Let it be known that I have ventured no further into BioShock 2's first-person guns-and-superpowers multiplayer modes than its playable lobby. Such are the limits of preview builds that playing an online multiplayer session requires coordination with a game publisher that can be compromised by the flu, vacations and other stuff.

But here's the shock: Even just stepping into the lobby it seems that, well, maybe this multiplayer mode can serve as a prequel to the first BioShock. (To slightly-latecomers, the single-player part of BioShock 2 is a sequel to the first game , previewed on this site earlier this week. Also, please note I have no visuals to illustrate what I'm about to describe. The screenshot up top is from single-player.)

The BioShock 2 multiplayer mode begins with a choice. The player needs to choose one of several citizens of Rapture to be. I chose football player Danny Wilkins, though I apologize for not remembering the details of his written profile. I've yet to figure out if you can change your character, as I wasn't able to back out to a character-selection screen.

To start playing my multiplayer experience, I chose a menu option called "Prologue." This triggered a cutscene that put me in an apartment in BioShock's undersea former Utopia, Rapture. From a first-person perspective, my character picked himself off the floor, a dripping syringe of blue liquid near him. On Wilkins' black and white TV screen, Rapture leader Andrew Ryan was making an address to all citizen, celebrating the turning of the calendar from 1958 to 1959. "Andrew Ryan offers you a toast, to Rapture, 1959... May it be our finest year!"

Ryan was wrong, fans know. Rapture endures civil war in the year that follows. That's the content you apparently play in multiplayer.

The apartment, which presumably belongs to my character, is a 3D space like any other room in BioShock's campaign. Amid the decor were a desk and chairs, a working stereo, and a recording machine that played back a message welcoming me into the Sinclair Solutions rewards program. Sinclair Solutions makes the Plasmid super-powers available in the series. I/Wilkins was being selected to test some of the company's "home defense products in the field." Test them well and I'd be eligible for company rewards.

Standard options that you would expect in a multiplayer set-up menu screen were rendered as elements of Wilkins' apartment. At my closet, I could change my outfit and melee weapon. I had my football hero put on a goat mask and wield a football trophy as his weapon. At a Gene Bank device on the wall, I could configure and save up to three weapons load-outs. For my guns, I chose a revolver and shotgun. For my Plasmid powers, I went with Electro Bolt and Incinerate, leaving Winter Blast behind. Other weapons and Plasmids were locked, presumably accessible only when my character levels up (make that: only when my character earns more Sinclair Solutions customer appreciation rewards.)

But before I could even make all my wardrobe and weapons selections, an audio alert played, informing me that there was trouble and people should return to the safety of their homes. Yeah, right. I assumed that was my cue to gear up for multiplayer battle. To do that I'd need to leave the apartment. Before I did so, however, a tape recorder caught my eye. It was sitting on a coffee table. I activated it and discovered that it contained audio messages from all of the playable characters. Each character had one unlocked and two locked monologues. The locked audio clips had messages next to them, explaining which level my character would have to achieve to hear each one. The levels required were different for each clip, meaning that players will be steadily unlocking a new one bit by bit as they level up in multiplayer, until all of the monologues are available in full. Wilkins' first one was all about how he told a young football player that the way to be as great a player as he was is to recognize that, the way Danny Wilkins spells it, there is an I in team. It's no wonder this guy made it to the Objectivist, individualist paradise-to-be of Rapture.

I couldn't get more information out of this lobby/apartment.

To progress I'd have to leave and step into the Bathysphere, located down a hallway containing a bucket catching ceiling leaks. In that Bathysphere, I'd be able to select a multiplayer mode of play — Survival of the Fittest, Civil War, Capture the Sister, Turf War or Team ADAM Grab — and proceed with traditional online multiplayer matchmaking.

I can't say, therefore, whether actually playing multiplayer advances the story and makes the mode feel like a prequel that has narrative to it. I can say, though, that the apartment will be able to serve as a means for telling some story and revealing some lore. That's already more than I expected. It gets me thinking that, as with BioShock 2's single-player mode, I may have been too hasty in assuming such limited potential in the storytelling ability of the series' multiplayer offering.

In many ways 2009 was like most for sports games - every major team sports title put out a new version; Madden sold a ton for EA Sports; cover athletes were leaked and/or announced; titles such as EA Sports' FIFA and NHL followed their own strong traditions, while ones like THQ's UFC Undisputed broke new ground. Kotaku's roundup of 2009 is not of the routine stories however, but the ones that had the most lasting impact on this year, and should into next year, too. We invite you to continue the discussion in our comments.

The Race is Over for NASCAR
In early February, EA Sports announces there will be no sequel to NASCAR 09, ending a series going back under various names to 1998. The title's biggest problems were in the franchise's poor sales and limited growth potential. Later, EA Sports boss Peter Moore reveals that the NASCAR development team has been repurposed to its upcoming EA Sports MMA, and the publisher has no plans to restart the racing franchise.

Lawsuits Threaten College Titles' Realism
In May, former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller files a class-action lawsuit alleging that the NCAA and EA Sports use and/or profit from the use of college athlete's likenesses in video games, without their permission. Keller's complaint points to the two-faced nature of the college sports authority, which requires its athletes' adherence to strict amateur codes while reaping millions off, in effect, their labor. But compensating Keller, or any other athlete, for the use of their likenesses while they are still in school would render them ineligible. Keller's suit points out how easily identifiable he and other players are in the NCAA games - indeed a cottage industry has cropped up to rename roster files, which are disseminated via the EA Sports Locker feature in both its football and basketball titles. Later in the year, former UCLA standout Ed O'Bannon also sues on the same grounds, but said he would use the suit to create a trust fund that could compensate players after they graduate, to preserve the value of the products in which they appear without violating their rights or eligibility. Neither suit has yet gone to trial, but NCAA Football and Basketball without realistic rosters would seriously damage both titles.

Mixed Martial Arts: The Sport of the Future
UFC 2009 Undisputed by THQ debuts in May and is immediately that month's biggest seller, helping put a gold star over mixed martial arts as the newest it-franchise for sports gaming. Although THQ has the UFC license for foreseeable future, rumors that EA Sports has eyes for the sport come true at E3 2009, when EA Sports MMA is announced. Voluble UFC boss Dana White unleashes invective at EA, saying the publisher years before had told his outfit, "You're not a real sport," and "EA doesn't give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts." White also warns fighters they "won't be in the UFC," if they sign on to EA Sports MMA. EA Sports boss Peter Moore doesn't respond directly to White, but says he's backed MMA in video games going back to 2000 on the Dreamcast. Meanwhile, EA Sports MMA signs names such as Fedor Emelianeko, Randy Couture, Jason Miller and, ultimately inks a deal with MMA promotion house Strikeforce. Word spreads that UFC 2010 Undisputed is due in May - and EA Sports declines comment on a rumor that EA Sports MMA won't be out until September.

Trash Talk on the Court
NBA 2K10 is again the consensus leader among pro basketball titles, but NBA Live 10 is a significant improvement over previous years' lackluster offerings. This year, it becomes easily the most competitive, and heated, rivalry among published sports titles. It gets personal when EA Sports is praised for putting out a comprehensive patch that it says was built with community feedback. A representative of 2K Sports, in a post later taken down, goes into a forum to question whether such a patch could have been built and passed certification so quickly - which implies EA Sports began work in advance of the game's release and knew it was shipping substandard code. The NBA Live team returns fire on its blog with a wave of screenshots showing people offering NBA 2K10 for sale on Craigslist, insulting its quality, and pledging allegiance to NBA Live.

Catch a Tiger with Tail
Golf superstar Tiger Woods' failure to keep it in his pants is the subject of a hilarious machinima re-enactment from China, but as the scandal wears on it starts getting less funny and starts costing more money. As Woods' major corporate sponsors such as Accenture and Gatorade begin dropping him or scaling back his appearances, the question is put to EA Sports, which has the golfer at the front of both its console golf title and an upcoming free-to-play online version. At first EA Sports stands by its man, but later issues a second statement that, reading between the lines, is a little more qualified in its support. Woods is taking an indefinite leave from the PGA Tour heading into 2010, and it becomes clear that as long as he is away from the course, EA Sports will face these questions.

Iced Hockey
Not a poor game, but not exceptional in its later years, the consensus still places 2K Sports' NHL franchise a distant second to EA Sports' NHL in 2009, and that seems to be enough for the Take-Two leadership. In December, the game is conspicuously left off a corporate filing that announces upcoming dates and platforms for other sports titles in 2010. Asked if NHL 2K has been canceled, a 2K Sports spokesman replies only that no plans have been made for that property, which is taken as a "yes," by most. Furthermore, the same listing shows NBA 2K10 - by far 2K Sports' best team property - as "TBA" for the platforms to which it will release. This likely means the end of that series' brief Wii experiment.

Baseball Been Bery, Bery Bad to Take-Two
This was a terrible year for horsehide under the 2K Sports brand. MLB 2K9 wasn't just a regression from the series' previous offering, it went out the door with a staggering number of glitches in the product. Terrible graphics and even comical player faces also contributed to the savage reviews it received. Spinoff titles like The Bigs 2 and Front Office Manager, concocted to help offset what one analyst thinks is the $40 million paid for MLB exclusive licensing back in 2005, failed to sell according to expectations. In December, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick singles out the company's baseball franchise for blame when the company announces it will miss earnings projections. Two weeks later, Take-Two announces a $137.9 million loss for the fiscal year.

The company announced today that it was selling off its distribution company to SYNNEX for $43.25 million, putting all of its eggs into the publishing business basket going forward. Take-Two expects more than a quarter billion drop in estimated revenues for the year, a $120 million reduction in the first quarter alone.

That's a big drop. So, why would Take-Two do such a thing?

Publisher CEO Ben Feder says the sale "is consistent with our stated intention to focus our resources on our core business strategy - delivering globally the most innovative and creative interactive entertainment products."

Take-Two purchased Jack of All Games in 1998. The sale of the distribution arm to Synnex will mean a "small" loss for the publisher, with yearly revenue dropping from an expected $1.0-1.2 billion to $710-910 million.

Lop the boss battle off of the original BioShock and the 2007 game would seem to be just about perfect. It was a novel dive into a failed Objectivist utopia called Rapture. It was a philosophical exploration of free will played as a first-person shooter designed to accommodate a player's tactical ingenuity. It introduced one of the great and weird new relationships in video games, the life-force/Adam-draining Little Sisters and their monstrously powerful protectors, the Big Daddys.

And aside from that final boss battle, BioShock ended well enough that nothing could improve it, not the addition of a 2 at the end of the title, not the tacking on of multiplayer and certainly not the opening title screen that credits twice as many studios for the sequel (four, none of which are the series' founding studio, 2K Boston).

I have, however, returned to Rapture, with the help of 2K Marin, 2K Australia, 2K China and Digital Extremes. I have played BioShock 2's single player campaign through its prologue and first full level, and I am both impressed and pleased. Dare I write this, but the new game has improved elements of the first.

BioShock 2, in its preview form, does not start with the elegance and magic of the first game. There is no scene-setting plane crash, swim through sinking, blazing wreckage nor an elevator ride down to an Art Deco paradise gone wrong on the sea floor. There is instead an abrupt awakening, a look into a reflecting pool that confirms, that, yes, I will be playing this game as a Big Daddy. And then, swiftly, there's combat. It is less artful, and it continued my worry, though that worry would soon end.

Jarring though the beginning of BioShock 2 may be, it is more with the gradual awakened clearing of the eyes that Rapture is revealed as a better-looking place this time. Outside the windows, the sea is now blue instead of green, its waters more clear and the sea-life around it more abundant and vivid. Graphical improvements are, I remembered as I began playing, a reasonable expectation even in the successor to something that was so good.

I'll stay light on story spoilers, and instead reveal the mood. Rapture is still a wreck, still one with wrecked lives in it. The city feels changed. Sofia Lamb, a psychiatrist brought in by BioShock's Andrew Ryan, is now a worshipped leader and apparently our nemesis within radio contact. On the attack, she sends splicers and the well-publicized Big Sister, a stalking seemingly invincible foe that leaps and springs through levels, only to be beaten back temporarily as was so many times the dark Samus in the sequel to Metroid Prime. There are friends within radio contact, but most of the character that emerges in the new game appears to do so in the same successful manner as it did in the first: From, literally, the writing on the walls of Rapture, from discarded radio logs, from the posture of corpses that reveal failed dreams and failed struggles.

Rapture as a place of wonder and as a trigger of player curiosity is back, successfully.

In the early going, being a Big Daddy feels different only in armament. On our right arm is a drill, a better melee weapon than a wrench. Soon, we earn well-animated guns, like a rivet gun and a 50-cal. Machine gun. On the left hand we earn plasmids, some of the same early ones as in the first game: Electric shocks and fire. New is the ability to dual-wield, which leads to the discovery of the shock/stun-and-shoot left-right combo. Even more useful is a hacking tool which can even, with the help of a rare type of dart, hack from afar. I played many fights from a distance, shooting a hacking needle into a turret and then hacking it so it would kill the enemies for me. Hacking, by the way, is no longer a puzzle game of pipes but a reflex test of well-timed button presses, like a gaming golf swing.

What's so winning in BioShock 2 is that, as it refrains early on from re-writing the rules of the first game, it instead amplifies that original's best aspects. It doesn't just look better or explore more of Rapture's interesting world, but it recognizes what played best in the first and does more of it.

There were two things that had played so well in the first BioShock.

The first, was the original game's linear sequences, passageways through Rapture's sights and sounds that allowed the player to absorb the history of the place and its people. This is best executed early in the sequel in an area called Ryan's Amusements, which is a theme park and museum that reintroduces and elaborates on Rapture's history, Ryan's philosophy and, as much of the place is defaced, on the views of those who rebelled against Ryan shortly before the first game began. Walking through this place makes evident the genius and madness of Rapture.

The second gameplay achievement in the first game was the dynamism of its combat, the offering to the player of numerous direct and indirect ways to fight. This was a key element, utilized when attempting to take down a Big Daddy. Players could fill a room with explosive traps, plan to electrify water when a Big Daddy might rush through it, and then begin shooting. The new game makes these tactics all the more available, thanks to the ability to hack from afar and with projectile-based trap ammo. The game requires this kind of play when a player prepares to take down a Big Daddy. It also requires it of them when the alert sounds that Big Sister is coming in for an attack. And, in a twist, it forces this kind of planned combat when a player has taken their own Little Sister to a corpse full of Adam energy. Placing her next to the body is prelude to setting the room up to defend against Splicer attack. Give her the signal to begin and they swarm. You have to keep her safe until she drains the energy. Then you can decide whether she is rescued or harvested. These types of planned offensive and defensive combat work so well, the designers of the new game clearly relishing the opportunity to let the player strategize and orchestrate organized chaos.

Earlier demos and hype for BioShock 2 showed off the ability to walk outside on the sea floor, and much has been made of the game's placement 10 years later in the timeline from the first. I did indeed walk on the sea floor in the new game, and while it was a beautiful sight, the sequence lasted too briefly for me to recognize any significant gameplay change it introduces. The plot is mostly still a mystery to me now, as it is intentionally unclear just why and how the player's Big Daddy, one of the original line, has been revived nor how some of the supporting characters who appear really relate to each other.

I started playing BioShock 2 worried that the inspired execution of the first BioShock would consign a sequel to being a pale imitation. It seems, though, that I had underestimated the room for technical improvement and gameplay refinement. I see little sign of re-invention and a lot of signs of love and polish. That love could smother, that fealty to the past could still render this game as superfluous. But in the early going, I am happily immersed in Rapture again, joyfully mystified as to what its inhabitants are up to, pleased with the way it plays and wanting to play more.

In an SEC filing, Icahn declared his ownership of more than nine million shares, worth $70.6 million, and included his opinion that Take-Two's shares are "undervalued," which means he wants to talk to the company's leadership about turning that around, and 11 percent is clout enough to have that conversation.

Michael Pachter, the Wedbush analyst frequently quoted by the gaming press, told Gamasutra his firm thinks Icahn "intends to force the company to consider a sale." Pachter also pointed out that Icahn and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick are on the Blockbuster board of directors.

From the filing, it appears Icahn's stake in Take-Two appeared to jump significantly in the past two weeks, when the publisher first announced it would fall short of its own guidance on fiscal earnings.
Activist Investor Icahn Boosts Take-Two Stake [Gamasutra]

The list did mention MLB 2K10 and NBA 2K11, so we know this isn't just a sports thing. Comments from 2K Sports do little to swat away speculation that NHL 2K, which has long finished a distant second to EA Sports' NHL franchise, is done.

"We are currently in the process of evaluating our sports portfolio and have not announced any new NHL titles at this time," 2K Sports' Bryan Lam told me.

Interestingly, I see that NBA 2K11 is the only title listed as "TBA" for the platforms it will appear on. It did a full-ginsberg last year - PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS2, PSP and, for the first time, on the Wii. The TBA might mean one version is getting axed and if so, my money's on the Wii, where sports sims haven't done well at all. Asked if that was the case, Lam told me, "We have yet to announce any information on NBA 2K11."

NHL 2K Omission May Be Sign of Cancellation [Pasta Padre]

"Both we and [Xbox-maker] Microsoft believe there was a big market for GTA IV episodic content," company CEO Ben Feder said during a call with investors on Thursday. "And some factors have affected their performance. Both were released significantly after the core unit … GTA IV, which was launched in April of 2008 and therefore weren't able to leverage GTA IV's initial marketing campaign and initial launch fervor."

The Rockstar-developed episodes, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, were released in February and October of 2009, respectively. Each cost 1600 points, or $20, at launch, and each included single-player campaigns that lasted more than a dozen hours, along with multiplayer and side content.

Take-Two and Rockstar also released the episodes in October on a standalone disc entitled Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City. Sales figures have not been publicly announced for the Xbox-only disc, though Wedbush Morgan Securities analysts Michael Pachter recently pegged the sales for the disc in its first month on the market at around 100,000 units in the U.S., a far cry from the millions of copies sold of GTA IV.

"Episodes From Liberty City seems to have been most appealing to those who have finished GTA IV and wanted more story and gameplay," Feder said. "Which is a smaller market than initially expected.
Despite the dour analysis, Feder did praise the episodes' critical acclaim and said they were "profitable contributors to the company, so we're pleased with them."

He said he thinks the episodes will do fine long-term. "There's very little precedent for this type of episodic content at the price point that we offered it. And so we're confident that these titles will continue to have a long life, just as we've seen a long life from all of our other prior GTA releases."

The purpose of the call was to announce Take Two's financial performance in the final quarter of its 2009 fiscal year, ending on Halloween. For that quarter, the company reported a revenue loss of $22 million off of earnings of $343 million. More than half of the company's revenue came from the Xbox 360, compared to a little over a fifth for the PlayStation 3 and five percent for the Wii.

For gamers, the highlight may have been the announcement that Borderlands has sold more than two million copies. In a press release accompanying the money news, Take Two affirmed the game's future, using the word "franchise" that usually suggests sequels are coming: "Borderlands from 2K Games has now sold over 2 million units worldwide and has established itself as a key franchise for Take-Two, for which the Company has long-term publishing rights." (They've been saying this a lot.)

The publisher has 33 games in development, chief financial officer Lainie Goldstein said, compared to about 36 in the past year. Her count would include both announced games such as the widely-publicized BioShock 2 and Max Payne 3 as well as lower-profile but significant developments such as a version of Civilization tailored for Facebook and Spec Ops: The Line, which debuted during the Spike Video Game Awards this past weekend. Goldstein said on the call that Take Two had unannounced "smaller titles" planned for its next fiscal year, ending on Halloween 2010 as well as an unannounced title for the August-October quarter. She gave no indication as to what that unannounced game would be, though her placement of it outside the "smaller titles" context and within the quarter Take Two often releases its biggest games raises the chance she was talking about a major game.

Company chairman Strauss Zelnick dodged a question about when the next Grand Theft Auto would be released, saying the publisher has not announced any new iterations. He also shot down an analyst's suggestion that Take Two should skip making baseball games next year in order to stop the $30-35-million losses projected due to the company's contract with Major League Baseball. "The projected losses are significant," he said. "W'ere taking them seriously... they wouldn't be further mitigated by not putting out a release."

The EA chart was shown at an investor's conference, designed to appeal to people who EA hopes will think positively of the company's stock, which is labeled as ERTS. So they show off unusual stats, as you can see above, such as the number of games delayed or not delayed. That sends the message that: You can trust our company to deliver on its promises when we say we will.

That's sort of interesting, but how about this idea that EA puts out the most good games? The chart you see above was created by EA and pulls from Metacritic, the aggregator site that pulls review scores mostly from gaming outlets that publish review scores (i.e not Kotaku). EA had gone into the site and counted up the games released between January 1 and November 30, 2009 that scored an 80 average or more. The evidence points to EA not only improving quality year over year — I haven't met a gamer who would deny that — and now leading in quality — which is more controversial.

Shall we check that?

The Beatles: Rock Band (92)
Dragon Age: Origins (91)
FIFA 10 (91)
Left 4 Dead 2 (90)
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box (89)
Skate 2 (89)
NHL 10 (88)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (88)
Fight Night Round 4 (87)
Boom Blox Bash Party (86)
The Sims 3 (86)
Madden NFL 10 (85)
Tetris (85)
Battlefield 1943 (84)
Need for Speed Shift (84)
Brutal Legend (83)
NCAA Football 10 (83)
Dead Space Extraction (82)
Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure (82)
Mirror's Edge PC (81)
The Sims 3 World Adventures (81)
EA Sports Active (81)
EA Sports More Active Workouts (81)
Left 4 Dead Crash Course (80)
NBA Live 10 (81)

I can see why EA didn't count some of the above 25 in its chart. In fact, I can get to their 19 easily. Let's knock out six listings: 1) Mirror's Edge PC, because it's a port of a 2008 game 2) Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box (compilation of an '08 game), 3) The Sims 3 World Adventures and 4) EA Sports More Active Workouts (which both expand and somewhat require ownership of their earlier edition or edition's peripherals), 5) Left 4 Dead Crash Course DLC and... Well, 6) could go one of two ways. We could not count Rock Band, which EA distributes but doesn't publish, or we could not count the PSP Minis release of Tetris.

This is a hefty amount of 80+ games. If we average the full 25, we get this: EA's average 80+ metascore is 85.20. Let's not count six games. We'll include Rock Band but not Tetris. Then we get 85.95. It goes down only to 85.58 if I use Tetris and not Rock Band.

[UPDATE: I originally used the 360 Dragon Age metascore of 86 but have since updated the math above using its PC score of 91. Seemed only fair given PC was its lead platform. I've gone through this post and updated all listings to reflect the highest score given to any PC or console version of these games.]

Let's see if EA counted its competitors correctly.

Modern Warfare 2 (94)
Guitar Hero 5 (89)
Guitar Hero: Metallica (86)
DJ Hero (87)

A little math shows that: Activsion's average 80+ metascore is 89. Better than EA's, but it's only four games, and really, if you want to do a fair comparison of publisher quality, you'd have to do an average of all their games. Also notable is that there was a wide disparity between some versions. I used the highest Guitar Hero score, which was an 89 on the Wii. The game averaged an 85 on the Xbox 360.

Assassin's Creed II (92)
Might and Magic Clash of Heroes (86 *Game was released in December)
Dawn of Discovery (82)

More math: Ubisoft's average 80+ metascore is 86.67 with Might and Magic. It is another publisher with just one 90+ game.

Dawn of War II (85)
Red Faction Guerilla (85)
UFC Undisputed (84)
WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 (82)
Rocket Riot (80)

Result: THQ's average 80+ metascore is 83.2. They had no 90+ games.

GTA Chinatown Wars (93)
GTA IV: The Lost and Damned (90)
GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (89)
Borderlands (84)
NBA 2K10 (83)
Beaterator (80)
The Bigs 2 (80)

I do Take Two no favors for the average here by including The Bigs 2, but I did just make them look better by counting it in the overall tally, right? Anyway, Take Two's average 80+ metascore is 85.57. And look! They have two games with a 90 or above.

Metroid Prime Trilogy (91)
Mario and Luigi Bowser's Inside Story (90)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (87)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (87)
Punch-Out (86)
New Play Control Pikmin (84)
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (84)
Art Style Digidrive (83)
Art Style Pictobits (83)
Rhythm Heaven (83)
Pokemon Platinum (83)
Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (82)
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon (81)
Art Style Box Life (80)
Wii Sports Resort (80)
Wii Fit Plus (80)

You could load up this one with caveats, noting that the Metroid and Pikmin games aren't new, but let's include them. Nintendo's average 80+ metascore is 84 even. Credit them with a pair of games at 90 or above.

Uncharted 2 (96)
God of War Collection (92)
Killzone 2 (91)
MLB 09 The Show (90)
Wipeout HD Fury (89)
LittleBigPlanet PSP(88)
PixelJunk Shooter (87 *Game released in December)
Flower (87)
PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe (86)
Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time (86)
infamous (85)
Patapon 2 (81)
Resistance Retribution (81)
Buzz! Quiz World (80)
Zen Pinball (80)

Let me average that up for you. Sony's average 80+ metascore is 86.6. Not shabby at all. Plus, the company can boast four 90+ games, albeit one of them a compilation of PS2 hits.

Forza Motorsport 3 (92)
Shadow Complex (88)
Trials HD (86)
Splosion Man (84)
Halo 3 ODST (83)
Halo Wars (82)

Let's crunch that. Microsoft's 80+ metascore average is 85.83.

EA didn't tally the top scorers for Capcom, Sega and Warner Brothers. All had a batch of stellar games, so I figured I'd do the work.

Street Fighter IV (93)
Resident Evil 5 (85)
Marvel Vs Capcom 2 (82)
Monster Hunter Fredom Unite (81)

Capcom's average 80+ metascore is 85.25.

Empire Total War (90)
Football Manager 2010 (88)
MadWorld (81)

Sega's average 80+ metascore is 86.3

Batman Arkham Asylum (92)
Scribblenauts (80)

Warner's average 80+ metascore is 86. They've got a 90+ as well.'

It's no surprise that EA's chart accurately showed that the publisher had the most well-reviewed games, though, thanks to Kotaku, you can now see what those games were. This breakdown shows a couple of other things:

1) While EA had the most games that received 80+ scores, its average score for such titles settled between its two most prolific game-publishing competitors. It beat Nintendo but was beaten by Sony.

2) It's clear that no matter how many well-reviewed games a publisher has, getting an 80-89 score is far easier than getting a 90+. That seems to be the big equalizer among these top publishers. No one makes lots of those and few make more than a couple.

So which company made the most good video games in 2009? Probably the one you like the most. But if you want to try using numbers to back it up in 2009, I think you have to go with EA for quantity or Sony for 90+ excellence and a higher average score from its 80+ titles.

"In any non-GTA year, should we just assume you're not going to make money?" an investment analyst asked Take-Two CEO Ben Feder and chairman Strauss Zelnick during an investor call today.

"We're certainly not saying we can't be profitable in a non-GTA year," Zelnick responded. "We don't feel that GTA ought to be an annualized franchise."

Take-Two published Grand Theft Auto IV last year, following that with two downloadable expansions, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony in 2009. It also shipped Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS and PSP this year and a collection of the two downloadable episodes as Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. Just don't count on a new GTA next fiscal year.

Zelnick argued that there's "a balance between how long it takes to develop such an incredible title and meet consumer expectations and how long you need to make sure that an appetite has been both satisfied and whetted for the next franchise."

"That's something I think the company has historically done rather well and I think the high profitability and resiliency of the franchise reflects that," he added. "I wouldn't see that changing."

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said during today's quarterly earnings update that the role-playing shooter, which had a "successful launch," shows signs of "becoming an important long-term franchise" for the company. That's not official confirmation of a Borderlands 2, but it's about as close as we're going to get.

Given Borderlands development delays and Take-Two's increasing inability to ship many of its "AAA" caliber titles on time, just don't expect that Borderlands 2 to show up any time soon.

The rest of Take-Two's slate, including BioShock 2, Red Dead Redemption and Mafia II appear to be sticking to their regularly scheduled dates. But Max Payne 3 is now penciled in for a fiscal Q4 2010 release, giving the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game an August to October release window.

The rest of Take-Two's bad news is financial. The company expects fourth quarter and fiscal year 2009 to be below guidance due to "the performance of its Major League Baseball titles in the fourth quarter" and "lower than expected initial performance of several of its key holiday releases."

Take-Two's 2010 is also expected to be loss-heavy, thanks to Major League Baseball losses and the "movement of one triple-A title out of the fiscal year."

Strauss Zelnick, chairman, says the company's quarterly financial woes "were partially offset by the performance of our catalog business and a number of our holiday titles, as shown by the successful launch of Borderlands and the leading ratings and market share of NBA 2K10."

With the publisher's full fiscal year guidance expecting a loss, even with the release of BioShock, Red Dead Revolver and Max Payne sequels, it sure doesn't sound like Rockstar will have a new Grand Theft Auto on store shelves—at least not before November 1, 2010—to help put Take-Two in the black.

The publisher wouldn't offer any new details on the Team Bondi game, which is not currently on Take-Two's list of upcoming titles. That list extends well into mid-2010, so don't expect to see anything material from L.A. Noire for a while. All Take-Two would say was that, yes, the game is still in development at Rockstar—they didn't mention Team Bondi by name—and that they'd share more information when they had more information to share.

The last substantial development we heard on the multi-platform L.A. was that it was pushed into 2009, officially, then taken off the release list. In the meantime, Team Bondi has been staffing up, hopefully in an effort to give us an update and a final game.

L.A. Noire was first announced in the fall of 2006.

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said during an earnings call today that Mafia II, Red Dead Redemption, BioShock 2 and Max Payne 3 would all be shipping sometime between February and June of 2010. That's a pretty packed schedule, but it's not like Take-Two has much choice.

Some of those games were pushed back from originally planned 2009 releases, joining the ever crowded Q1 and Q2 of next year. Take-Two gave a looser release window for some of those games back in July. At the time, Take-Two execs blamed a softer economy and development issues.

But Zelnick sounded confident that all four heavy hitters would ship in that five month window.

Rockstar Games, developer of two of the slipped titles that now have more firm sounding release plans, has had a little trouble making its dates this generation, with similar slips on Midnight Club Los Angeles and Grand Theft Auto IV.

While the game was previously slated to hit European store shelves on October 30, 2009, just squeezing into the company's fiscal 2009, the company has now moved the title to a more vague "fiscal year 2010." The sequel was expected to arrive on these shores November 3rd, a few days after its ship date in Europe.

Now, BioShock 2 could very well be pushed into calendar 2010, missing the holidays completely.

Officially, Take-Two blames the delay on the need to "provide additional development time for the title."

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two called the delay "the right decision for the product," but calls the impact on its revised financial outlook a "disappointment."

"The decision to shift a release date is never an easy one, especially with a product as highly anticipated as BioShock 2," Take-Two CEO Ben Feder said in a financial release. "We felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve."

Take-Two announced delays of Red Dead Redemption and Mafia II in May, both of which are expected to ship in the publisher's fiscal 2010.

Both titles were slated for a somewhat vague Fall release, but have been delayed today to, at the earliest, November 1, 2009. Take-Two has re-scheduled the pair of games for a release in the first half of its fiscal 2010, which runs from November 1 to April 30.

Yes, that means you might not see either of these titles until next calendar year. With the publisher's second half of 2009 getting a little bit more crowded, thanks to the confirmed arrivals of Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City and BioShock 2.

Take-Two's official reason for the bump was "to allow additional development time for the titles and to maximize their full potential in terms of the quality of the player experience and market performance." Say, that reminds me. We got a peek at Red Dead Redemption not too long ago and will be able to tell you more about the Western-themed adventure later this week.

During the company's conference call to discuss second quarter financial results, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder announced that BioShock 2 will hit Europe on October 30 and North America on November 3.

The game, which is expected to ship on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, is still officially listed in the company's press release for second quarter earnings as coming to platforms "TBA."

UPDATE: Asked if the "TBA" is a sign that the game could become a timed exclusive, Take Two CFO Lanie Goldstein said, "In terms of BioShock, we're still working out what the right SKUs [versions] are and the right timing." Company chairman Strauss Zelnick quickly added: "No you shouldn't read anything into that."

BioShock 2 is in development by 2K Marin and is the sequel to 2007's hit BioShock from 2K Boston and 2K Australia.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. filed a breach of contract suit against Apogee Software Ltd. this week in a Manhattan Court over the developer's "continually delayed" Duke Nukem sequel. Details of the suit were not disclosed in a report by Bloomberg, nor has the New York County Civil Court provided specifics about the damages Take-Two is seeking.

(For the record, the legal name of 3D Realms is Apogee Software Ltd., the party being sued. It is a separate entity from Apogee Software LLC, developers of the still alive Duke Nukem Trilogy.)

According to the complaint, "Apogee repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward competing development of the PC Version of the Duke Nukem Forever."

Those assurances have yet to result in a working, shippable product. Instead, 3D Realms was shut down and many former Duke Nukem Forever staffers are looking for work.

After repeated promises that "industry joke" Duke Nukem Forever was finally "on the right track" and rumored to have been released year in and year out, Take-Two went far enough to offer cash incentives to 3D Realms to have the game finished at various points. Looks like the developer is completely out of cash now. And may owe more than it expected.

Take-Two Sues Apogee Over ‘Duke Nukem' Game Sequel [Bloomberg]

Dale's departure from Take-Two interactive was announced in January of this year, with personal reasons cited as the cause of his departure. His last official day at Take-Two was April 15th, and after a nice little vacation he now slips into the role of CEO for Realtime Worlds.

"Realtime Worlds is one of the most innovative game companies in the world," said Gary Dale, CEO, Realtime Worlds, Inc. "The Company is on the verge of launching products that will change current conceptions of what MMO games are about. I can't imagine a more exciting opportunity than to join this talented and creative team as we prepare to deliver such ground-breaking and high quality online entertainment to gamers around the globe."

Dale will lead the company through transition from traditional developer to online game publisher, beginning with their online shooter All Points Bulletin.

The BioShock film, currently in pre-production, was announced last May by Universal and 2K, with Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski attached to helm the film and John Logan, responsible for Gladiator and The Aviator, planned to pen the script.

According to a Universal Pictures spokesperson, the film remains very much alive in extended pre-production "so the studio and production can take a look at possible alternate shooting locations, available tax credits, foreign exchange rates and other elements that might help us make the film at a responsible budget."

"No plug has been pulled on BioShock," reps told Kotaku. "Universal remains committed to making the project and Gore absolutely remains attached as director."

According to additional reporting from Variety, Universal has cut back on pre-production headcount, noting that the film's budget had skyrocketed to $160 million, citing unnamed sources.

Variety writes that Universal is looking to have the production moved outside of the U.S. to reduce shooting costs.

"We are evaluating whether this is something we want to do," Verbinski is quoted as saying. "In the meantime, the film is in a holding pattern."

The BioShock film did not have an announced release date, but given the current status of the film's production, we wouldn't expect to see it any time soon.