THQ on next-gen handhelds
"We'll probably make some games for them."
As part of its quarterly financial circus, THQ representatives this week updated investors via conference call on the status of development for next-generation handhelds from Sony and Nintendo.
According to said reps, THQ is planning to evaluate the initial performance of Sony's PSP handheld when it launches this Christmas, and invest accordingly in 2005, which seems to back-pedal on a previous assertion that the publisher would be "on the platform aggressively" when it launched.
However Nintendo DS is another matter entirely. THQ currently has software emulators for PSP, but not development kits. On the DS front, the publisher hasn't seen anything and really didn't have much to say.
Nintendo denied reports this week that it plans to show off a DS prototype at a retailer briefing over the weekend. An E3 showing is still the plan, it seems, but if Nintendo really wants to launch this thing before the end of the year then giving key publishing partners like THQ a heads-up might not be a bad idea...