OMG EA is going after to get Take-two

[Stormeagle]

Ok guys and girls this cloud be very Fucking bad if this happens. I found this on gamespot

"After last year's surprise announcement that Vivendi would be merging its games business (including World of Warcraft creator Blizzard Entertainment) with Activision in a staggering deal worth $18.9 billion, Electronic Arts' position as the world's largest third-party publisher was in jeopardy. It appears EA wants that distinction locked up for itself, as the publisher today proposed another industry-shaking deal: the acquisition of Take-Two Interactive for roughly $2 billion.

EA revealed that in a letter sent last Tuesday by EA chief executive officer John Riccitiello to Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick, Riccitiello offered the all-cash deal, which is a 64 percent premium over Take-Two's most recent closing stock value on the day of the offer. However, Take-Two's board of directors declined the offer, according to EA, which led directly to today's announcement.

"Our strong preference is to conduct a private negotiation," the letter stated. "If you are unwilling to proceed on that basis, however, we may pursue other means, including the public disclosure of this letter, to bring our offer and the compelling value it represents to the attention of Take-Two's shareholders."

Riccitiello was proposing a different message in November, when in a presentation at the Reuters Media Summit he suggested that acquisition opportunities in the gaming industry were drying up. That was just days before the announcement of the Activision-Vivendi union.

If the proposed Take-Two takeover were to go through, it would give EA control of some hotly contested industry territory. First and foremost, EA would have control of Rockstar Games and its controversial and lucrative Grand Theft Auto franchise, significantly beefing up its slim roster of hit games rated M for Mature. In addition to that, the sports gaming market would see tremendous consolidation, as EA Sports and Take-Two's 2K Sports label have directly competed in the football, hockey, baseball, and basketball markets over the years. They each have their own new boxing franchise in development as well, with 2K's Prizefighter answering the bell against EA's Facebreaker.

Shortly after EA went public with the proposed deal, Take-Two explained its reasons for declining the offer, saying the publisher had undervalued its array of franchises and creative talent, and that it wouldn't be prudent to enter discussions of an acquisition so close to the April 29 launch of Grand Theft Auto IV. However, Take-Two executives left room for a deal to happen, saying they would be interested in beginning talks with EA starting April 30."

[WiizerFanboy]

Great, so now we can expect crappy yearly Grand Theft Autos. Not long before EA monopolizes gaming.

[Vamp [Bot]]

To be fair, EA has actually put out some decent games lately (or at least published them). Crysis, Orange Box, CnC3, Burnout Paradise...

This could lead to the total whoring of GTA and whatever other series TT publishes, but I think the worst that will happen is the total lack of competition in sports games. Who knows? Maybe having all the creative minds behind sports games under one roof could lead to some actual innovation in a genre known for having the same game remade every year.

[WiizerFanboy]

meh, I could care less about their damn sports games. I'm just glad they haven't whored out Battlefield over the years.

[BreakmanX]

2k sports is really the only company that makes good sports games. If EA buys them...

[Typheus]

EA aint gonna get shit...mang...

[jayt11]

Here's a solution: Dont buy EA. PERIOD. People blindly buy their bullshit sports series every year. Cats here say they hate them, but a lot of yah contributed to their big headed-ness.

[Typheus]

lol, I don't play sports games, so I'm good.

My dumbass roommate, Steve does, though. You should see him try to play Halo...not a pretty sight.

Ever see those demo people that demonstrate a game by playing it themselves and they really suck ass? He's 10x worse and can't even run and look at the same damn time. He has to like...alternate.

But, honestly, what the fuck do people see in sports games anymore? I mean isn't it the SAME DAMN THING every year with a slight upgrade in graphics?

I can understand if they did a complete overhaul every time, and then made it more like real life by having the player's arms a part of another cell so that he can do some weird things like grab the ball while it's behind a defender's head or something, but ffs.

[jayt11]

amen to Typheus.

Hello, and Smackdown/RAW?? New wrestlers, who ALL have the same moves.
2k8 College Hoops....same stuff as last year. What's the point of charging full price? Just make a roster update.

lol, I don't play sports games, so I'm good.

My dumbass roommate, Steve does, though. You should see him try to play Halo...not a pretty sight.

Ever see those demo people that demonstrate a game by playing it themselves and they really suck ass? He's 10x worse and can't even run and look at the same damn time. He has to like...alternate.

But, honestly, what the fuck do people see in sports games anymore? I mean isn't it the SAME DAMN THING every year with a slight upgrade in graphics?

I can understand if they did a complete overhaul every time, and then made it more like real life by having the player's arms a part of another cell so that he can do some weird things like grab the ball while it's behind a defender's head or something, but ffs.

[Vamp [Bot]]

People like having updated rosters and such, I guess. Until someone makes the Rock Band of football games, complete with transfinite expandability through DLC, you're going to see Madden 20XX ad nausium.

The real solution would be to buy the good games that EA makes/publishes. There's no reason not to buy CnC3; it's a fantastic game despite EA. If they see people buying games that are actually worth the plastic they're made of, they'll funnel more money into good games.

[Mericks]

lol, I don't play sports games, so I'm good.

My dumbass roommate, Steve does, though. You should see him try to play Halo...not a pretty sight.

Ever see those demo people that demonstrate a game by playing it themselves and they really suck ass? He's 10x worse and can't even run and look at the same damn time. He has to like...alternate.

But, honestly, what the fuck do people see in sports games anymore? I mean isn't it the SAME DAMN THING every year with a slight upgrade in graphics?

I can understand if they did a complete overhaul every time, and then made it more like real life by having the player's arms a part of another cell so that he can do some weird things like grab the ball while it's behind a defender's head or something, but ffs.

I was never really into sports games ever to begin with. Then again, I've always been different. And my dad's priorities were arranged as such:

sex > breathing > sports > daughter > lamp > son

So I suppose that my contribute to my hatred of breathing, sports, lamps, and my sister somewhat.

...What? Did I forget something?

<.<...ANYYYYYYYYWAAAAAAAY............

I'm TERRIBLE at FPSs (yet I still oh so ironically love playing them. At least the ones that don't copy and paste every damn thing. EVERY DAMN THING!!!!!!), but even I can manage to run and look at the same time. Hell, I can run, look, masturbate, drink soda, eat doritos, cook breakfast, build a birdhouse, AND play Starcraft all at the same time.

Unfortunately, while doing this, I can't shoot my gun in said FPS

[Jbrown]

lol, I don't play sports games, so I'm good.

My dumbass roommate, Steve does, though. You should see him try to play Halo...not a pretty sight.

Ever see those demo people that demonstrate a game by playing it themselves and they really suck ass? He's 10x worse and can't even run and look at the same damn time. He has to like...alternate.

But, honestly, what the fuck do people see in sports games anymore? I mean isn't it the SAME DAMN THING every year with a slight upgrade in graphics?

I can understand if they did a complete overhaul every time, and then made it more like real life by having the player's arms a part of another cell so that he can do some weird things like grab the ball while it's behind a defender's head or something, but ffs.

I was never really into sports games ever to begin with. Then again, I've always been different. And my dad's priorities were arranged as such:

sex > breathing > sports > daughter > lamp > son

So I suppose that my contribute to my hatred of breathing, sports, lamps, and my sister somewhat.

...What? Did I forget something?

<.<...ANYYYYYYYYWAAAAAAAY............

I'm TERRIBLE at FPSs (yet I still oh so ironically love playing them. At least the ones that don't copy and paste every damn thing. EVERY DAMN THING!!!!!!), but even I can manage to run and look at the same time. Hell, I can run, look, masturbate, drink soda, eat doritos, cook breakfast, build a birdhouse, AND play Starcraft all at the same time.

Unfortunately, while doing this, I can't shoot my gun in said FPS

I'd like to see all of that done at same time. Well, except for the masturbation.


Your dad likes lamps more than you?

[Mericks]

Funny thing is, I don't know if I was joking or not when I said that...

[mecha]

People seem to forget that EA has introduced a new company formula. The name is escaping me right now. Basically, EA is going to act as solely publisher with it's development teams (such as bioware, pandemic, etc) and give them compete creative freedom. I'm sure they would do the same with Rockstar.

The only thing that may scare people is 2K's sports franchises. But honestly, EA makes much better baseball games!

Damn, after extensive searching on the google, I still can't find it! Argh I know I read it somewhere.

[mecha]

Well I found it but I'm not seeing where they promised a new strategy, I must have read something else. Anyway you can read it here: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/08/dice- ... s-ea-blew/

When the CEO is admitting that they fucked up and killed off a lot of good developers that EA swallowed, that's a good sign that change is coming! Maybe?

I hope so...