Playing for dollars. (Wall Street West).

The researchers at Wedbush Morgan Securities have liked video game stocks for more than a year, and made some good calls on two local game software outfits, including Calabasas-based Activision Inc. and Santa Monica-based THQ Inc. Both stocks have more than doubled in the last year.

So it was not much of a surprise to learn that Calabasas-based TDK Mediactive Inc., traded on the OTC bulletin board, has retained Wedbush Morgan as financial adviser and investment banker. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but insiders say Wedbush Morgan will seek a cash infusion and relisting on the Nasdaq. Vincent Bitetti, TDK Mediactive's chief executive, said his firm has many new titles ready to launch for the holiday season, including a game called "Shrek," which is compatible with Microsoft's new Xbox game-playing hardware.

Though traded separately under the symbol TDKM, the video game outfit is part of Toyko based TDK Corp., an electronics goods and semiconductor manufacturer. TDK Mediactive is billed as part of TDK's efforts to move beyond hardware into software and content.

Contributing columnist Benjamin Mark Cole writes about the local investment community for the Los Angeles Business Journal. His new book is "The Pied Pipers of Wall Street: How Analysts Sell You Down the River," published by Bloomberg Press. He can be reached at [e-mail].