We've heard that for its next blockbuster title Activision is planning to simply visit game reviewers at work, punch them in the kidneys, and then write the review for them.

P.J. McNealy, an analyst at American Technology Research, said Electronic Arts had suffered from a lack of blockbuster titles, but that the profit warning did not affect his longer-term outlook.

I loved this game, and even though I was 'told' it was a blockbuster title I never knew anyone else who had played it and got as deep into it as myself.

Employees have stated that the company does not plan to produce large, blockbuster titles, due to their belief that the pressure for high sales would stifle innovation.

The big blockbuster titles, sold aggressively on price, are already irrelevant to a shop like ours.

A: Over the last two years, there has hardly been, in the adult hardcover category, a major blockbuster title.

The more of that talent that we keep here and the more blockbuster titles that we keep coming out here, the better it will be for the country.

He said Nintendo had also suffered because more "consumers were buying the stripped-down version, which sells for $89.99" and because "we lacked a couple of blockbuster titles we hoped to get, but they weren't ready."

"They increasingly have a suicidal tendency to concentrate on blockbuster titles alone," said Eric Parkinson, the president of Hemdale Home Video, who participated in the poll.

But this time, no blockbuster title has been confirmed to be the catalyst for the change.