Though we've had all eyes on the acquisition arm-wrestle between Electronic Arts and Take-Two ever since EA's bid went public on February 25th, things could start getting yet more interesting from here on out. Recall that Take-Two Board chairman Strauss Zelnick's been stonewalling EA, refusing to even discuss a possible combination until April 30th, after GTA IV's release. Well, then now could be the time, right?

Early test reports are finding that Grand Theft Auto IV is only running at 630P on the PlayStation 3—falling short of hi def—while the game runs at 720P on the Xbox 360. Clearly, the PlayStation version must look worse, right? It's not that simple. But the basic explanation is easy enough to understand.

Electronic Arts reiterated this morning that its $US2 billion buyout offer for Take-Two is not based on the company's short term valuation, and neither is it affected by the performance of a certain single franchise (guess which?).

This won't be terribly useful to Americans or PS3 owners, but anyone in Europe looking to score a cheap imported copy of GTA IV (or anyone in Australia looking to score the uncensored American version) should know that the 360 version of the game's been region-locked by the publisher. I only point this out because, over the past twelve months, nearly every single major 360 release has been region-free, meaning Take-Two joins MTV (ie Rock Band) as two of the last publishers to still make the decision to restrict the international sale of their games.
GTA IV: Region locked [CVG]

This is by no means the most scientific of measurements, but GTA IV for both Xbox 360 and PS3 is currently being outsold on Amazon by Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and the Wii Wheel. Things to keep in mind: the Nintendo games are each single platform (effectively doubling their sales) and Wii Fit pre-orders may be more common than GTA IV pre-orders this close to GTA IV's launch (at this point, gamers may be more likely to just go to the store to get their Liberty City fix). Still, we didn't expect Wii Fit's pre-sale numbers to come out on top today on Amazon. At all.

Bestsellers in Video Games [Amazon]

As of press time today, Take-Two is worth more per share than Electronic Arts is offering to pay for it — at times approaching a whole dollar per share higher than EA's acquisition bid. Though Take-Two's been trading consistently at or above $26 since April 23rd, it's the highest the share price has been since that week in February when the buyout was initially announced.

Are you having a tough time sifting through the colon of your couch, searching for $60 in loose change to procure GTA IV? (Oh, and btw, half-eaten Cheetos aren't exchangeable for currency.) Thigns may look bleak, but you don't have it so bad. Because through the joys of an international economy, underage gamers in Denmark will have to spend a bit more to get their drugs/violence/sex fix of GTA. At EBGames listed prices of £63 for the Xbox 360 version and £57.75 for PS3 version, the cost of GTA IV in Denmark runs $140 and $125, respectively. At those prices, the game really might drive a few citizens to crime...though not in the way that most of us anticipated.

Denmark selling the most expensive copies of GTA IV in the world? [Videogaming247]

For those of you who enjoy waiting in line in the middle of the night to acquire a game that, we're just guessing here, will be in absolute ample supply with bajillions of printed copies, Best Buy has released their locations that will be opening for a midnight launch of Grand Theft Auto IV. We've pasted them after the jump, but be sure to call next week closer to the release as this information is subject to change. Oh, and don't forget about this deal, either.

Here it is, folks. Best Buy's (and probably Microsoft's) Grand Theft Auto IV savings kamehameha. Buy GTA IV along any version of the Xbox 360, and get a $50 gift card as a sweet bonus. If you've been one of those woulda, coulda, shoulda gamers still holding out on this generation of systems, it's probably not a bad time to make the leap. We'll keep our eyes peeled for similar deals like a PlayStation 3 equivalent offer...other than that bundle on the way to Europe.

Best Buy Ad [Bayimg via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

According to a 1UP writer posting on NeoGAF, the PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV will require a 5-minute install before playing. He adds that the PS3 version also features optional SIXAXIS control for the helicopter, boat and motorcycle which he proclaims as "pretty good." But while we'd like to get our hopes up over steering our hog through Liberty City, when has a SIXAXIS control scheme ever been "pretty good" enough to actually use for more than 2-3 minutes at a time? That's not to say our interest isn't piqued, but we take our precision boat jacking and bitch slapping very seriously around these parts. We have absolutely no margin for error.

NeoGAF Thread [NeoGAF via CVG]