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Electronic Arts Offers $2B For Take Two

Posted by kdawson on from the something-in-the-air dept.

quanticle writes "The New York Times is reporting that EA has offered $2B for Take Two Entertainment. The effort appears to be a move to consolidate the two companies before Take Two releases the next iteration of its blockbuster franchise, Grand Theft Auto 4. Take Two has politely declined the offer."

33 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Oh God no.... by Daimanta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Please don't let EA screw up another good game studio.

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    1. Re:Oh God no.... by Thane2600 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Word!!! Westwood studios being the prime example of a game studio run into the ground. And Battlefield 2 is like a supermodel dressed in a paper bag. I just love the ten minutes it takes to get into a BF2 server.

    2. Re:Oh God no.... by rustalot42684 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Or Maxis. The SimCity 4 Rush Hour expansion had a stupid thing where you could unlock buildings by doing "U-Drive it" missions or whatever, and now they've made some shitty "sim city societies" game that's not about building up and cities any more, and EA's to blame. Fucking assholes.

    3. Re:Oh God no.... by numbski · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Everyone's focused on GTA. How is everyone overlooking the fact that TT owns Visual Concepts - ie, the 2K Sports franchises? They would eliminate the only real competition they have in that arena, and Madden will continue to be the "best" football game out there.

      (ie, the only football game out there)

      --

      Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).

    4. Re:Oh God no.... by PocketPick · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Given the fact that in the last few months Take Two has been investigated by the SEC, ousted most of it's executives, laid off some of it's staff and has a stock value that is still 1/2 what it was in 2005, I don't think they need EA to screw themselves up.

    5. Re:Oh God no.... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You go back far enough, and you realize they also ate themselves. Remember when Electronic Arts meant Pinball Construction Set? Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Sim? M.U.L.E.? Archon? The creativity in Electronic Arts was once nothing short of amazing.

    6. Re:Oh God no.... by Mr_eX9 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Maxis may have gotten decapitated, but EA is still giving Will Wright their full support. We'll see the fruits of their labor when Spore finally comes out later this year.

      And the real test to whether or not EA is going to stop screwing up their acquisitions will be the fate of Pandemic/BioWare. The jury's still out on that one.

    7. Re:Oh God no.... by r_jensen11 · · Score: 2, Funny

      (ie, the only football game out there) Konami makes Pro Evolution/Winning Eleven, which is touted as the most realistic football game out there and has a very dedicated fanbase.

      Oh, you ment American football. Gotcha.... As far as I'm concerned, all video games for that sport went downhill after Tecmo Superbowl
    8. Re:Oh God no.... by Sinryc · · Score: 2, Interesting

      See, this is where people are wrong. No one will ever get tired of sports games any faster than people get tired of watching sporting events. Its really that simple. People have been saying that they would get tired of the sport games for the past 5 years or so, but it hasn't happened yet.

      --
      Yay, I have a sig.
    9. Re:Oh God no.... by asdfghjklqwertyuiop · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not to mention that SimCity 4 was basically unplayable without the expansion. You just didn't have the road types needed to handle traffic in high-density cities. It just reeked of your typical EA garbage where they get the game only partially done, sell it, then sell the finished product as an expansion. I won't be buying societies.

    10. Re:Oh God no.... by vranash · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually someone had mentioned it months ago in another article, but EA has been a publisher since the very beginning, most of the games people thought were amazing and innovative were only so because of the small time game companies that either convinces EA to publish them, or were courted by EA because they saw potential.

      Maybe that's what needs to happen more nowadays, publishers stick to what they're good at: publishing, and leave the game development to independent studios who then market it to publishers with whatever contract they can mutually agree upon (and this right here is why publishers wouldn't want that...)

  2. I guess EA will get frustrated... by syousef · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and in the spirit of GTA will start randomly shooting people, stealing cars and running people down, and picking fights with random street walkers.

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
    1. Re:I guess EA will get frustrated... by CSMatt · · Score: 5, Funny

      At which point Jack Thompson will cry out "I told you so!"

    2. Re:I guess EA will get frustrated... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

      Could we somehow rig it so Jack takes on EA on a battle to death?

      Whoever loses, we win.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. and of course, by notgm · · Score: 5, Funny

    in response to the offer, take two has blown up several cars outside EA's offices and triggered a turf war.

  4. In Related News by garett_spencley · · Score: 5, Funny

    Many Take Two shareholders are suing the company for acting outside of the best interest of it's share holders. Other shareholders have resorted to robbing Take Two employees' cars and using them to pick up hookers before taking their money and "disposing" of them.

  5. Take Two ~~ Yahoo? by Rinisari · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I wonder if Take Two's shareholders will sue the board now similarly to Yahoo's shareholders.

    --
    Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
  6. Aw... by Orleron · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and I was almost so psyched about getting to play a MMORPG where you can grind skills like "Steal Cars", "Shotgun", and "Pimp Ho's".

  7. Better headline by Pennidren · · Score: 5, Funny

    Take Two declines to Take Two Billion

  8. Politics and financial consequences. by palegray.net · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Given Hillary Clinton's ongoing fight to convince America that she's better at parenting our kids than we are, these sorts of buyouts may wind up being poor judgment calls should she somehow get elected...

    --
    512 MB RAM, 20 GB disk, 200 GB transfer, five datacenters. $19.95/month.
  9. Re:[Whispers] Buy Everything! by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's what I thought, way back when all these buyouts and mergers started happening in the 90's. Guess what? The big commercial entities (EA, Sierra, Ubisoft, etc) keep making "sequels" and innovators keep appearing with new stuff that sells well (before getting bought out before version 3, etc).

          I doubt very much we'll only every have the One Big Gaming company - games would suck so much people would eventually stop buying them.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  10. All Points Bulletin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    GTA and Crackdown creator runs down his contemporary-themed PC, 360 MMOG

    removing "the grind" [is] a top priority

  11. get ready for ... by cab15625 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    GTA 5: Drivers Ed!

    GTA 6: Parental Approval!

    GTA 7: Sunday Driver!

    GTA 8: Horse and Buggy!

    1. Re:get ready for ... by crossmr · · Score: 2

      oh please.. it takes them years to do a sequel, it just means GTA will have expansion packs and stuff packs. You'll be able to buy expansion packs that add new areas and missions to drive around in, and stuff packs will add new outfits, cars, and the guns will have new coloured triggers.

    2. Re:get ready for ... by Enonu · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Horse and Buggy, hmm, what about a grand theft auto (I know auto doesn't make sense here anymore), set in old western times? Riding with a gang of thieves to take down a stage coach full of gold on fast horses actually sounds pretty fun. The entire skill of quick shooting could be pretty interesting when paired with today's twichy mousers. The wild west in a video game?

      All of the old movies could be brought in. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The unforgiven. Sounds awesome.

  12. Phew by mark72005 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I read another article where an EA bigwig was dismayed by EA's consistently low ratings at metacritic and other sites. Seems like a transparent attempt to eliminate competition with their crappy sports games.

  13. REJECTED by Zaffo · · Score: 4, Informative
    The latest word is that Take-Two Interactive's Board of Directors has rejected EA's offer: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080224/20080224005068.html

    Take-Two's Board of Directors has thoroughly reviewed EA's unsolicited proposal with the assistance of its independent financial and legal advisors and concluded that the proposal is inadequate in multiple respects and not in the best interests of Take-Two's stockholders.
  14. You say that, but... by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    don't we all want more sequels after a sequel to a sequel which used to be an original game 10 years ago The simple fact of the matter is, that's what consumers seem to actually want. Look at the most anticipated games of 2008 (according to some writer at Yahoo, that is):

    http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/10-most-anticipated-games-of-2008/1177969

    Grand Theft Auto 4
    Smash Bros. Brawl
    Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
    Metal Gear Solid 4
    Halo Wars
    Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
    Fallout 3
    Spore
    World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
    Final Fantasy XIII

    Of that list, I see only one title based on a 100% new intellectual property: Spore. One guess who is publishing that title...

    Irony?

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    1. Re:You say that, but... by crhylove · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, those are actually good games. For every crappy rehash game I've gotten or tried out via torrent, I've played at least ONE somewhat abysmal original, or a game you've never heard of. It's not that 90% of sequels suck, it's that 90% of all games suck.

      Here is my obligatory list of games that still get played, and most of them are NOT new at all, sequel or otherwise:

      Mario Kart 64 (still the best)
      Mortal Kombat 4 (Great in Emulation), easy controls
      Civilization II (still much funner than civ 4)
      Urban Terror (this has replaced all other FPS games except:)
      Golden Eye 64 (people are ecstatic the second they see it on the big screen in high res).
      Super Mario World & All-Stars (SNES)
      Super Mario 64
      Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
      Flatout 2 (we like to hurl bodies through fire)
      Ocarina of Time (I got nieces and nephews that LOVE it, it's new to them!)
      Tetris (SNES version)
      Dr Mario (N64 version)
      Bust a Move (SNES version)
      Quake 2 Evolved (Sometimes I just put it on because it's pretty)
      Smash Brothers (I only have the n64 version, they seem to like it)
      Super Metroid
      Lego Star Wars (for the littlest guys)

      I honestly can't think of another game that gets played around here. I had Stepmania set up at one point, but nobody was that into it long term.

      I mean, when you zoom out a couple of decades plenty of GOOD games get completely left out of the mix. Of course, I will be first in line for the new Grand Theft Auto, though....

      --
      I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
    2. Re:You say that, but... by crhylove · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I recommend the now hard to find Mupen++ with the Rice Video plugin 6.1.0.0 and the high res textures off of emutalk.net. There is also a high res plugin that works even better called glide ++ or something like that. If you need further assistance, you can email me: rhy (that little a with the circle) leperkhanz (dot) com

      --
      I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
  15. Civilization V: Grand Theft War by Orion+Blastar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Finally George W. Bush is unlocked as an American leader, and the Fox News World Wonder is available, after it is built you can declare war on any nation with a Weapons of Mass Destruction claim even if they don't have any. It also allows you to remain in power even if your people find out the nation had no WMDs and it is draining your economy as well.

    Special units, Dick Cheney unit to form Haliburton corporation to get no-bid oil contracts on any nation you invade. Colin Powell unit to help ease opposition to the war with faked evidence for it. Condeliza Rice unit to get other civilizations to side with you on the war. Bill O'Reilly unit to keep your population happy even if they oppose the war.

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  16. Hostile Takeover by jagdish · · Score: 2, Informative

    EA will move in for hostile takeover. This is unrelated to GTA4. EA wants to eliminate 2K Sports.

  17. Re:Anticipation for original titles... by twistedsymphony · · Score: 2, Interesting
    You mean like... There are certainly others, but those are the names of game designers that, in the past, I've purchased, or at least taken a closer look at new games because their name was attached to it. I've seen interviews with these guys packaged in bonus CDs with the games and on game news sites, I see videos of them giving talks and presenting their new games at conventions, etc.

    There are a lot of creative names in game design. IMO if you aren't noticing the developers behind the games, it's only because you aren't paying attention.
    --
    Collector's Edition