HOLIDAYS CONTINUE FOR THQ.

Byline: Jason Z. Cohen  Staff Writer

CALABASAS - Investors bid up shares of THQ Inc. on Friday after the company said the 1999 holiday season was its best ever.

Shares of the Calabasas-based company, which makes video games, gained $2 to $25.50, an increase of 8.5 percent on heavy trading of 914,000 shares.

THQ's announcement is in stark contrast to industry leader Electronic Arts, which suffered from poor sales of its titles for the Nintendo 64 game console.

Electronic Arts lost 16 percent of its value in one December day after an analyst lowered his earnings estimate for the company as a result of the lackluster sales of its Nintendo 64 line.

In addition to its holiday sales projection, THQ on Friday also released its list of titles for the coming year.

The offering crosses every major platform, including Sega's new Dreamcast, Sony's PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PC, Mac and Game Boy Color  as well as a variety of online games.

THQ Chief Executive Brian Farrell said in a statement that the company's ``WWF WrestleMania 2000'' for the Nintendo 64, which has been sold out in many locations, will be back on retail shelves in mid-January.

The company said it plans to release new titles under its World Wrestling Federation, Rugrats, MTV Sports and Ricky Carmichael licenses and create new lines, including the role-playing game ``Summoner'' and the car chase game ``Felony Pursuit.''

Together with Malibu-based Jakks Pacific, with which it shares the World Wrestling Federation license, THQ plans to release an online wrestling game in the spring, the company said.