Like a washed up superstar, Grand Theft Auto IV continues to drop in NPD figures. This Axl Rose of video games came on strong and sputtered out into oblivion with barely a notice, leaving the spotlight and all hype behind it. This drastic fall may hurt any negotiations “behind closed doors” with Electronic Arts and their constant attempts to take over Take-Two.
Prior to the release of GTA IV we, in our gaming podcast, predicted a huge launch would up the anti against the bids on Take-Two from EA but things didn’t work out exactly as we expected. Although the game has sold 8.5-million units, it might not add any new bargaining power to the back door negotiations.
A game company is only as good as their games. A hit title which dies out quick helps financially guide the future of the company; technically the future isn’t so bright. With the title quickly falling off the top game sales charts we may never see it hit record sales figures to match that of smaller titles. Having one hot title every four years that “breaks records” for a week isn’t a strong weapon against a low bid from a larger publisher.
While EA may not have any record setting “one week” sales titles yet, they do have a consistently strong set of titles which stick on the charts for months with newer titles arriving to take their spot when they fade. The same can be said for a few other notable publishers, Activision and Ubisoft. To survive in the hot game industry, especially with market downturns, one must have a cycle of great games to publish throughout the year consistently year-over-year in order to provide evidence of their financial stability.
Assuming the bid won’t raise for GTA IV, where does that leave Take-Two? Perhaps Take-Two is better off under the umbrella of Electronic Arts after all. The waters are getting more hostile in the industry as companies compete for gamers attention with 100-million dollar titles and casual games and game consoles (read: Wii) start to build a whole new none-gamer-style momentum.
Is Take-Two better off under the EA brand?
@Planetside
Always wanted to play it but back then it had a ridiculous subscription fee. Once it went free to play Planetside 2 was out. And my laptop can’t run it. Sux to be a student. I just stick to Battlefied.
@Obama: unconstitutional lack of liberty in choice of educational subjects
When I was in Russia, we had to do IT in Year 8. Up until then I have never touched a computer in my entire life. They made me do HTML programming. I didn’t even know how to switch the thing on. Good times…
@Wii U-U-U??? Where are U?
I agree practically with everything said here. As a Wii U owner, I believe that the hardware has potential given it’s properly exploited. Which it isn’t. I am yet to play a game that properly uses the gamepad. And I can’t see anything in the pipeline (minus Monster Hunter Tri which is hardcore oriented). All of the games I see are “ultimate” editions of Xbox 360 games. Which I can buy for the Xbox for half the price.
@QOTW
I agree with Jordan. No point in having backwards compatible console if you keep your old consoles around. Just bumps up the price of the new consoles. Once new hardware comes out, old consoles crash in price so even if it breaks you can just replace it for a relatively small fee. Backwards compatibility is a neat feature if done right. I for one could not move my save games from Xbox to Xbox 360, meaning that I had no reason to play them on the 360. You can apparently do it on the Wii U although I am yet to try it.
@Obama: Games innovate technology, interest children in computer science
No. I think one should not make programming mandatory; a choice, yes. No, I don’t have any arguments to support my position.
On the other hand, school was always intended to shape kids into future labor force. A lot of labor is done in IT, so …
Jordan does make a good point. I wrote my first Basic program way before doing anything formal in school, out of necessity. Kids today do have exposure to the tool (computer). It now all boils down to identify a need that can be solved by writing a program.
@Rumor: Sony will use Gaikai to stream PS3 games in PS4
Hmm … short term gains ….
I’ve seen this strategy, applied to nation-wide economics. Didn’t turn out well.
@Wii U sold around 50,000 units in US in January
Make it easy for devs to make games for the platform. That’s the key. Microsoft figured it out. I’m not a hardware dev, but I figured it out.
If Paul is right, then the WiiU is in trouble.
@Take 2 confirms acquiring WWE license
I hope they didn’t have to pay too much on it … I only play those games on a SEGA Genesis emulator.
@How important is backwards compatibility to you?
Quite important, to be honest. I’m quite the nostalgic guy, so I want to be able to play older games. Heck, I would still fire up ye old Gradius for the NES. Using an emulator, unfortunately, my brother gave away the NES clone …