Battle of the Mega Powers: EA Wants Take-Two

We’re already looking at the results of an Activision Vivendi union and now Electronic Arts is slowly working towards taking over Take-Two. Activision Blizzard is larger than that of EA but would the Take-Two buy-out grow EA into the number one publisher once again?

For gamers, it’s changing the map of the industry. We grew up with many of these seemingly big companies but their all clamoring together to make the next big mega-power. While they struggle for ultimate domination we, the gamers, are going to either benefit from the competition or become victims, or perhaps a little of both.

Let’s assume EA and Take-Two form one entity, similar to the the Destructicons forming “Devastator,” they can reign hell upon the earth and anyone under their mighty fist shall perish! That might be a bit of an exaggeration but it’s safe to assume they’ll wield mighty power, more than ever before and their epic foe will be Activision Blizzard and, perhaps, Ubisoft. In a battle for sales and consumer acceptance the companies will be willing to out do each other at every step with huge funds at their disposal.

As a consumer, competition is a great way to produce innovation, technological advancements and excitement in the industry. These giant development houses are only this large because we’ve given them our hard earned money in return for entertaining video game titles. World of Warcraft is a major player in sucking money from our wallets in a consistent, addictive, manner while Guitar Hero explores new possibilities in music and rhythm gaming and controller accessories.

Electronic Arts and Take-Two would have to combine and push ground breaking changes in all their game franchises to compete. Grand Theft Auto must top their already huge, or, perhaps, release smaller games on the DS. Their sports franchises will go unhindered into the night as the best and only solution to your football desires. John Riccitiello, EA’s CEO, has already acknowledge the lack of excitement and creativity from the EA game library and plans to change it by expanding new intellectual properties and, recently, added a few “small” purchases to their list including BioWare and Pandemic.

While Activision has found a fairly new niche with Guitar Hero we’re waiting to see if EA can respond with their casual games division or with some other secret projects to entangle both gamers and non-gamers. In many ways, this is a bright side to the mergers and acquisitions because we’re all getting something new and creative as talent and ownership changes hands.

Unfortunately, large companies like this can help destroy any chance of small uprisings of new studios by purchasing all the shelve space in retail outlets as part of their ongoing power struggle to be number one. They’ll be able to relax on franchises that have been flat-lining over the years, we may see no progress in the Madden series when Take-Two cannot compete at all in the space while under the wing of EA.

Indy developers will find it harder to compete with block buster titles because game engines are all being taken “in house” by the larger firms because they’ve got so many internal development studios they will need consistent proprietary game engines to hold their edge against their mega competitors. This leaves the indy companies with huge licensing expenses from a larger firm or going with a lighter less stable alternative. A few rise to the occassion like GarageGames to relieve some of the pressure, but how long before they’re bought up?

Perhaps smaller studios with great tools will rise to meet the demands of the Indy developers but they may fall under the mighty dollar if an EA or Activision Blizzard buys them out to “steal” the technology for themselves (or stop others from gaining unwanted advantages.) These large companies will fight tooth and nail so they can gloat positive trends to their share holders and make deals with the devil to push stock value through the roof.

These large studios will be looking to improve year-over-year profits and value to keep growing in the industry. It will not be about the game anymore, but about the dollar. Of course, the managment structures behind the companies will have to hold up and work well together to avoid becoming the next Sierra.

You can only be a mega power for so long before something changes your future. Randy Savage never saw it coming when Hulk Hogan ruined their alliance with three massive leg drops.

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Exclusive Artist Deals In Rhythm Games Not Good?Exclusive Artist Deals In Rhythm Games Not Good?

Rhythm games are the new FPS for a lot of gamers, a broader audience of gamers, and the market is thriving and demanding new titles. Harmonix and Activision are at the front of the battle with Konami following a bit behind but still contending (we think) very soon.

Each company plans to up each other with cooler instruments, tighter controls and new in-game options and multi-player fancies. It’s a business and each competitor tries to gain a lead by whatever means needed to win… or do they?

Harmonix stops short when it comes to purchasing exclusive rights to music artists, for now at least. Harmonix’s Eric Brosious went on blogger record saying, “We prefer not to sign exclusive deals with artists because while it seems like the competitive “business” thing to do, in the long run, it’s really not good for anyone. We think we should be working to get more music out to more people.” (kotaku)

As Marky Mark once said, we need “Music for the people” not for in-game exclusives making us choose between Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles. We’ve seen what EA has done to the football franchise by taking control of the NFL roster, money talks and the best game doesn’t always win.

If Activision decides to buy up a ton of great exclusive content and you’re a rock band gamer, you’ll lose out in a ton of great content. For some gamers, that might mean losing out in some artists you’ve never heard before which also means the artist loses out in new fans. We’ve seen younger gamers fall in love with the sounds of Boston and The Police, bands famous way before the birth of many of the Rock Band fan base.

You can tell Harmonix is a development group with roots in music while Activision is a development group with their roots in business. While exclusive access brings you an advantage, in terms of broadening the culture of music, it does very little. Harmonix may be in the right but will that matter in the end when business deals hit the table?

p.s. sorry about the Marky Mark reference, but it had to be done. Bringing out a bit of my own childhood there…

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The racing slots are perfect for a player who wants fun, fast and adrenaline filled action. The racing theme can cover a variety of things, from professional tournaments to illegal street racing. The following are some of the best racing themed slots available to play.

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