Jakks reports record sales, TV Games line of EA titles

Jakks Pacific, the maker of the plug-in-and-play TV Games products, announced record earnings for the second quarter as well as plans to release several classic EA Sports games in its TV Games product line.

The company's financial report noted that its income had increased to $9.9 million during the six-month period ending July 30, up 62 percent compared to the same time period last year. Stephen Berman, president of Jakks Pacific, attributed the success to the company's TV Games line--battery-powered devices shaped like classic game controllers that plug directly into players' televisions.

Hot on the heels of the company's celebratory financial statement, Jakks announced that it had secured rights to publish a TV Games line of sports games from Electronic Arts. Madden NFL '95 and NHL '95 are expected to launch this fall, with FIFA Soccer and Triple Play Baseball games not far behind. While the company did not disclose exactly which features will make the transition to the stand-alone versions of the games, it did reveal that the devices will let users save their games and play head-to-head against another player.

Electronic Arts is just the latest big-name publisher to enter into an agreement with Jakks. Atari, Namco, Midway, Capcom, and Activision TV Games products are currently available.