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The rich and poor gap can be a quite interesting subject, especially when talking about gaming companies. Why gaming companies? You weren't expecting a story about the rich and poor people of the World, weren't you? That would be rather depressing, and pointless, because we, the little pawns, we can't really change anything(as long as you're not Bill Gates...but he's already doing A LOT to help those in need), so Disney vs Koei sounds much better, don't you agree?

As Panasonic is firing no less than 15,000 people(about 5% of its workforce), Japanese publisher Koei is showing us record sales numbers - JPY 163 million (USD 1.83m) up, to JPY 20.1 billion (USD 225.2m) for the period ended December 31, and an operating profit of JPY 4.5 billion (USD 50.4m), an increase of JPY 968 million (USD 10.85m), when comparing these new numbers to the ones from the same period of 2007!

On the other hand, Disney revealed a year-on-year loss of no less than USD 45 million for its Interactive Media division, formed by Disney Interactive Studios(the gaming branch) and Disney Online, the provider of online services such as web design and MMOs. According to Robert Iger, Disney's president and CEO, "We faced a challenging first quarter with many of our businesses impacted to various degrees by the economic downturn. We are forcefully confronting current circumstance while investing in the great creativity, brands and assets that are Disney's strengths and keys to its long-term success."

Anyway, the above doesn't really mean Disney is going down, since the overall revenues went down 8 percent, to a value of USD 9.5 billion, while net income dropped 32 percent, to USD 845 million. Well, as long as we're talking about positive numbers, they should be happy with it and do what we all should do - try to work harder and come up with better products than the competition.

I hope you have some singer/actor you can't stand. Maybe even a neighbour, it doesn't really matter who is this person, as long as you can direct all your anger on its virtual image. Just think about punching some heads and enjoying it, without having to go down to the station and spend time telling the cops how and why did you do it! That's exactly what Ready 2 Rumble Revolution is all about - unleashing your fury(at least that's how I see it) - so let's get ready to rumble, shall we?

I hope you enjoyed the movie here, because the game will be much better than kicking your neighbour around, and the reason is obvious - in real life, as I was saying, if you want to unleash your fury, the consequences can be pretty nasty for you, no matter if you win the fight or not, but hear this - you get to kick somebody's ass. OK, fine, I have no problem with that, but will you ever be able to send them flying a few meters away with a single punch? I guess not, as long as you're not fighting mice...

OK, OK, I guess I may get too enthusiastic here. No problem, here's the standard mumbo-jumbo, then:

"General Features

- A roster of 18 wildly caricatured cartoony boxers, all parodies of celebrities from the worlds of sports, music and movies who enter the ring as larger-than-life "Rumble-ized" versions of themselves. Players will step right up and see if they can knock these super-sized egos down a peg or two!
- Hosted by "The Voice of the Champions" Michael Buffer, famous for his "Let's Get Ready to Rumble" trademark call.
- Characters are brought to life with hilarious moves, detailed facial animations, damage textures and fighting techniques including special moves, combos, extreme knockdowns and special "Rumble" combos.
- An all new Championship Mode lets gamers create their own unique boxer and nurture his skills through mini-games, developing him as a fighter and creating a completely personalized Ready 2 Rumble Revolution experience.
- Delivers a fun and intuitive experience in either single player or multiplayer mode.
- The Wii controllers provide would-be pugilists with an intuitive and realistic feel. Using the Nunchuk controller as one glove and the Wii Remote controller as the other, players dodge, weave and throw the big punches to KO their opponents."

Now, getting back to the neighbor you hate - invite him to a match! Ready 2 Rumble allows 2 versus mode on the same console, so I just gave you the best solution to your problems! I know, this won't take away the crisis, but at least you can blame your opponents for all bad things in the world, and have the time of your life! So... what do you think? Are you ready for this challenge, or not?

I hope you're having a pleasant crisis, because I do. In fact, I get a lot of work to do these days, and as many bills to pay as usual, so I don't actually feel any economic cooldown, apart from the ever-rising prices. Anyway, we're not going to talk about the crisis now, because there's something even more interesting - the games of the week!

To be more specific, this is all about the game releases of the week - at least what we know, since it always can happen to see some last-minute delays. What would be this world if everything would occur exactly when expected? A lot of boredom, I know...

OK, here's the list:

PC
Burnout Paradise: Ultimate Box

Nintendo DS
My World, My Way
My English Coach: Para Hispanoparlantes

Wii
Tenchu Shadow Assassin
Rygar: The Battle of Argus

Xbox 360
none!?!?!

Since Burnout Paradise should learn EA a lot about racing games on the PC, I hardly wait to get it myself. After all, better one Paradise instead of 3 needs for speed, don't you think?

I know, this may not be that much for the games of the week, but you should remember we're talking about a crisis, so... as I always said, such rough times are very useful, because the strongest always survive, and the really good, small ones, who will be taken by the waves, will always be revived a bit later. I hope that doesn't sound too cryptic. Anyway, if it does, you'll understand it all by the end of this decade, at least that's what I hope to see happening...