The Select and Start News Report: 03.03.08
Posted by Vincent Chiucchi on 03.03.2008
This week's biggest news story was EA trying to buyout Take-Two. Is it going to happen? What do other companies and analysts think about this? And how the hell did Jack Thompson become a part of this story? All that plus Harrison is gone, SCi/Eidos cut back, and more.
Welcome to the Select and Start News Report. I'm not sure whether or not this would be considered a short news week or not, considering that there's only one item to really talk about. But it's a pretty huge item.
The Take-Two EA Buyout [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra, GameSpot, Joystiq, GamePolitics]
THE PROPOSAL
On Monday, it was announced that EA was attempting to acquire Take-Two and all their subsidiaries for an all-cash bid of $2 billion ($26 per share representing a premium of 64% over Take-Two's closing stock price on Feb.15). EA CEO John Riccitiello sent the proposal to Strauss Zelnick, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Take-Two, on February 19 and the Board has already rejected it. EA has also gone so far as to make a website discussing details of the deal. The site contains an open ltter from Riciitiello talking about how great this deal is for both parties and gamers, saying that Take-Two's future is uncertain with it's limited titles and can use EA's financial backing. EA are also highly interested in acquring Rockstar, the creators of Grand Theft Auto and Take-Two's most valuable franchise.
Take-Two has rejected the bid, saying the $2 billion undervalues Take-Two's stable of game franchises and that EA only wants to do this to cash in on the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 4. However, this does not mean that the buyout has been completely ruled out, as Take-Two is willing to have discussions on this deal AFTER the release of GTA 4. With that in mind, EA could be thinking of doing a hostile takeover of the company.
COMPANY AND ANALYST OPINIONS
As Activision were talking about how there was no way in hell they could ever compete against Blizzard's World of Warcraft (and luckily they're merging with the company that owns WoW), they talked a bit about EA trying to buyout Take-Two. Activision said that Take-Two didn't meet Activision's acquisition standards, including a "history of profitability, good management, proprietary technology or franchise, [and] history of multimillion-unit sellers".
Meanwhile, Ubisoft (partly owned by EA) could be speeding up plans to acquire more new licenses for the company. They have no plans on acquiring any developers or publishers of their own.
Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter thinks that Take-Two will eventually have to take the deal, saying that Take-Two only makes money with GTA. Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Wienkes believes that EA will attempt a hostile takeover if Take-Two keeps refusing. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson thinks that EA is actually overpaying for Take-Two, and the high price can only be justified if GTA 4 lives up to all the expectations.
OTHER NOTES
With all this buyout talk, Take-Two's stock went up to over $25 per share, an over 50% increase.
In a recent SEC filing, Take-Two claims that other companies are actually interested in buying the company. These "companies" have not been named nor have made any formal bids. The filing goes on to say that the company "has not engaged in any substantive discussions with any party (including EA) with respect to a business combination."
"Everyone's favorite lawyer", who claims to be a stareholder of Take-Two (so in essence, he's giving them money to make the games he hates) recently supported EA's purposal to buy out Take-Two and "evict the Zelnick Trojan Horse from within Take-Two's corporate walls." Even more stupid is that he in July 2005 he bashed EA for putting full frontal nudity in The Sims 2, which was about as true as Fox News' report on Mass Effect.
I guess that whole "no longer the biggest game company in America" thing really got to EA huh? EA has pretty much made it obvious that they want Rockstar and the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and who wouldn't really? Take-Two has been pretty much been banking on GTA 4 to help them get out the rut they've been in over the past couple years, and if it goes over as well as GTA 3 and it's spinoffs had, then Take-Two will be just fine. Aside from Rockstar and GTA, Take-Two also owns 2K Games, who make sports games to rival EA and BioShock. With the sports games EA will truly have a monopolystic hold of sports games, especially since they still got the NFL license for another 4 years, and BioShock looks to become another successful franchise, so there's two more reasons for EA to buyout Take-Two.
Overall though, I don't think EA is going to acquire Take-Two, and if they try to do it through a hostile takeover, Rockstar will take their GTA franchise and get the hell out of there.
PHIL HARRISON RESIGNED FROM SONY [credit: GameSpot, Gamasutra, GameDaily, CVG]
EA trying to buyout Take-Two wasn't the only surprise this week. Phil Harrison, president of SCE Worldwide Studios, has resigned from the company with no reason given, and Kaz Hirai will be filling in for him. Harrison has been with Sony since 1992, and since then has helped the PlayStation brand greatly with building strong relationships with game developers and publishers throughout the world. This is what Harrison had to say about the departure:
"The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far. I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can."
Though suspiciously, a week before this he mentioned how frustrated it was to see Sony Japan not interested at all in social gaming with games such as SingStar and Buzz, and to see Nintendo win with that strategy with the Wii.
Harrison was also a key figure for PS3's Home. SCEA however says Home, along with Phil's other projects, will go on without any problems. SCEA also announced new executive appointments, with Rob Dyer becoming senior vice president of publisher relations, Ian Jackson taking on the role of vice president of sales and Sally Buchanan being appointed as vice president of human resources.
Wow. So Harrison is gone and there's no info about he left? Cue the conspiracy theories! PS3 looks to have a bright future this year, but Harrison isn't going to become a part of it. It was nice knowing you Phil.
SCI/EIDOS LAYS OFF 25% OF WORKFORCE; 14 PROJECTS CANCELED [credit: Gamasutra, GameDaily]
With the latest financial results showing an £81.4 million loss in the six months to December 31st and a stock price falling greatly, SCi Entertainment is doing some serious restructuring. The first being that 14 of their projects that were deemed unlikely to make a good profit have been canceled. Their workforce has also been reduced to a maximum of 800 people, cutting 25% of it's staff. The company's structure will be changed from a centrally controlled development and publishing model to a studio-led business focusing on existing high profile franchises such as Tomb Raider, Hitman, Championship Manager and Deus Ex. Production services will be moved from London to Montreal, and a new division called "Eidos PLAY" will be formed for casual and new game media.
I've never cared for any of Eidos' games, and after the publicity disaster that was Kane and Lynch, probably never will.
Tidbit News
-Gamers in Europe are getting two new PS3 bundles. Both with have the 40GB PS3 with a Sixaxis controller and retail for ˆ399 ($600). One bundle with have Gran Turismo 5: Prolouge, while the other will have the movies Casino Royale, Spider-Man 3 and 300. These bundles are NOT making their way to North America, as Sony already has plans to do one with the 80GB PS3 and Metal Gear Solid 4. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-In case you were wondering, Capcom says M. Bison's evil organization is "Shadaloo". [credit: Joystiq]
-In musical downloading news, Rock Band is getting new Grateful Dead songs including "Casey Jones," "Sugar Magnolia," "Truckin'," "China Cat Sunflower," "Franklin's Tower," and "I Need a Miracle," and Guitar Hero III is getting a No Doubt pack featuring their songs "Don't Speak," "Excuse Me Mr.," and "Sunday Morning." [credit: GameSpot]
-Officials for the Game Developers Conference have announced that this year's show has set an attendance record of over 18,000 people, and that the 2009 will take place from March 23-27 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Disney Interactive Studios today announced that it is developing "Ultimate Band" for the DS and Wii. "Ultimate Band" is a rhythm-based game where you play instruments using the Wii controllers and the DS stylus. Disney promises some big names across several kinds of rock music, but has yet to name any. The games will be released during Holiday 2008. [credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra]
-Remember that Major League Eating game? It's heading to the Nintendo WiiWare as a launch title. [credit: Joystiq]
-Once again, two new Pokemon games have been announced and are on their way: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. Remember when you were actually able to capture all the damn bastards between two games, not six games and traveling to mall conventions? Good times. [credit: Gamespot]
-Iron Lore Entertainment, the company behind Titan Quest and it's expansion, has closed it's doors. The closure was attributed to "several unrelated events". Meanwhile, Data Design Interactive is still around making horrible games. Sometimes I curse this world we live in. [credit: GameDaily]
-You know that Discovery Channel show Deadliest Catch? It's going to have it's own Xbox 360 and PC game this April. Why do I have the feeling it's going to suck horribly? [credit: GameSpot]
-Sega announced that "Valkyria Chronicles" is under development. "Valkyria Chronicles" tactical RPG will feature real-time action sequences in a conflict between an Empire and Federation in an alternate Europe "reminiscent of 1930s." The game is built on the "CANVAS" engine, which will give the game 3D graphics that "resemble a watercolor painting in motion." [credit: GameDaily]
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King will be a launch title for the Nintendo WiiWare and will cost 1500 Wii Points ($15) to buy. [credit: Joystiq]
[credit: GameDaily, Gamasutra, Joystiq, Yahoo]
Remember a couple of weeks ago when Capcom filed suit against MKR Group just in case they would sue Capcom over Dead Rising being very similar to Dawn of the Dead? Well guess what: MKR Group is now suing Capcom over Dead Rising for copyright and trademark infringement. In MKR Group's complaint, "In both, the recreational activities of the zombies and absurdly grotesque 'kill scenes' provide unexpected comedic relief...both works provided thoughtful social commentary on the 'mall culture' zeitgeist, in addition to serving up a sizable portion of sensationalistic violence." Considering that Capcom has been preparing for this, I have a strong feeling they're going to win this lawsuit.
Another lawsuit going on this week is against Activision by shareholders for merging with Vivendi and giving Vivendi majority stake in the company, reducing Activision shareholders to an "unfavorable minority position". Hey EA, you better take note of this!
[credit: GamePolitics]
This week's idiot is Prof. Michael Hoechsmann of McGill University. When asked about Army of Two, this is what he said about the game industry:
The game industry is not doing us any favours by continually choosing subject matter and adventures that involve guns, violence and warfare. There is a tremendous lack of imagination on the part of the games industry. I think it's barbaric. I don't understand why there can't be a greater diversity of titles.
Greater diversity of titles? I can create a really long list of games that are diverse and don't contain guns, violence, warfare, or whatever stereotypical crap this professor automatically assumes all video games have. When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me. And when you make me an ass, I fucking hate you for it. So congrats Hoechsmann, you're the idiot of the week.
Gaming Calendar
March 4th
-Army of Two to be released
-God of war: Chains of Olympus to be released
March 9th - Super Smash Bros. Brawl to be released
March 11th
-Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates to be released
-Condemned 2 to be released
March 25th - FFVII: Crisis Core to be released
April 4th - Myst Online to be discontinued
NEW: April 20th - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games to be released
April 22nd - The World Ends With You to be released
April 25th - Grand Theft Auto IV to be released
May 12th - WiiWare Service to be launched
May 19th - Wii Fit to be released
May 2008
-Mass Effect gets ported to the PC
-R-Type Command to be released
NEW: -Haze to be released
June 3rd - Ninja Gaiden II to be released
NEW: June 12th - Metal Gear Solid 4 to be released
June 28-29 - Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational convention to be held
June 2008 - Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to be released
Spring 2008:
-Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms to be released
-Death Jr.: Root of Evil to be released
September 7th - Spore to be released
September 2008 - LittleBigPlanet to be released
October 3-5 - E for All 2008 to be held
October 9-13 - The Tokyo Game Show 2008 to be held
November 2008 - Gears of War 2 to be released
Fall 2008 - Resistance: Fall of Man 2 to be released
The Bible is worse then Grand Theft Auto
This week's passage comes from Genesis 4, which focuses on the brothers Cain and Abel. When presenting their sacrifices to God, Abel had the "firstlings of his flock" while Cain had fruit he grew out of the ground. God liked Abel's sacrifice better then Cain's, making Cain jealous. So what does Cain do?
4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Wow. Cain killed his own brother over jealousy? I should do that to my brother as well! That'll teach him for beating my high scores in Meteos! Man, that Bible sure is full of great stuff.
Looks like Hoechsmann is looking for his 15min in the spotlight now.
Posted By: TWilliams (Guest) on March 03, 2008 at 05:06 AM
EA needs to buy them out now if they're going to do it. Can't imagine what GTA IV will do to the stock price if it's the monster hit everyone thinks it will be.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on March 03, 2008 at 05:37 AM
Hahaha, they got rickroll'd
Posted By: swanson (Guest) on March 03, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Unfortunately, you never really could catch all the original Pokemon even between just Red and Blue...damn that Mew.
Posted By: Hunter (Guest) on March 03, 2008 at 03:06 PM
If EA keeps this up, what's to stop them from buying up Konami, to get MGS, then entering the console race themselves. They would have all the games people want to play. EA would tentatively own GTA, MGS, Madden, Burnout, Midnight club racing... hell if I had all those games that I could make exclusive, I would definitely build my own console that people would have to buy to play.
Posted By: Todd (Guest) on March 04, 2008 at 01:20 PM
