First they sent children’s drawings close to Father’s Day.

Then they sent a record right before Independence Day.

I assume 2K’s next BioShock 2 mailing will arrive, unmarked on… Labor Day?

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.

The company pointed to two other titles, NBA 2K9 and Carnival Games as leaders for the quarter, laying out its fiscal 2009 game plan. That includes two batches of Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable episodes due by October 31, 2009, one of which has already been announced and dated. The company boasted that more than 3 million games in the Carnival Games series have been shipped.

Take-Two list the PlayStation 3 as its biggest revenue generator on the publishing side, with 35% of the quarterly take. That beats out the Xbox 360, which brought in 28% of its publishing dollars, and the Wii, at 11%.

For the entire fiscal year, Take-Two brought in $1.5375 billion in revenue, with $97.1 million in net revenue. That’s much better than the company’s 2007, when it raked in $981.8 million, resulting in a loss of over $138 million.

Here’s a break-down of highlights and fun quotes, including one confirming the non-existence of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Wii:
*BioShock has shipped more than 2 million copies
*Carnival Games shipped more than 500,000 units since its debut in late August. 2K Play plans to bring the game to the DS in fiscal 08 and other platforms down the line.
*Take-Two doesn’t expect missing the October release date for GTA IV will hurt sales, just spread them out more.
*GTA IV has been rated in Australia, after the company sent the board there a reel showing off a “substantial part of the game”.
*GTA IV is still not coming to the Wii: “Right now I think, no disrespect meant for the platform, but there are other titles better suited for the Wii.”

That’s kinda weird, if you ask me. They didn’t have any problem bringing Manhunt to the Wii, so why not Grand Theft Auto. I know Manhunt was a PS2 game, but I can’t imagine that they can’t rework GTA IV for the Wii somehow. I suspect they didn’t expect the platform to be as popular as it has been. Come on Rockstar, I want to use my Remote to beat hookers.

“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.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Names Gary Dale Executive Vice President

New York, NY – December 10, 2007 – Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced that Gary Dale, previously Chief Operating Officer of the Company’s Rockstar Games label, has been named Executive Vice President of Take-Two. In his new role, Mr. Dale is focusing primarily on optimizing the Company’s sales and distribution activities, pursuing business development opportunities, and serving as corporate liaison with all of Take-Two’s publishing labels.

Mr. Dale had been COO of Rockstar Games since January 2007. He previously served as the European Managing Director of Capcom beginning in 2003. Mr. Dale has a long history of association with Take-Two. From 1994 to 1998, he was President of the Interactive Software and Video Division of BMG Entertainment until Take-Two acquired BMG Interactive in March 1998.

“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 organization. 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.”

“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]

Mike Hickey of Janco Partners responds that if EA’s going to be buying, they may very well snatch up Take-Two. “The most obvious potential acquisition in our view would be Take-Two Interactive”, he says, as the acquisition of Take-Two could “eliminate their most powerful competitor in the sports market, improve their overall sports portfolio product quality, allow entry into sports categories currently protected by exclusive licensing agreements (MLB), and with essentially the same cost structure.”

Having the Grand Theft Auto series under the umbrella wouldn’t be so bad, either.

Majority consensus is that EA will still continue to expand, but may looking to less expensive purchases, a move into Asia and a couple of new Borg cubes with with to expand their empire. Sorry, still have Star Trek on the brain.

EA’s Next Big Move: Take-Two? [GameDaily]

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.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Announces Preliminary Settlement of Consumer Class Action

New York, NY – November 8, 2007 – Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced the settlement of all consumer class action lawsuits pending in the United States against the Company and its subsidiary Rockstar Games, relating to a third-party program called the “Hot Coffee Modification” that could be used by consumers to alter the content of the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game. If the proposed settlement receives preliminary and final approval from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, all claims in these lawsuits will be dismissed without any admission of liability or wrongdoing by Take-Two or Rockstar.

Under the terms of the settlement, class members will be able to claim benefits if they swear that they: (a) bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas before July 20, 2005; (b) were offended and upset by the ability of consumers to modify and alter the game’s content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; (c ) would not have bought the game had they known that consumers could modify and alter the game’s content using the third-party Hot Coffee modification; and (d) would have returned the game, upon learning the game could be modified and altered, if they thought this possible. Settlement class members who attest to these facts may apply for benefits that range from an exchange of the game disk for an edited copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to a cash payment of up to $35 for consumers who submit detailed proofs of purchase.

The actual value of all cash payments under the settlement will depend on the number of class members that apply for benefits. Take-Two has committed to spend at least $1.025 million on settlement benefits, and the settlement generally caps the defendants’ out-of-pocket costs at no more than $2.75 million, in addition to the costs of providing notice to class members and paying a fee to plaintiffs’ counsel. The Company previously established a reserve sufficient to substantially cover the expected cost of the settlement and related expenses. The full settlement terms will be described in the parties’ Settlement Agreement, which the plaintiffs are expected to file with the Court in mid-November when they seek preliminary approval for the settlement.

“If the case had continued, we believe the court would have agreed that Take-Two was not liable for consumers acting independently to modify their games with third-party hardware and software to access normally inaccessible content,” said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two. “Nonetheless, we believe it is in the best interest of the Company to avoid protracted and costly litigation to prove our case and to finally put this matter behind us.”

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.

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]