In its early days, THQ was best known as a kids game maker working with brands from Nickelodeon and Disney based on Hollywood TV shows and movies. But the Hollywood licensing business has dried up with the higher costs of development and the advances of smartphones and tablets (where those licenses still thrive). THQ isn’t exiting the games business, as had been rumored a few weeks ago. Instead, the game company is exiting the kids games business in favor of successful franchises like Saints Row.

The growing number of MMA fans out there can explore a fantasy UFC matchup between current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the new Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 UFC Undisputed 3 demo. In addition, they will relive a classic PRIDE Mode rivalry between renowned UFC fighters and former champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Wanderlei Silva. The playable demo will also offer mirror matches, enabling consumers to play against friends or opponent AI as the same fighter, in the ultimate test of skill. UFC Undisputed 3 hits retail on Valentine’s Day.

When Darksiders came out from THQ a couple of years back, it introduced the video game realm to Vigil Studios, a team headed up by creative director (and comic book artist) Joe Madureira.  It also left quite an impact on action gamers, one that was right up there with the God of War games.  Now the team is back at work on the highly anticipated sequel, and this time around, a different horseman is stepping up on a quest of his own.

Believe it or not, play-by-play commentary can have some vital importance in a sports game.  Have it running too long and it becomes irrelevant to what's happening in the game.  Make it too silly and it can take away from the seriousness of your contest.  Make it disjointed and it sounds like a hideous mess.  There's a proper tone you have to nail when it comes to doing running commentary, but THQ recognizes this, as the development team has worked very closely to making UFC Undisputed 3's commentary better than ever.

2011 definitely flourished for some folks in the game industry, but not everyone saw profit from their game sales.  Take THQ.  The company definitely had a diverse set of releases last year, between its popular WWE games, new Red Faction and Warhammer action titles, and Saints Row the Third.  However, not all of them were financially viable, and it resulted in the cancellation of various franchises and closure of a few studios.  Will 2012 be the year the company bounces back?

The holiday season is officially upon us at sundown tonight. Children will be gathered around their Channukah menorahs, spinning their dreidels, eating potato latkes--and inviting their gentile friends to partake in the traditions that were so foreign and interesting in elementary school--at least that's what the kids told me back then.Then, a few days later that naughty or nice list will be coming into play as kids all over the world run down the stairs to see if the red-sutied cookie monster aka Santa Claus has brought them some amazing gifts. Gamers though--what do we want for all the holidays? Isn't it obvious--GAMES. We're going to give you oblivious gift-seekers five games to run to the stores to sweep up for the gamer in your life featuring NBA 2K12, among others.

Well, before Hollywood gets its claws on it and does the unthinkable, we might as well enjoy Voltron: Defender of the Universe for what it is now -- gloriously cheesy 80's entertainment featuring awesome Lion robots and the enormous defender that is Voltron himself.  The cartoon is still popular with many folks, and they'll probably be the ones who appreciate THQ's video game take on Voltron more than anyone else.  Still, it's a serviceable twin-stick shooter with plenty of oomph.