CookingMama posts(Subscribe to this feed)
Gardening Mama to sprout in Spring
by Jason Dobson 
{ Dec 3rd 2008 at 9:30AM }
Tired of wrestling with assorted meats and vegetables, Mama has moved from the confines of Majesco's kitchen and into the fresh outdoors, or at least she will next Spring when Gardening Mama is released for the Nintendo DS. Developed by the folks responsible for Mama's culinary exploits, the game will allow players to "plant, nurture and harvest" flowers, fruits and veggies growing in her backyard.Perhaps this is the beginning of a trend for Mama as she explores the world outside of her kitchen to discover firsthand just where her ingredients come from. We gleefully await the arrival of Slaughterhouse Mama to deliver some delicious reindeer steaks just in time for next year's holiday rush.
[Via DS Fanboy]
Majesco sales drop in second quarter, re-confirms DS focus
by Jason Dobson { Jun 16th 2008 at 9:15PM }
However, even with a lighter wallet, the company noted that it expects to report between $53 and $58 million in revenue for fiscal 2008. The company also took the opportunity to blow kisses at Nintendo, confirming that of its upcoming lineup this year some 59 percent will be released for the DS with the remainder "almost entirely" coming to the Wii. Jeeze, guys, get a room.
Wonderful apron is better than Mama's
by JC Fletcher { Apr 27th 2008 at 12:00PM }
Mama would no doubt agree that everything is better when you make it yourself (or, in the case of her games, simulate making things yourself) -- that's why it's Cooking Mama and not Ordering from a Menu Mama or Warming Up some Lean Cuisines Mama. This Cooking Mama apron from Craftster user crafterbation is proof. She appliquéd a Mama sprite and a text window (just as they appeared in the DS game) onto this apron to create a wearable representation of the Cooking Mama results screen.
Contrast the homemade creation with the (also quite nice!) professionally-made aprons Majesco gave away at the launch of the Wii game. We think the home recipe is much more enjoyable!
Contrast the homemade creation with the (also quite nice!) professionally-made aprons Majesco gave away at the launch of the Wii game. We think the home recipe is much more enjoyable!
Majesco's sarcastic letter to Gamespot for bad Cooking Mama review
by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 15th 2008 at 4:30PM }
Navarro shared his email from last December (found after the break) with PassiveAgressiveNotes. Here's a taste from Majesco's corporate Cooking Mama defense force: "With the first Cooking Mama DS reaching 1 million units in Europe and near of 1 million stateside, I began to worry that this might begin to go to our heads. Majesco's parking lot would be flooded with Bentley's, Maybach's and rare hybrid cars that run on pure ego." Can cars run on passive aggressiveness?
Cooking Mama makes Majesco profits rise
by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 18th 2008 at 9:10AM }
Majesco CEO Jesse Sutton says the quarter was exceptional and in line with the company's plan to focus on the casual market; he continues that Cooking Mama delivered revenue increases of 47% compared to the same period last year. The company's projections have it staying the course set by this first quarter throughout the year and here's hoping Majesco can find some franchise beyond Cooking Mama and her broken English over the next year.
Cooking Mama franchise sells 1.6 million units in US
by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 30th 2008 at 3:00PM }
Majesco CEO Jesse Sutton says the success of the franchise is like catching lightning in a bottle. Although the Cooking Mama games obviously cost very little to make, it might be time to generate more lightning. Since the first game did well and subsequent games didn't enjoy the same return, it means Majesco can't feed on Mama's cooking alone.
Majesco releases early version of Eco-Creatures as DS download
by Jason Dobson { Jan 29th 2008 at 10:30AM }
With a healthy collection of casual DS favorites to its credit, the once financially gridlocked publisher Majesco has much thanks to lay at the feet of Nintendo's touchable portable. Now the company has announced that it plans to give players an early taste of its latest project, a tree-hugging RTS for the DS, by releasing a demo for Eco-Creatures: Save the Forest over nearly 10,000 Nintendo DS Download Stations across the U.S. It's unclear how much of the game will be included in the demo, or if in fact this move will save any trees at all. What we do know, however, is that the download will be available from now until sometime in May – well beyond the game's expected March 4 release -- giving those of you with access to a station plenty of time to warm up to Majesco's green-minded ways.
Majesco forms Majesco Studios, a new internal studio with a Nintendo focus
by David Hinkle { Jan 16th 2008 at 1:30PM }
Like the tortoise, Majesco has been slowly and steadily trying to make progress. The latest move on the part of the publisher is to form a new internal development house, Majesco Studios. Majesco CEO Jesse Sutton detailed the news in an interview with Gamasutra, commenting that this is "an attractive, low risk opportunity" for the company and the new studio will focus exclusively on creating casual titles for the DS and Wii.Sutton has hopes for Majesco Studios, stating that the goal is for the new studio to produce three titles within its first year and to turn profitable by 2009.
[Via Joystiq]
Majesco details Majesco Studios, new internal developer
by Scott Jon Siegel { Jan 16th 2008 at 7:04AM }
According to Sutton, Majesco will be developing its own IP within Majesco Studios, focusing its attention on internal development, and away from third-party titles. Sutton hopes that the studio can produce three games within its first year, and become profitable by 2009. Recently, Majesco has primarily made its profit from importing otherwise-obscure Japanese titles to the States, such as the Cooking Mama series and Nanostray, rather than publishing big-budget titles. Sutton refers to Cooking Mama as "the anchor of our portfolio," with 1.4 million copies sold across the Wii and DS.
Cooking Mama serves up one million in Europe
by David Hinkle { Dec 6th 2007 at 6:00PM }
Mama's been busy in the kitchen, not only cooking up tasty virtual treats, but also fat stacks of cash. 505 Games has announced that the franchise has sold over a million copies, becoming 505 Games' most successful franchise to day. Releasing first for the DS, another entry was later released on the Wii, cementing Mama as one of the region's most marketable mugs. Good for her!Any of our European readers pick up any of her games on the DS or Wii?
[Via Games Press]
Taito's terrific trailers (Exit DS, Arkanoid DS, Legend of Kage 2, and Cooking Mama 2)
by Eric Caoili { Nov 28th 2007 at 4:40PM }
Much like with yesterday's fantastic Space Invaders Extreme clip, Taito put out new promotional videos for four of its upcoming games -- Exit DS, Arkanoid DS, Legend of Kage 2, and Cooking Mama 2. The three-and-a-half-minute Exit DS trailer above, in particular, is pretty slick, reminiscent of Lucky Number Slevin's opening credits. Despite the touchscreen control issues many brought up when previewing Exit DS at the past TGS event, the action-puzzler looks pretty fun!
The rest of the streaming videos are available for you to check out at Dengeki's news page. Make sure to watch the Legend of Kage 2 clip all the way through, as the gameplay bits have been tucked at the end, after all the character art and gusts of cherry blossom petals.
Revolutionary: This Revolution Hasn't Been Televised
by Mike Sylvester { Oct 16th 2007 at 8:45PM }
Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.
Thought of by many as the "Disney of video gaming," Nintendo has crafted themselves an image of family-friendly entertainment. But to certain generations and classes of gamers, the term "family-friendly" is synonymous with "kiddy," and immediately sparks disinterest. But ever since publishing Rare's Killer Instinct, they've been working on broadening the public's perspective. Trying to appeal to the bloodlust of the Mortal Kombat crowd didn't give them any headway, and as generations progressed and they've garnered more "mature-themed" titles, they still haven't been able to shake the "kiddy console" stigma.
Even after snagging the exclusivity to the Resident Evil series for a generation, Nintendo was largely overlooked by the Playstation-bred gamers that were brought up on the series. How much more will it take for Wii to be regarded as a platform that can satisfy the tastes of mature gamers?
Cooking Mama 2 hits the table in November
by JC Fletcher { Oct 3rd 2007 at 1:10PM }
Siliconera reports that everyone's favorite cooking/minigame/paper-doll game, Cooking Mama 2, will be released in the U.S. on November 13-- two days before the Japanese release. Of course that puts it directly in the middle of a frantic holiday game release season, but it also puts it in another special season, one for which we believe it is uniquely suited.We think that Cooking Mama 2 is pretty much the only game that can benefit from a release near Thanksgiving. It's the perfect Thanksgiving-themed game, because it's about food, and eating food is what happens on Thanksgiving. As if that weren't enough, Cooking Mama 2 is all about "Dinner With Friends."
Before its release, Majesco will make a deliciously bite-sized Cooking Mama 2 demo available on DS demo kiosks. Feel free to sample it!
Dressing Mama
by JC Fletcher { Sep 25th 2007 at 6:50PM }
What's more appropriate for the kitchen than a cheerleader's outfit? Oh, right, anything else. We're not saying that women can't leave the kitchen, by any stretch of the imagination. You can go ahead and delete that half-written comment right now. Put away your Jump to Conclusions Mat.We're of the opinion, however, that a fictional character called "Cooking Mama" whose sole purpose is to scold you when you screw up a recipe probably doesn't have any business holding pompons. We're pretty sure that's a reasonable observation. She's not a real person at all.
Rather than being put off by the weirdness of the dress-up capability, we look forward to juxtaposing out-of-place fashion into our cooking minigames. How ridiculous will we be able to make Mama look? Can we put her in a space suit?
Other than the random non-cooking activity, Cooking Mama 2 appears to be shaping up quite nicely into another kitchen-based minigame festival. It's one of the winners of the genre, in our opinion, and it's got ice cream this time! Who doesn't like ice cream?
Cooking Mama wasn't enough as Majesco profits show loss
by David Hinkle { Sep 12th 2007 at 10:21PM }
Majesco may be bringing forth a sequel to their smash hit Cooking Mama, but apparently it wasn't enough to bring them into the black. Hopefully, that'll change with the upcoming release of Cooking Mama 2, but the Q3 financial results show the company's profits are down to $10 million from $12.4 million last year.The DS is an important platform for the company, as 66% of their total sales come from games on the handheld. And with the first Cooking Mama game selling over 500,000 units, the company has high hopes for its sequel, as well.
