take 2
News
Wish I Had A Record Player
8:00AM Stephen Totilo | Unmarked package arrived today, continuing the BioShock 2 marketing campaign. Too bad my brother’s record players are inaccessible to me until the weekend. More »
Take-Two Takes $15 Million Loss For The Quarter, Half-Billion Sales Increase For Year
8:00AM Michael McWhertor | Sales were up at Take-Two Interactive, thanks to sales of games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Midnight Club: Los Angeles, but the publisher saw losses also increase to the tune of $15 million. More »
News
GTA IV Still Not Coming to the Wii, Carnival Going Everywhere
12:08PM Brian Crecente | This evening’s Take-Two Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2007 Results Conference Call wasn’t exactly a Queens of the Stone Age concert, I know shocking right? There were some marginally interesting tidbits that floated out of the stream of fiscal data. Here’s a break-down of highlights and fun quotes, including one confirming the non-existence of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Wii: More »
News
Rockstar Head Ascends to Take-Two Throne
3:00AM Brian Crecente | Gary Dale, formerly the Chief Operating Officer of Rockstar Games, has been promoted to the executive vice president of Take-Two. In his new role he will be “optimising the company’s sales and distribution activities, pursuing business development opportunities and serving as corporate liaison with all of Take-Two’s publishing labels”. “Gary’s depth of experience in the interactive entertainment industry and his long-time association with our Company make him an excellent choice to take on this new corporate Executive VP position,” said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two. “As part of our emphasis on driving profitable growth, we are asking Gary to spearhead our efforts to explore opportunities in emerging areas such as online gaming and casual games, and in promising regions such as Asia/Pacific and Latin America, while also helping to enhance the performance of our sales organisation. As corporate liaison to our Rockstar, 2K Games, 2K Sports and 2K Play labels, Gary also will use his expertise to ensure that we take a coordinated approach to building and growing our businesses.” Sounds like someone’s given Dale the reins to the company, but still no word on a Gary Dale trading card. More »
News
Pachter – Rockstar May Split From Take Two
1:41PM Mike Fahey | Wedbush Morgan analyst always seems like such a mundane title when dealing with the master of video game precognisance that is Michael Pachter. Speaking with Shacknews, the Pachtman puts forth the possibility that Rockstar Games founders Sam and Dan Houser could very well slip from under Take-Two Interactive’s wing once their contracts come up in February 2009, much like Bungie jumped from Microsoft. It all comes down to money. “I don’t think that this is an issue of dissatisfaction with Take-Two; rather, I think it is rational to believe that in the wake of the $US 850 million Pandemic/BioWare deal, high quality developers like Bungie and [Rockstar] North would look to test their market value” How much do you think a company like Microsoft or Sony would be willing to pay to secure Rockstar’s exclusive service? How much would you pay? What if we threw in the magic of Pancake Puffs? Pachter: GTA Dev Rockstar North May Eventually ‘Pull a Bungie,’ Split from Take-Two [Shacknews] More »
News
What If EA Bought Take-Two?
12:48PM Michael McWhertor | GameDaily tests the raw mental computing power of four top industry analysts today, gathering their collective thoughts on the possible purchase of Take-Two Interactive by mega-publisher EA. It wasn’t that long ago that EA boss John Riccitiello implied that big industry mergers were on their way out, following the company’s own acquisition of Bioware/Pandemic. But with the Activision Blizzard deal still piping hot fresh on industry watcher brains, one has to wonder: will EA snap up another? More »
“Hot Coffee” Suit Settlement May Cost Take-Two $US 2.75 Mil
10:51AM Michael McWhertor | Take-Two Interactive just issued a release featuring details on the preliminary settlement of the consumer class action lawsuit filed against it and Rockstar Games over the “sexually explicit” content in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That content, unlockable via the “Hot Coffee” mod, caused the game to be re-rated by the ESRB, pulled from store shelves, and acted as the grounds for a suit filed in July of 2005 claiming violation of consumer protection laws. The lawsuit against Take-Two is still pending, but should the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York agree to the settlement, claims against the company will be dismissed “without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by Take-Two or Rockstar.” The publisher says that it will pay out between $US 1.025 million and $US 2.75 million in settlement benefits, which range from an edited copy of GTA: San Andreas to a cash payment up to $US 35 for those who can provide proof of purchase of the game from before July 20, 2005. There are, of course, stipulations to the proposed settlement, the details of which are in the full press release below. More »
Civilization: Revolution, Sid Gets His Hands Dirty
1:00PM Logan Booker | According to an email Q&A I just received from Take 2, Sid Meier is going all out on the console adaptation of his epic series.
Sid Meier is very much involved. It’s a little known fact that he only developed Civilization 1 by himself, the next iterations had different Lead Designers. This is the first Civ since Civ1 where Sid Meier is in charge of the design and coding himself.
I wouldn’t say it’s a “little known fact” that Sid crafted the original Civ by his lonesome. All I’m hoping is that he hasn’t been out of the game, as it were, for too long.
If you missed it yesterday, I had a chance last week to play a preview build of Civilization: Revolution. More » Jack Thompson Vs Halo 3
10:03AM Logan Booker | Yes, you read that right. Jack Thompson, attorney at, uh, law, is at it again. This time round, his sights are set on Microsoft’s recently released Halo 3.
According to the GamePolitics.com story, Thompson believes Halo 3 is a public nuisance. GP goes on to rightly point out the neither Halo 3, or its retailers, are engaged in prostitution or gambling, making his case somewhat shaky on those grounds. But that’s not the worst of it.
More troubling by far are the long term implications of this action. Thompson apparently feels emboldened to invoke Florida’s public nuisance law against any video game he desires to target. That is the essence of censorship and the video game industry cannot allow it to continue on any number of grounds – legal, moral or creative.
Who will stand against this man? Take 2 has had a go of it… is there anyone else?
Jack Thompson Seeks to Have Halo 3 Declared a Public Nuisance in Florida [GamePolitics.com] More » 
