Video game publisher THQ, which has worked closely with several Hollywood studios throughout the years, is facing a delisting on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The company, which has partnered with many Hollywood studios, including Dreamworks and Disney in recent years, has filed an 8K form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, announcing it has received a stock delisting notice from the stock market.

The notice was sent on Jan 25, when THQ shares traded under $1 for the 30^th consecutive business day. And while it's certainly dire (and further rattled shaky investors today), it's not necessarily fatal.

THQ will have 180 days – roughly six months – from the point it receives the notice to turn things around and regain compliance, which means keeping its stock above the $1 mark for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days.

At the same time, the company will put together a plan to remedy the situation, in case the stock doesn't turn around naturally. Most commonly, this is done via a reverse stock split. It's expensive, time consuming and embarrassing, but it's also fairly effective – most of the time.

If, after that period, the stock's still not trading above the $1 mark, there's an opportunity for a hearing that could extend the probationary period.

Nasdaq, as a rule, prefers not to delist companies. When possible, they give them the benefit of the doubt. And if THQ can point to a strong lineup of games in development, that could be enough to convince Nasdaq to give it some extra time.

Of course, a delisting threat is far from the only trouble at THQ these days. Analysts have questioned the company's cash flow. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, in December, wrote he believed "THQ is at risk of running out of cash by the June 2012 quarter" after the company's reduced guidance.

"With another unprofitable year expected in FY:12 (its fourth unprofitable year in the last five years), we expect the company’s cash balance to become an issue if it is unable to turn a profit in the first half of FY:13," said Pachter. "Given its declining licensed and core properties (apart from Saints Row), and an uncertain release schedule next year, we remain unconvinced that FY:13 will be profitable."

Typically, the entertainment highlight of the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco is the Game Developer's Choice Awards – one of the video game industry's more prestigious award ceremonies.

Those will still be handed out this year, but attendees are likely to be more excited about the announcement that Indie Game – The Movie will be screened at the show on March 5 at 6pm.

In addition to showing the winner of the Best Editing award at the Sundance Film Festival, the show will host a panel with the film's featured subjects and creators following the film.

The film follows independent game developers Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes (maker of "Super Meat Boy"), Phil Fish ("Fez") and Jonathan Blow ("Braid"), showcasing the creation and release of their titles.

The film has been playing to sold out audiences in select screenings since its premier earlier this month.

Nintendo's financial year won't end until the end of March, but the company is bracing investors for its first-ever financial loss – and it's going to be a massive one.

By the time the year ends, the company expects to post an $837 million loss – a much worse number than the $258 million shortfall it had previously predicted.

Poor holidays bear part of the blame. The company announced dismal quarterly earnings today, noting that its nine-month loss (through Dec. 31) came in at $623 million - $1.3 billion worse than it performed a year ago.

A stronger than expected Yen also contributed to the numbers, and the effects of the 3DS price cut deeper into the company's coffers.

The bright spot was a confirmation from the company that the Wii-U would ship to all major territories by the holiday shopping period. That was widely expected, but whispers about problems with the hardware had some investors and analysts on edge.

Nintendo sold just shy of 9 million Wiis worldwide between April and December versus 13.7 million units during that time in 2010. And Nintendo DS sales plunged as the 3DS took the spotlight, falling from 15 million in 2010 to 4.6 million last year.

And as consumers turn their focus to high definition consoles and smartphones, sales are likely to continue suffering. Nintendo lowered its forecast for 3DS, DS and Wii hardware sales – and expected 3DS software sales to come in lower than initially thought, as well.

The oft-delayed Max Payne 3 has hit another roadblock and been pushed back again – and the delay is going to push publisher Take-Two Interactive Software into the red.

The company's Rockstar Games division announced this morning that the game, originally set to launch this March, would now not bow before May. That marks the fourth delay, if you're keeping score at home.

Because the game has been pushed out of the fiscal year, Take-Two was forced to revise its estimates, deducting an anticipated $210 to $230 million in revenue. The company now expects to report a loss for fiscal 2012.

"We do not take changes to our release schedule lightly, and this short delay will ensure that Max Payne 3 delivers the highest quality, groundbreaking entertainment experience that is expected from our company," said CEO Strauss Zelnick.

In an interview with Variety last year, Dan Houser, one of the studio heads at Rockstar discussed the impact the frequent delays have had on the team.

"I think it's part of the industry, if you want high quality games," he said. Maybe, if you are making a sequel without much design innovation and without any real technical innovation -- you know, just a bunch of new content on board with a broadly existing engine with a broadly existing design -- you can have some degree of confidence in guessing your release date.

"Anyone that's doing what we were trying to do and guesses at the start of the project exactly when things are going to be done, well they are better at this job than I am. We can't do that while guaranteeing quality.

What impact did it have on the team? None negative. I think the team was happy that we were pursuing quality. They weren't done, and they could see they weren't finished and it wasn't right, so we were going to keep working on it until it was finished and it was right."

Nathan Drake and a rather evil super computer (and sometime potato) have topped the nominees for the 15^th annual Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) awards.

"Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception" led this year's nods with 12 nominations, while "Portal 2" got 10. Other multiple award nominees included "L.A. Noire" (with nine), "Batman: Arkham City," "Battlefield 3" and "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim," which all got six.

The awards, one of the more prestigious in the gaming industry, will be handed out on Feb 5 during the D.I.C.E. summit in Las Vegas in a ceremony hosted by actor Jay Mohr. CBS-owned gaming site GameSpot has been named as an exclusive partner and will stream the awards live online.

The complete list of nominees can be found after the break.

Kazuo Hirai, the one time leader of Sony’s PlayStation division and now Executive Deputy President, could have another promotion looming in the near future.

Japanese business paper Nikkei reports Hirai will be promoted to president as early as April. Sir Howard Stringer will remain chairman and CEO of the company.

Hirai has been on a fast track trajectory for the past few years and is the heir apparent to the top job at Sony. When Sony was under assault from hackers last year, Hirai was the public face of the company, with Stringer taking a background role and making little public comment.

The Sony board is remaining mum on the reports, saying it has not yet made a decision on whether to promote Hirai. 

Angry Birds gets most of the spotlight when it comes to big money apps, but Epic Games has got legitimate crowing rights as well.

Infinity Blade, the action swordplay franchise from Epic's ChAIR Entertainment division, has now topped $30 million in revenue – with the sequel taking in $5 million in just one month.

"The success of the Infinity Blade franchise is testament to our talented team who is devoted to making games we want to play, all while using Unreal Engine technology to redefine what is expected from games on iOS devices," said Epic Games president Mike Capps. "We have so much more in store for players, and will continue to make great content for Apple's evolving platforms."

The game offers some of the top graphics on the iPhone and iPad, using a modified version of the graphics engine that powers titles like Gears of War and Batman: Arkham City. Beyond the two titles in the app store, the franchise also includes a digital novella, a soundtrack and an arcade game.

When the clocks strike midnight, the rush will be on into EA's newest massively multiplayer online game – and the only title around that has any chance of giving "World of Warcraft" any sort of competition.

"Star Wars: The Old Republic," made by the company's Bioware Studios in conjunction with LucasArts lets players explore the rich universe 3,500 years before the Star Wars films occur in the timeline.

That gives lots of flexibility as far as story, but robs players of the chance to interact with favorite characters like Darth Vader and Han Solo. (Then again, seeing as a Sony-run MMO Star Wars game set in that universe just shut down for good, that's not necessarily a bad thing.)

The game's rumored to have cost over $135 million and it shows, with fully voiced characters and epic land and space combat. It will have a long climb to reach World of Warcraft's subscriber base of more than 10 million players, but pre-orders for the game have set an all-time EA record for a PC title – and if any franchise can pose a threat, it's Star Wars.

Social game maker Zynga's much anticipated debut on Wall St. didn't go quite as well as planned Friday.

The company finished the trading day at 9.50, 5 percent below its offering price – as investors, fearful of a new tech bubble, steered clear and analysts ripped the company on growth concerns.

Before shares even began trading, one of the gaming industry's more notable analysts – Sterne Agee's Arvind Bhatia – initiated coverage with an "sell" rating, citing the notable slowdown in the company's growth in recent months. And Cowen and Company's Doug Creutz gave the company a "neutral" rating in coverage today.

It's an ugly debut for the company, but not one that will negatively impact it. Founder Mark Pincus holds 70 times more voting power than all of the common stock that went up for sale today, so the performance of the stock has no impact on him (or the rest of Zynga, really). If the company tanks and investors call for his head, he can ignore them. If it soars to Google or Apple territory, he profits.

It's a true win-win – unless you're an investor.

As expected, social game maker Zynga will begin trading shares on Wall Street Friday, marking one of the video game industry's biggest public offerings in years.

The company has priced shares at $10 each, the high end of its expected range and will offer 100 million shares to investors. That puts the company valuation at about $7 billion.

That's a lot, but it's just half of where outside consultants estimated the company's worth to stand. Zynga chose to go low because of market turbulence. A recent slate of high profile tech IPOs haven't held up well since their splash debuts. Groupon is already below its IPO price – and Pandora, Zillow and LinkedIn are all well off their highs.

The company will raise about $1 billion through the stock offering, but CEO Mark Pincus will still be firmly in control of the company, thanks to the creation of a third class of stock.

Pincus would hold all of those shares, with each having 70 votes at shareholder meetings. (VC investors would get seven votes per share in their stock class, while folks who buy stock as part of the IPO will get just one vote per share.)