Take Two's Board Ousted by Shareholders

Some would view it as vaguely ironic that, on the same day that the GTA IV trailer makes its debut, the Take-Two board is finally ousted in the culmination of a nasty inter-corporate feud. CNN's Chris Morris reports on the latest development in the company's saga: "The accounting and ethical quagmires that have bogged down the company for the past few years are likely to disappear. And Take-Two will almost certainly become a leaner company, shedding divisions and canceling games ... The arrival of a new board may also ratchet down the public scrutiny of the company a few notches - but that respite from the spotlight's glare might not last as long as they would like. You see, the thing that makes this game maker different from the rest of the industry is its rebellious streak. It's something that drives opponents insane and causes mass migraines in the boardroom, but without it, Take-Two wouldn't be the force it is today."

Comments

Re:Inter vs. Intra

[Anonymous Coward]

The think the "inter-corporate" part refers to the fact that OppenheimerFunds, which if I'm remembering correctly owns something like 46% of TT's stock, hatched the plot to replace the Board. The new Board then immediately fired several executives.

Rebellious?

[MikeRT]

Look, I'm generally very anti-authority as can be proved by sheer volume of criticism I have written that is critical of our government. However a game that glorifies criminality the way that Grand Theft Auto games do is not rebellious in the "good way," it's rebellious in a sociopathic sort of way. You have to be detached from reality to believe that it is healthy catharsis to play a game where you commit wanton crime against your fellow man; it's not the sort of violent catharsis you get in most first person shooters.

Re:Rebellious?

[amuro98]

But shows like The Sopranos and Prison Break are OK because they don't glofify crimes or violence against an otherwise law-abiding society?

Not to mention our continual worship of and fascination with real-life, violent criminals ranging from Billy The Kid to Al Capone.

The most normal, law-abiding citizen is going to ocassionally fantasize about being "evil", or taking a baseball bat to their neighbor's face after he played movies on his surround sound system so loudly, that your floor was vibrating until 3am. The difference is that the normal, mature adult will put aside these impulses and deal with the problem in a more constructive manner.

Even writers admit that they enjoy writing for the villian more than for the hero as it gives them an opportunity to explore those dark impulses in a harmless and constructive fashion.

So long as such dalliances into the darker side of human nature remain fantasy, there's no harm. In fact, I'd say they're a healthy way to channel your aggressions and stress from accumulated from day-to-day living. After all, you really can't go around smashing things up in real-life, but in a video game? Feel free to go nuts! Bad drive home? Pop in some Burnout, go looking for that #*!)%# blue car that cut you off today so you can send him flying into the path of that oncoming semi-truck.