Deus Ex is leading the revenue revolution for Square Enix, whose digital entertainment -- games -- department in April-December 2011 grew 6.2 percent from the previous fiscal year, totaling $704.7 million in net sales. Games now comprise 56 percent of Square Enix's total revenue, where in the same period of 2010 they made up just 52 percent.

The company's operating profit rose 11.5 percent to $169.4 million and its net income ended at $65 million, up 175.2 percent from the previous period. Square Enix cited Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its online and social titles as the main factors behind its financial progress.

We're still a couple of months away from the end of fiscal 2012, but the first 9 months of the confusingly offset financial season have treated Konami extremely well: The company reports a 77.3 percent year-over-year increase in net income over fiscal 2011, earning profits of ¥17.05 billion ($224 million) for the period.

Most of that, however, was pushed by Konami's social networking devision, which operates mobile/casual games in Japanese markets and posted revenues of $348 million, up from $127 million over the same period last year. The company's "consumer games" segment fell year-over-year, from $698 million in fiscal 2011 to $465 million in fiscal 2012. Konami has also adjusted its predictions for the end fiscal 2012, anticipating overall revenue at $3.38 billion and net income at $298 million.

Valve has finally put together its schedule of events for 2012, announcing the big things happening in Team Fortress 2 in the coming months. Most notably, Valve says its final character video, Meet the Pyro, will air in 2012 and it will feature "lots of blood pretty much all the way through."

The TF2 team is also working on a secret project that isn't a hat or a map, Valve reports. This leaves speculation open to new characters, a feature-length film, a live-action feature-length film, or a live-action feature-length film starring Brendan Gleeson, Jude Law and Emma Stone. These are the only options.

The Steam Workshop has a shiny new blog, and Valve says it plans to unveil another secret at the second annual Saxxy Awards. We're pretty sure this secret will be the announcement of the TF2 movie's sequel, starring Katherine Heigl as Brendan Gleeson and Brendan Fraser as everyone else.

How many times have you been in the middle of an intense Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies round when you've had to suddenly stop? Well, Activision has a solution in the latest update: save and load games mid-session.

It's just one of the additions in this free update, which also adds the ray gun, six different tiers of in-game point packs that players can purchase through the app, and monkey bombs -- relax, they're not real monkeys strapped with dynamite or anything. They're actually cute little toys that explode, which may actually be worse now that we think about it. We like toys!

This weekend is Super Bowl XLVI, where the New York Giants and New England Patriots tee off for the most runs in a set. It is also the weekend for the greatest counter-programing tradition since the year one network televised Gypsy. Yes, we refer to Puppy Bowl VIII. Cute overload!

What's everyone playing?

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If you're near Los Angeles on February 10, and you're eager to celebrate the upcoming release of Rhythm Heaven Fever, you can party with other like-minded people at the iam8bit gallery.

Nintendo, Giant Robot, and iam8bit are teaming up for a launch event, at which attendees will be able to play the game (with headphones, hopefully!) and pick up custom swag. Go find out who else in the world dares to play a rhythm game about interviewing wrestlers and playing airplane badminton!

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EA's studio in Vancouver, home to EA Canada and Black Box, was hit with layoffs while the studio goes through a "transformation." Apparently it's a lot of transforming, since variants of "transform" show up a lot in the following statement about the transformational studio.

"EA in Vancouver is transforming its studio to align with EA's transformation to high-growth digital formats, including online, social gaming and free-to-play," an EA spokesperson told IndustryGamers. "The Need for Speed World team in Burnaby is leading the digital transformation with 11 million registered players. As the BC studio makes this transformation, a small number of employees are being impacted while most others are being retrained, redeployed and rolling-on to new projects."

EA recently reported a net loss of $205 million in the third quarter, but is seeing significant positive transformation in increased digital product sales.

Sony may have been caught in the same handheld wavelengths as Nintendo in 2010. A patent uncovered by Games Beat shows Sony considering a handheld, touchscreen device that would function similarly to Nintendo's Wii U. Titled the "Position-dependent gaming, 3-D controller, and handheld as a remote," the device would track its own location as "input to a video game" and render "an avatar on a mobile device such that it appears to overlay a competing user in the real world."

Sony's Vita can share saves and transfer data with the PS3, and even has the capability to be used as a controller for compatible PS3 games, meaning this patent could simply be a tale of what might have been. Inspect some more images of Sony's device below.

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We know you're used to coveting Mass Effect save files, so this should come as no surprise: you'll probably want to hold onto your Mass Effect 3 saves. In an interview with GamerZines, associate producer Mike Gamble said it "wouldn't be a bad idea" to keep them.

Of course, Gamble didn't go into any specifics -- the save files could affect future DLC or any potential entries in the Mass Effect series beyond the third and final Shepard-focused game. Or maybe it's just so BioWare can forever track those monsters who decided to shoot Wrex in the face. You know who you are and you should be ashamed.

Capcom made an embarrassing printing error on the spine of the Resident Evil: Revelations box sent to reviewers -- one made more embarrassing by the "revelaiton" today that it's still on the version of the art sent to retailers in advance of Tuesday's release.

Reader Zach shared this picture of the stock at the Prescott, AZ store, showing "Revelaitons" all the way down -- Joystiq has since confirmed the error with the store. For some, we're sure this mistake will be at worst a slight deterrent to purchase. For others, what was once a reasonably interesting 3DS item now seems like a fascinating rare collectible.

Update: A Capcom representative offered us the following statement: "The initial shipment of Resident Evil Revelations had been sent to retailers in North America with the spelling error. Subsequent shipments of the title are being repackaged and will have the corrected spelling. Customers who have been affected by the misspelling on the Resident Evil Revelations packaging can contact Capcom Customer Service at 650-350-6700 or accounts@capcom.com and a new insert for the front of box will be sent." So, like the previous Okami snafu, Capcom will offer replacement packaging to any who want it.

You'd have to be a fus-ro-dummy to think that Skyrim would be through with receiving accolades. At last night's New York Video Game Critics Circle Awards, the Bethesda Game Studios-developed RPG took home yet one more, earning the "Big Apple Award for Best Game" as decided by a cabal of NY-based game journos from various outlets.

Other winners include two apiece for Bastion and Portal 2, portable love for Super Mario 3D Land and Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, and explosive nods to both Crysis 2 and Saints Row: The Third. Harold Goldberg's "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" took home the "Algonquin Roundtable Award for Best Book" and Sony's "Michael" commercial won the "Mad Men Award," mysteriously beating out Robin Williams' luxurious beard. Frankly, we were baffled. The full list of winners can be found below the break.

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Is it just us, or is the trailer above for the Vita version of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 uncommonly smooth? It makes a pretty convincing showpiece for the portable fighter, even if you do have to squint to see the tiny gameplay screen on the tiny Vita within the window.

Kotaku noticed that the Vita version has additional "Ability Cards," which provide stat boosts in Heroes & Heralds mode, including X-Men's Nightcrawler, Green Goblin, and Ulik, a Thor villain we definitely didn't have to look up just now.

O-K oy vey -- some States just never learn. Oklahoma State Representative William Fourkiller has proposed a 1 percent tax on Teen, Mature and Adults Only-rated games.

Fourkiller says, "Violent video games contribute to some of our societal problems like obesity and bullying, but because they raise a lot of revenue, they can also provide part of the solution." The proposed bill would have half of the money go to a bullying prevention fund and the other to get kids out of the house.

You can imagine the Entertainment Software Association, which just last week got the State of California to agree to reimburse it $950,000 in legal fees (on top of another check back in 2008) for fighting Brown v. EMA up to the Supreme Court, has something to say on this subject.

"We are disappointed that even in the wake of an overwhelming decision in the United States Supreme Court finding proposals such as this to be patently unconstitutional, there are those who still try to attack video game with outdated notions of our industry," the ESA told Joystiq. "Taxing First Amendment protected material based on its content is misguided."

California will have paid the ESA more than $1,327,000 to reimburse legal fees, while other states have also had to pay back the industry's lobbying and political arm for fighting similar bills. Turn back now, Oklahoma. Turn back now while you still can!

Spiderweb Software is one of the oldest independent development studios in existence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Vogel, Spiderweb has been developing RPG gems for close to 18 years, beginning with the Exile series, and more recently launching the first of its new Avadon trilogy, titled The Black Fortress.

Today the indie industry is regarded as a true form of gaming and art, producing superstars, millionares and rabid fanbases, all within a cool bubble of hipster trendiness. As Vogel tells Joystiq, it didn't start out that way.

"When I started, there was no indie culture," Vogel says. "We were writing what was called 'shareware' and everyone thought that we were losers. The whole thing about indie developers being respectable and able to make real money on Steam and iTunes is a very new development. And it still makes my head spin."

Vogel is lucky -- he found a loyal, niche market in the indie RPG genre -- but he's also displayed a lot of dedication to have survived on his own for almost two decades, longer than many in the latest wave of indie developers have been alive.

"I'm proud of survival," Vogel says. "I've been doing this for seventeen years, working for the same company and making the same genre of game in the same way. The list of people who have done that is very short."

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The Skyrim Creation Kit will be available for the PC version this Tuesday, according to a tweet from Bethesda VP of Marketing Pete Hines. It'll be available through Steam under "Tools," for free.

As if the ability to generate infinite, free Skyrim content through mods weren't enough, Hines also teased a "special surprise" that would be coming along with it. We'll have to wait until Tuesday to see what that is, but we're guessing dragons. That game would be awesome with some dragons in it.

Earlier this week Game met with lenders to discuss its credit problems and options for staying in business, and now Game reports it will operate "with lower limits" and under "revised terms for its facilities." As of November 2011, Game had 1,275 stores in Europe and Australia, but has hinted that it could sell off more than half of its overseas locations, and it plans to close 60 stores by 2013. It closed 39 locations last year.

Game's economic problems aren't an issue solely for retailers, but can affect the larger gaming industry as well -- both EA and Take-Two discussed Game's position during their Q3 financial calls.

Alan Wake wasn't the biggest hit at retail. Developer Remedy needed to refill its coffers after that expensive project. Death Rally achieved just that, recouping its own development costs in three days and going on to build an audience of millions.

A new Forbes feature details just how Remedy got Death Rally to take off. The developer spent only $10,000 on marketing, the article notes -- $5,000 on PR, and $5,000 on a FreeAppADay offer. Two months later, the price dropped to $0.99, at which point the game hit a worldwide #1 on the App Store.

Then the game went free, and any losses have been offset by in-app purchases.

The rest of the story is familiar for iOS hits -- frequent updates and expansions, and a potential Android release. Remedy EVP Aki Järvilehto told Forbes that he estimated Android gamesto generate roughly 30% of the revenue of the same iPhone game.

The PS3 version of Worms: Ultimate Mayhem will finally crawl into the light later this month. Developer Team 17 has announced that the PSN title will be released in North America on Valentine's Day, February 14, just in time to share some annelid warfare with your better half. Europe will see the game arrive on February 15, which gives single people something to look forward to, we guess?

Worms: Ultimate Mayhem will be available for $14.99 in North America, £9.99 in the UK and €12.99 in the rest of Europe. PlayStation Plus subscribers will also receive an unspecified "launch discount."

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