Despite still not being officially announced by Take-Two or Sony there is another PS3 bundle heading to our friends down under. The leak came courtesy of Harvey Norman. You can pre-order the bundle and it will set you back $749 (And I thought we in the UK were being ripped off). So if your still on the fence getting a PS3 could this push you over the edge?
Electronic Arts isn't done yet! Despite already extending it's "deadline" for Take-Two they have extended it once more, this is in response to Take-Two's rescheduling of the annual shareholder meeting. Take-Two now have until May 16th to decide on what to do. EA have also dropped their original price offer from $26 down to $25.74. View the full notice below:
EA Extends Take-Two Tender Offer Expiration Date to May 16, 2008
Offer Price is $25.74 per Share, Reflecting Additional Shares to be Issued by Take-TwoREDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. ("EA") (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that it has extended its tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock (including the associated preferred stock purchase rights) of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ("Take-Two") (NASDAQ:TTWO) to 11:59 p.m., EDT on May 16, 2008. The tender offer was previously set to expire at 11:59 p.m., EDT, on April 18, 2008. EA also amended its offer to reflect a price of $25.74 per share. The price takes into consideration additional shares to be issued to Zelnick Media following stockholder approval of the amendment to Take-Two's incentive stock plan at its 2008 annual stockholders meeting on April 17.
Valued at approximately $2 billion in cash, EA's aggregate consideration for Take-Two shares remains unchanged.
EA continues to believe that the offer price is full and fair, and that a transaction between Take-Two and EA is the most compelling combination financially, strategically and operationally for all parties.
As of 5:00 p.m., EDT, on April 17, 2008, 6,432,787 shares of Take-Two had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the tender offer.
Source: Kotaku
Kotaku has posted a very detailed overview of EA's bid to takeover, and it has some information that I didn't even know about. The problem is that it shows EA in a nicer light then it seems, but maybe that's what's going on, Riccitiello wants to help Take-Two, and maybe Strauss is being hostel in all of this.
Personally, I think EA just wants to takeover the GTA franchise and all the profits from this, but it doesn't matter what I think, read about it here.
Kotaku AU recently tracked down this quote posted on an Australian telecommunications news site.
Okay guys, I have some news for you regarding what was edited from the AU release. I just gave Take2 a call (a friggin expensive 1902 number!) and this is exactly what I was told:
"Well in regards to what Rockstar have removed for the Australian release, as far as we're aware there was only one sexually violent cut-scene which Rockstar felt would cause the game to be Refused Classification. Unfortunately we're not able to go into specifics until after the game has been released but I can tell you that the scene involves a weapon being inserted into an enemies private area during a mission where Niko is taking revenge after one of his close friends was forced into sexual intercourse during his stay in prison."
Seriously I thought he was joking ....I was like LOL you're joking right? He says "No. This is what Rockstar felt needed to be removed from the game for it's Australian release. We were recently given permission to release this information because as we understand, Rockstar originally made a press release stating that the game would be released uncut world wide. We felt it would be misleading not to release the information".
Interesting, reminds me of the 'manipulation of testicals using a weapon' scene that got Manhunt 2 in a lot of trouble originally. Please note that until Rockstar or Take-Two confirms something officially, this is still just a rumor.
Source: Kotaku AU
Media Morgue is saying that Rockstar and Take-Two are predicting to make $400 million in the opening week of Grand Theft Auto IV. They base this on what retail stores have ordered, and if it does reach $400 million it will be the largest revenue for any entertainment product (thats movie, game or otherwise) ever before. Which is in one word, "spectacular".
Microsoft's Halo 3 is the current record holder at $300 million in revenue in the first week from over 5 million sales of the game. However it's important to note that Halo 3 was on available on Xbox 360, where as Grand Theft Auto IV is available on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 giving it a larger audience.
We should have some sales stats at the end of the first week to see how it went.
Take-Two Interactive, who owns Rockstar Games, is in talks with Former EA President of Asian Online Gaming, Hubert Larenaudie, to become President of Take-Two Asia. Take-Two already has a strong holding in the Japanese market (Rockstar Japan anyone?), but they want to expand into the Asian market and create a "meaningful online game operation" while they are at it, with Hubert Larenaudie spearheading the campaign.
Hubert Larenaudie, who has worked with Vivendi Universal, to make World of Warcraft have the presence in Asia that it has now, and of course EA. He'll be working below Gary Dale at Take-Two's newly created office in Singapore.
"Hubert Larenaudie is an experienced senior executive who has successfully built or expanded Asia Pacific operations for prominent interactive entertainment and consumer goods companies," said Gary Dale. "His in-depth knowledge of the region; his skill in creating the right product development, distribution and marketing strategy for each local market; and his track record of driving growth will help Take-Two realize the tremendous opportunities in APAC."
Mr. Larenaudie added, "Many of Take-Two's franchises, such as Grand Theft Auto, Midnight Club, Sid Meier's Civilization, and BioShock are international hits, and already have attracted large and enthusiastic fan bases in markets such as Japan, South Korea and China. With the Company's portfolio of leading brands, growing sports business, extraordinary creative talent and global appeal, I see exciting potential to build a significant Asia Pacific business for Take-Two, with a particular emphasis on the online game segment of the market."
The main points for Take-Two is:
- expanding distribution in the Asia Pacific (APAC) for the Company's interactive entertainment products.
- developing a strong presence in Japan.
- and establishing a meaningful online game operation, especially in China and Korea.
What does this mean for Take-Two? Are they bringing out the GTA MMO? Maybe even creating their own WoW clone?
Source: Kotaku
Take-Two has announced that their next Stockholders Meeting will be available as a live webcast. It will only be an audio version, not video of the meeting and will not count as attendance (for those who are stockholders, legally you must be present for it to count). The meeting will be being held at the W Hotel Union Square in New York City.
Due to limitations on space, only stockholders who have proof of ownership will be allowed into the meeting. So remember your records!
Obviously the main point of the meeting will be the Electronics Arts bid and ongoing happenings between both Take-Two and EA. Two of the strongest stockholders, Oppenheimer Funds and FMR LLC both cut their holding in the company dramatically in late March showing disagreement with Take-Two's decision of not accepting EA's bid. Another topic may be Grand Theft Auto IV and it's release at the end of this month.
The Annual Stockholder Meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. EST on April 17th, the webcast will be accessible via ir.take2games.com.
Thanks Escapist Magazine.
Next-Gen.biz 
has posted an 8 page look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, it's affect on Rockstar Games and most importantly how co-founder Sam Houser feels about the series. Mr. Houser hasn't given an interview for a few years, so this was surprising.
"In part one of this expansive two-part look into the making of one of gaming's biggest franchises, Edge talks to Rockstar Games president Sam Houser and finds out how the most important game series of the last ten years came into being and how GTA IV will take the story to a new level."
I won't ruin the article for you, it's a great read so we suggest you read it for yourself at Next-Gen.biz. If you need a reason, just look at the fact Sam Houser doesn't give many interviews, and with that comes lots of thoughts and opinions by the man himself that show us exactly what he is aiming for with Grand Theft Auto IV and future games by Rockstar.
Related: Next-Gen.biz: 'GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE INSIDE STORY'
In addition you may also be interested in Next-Gen.biz: 'THE MAKING OF GRAND THEFT AUTO IV' which is the talked about 'part 2' of the interview, it also looks briefly into the History of GTA, but mostly into GTA4's technology and surprises.
Electronic Arts (EA) CEO, John Riccitiello, has stated that Rockstar is the “primary interest” in EA's bid to acquire Take-Two. This clears the speculation of the bid being based around the 2K Sports label which produces very popular sporting games. However, Mr. Riccitiello stated that 2K Sports is the “secondary consideration” or secondary interest of the bid.
The situation has been very good for Take-Two's stock as an altercation of the bid, as you can see by the chart below it spiked around the time of the bid and has been on a steady rise since.
The question of whether this deal is right or not it still floating around and still unanswered, everyone has a different opinion and really the deal could go either way. The stock holders are obviously enlighten by the bid and seem to be for it at the moment, but will it be a good move?
Our opinion; If the deal goes ahead Rockstar should split into their own parent company, really they are already set to do that. With all their studios, it's like they a parent already, but the risks and extra work that would be involved may be the down-fall of that idea. At the end of the day I guess, ourselves, we'd rather see Take-Two stay the way it is, but the way people are talking it seems like that may not be the case.
