THQ saw a net revenue loss of $239.9 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, $100 million more than the previous fiscal year's loss of $136.1 million.

"We have made significant changes to our business, and are on track to execute our strategy of delivering quality connected core gaming experiences, beginning with the sequel to the award-winning Darksiders in August," president and CEO Brian Farrell said in a THQ earnings statement.

THQ has seen a rough year, with plummeting revenue despite the success of Saints Row: The Third and WWE '12. THQ laid off 240 employees, slashed the salaries of its head honchos and cut its "kids' licensed video games" department earlier this fiscal year, following quarter losses of nearly triple the previous period.

THQ has sold through 84 percent of its shipped uDraw tablets and expects to sell its remaining inventory in fiscal 2013. The company's "future kids' license commitments" have been reduced by $30 million, THQ reports.

THQ describes its emergency layoffs, salary cuts and company rehashing as follows: "The company exited the traditional kids' licensed games business, and streamlined its product line, organization and cost structure to support a smaller company positioned for sustained profitability."

Ubisoft ended the 2012 financial year on the up, reporting a gross profit of €718 million ($917 million) and sales up 2.1 percent to €1 billion ($1.4 billion) year-over-year, according to its financial results for 2011-2012.

Ubisoft ended fiscal 2011-12 with net income of €37.3 million ($47.6 million), up from a net loss of €52.1 million ($66.5 million) in the 2011 fiscal year.

Sales from "core gamers" in Assassin's Creed Revelations, Rayman Origins, Driver San Francisco and free-to-play title The Settlers Online generated €578 million ($738.1 million) in revenue, Ubisoft reported. Casual games brought in €483 million ($616.8 million) in revenue, mainly from Just Dance, Rocksmith and free-to-play title Howrse.

Core and casual titles contributed to a 110.8 percent jump in online and digital sales, bringing that figure to €80 million ($102.1 million), Ubisoft reported.

Ubisoft's net cash position is down from €99.2 million ($126.6 million) in 2011 to €84.6 million ($108 million) in 2012, while current operating income rose 90 percent to €56 million ($71.5 million) year-over-year.

Joy Ride Turbo, the Kinect-free sequel to Kinect Joy Ride, will be released on Xbox Live Arcade on May 23, according to a new release schedule from Major Nelson. As previously revealed, Joy Ride Turbo features several different modes, including a new Stunt Park, and generally sounds a lot more like the Joy Ride Microsoft originally announced way back in 2009.

If your Kinect is feeling lonely as a result, this week's Xbox Live Deal of the Week revolves entirely around downloadable Kinect titles. You can grab Fruit Ninja Kinect for $7, while Hole in the Wall, Leedmees, Double Fine Happy Action Theater, Rhythm Party and Haunt have been knocked down to $5 each.

If your 360 controller is now feeling double-reverse lonely, next week will see discounts to some old-fashioned regular XBLA games. Specifically, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes will be reduced to $7.50, while Outland and Beyond Good & Evil HD will be available for $5 each.

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The Xbox 360 is the most popular non-PC device for viewing online video, beating out iOS and Android handhelds, according to a study by online-video ad company Freewheel. Freewheel measured "professional content" only, meaning video that runs with ads -- meaning it really conducted a study on how many online ads we watch -- from companies such as NBC, CBS, ESPN and Vevo. The study didn't account for Netflix or YouTube viewership.

Xbox 360 took 28.2 percent of all viewership, followed by iPad with 27.1 percent, then iPhone, Android and iPod Touch on a decreasing scale.

In March, Microsoft announced that Xbox 360 owners use the console more for its entertainment apps than for any actual gaming purposes, spending more than half of their Xbox time on Netflix and other music and video applications. Even though the Freewheel study doesn't include Netflix views, it does support the console evolutionary theory: One day our gaming consoles will have mutated so drastically that we'll have an entirely new species, called simply "entertainment consoles."

The results for April are in, and things are looking a little rough out there in consumer video-game electronics land. As a whole, the gaming industry (which for our purposes includes all hardware, software and accessories sales between April 1 and April 28, 2012) brought in $630.4 million, a 32 percent decrease over the same period last year, where its various machinations resulted in collective sales of $930.9 million.

Breaking the industry down into its three major components, hardware sales accounted for $189.7 million (down 32 percent year over year), while software sales contributed $292.1 million to the cause – a 42 percent decrease year over year. Accessories, on the other hand, posted a 1 percent increase year-over-year at $148.6 million in 2012, as compared with $147.8 million in 2011.

The average amount of money spent on hardware increased year-over-year, however, due in part to the 360 Star Wars Kinect Bundle, according to NPD analyst Anita Frazier. Generally though, the period's lackluster performance is due to the month's release schedule: "Last April, the top seven titles outsold the top-selling title this year, and, simply stated, there were notably fewer new market introductions. I think it's a simple as that because when we see compelling content come into the market, the games are still selling as well as ever – we just saw a lot less this April as compared to last."

The list of April's top 10 best-selling titles can be found after the break as per usual, with newcomers Prototype 2 and Kinect Star Wars leading the charge ahead of Modern Warfare 3, Mario Party 9 and Mass Effect 3.

Update: According to Microsoft's Major Nelson, the Xbox 360 sold 236K units during April.

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Good news: the Xbox 360 will finally have a web browser in the near future, according to a Verge source. Bad news: It's Internet Explorer.

The source tells The Verge that the new web browser is based on Internet Explorer 9, and features Kinect functionality, allowing users to search with voice input just like the Bing search tech used in the current dashboard. Users will also be able to browse the web without talking to it, reportedly.

Ubisoft and Marvel are partnering on an Avengers game for ... Kinect and Wii U? It's an unlikely pairing – the controller-free format and the format with a giant controller and an extraneous screen; but for a franchise that pairs a half-naked monster man with an armored plutocrat, perhaps it's appropriate.

Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth is in the works at Ubisoft Quebec, and will allow players to use motion controls to fight off the alien Skrull. "The idea that we're making a motion-control version of 'The Avengers' is a unique proposition if you compare that to superhero games of the past," said Ubisoft marketing VP Tony Key, as reported by the Washington Post. "This is the perfect type of game for that because these characters are very action oriented. They're always fighting and throwing things." Those rowdy kids.

As suggested by the Skrull invasion storyline, the game deviates from the movie, instead drawing from the "Secret Invasion" comic crossover event, which featured Skrulls posing as Earth superheroes.

Microsoft is prepping for Kinect Play Fit and releasing hardware codenamed "Joule" to accompany it, according to sources speaking to The Verge. Kinect Play Fit will track exercise across "most Kinect games," providing metrics that'll be stored in the cloud. Joule is expected to be a heart-rate monitor, allowing wireless monitoring to keep exercise "within a target goal for weight loss, strength, or cross-fitness workouts."

Joule and Kinect Play Fit are compatible, but are two separate products. There is no expected launch window, but Verge sources also claim a future dashboard update will introduce the system. We're checking with Microsoft if it has any comment, but most of this (if true) will likely be revealed at E3 in a month.

Update: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."

Every boy, every girl, spice up your life with this month's DLC tracks for Dance Central 2. The saucy selection begins today, May 8, with the Spice Girl's 1997 hit "Spice Up Your Life." Don't waste any thyme grabbing that track.

Over the next three Tuesdays, you'll also have the option of moving to the beat of "Hello Good Morning" by Diddy-Dirty Money, A Tribe Called Quest's "Scenario" and Flo Rida's "Low."

All tracks are 240 MSP ($3). Remember, to be like shawty, you need the apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur and then get low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low.

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We can understand why you may be a bit hesitant to take our verdict on Kinect Star Wars as gospel. It's got Vader fights, rampaging rancors and is the closest physical manifestation of that one kid's dream journal we may ever get.

Now you can discover how not good the game is yourself with a free playable demo – if you're a Gold subscriber and own a Kinect sensor, that is. We may all have The Force inside us, but you still have to purchase your own Kinect sensor.

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Today's big Xbox 360 news isn't without tempering, it seems. "On May 7, we launched a pilot program at Microsoft Stores in the United States to test a new pricing model for the Xbox 360," a Microsoft spokesperson told Joystiq this morning when we followed up on the $99, two-year contract Xbox 360 announcement.

A pilot program, you say? Apparently the program's a "pilot" based on its extremely limited availability – the $99 Xbox 360 is only offered in "the 16 Microsoft Stores in the US." As for that two-year Xbox Live commitment, that won't include any of the rumored "various types of streaming content," as it's identical to a normal Xbox Live Gold subscription.

According to MS, the program, "aligns with our ongoing commitment to test new products and offers to understand how to best serve our customers." According to us, this is all very weird.

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The rumored $99 Xbox 360 with two-year $15 a month contract is official. It includes a Kinect, Xbox Live Gold service and a two-year warranty. The offer is now available on the Microsoft Store site.

The math works out to roughly $460 for the bundle over the next two years. Currently the 4GB Xbox 360 Kinect bundle has a suggested retail price of $299 (although it can be found for less), with Xbox Live Gold subscriptions costing about $50 a year, for a grand upfront total of $399 (or less) if you bought today.

Are you hoping to experience the thrill and excitement of a game manufacturer E3 press conference, but lacking the credentials to attend? Microsoft thinks that's just the dumbest, so the company's blowing the doors off of its upcoming E3 presser – at least virtually – with both Spike TV and Xbox Live streaming the event for all to see. Democracy!

Spike and Xbox Live's coverage begins one day ahead of the big show on Monday, June 4 – Microsoft likes to kick things off before anyone else at E3, you see. Interested parties can tune in at 12:30PM ET/ 9:30AM PT to catch the whole thing live. Keep an eye out for us in the crowd! You can tell us apart from everyone else because we're all 11 feet tall, by the way.

Microsoft is preparing to take a page from the cell phone carrier playbook by offering the Xbox 360 at a substantial initial discount, followed by a two year subscription service, according to The Verge. The bundle, which would cost $100 up front and $15 a month afterwards, includes a Kinect, Xbox Live Gold service, a two-year warranty and possibly various types of streaming content. The package deal may go on sale as early as next week at Microsoft's various retail locations across the country.

Also like modern cell phone plans, an early termination fee would be associated with the service contract and levied against those who wish to leave their commitments early. Those who ride the entire contract out would end up paying roughly $460 for the bundle and its associated years of service. We've reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update as this story develops.

Update: Microsoft issued Joystiq the following statement: "We haven't made any announcements and we don't comment on rumor or speculation."

Microsoft has revealed a distressed Union Jack Xbox bundle for the United Kingdom, featuring a flag-wrapped 4GB console, controller and Kinect. The bundle also includes Kinect Adventures and Kinect Sports, along with three months of Xbox Live gold membership. It marches to retail on May 25 for £249.99.

Don't live in the UK and still want to get your Union Jack on? Well, turns out GelaSkins has a similar (and prettier) Xbox wrapping available for $30. There's also the Stars and Stripes package for those who feel offended by all this non-Amurikan talk.

For all its talk of "putting down the video games and getting outside," it looks like President Barack Obama's administration is lightening its past rhetoric and embracing video games. Well, at least some video games – what it's calling "active video games." Think Wii Fit, Just Dance, and Zumba Fitness.

The Entertainment Software Association is collaborating with the US Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition to launch the "Active Play Presidential Active Lifestyle Award Challenge," which will task kids and adults with taking on 60 or 30 minutes of "active video gaming activity," respectively, five days per week over the course of six weeks.

Moreover, the collaboration means that your favorite game publishers are adding "PALA+" functionality to their games, allowing gamers to "stay motivated and track their progress in the program." Electronic Arts, Konami Digital Entertainment, Microsoft Corporation, Nintendo of America, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Take-Two Interactive Software/2K Play, and Ubisoft are all listed in the official announcement.

And what will that functionality entail, exactly? The ESA ambiguously describes it as the following:

• Interactive tools to help kids and families monitor the progress of their physical activity and healthy eating goals
• Tracking tools to help participants in different schools and communities engage in competition
• Helpful tips and information on healthy living from PCFSN [President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition]

We're not expecting a ton from the initiative beyond logos slapped into several exergames and another press release trumpeting the program's "enormous success" in a few months, but if some chubbos drop a few pounds due to the initiative, then we've all won.

Tomorrow Bethesda hatches its scheme to coax your inner Dragonborn into speaking – well, Dragonborn with a second-language credit in English, anyway. The free Kinect update adds over 200 different voice recognition commands to English-speaking regions; there are a bunch of new things to memorize, so Bethesda made a handy glossary for you to load up on your iPad or print out. The .pdf files can be accessed by clicking here.

Simply boot up Skyrim and install the mandatory Xbox 360 update tomorrow. After spending some time with it ourselves earlier this month, we liked how it bypassed a lot of menu work. The Bethesda Blog says the German, Italian, Spanish and French versions are all "in final testing" and that we should hear more regarding those territories soon.

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