Writes The Times:

There's a Western game in the works for next spring, and the next GTA to think of. "We'll think of a city first, then the characters," says Houser. The script he will end up co-writing will run to around 1,000 pages, nearly ten times as much as a feature film.

There's plenty of other interesting quotes inside the interview, including Houser's reaction to being the punching bag/pariah every time a violent video game is brought up in popular culture. Also, and I didn't know this, but in The Ballad of Gay Tony, he and Sam put a saxophonist in the park in Liberty City as a tribute to their father, a jazz artist who plays the instrument.

The Driving Force Behind Grand Theft Auto [Times of London via GameDaily]

"I think reports on the death of package goods have been greatly exaggerated," Feder told a gathering of analysts in New York earlier today. "Downloadable content is interesting and will continue to be interesting, not because it's eclipsing retail but because of the instant feedback.

"You can learn as you go along" from customers.

Feder said that while he thinks that downloadable content will continue to increase, it won't be at the expense of retail goods or retail stores.

"I'm bullish on downloadable content but not necessarily at the experense of retail stores and packaged goods," he said. "I think package goods are here with us for a long time. I am pretty confident we will be seeing package goods and stores for a long time."

I know you all had your heart set on purchasing Take-Two's Ringling Bros. circus game for the Wii next week, and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is going to let you finish, but they suggest you first consider alleged abuses heaped by the staff of the world-famous circus on elephants and tigers every day. They've been investigating the circus for quite some time, and feel that the truth might keep you from purchasing the game.

"During our investigation Ringling performed at new venues week after week, but its abuse of animals did not change. Our investigator captured workers on video as they beat and whipped elephants dozens of times in venues across the country. We also documented workers use sharp tools called bullhooks to jab and yank elephants by their sensitive skin. The abuses we filmed were captured backstage-hidden from public view-right before elephants were forced to walk onstage and perform. "

They've even got a video up at their website, showing Ringling Bros. employees smacking around elephants, which is pretty ballsy considering how daunting an angry elephant would be. Luckily for the handlers, the elephants stay calm, barely registering the various slaps and taps they are given.

Slightly shocking, I suppose, but will it probably won't keep people from buying the game. The fact that it's a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus game for the Nintendo Wii, on the other hand, will definitely stop people from buying it.

Responding to a question about the announcement strategy for the next GTA from Arvind Bhatia of brokerage firm Stern Agee, Zelnick made Take-Twoe's stance on the subject perfectly clear.

"We're not going to announce it. We're not going to announce when we're going to announce it. And we're not going to announce the strategy about announcing it or about when we're going to announce it either, or about the announcement strategy surrounding the announcement of the strategy. Any other questions?"

What do you suppose that means?

The 2006 suit, which was tentatively settled for $20 million, also alleges that company officers earned more than $18 million in insider trading even as the company's stock plummeted.

"As a result of the disclosures of the Company's true financial condition, its stock ratings have been slashed," the suit, initially filed by John Fenninger who purchased Take-Two common stock, states. "Moreover, the Company is exposed to class action lawsuits and regulatory enforcement actions brought by the Attorney Generals of several states. While the public investors lost over one billion dollars in market capitalization, the Individual Defendants pocketed over $18 million in insider trading proceeds."

Hot Coffee, a bit of hidden sex found behind the apartment doors of the game, was discovered in July 2005 after a modder released a hack for the game that unlocked the previously hidden content.

Earlier today, Take-Two announced that they had reached a settlement in the case, with the company and its insurer paying out more than $20 million.

The nut of the allegations contained in the 34-page suit, is that Take-Two was spending more than it was bringing in and couldn't survive until the next Grand Theft Auto. So, the suit alleges, the company pushed Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas out the door knowing that there was pornographic material in the game because delays would have cost the company too much. If the material was known to be in the, the suit continues, major retailers wouldn't have sold it.

The outcome, according to the suit, was inflated stock prices based on bad or uninformed information from the company and a plunge in stock values when the truth came out.

The suit also alleges that Take-Two lied about the included sex scenes, nicknamed Hot Coffee, when they first came to light, with the company the scenes were "the work of a determined group of hackers who have gone to significant trouble to alter scenes.'"

The suit outlines how the value of Take-Two's stock first rose significantly with the release of the game and then began to plummet as the allegations and suits came to light. The suit connects the two, alleging that the company lied during financial statements to try and cover themselves and later key executives profited from inside information while selling company stock.

It's an interesting read and worth some time if you've been following the Hot Coffee allegations and are interested in a document that ties stock values and company statements to the life-cycle of the controversial sex scene in San Andreas. But do keep in mind that just because the suit was settled, that doesn't mean the contents have been proven or disproven.

Class Action

Rockstar sent the word out this morning that the music creator, which has long been kept under wraps since first debuting as an online time-waster, will be out on September 29 in the US, while it'll be out in Europe on October 2.

Pop producer Timbaland is still onboard with the project, and is full-blown celebrity endorsement mode, saying "I've worked closely with Rockstar Games to make something completely unique. Beaterator is like taking my music studio and turning it into a suite of tools anyone can use. We can't wait to hear the beats people make and share with the world."

The new European games convention, shifted this year from Leipzig to Cologne, will feature most of the major game developers, plenty of press conferences and an absurd amount of games. The list of developers on hand include Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, Square Enix, Take-Two, Ubisoft and Capcom.

We've just received Activision and Electronic Arts play lists and they're impressive, including games like Modern Warfare 2, RAGE and APB.

Activision plans to bring all of their big titles with them to the show. That means we'll be getting time with Modern Warfare 2, Bakugan, Singularity, Blur, Tony Hawk RIDE, DJ Hero, Band Hero and Guitar Hero 5.

Electronic Arts too will come to Germany packing some major heat with nearly 20 titles to show off. That means time with APB, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Brütal Legend, C&C 4, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Need for Speed SHIFT, Need for Speed NITRO, RAGE, The Beatles Rock Band, FIFA 10 (next gen), MySims Agents, TS3EP1, Army of Two: The 40th Day, Dante's Inferno, Dead Space Extraction, The Saboteur, NHL and Tiger Woods Online.

We've also heard that Square Enix will be showing off Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dissidia Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIV, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Mini Ninjas and Order of War. The biggest news coming from Square for the show is that Supreme Commander 2 will be playable for the first time anywhere during Gamescom.

We'll be feet-on-the-ground, live at the show getting hands-on with all of the big games and liveblogging the big press conferences, including a recently announced one from Electronic Arts.

With rumors swirling that a Playstation 3 price cut is landing the week of the show and Sony set to have a press conference that Tuesday, this could shape up to be one of the biggest Euro games conventions yet.

Keep in mind that the story is written by someone with a personal and financial interest in the company. With that in mind the piece is worth reading not only because it's highly entertaining, but also because it does a great job of placing the last 18 months of Take-Two's business dealings in context.

If you're keeping score, in a two year period, Mr Zelnick managed to, on three occasions, make vital statements that were within a matter of weeks proven to be either fabricated or just incredibly incompetent (or worse). Mr. Zelnick managed to resist and reject a buyout offer that was triple the company's current share price while claiming other interested parties who never emerged. And Mr. Zelnick, meanwhile, tripled his management company's compensation for these efforts because, after all, he does not engage in regrets and does not "take responsibility for the market."

These statements and others strongly suggest that investors should proceed with extreme caution with any investment that involves Strauss Zelnick. His performance so far as an executive manager of a publicly traded company is one of the worst I have ever seen in my professional investment experience.

Granted, not many of you will be Take-Two shareholders, but still, that's not the kind of picture you like to see painted about the guy (and board) responsible for publishing Grand Theft Auto and BioShock.

No Regrets, No Responsibility: Strauss Zelnick, Take Two Interactive's Chairman [Market Rap, via GamePolitics]

It's been announced that the popular basketball series is heading to China "and other key markets" in the region, in the form of NBA 2K Online.

The game will see a PC version of 2K go online, and...that's about all we know, as 2K's announcement was 100% about the NBA's popularity in the region and 0% on how the game will actually work.

If they were to announce something along the lines of "you pay to unlock better players and new uniforms", however, we wouldn't be surprised.

The disclosure can be found within court documents relating to the franchise, and specifically reads "[3D Realms/Apogee Ltd.] admits that it has continually worked on the development of the DNF for many years, and continues to do so".

In addition to this reveal, it seems publisher Take-Two began development of another Duke Nukem game, Duke Begins, in 2007. This title, however, was canned in April 2009, right around the time the publisher's support of Duke Nukem Forever dried up, leading to speculation that "Duke Begins" was as much a bargaining chip in negotiations with 3D Realms as it was a legitimate product.

Am I the only person in the world who reads all this and thinks "why?". This is Duke Nukem we're talking about here, not Halo. It stuns me that Take-Two continued to sink so much money (we're talking millions upon millions) into not Duke Nukem project (which this side of the 1990's was one too many), but two.

3D Realms Countersuit Reveals Continuing Duke Nukem Forever Work, New Duke Game [Shacknews]

May brought news that the long road of the 1997-announced Duke Nukem Forever might finally have finally run out, as development studio Apogee ceased making the game and publisher Take-Two filed a lawsuit against the studio.

Aside from a flood of leaked visuals and the studio's statement defending itself, all had been publicly calm since then until today. Take-Two's May 11 lawsuit against 3D Realms parent company Apogee has finally been unearthed. Credit to Shacknews for first publishing it.

The lawsuit centers on, of all things, an Xbox 360 version of this forever-in-the-making PC game.

Take Two claims that it notified Apogee earlier this year that the copy wanted to "exercise its option to develop a Console Version of [Duke Nukem Forever] for the Xbox 360. The publisher states that it sought to fund Apogee's work on a 360 port but that discussions for that fell apart this year due to a disagreement in funding before the project could be begin. The publisher claims that, as a result, it intended to exercise what it says was its contractual right to make a 360 version of the game with another developer and that Apogee would be obligated to provide source code for said port. The lawsuit includes no indication that such a plan was set in motion, as the publisher claims that Apogee instead shut down development without warning Take Two that such an action was pending.

"Notwithstanding Apogee's consistent assurances that it would soon complete development of DNF," the suit states, "on May 6, 2009, Apogee closed its studios, terminated development of DNF and laid-off all employees who had been involved in the DNF project. Upon information and belief, Apogee has title to a substantial amount of funds deposited in an off-shore account, which Take-Two believes Apogee can use to fund its outstanding obligations."

Take-Two is seeking damages for Apogee's alleged breach of contract for the amount of $2.9 million it claims to have provided Apogee to develop the game since 2000, plus interest. The total claim is $12 million.

Take-Two is also seeking a court order to enjoin any former members of the Duke Nukem team from leaking any more art or code for the game, actions which the publisher claims "severely impairs Take-Two's exclusive rights to publish, exploit and control the DNF brand."

Kotaku has reached out to Apogee for comment but has not heard back by press time.

Click to read the full complaint from Take-Two.

A May 12 request for judicial injunction estimates that this case will go to trial within nine to 12 months of that date.

Having already made good game-related money with their Halo series, Tor will later this year be releasing a novel based on BioShock, which will "take you deeper into the realms" of the game's story.

With the sequel already looking a little...off, I'm not sure how much further exposition BioShock's universe can take, but I guess we'll find out when we can actually read the book sometime in "Fall 2009".

Take-Two, Tor Team Up For BioShock Novel [Gamasutra]

Highlights from Take Two's second quarter earnings call follow, minus the big BioShock and GTA stuff, since we covered that already...

*Take-Two lost $10.1 million in the quarter ending April 30, 2009, with revenue dropping more than half compared to the same period last year, down to $229.7 million, largely due to Grand Theft Auto IV boosting numbers last Q2 of 2008 and this corresponding quarter's big games, like Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, not doing the same. More numbers in the company's official Q2 earnings release.

*Take Two confirmed the fall release of Rockstar's long-in-development Beaterator (covered here in early 2007), describing it as a "powerful and intuitive music mixer," that will support downloadable music. The software had originally been pitched to media as a PSP title that was being created in conjunction with Timbaland. Neither Sony's handheld platform nor the renowned producer were mentioned in today's announcements, with the Beaterator's platform listed as "TBA."

*Take Two won't say how well Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned sold, with an executive noting that "we're not disclosing those numbers and it is not our typical practice that we would."

*The company denied the demise of brick-and-mortar retail for the gaming industry, which some gaming pundits have been predicting. Said a Take Two senior exec: "Retail is the primary channel for the foreseeable future."

*Asked about the recently announced deal that allows the top team at Rockstar to create games that they own, a Take Two executive declined to provide much of a progress report beyond noting that: "All of us will be blown away and consumers will be delighted by these upcoming releases."

That's it for this quarter. I promise in three months' time to learn the difference between chairman Strauss Zelnick's voice, CEO Ben Feder's and any others so I can specify which top guy said which on the call.

3D Realms "didn't get a penny of that [$12 million]," according to Miller. "This, along with so much else, is 100% spin, being eaten up by those who have no clue whatsoever."

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.

Take-Two also says they invested more than $12 million in the game.

No $30M Offer for Duke Nukem IP, Says 3D Realms

Earlier today, we reported that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization is calling for the cancellation of Take-Two's upcoming game based on the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus (the so-called Greatest Show on Earth).

Take-Two, a company that has weathered protests against Grand Theft Autos, Bully and Manhunt declined to address PETA's allegations that the Ringling Bros. circus violently mistreats its elephants, but backed the game: "As a matter of company policy, we don't comment on the business affairs of our licensors," the company's vice president of communications, Alan Lewis, told Kotaku. "We fully stand behind all of our products."

As for the circus, it has been attacked by PETA for these matters before.

"We vehemently disagree with PETA," Steve Payne, spokesperson for the circus' parent company, Feld Entertainment, told Kotaku. "We're proud of our animal care. The Asian elephant has been a symbol for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey for its 139 year history... the commitment to animal welfare and conservation for the endangered Asian elephant is something we do every day."

He pointed to the circus' Center for Conservation and its ability to pass government animal inspections "everywhere we go" as proof that PETA's criticism is wrong.

Payne said that his company is "excited" about Take-Two's upcoming game.

[PIC]

PETA today launched a campaign to try and put a stop to Take-Two's Wii game featuring Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, saying that the famed circus is "looking to take its cruelty to animals virtual."

The organization says that they've already told publisher Take-Two about Ringling Bros. "real life, lengthy history of animal abuse and neglect" and even shown them undercover video footage, but to no avail.

So now PETA is asking people to send a message to Take-Two CEO Ben Feder asking him to sever ties with Ringling Bros. and telling them they would rather play a game featuring a circus that "does not beat animals for entertainment."

Strong words. Though, I can't imagine Take-Two will listen to them. And frankly, the allegations levied against Ringling Bros. are hotly debated.

Help Stop New Ringling Bros. Wii Game! [PETA]

Irrational Games was purchased by Take-Two back in early 2006, and then were "rewarded" with a name change to 2K Boston and 2K Australia in November of 2007, following the success of the original BioShock. Now a trademark application filed on March 27th for the name Irrational Boston, along with some t-shirts that were floating around during the Game Developers Conference last week (as seen on Joystiq) seem to be pointing towards a changing of the names.

While the trademark application and the t-shirts are certainly not a definitive announcement, it would be nice to see Irrational's name popping up in our posts once again. Besides, this way Take-Two could re-reward them the 2K Boston name once BioShock 2 comes out. Everybody's happy!

Take-Two has filed a trademark registration for Irrational Boston [Superannuation]

You may remember in December 2008, Rockstar's top talent (including Sam & Dan Houser, Leslie Benzies and "several other key members of the creative team") signed a deal with publishers Take-Two that would see them continue releasing games together until 2012. In return for their games, Rockstar would receive a cut of the profits. And that cut looks like a sizeable one.

It was today disclosed that Rockstar's best and brightest were to receive 2,849,003 shares in Take-Two (pending shareholder approval next month). That translates to around, oh, $18 million worth of stock. Which is a lot, but remember: this is only March 2009. Meaning this is only the start.

Take-Two's lineup announced to date for the remainder of fiscal 2009 includes long promised Beaterator, BioShock 2, the second downloadable episode of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 and Red Dead Redemption.

Here's the full break down, in their words, with missing platforms:

Title Platform
Beaterator TBA
BioShock 2 TBA
Borderlands Xbox 360, PS3, Games for Windows
Don King Boxing Wii, DS
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars DS
Grand Theft Auto IV Second Episode Xbox 360
Mafia II Xbox 360, PS3, Games for Windows
Major League Baseball 2K9 PSP
Midnight Club: Los Angeles Downloadable Content – South Central Premium Upgrade Xbox 360, PS3
NBA 2K10 Multiple platforms
NHL 2K10 Multiple platforms
Red Dead Redemption Xbox 360, PS3
The BIGS™ 2 Multiple platforms