's features, such as multiplayer options and minigames.

In any case, you can expect delicious action and multiplatform gaming delicacies below, because in Ratatouille, everything tastes good. Enjoy!

For a movie tie-in game, Ratatouille for the Nintendo Wii is looking pretty good, if these new screenshots are anything to go by. The game's environments and characters look quite faithful to their movie counterparts - and to be fair, the cartoony effect only adds to the immersion of the game, rather than detract from it.

With a good look, decent platforming action with a healthy mix of minigames, first-class voice acting, Ratatouille seems to be a solid title for the young'uns (as well as the young at heart). We'll keep you updated with Pixar's latest venture into the videogame world as developments happen - in the meantime, enjoy the eye candy!

More screenshots after the jump!

Publisher THQ is very happy to announce that the video game title Cars has been made a discount title across almost all platforms. This means that the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions have been added to the "Greatest Hits" basket while the Xbox360 version can now found in the "Platinum Hits" basket.

If you really want to know, even the GameCube (GC) version is now a part of "Player's Choice" retail program.

THQ decided to come up with a sequel called Cars Mater-National for the 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 platforms. Disney Interactive Studios Exec. VP and GM Graham Hopper commented:

We are excited by the tremendous success the Cars franchise has achieved across the world on multiple video game platforms. Our successful and long-standing relationship with THQ has delivered a strong portfolio of Disney/Pixar titles that have become family favorites for gamers of all ages.

The original Cars is now available across all platforms at a suggested retail price of US$ 19.99. On the other hand, the new title Cars Mater-National is expected to careen around retail stores this fall. It will also be available on PS2, Nintendo DS, and GBA platforms.