THQ Keeps Up the Competitive Heat

If there's something that THQ (THQI Quote) CEO Brian Farrell wants the world to know, it's that his company does more than make kids' games based on other people's ideas.

Though best known for titles based on characters such as Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, THQ has been investing heavily in recent years on developing games based on its own content to appeal to older, more affluent consumers.

Earlier this year, it released The Outfit, a World War II fighting game, for Microsoft's (MSFT Quote) new Xbox 360 game console. And the company has other titles in the works, including Saint's Row, which is in the cops-and-gangsters genre, and Frontline: Fuel of War, another combat game. ...