It will be a very merry Christmas at the Rigopulos and Egozy households this year as the two Harmonix founders are about to have a December to remember — read: a new Lexus for the wife with obligatory gargantuan bow. In addition to rumoured Jelly of the Month Club memberships, Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy have been paid a $US150 million bonus for "exceeding performance targets" last quarter with Rock Band series.

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Rock Band's new in-game store was introduced for two reasons. One was to make things easier for you as a shopper. The other, more important (for MTV/Harmonix) reason was to make sure you just buy more damn songs. Which seems to have worked a treat, because Viacom have announced that ten million Rock Band songs have now been downloaded, up four million from March 20. Which was only a month-and-a-half ago! They also report that they've sold three million copies of the game itself, which when you consider the vast majority of those would have been bundle sales, is a number that must have the accounts types at Viacom, MTV and Harmonix tickled seven shades of pink.
Rock Band Ships 3 Million; 10 Million Songs Downloaded [GameDaily]

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Rock Band has been very, very good to MTV parent company Viacom, who announced that first quarter profits rose 33% based mainly off the sales of the sales of the title, along with higher advertising revenue at MTV Networks. The media conglomerate also enjoyed a revenue increase of 15% for the period, surpassing analyst expectations at $US 3.1 billion. Between having one of the hottest games on the market and their Iron Man movie opening this weekend (saw it last night, and it was amazing!), it's not hard to imagine Viacom's executive chairman Sumner Redstone rocking out to Blue Oyster Cult in celebration, as the Reuters article suggests. What is hard is trying to wipe the mental picture from your head. Thanks a bunch, Reuters.

Viacom rocks with Rock Band [Reuters]
Photo by Lester Cohen of WireImage

Gibson's first lawsuit against Activision was stupid enough, but subsequent filings against retailers and now Harmonix and MTV show they're clearly suffering from a particularly acute case of STUPID LAWSUIT FEVER. Harmonix are having none of it, and have issued a statement claiming Gibson's suit is "completely without merit".

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Thanks to the immense success of Rock Band, Harmonix has received a $US 208.7 million bonus in "performance based earnouts" from MTV Games and parent company Viacom. According to Viacom's most recent financial statement, Harmonix was set to receive a bonus in the event of exceeding the expectations of MTV Games. The condition was a part of MTV Games' acquisition agreement with Harmonix back in 2006. Since MTV Games payed $US 175 million for Harmonix, I'm thinking that they've definitely made their money's worth on both sides of the deal.

Harmonix Earns $US 208.7 Million Bonus From Viacom [Gamasutra]

That rumour yesterday about media giants Viacom swooping for troubled publishing house Take-Two? Most likely bogus. Both Reuters and Variety are pouring cold water on the suggestion, with Variety's Ben Fritz reiterating something we heard a lot of yesterday: if Viacom were going to go for a publisher, it wouldn't be one as costly and cumbersome as Take-Two. It'd be Midway, who are equally vulnerable, and who Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone happens to have a controlling stake in. That and his daughter, Shari Redstone, is chairman (chairlady?) of Midway.
Viacom's not making a bid for Take Two [Variety]

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Beleaguered publisher Take-Two haven't had the best few years. Indeed, things have got so bad for the company in these post-Hot Coffee days that the past year or so have seen a metric fuckton of rumours pop up suggesting the company will be swallowed up and bought out. As of today, none have come to pass, and they're still flying solo. But the latest - that Viacom are interested in the company - holds a lot of water. For one, Viacom are looking at getting into the gaming business. Secondly, Take-Two's big-selling properties are original IP, not licensed movie or sports stuff, so there'd be no problems with rival companies for rights. And finally, because Take-Two shareholders are becoming increasingly impatient as they wait for the company to reverse its fortunes.
Viacom looking at Take Two Interactive? [Notable Calls, via GI.biz]

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An advertising and content sharing deal between Microsoft and Viacom, valued at some half-billion dollars, could bring even more Paramount, MTV and Comedy Central content to the Xbox Live Marketplace, including the MTV show Cribs, which could qualify as a rare win-win-win. Specifics on the "broad selection" of shows and movies that will be licensed as part of the deal weren't given but Live Marketplace already enjoys plenty of content from MTV, MTV2, VH1, Comedy Central, Spike and other Viacom brands. That content could increase to include the as-yet unavailable via Marketplace housing program Cribs. Yes, Cribs.

While major portions of the deal won't directly impact Xbox 360 owners, as if also includes shared advertising revenues and content for MSN, the prospect of increased Cribs access is too enticing to not report on. I can only hope this alliance will bring the criminally overlooked TV Funhouse to the available Comedy Central list of available programs.

Microsoft, Viacom Ink $500 Mil Ad Deal [CNN/Money]