Take-Two Chairman: Quality Wins Out Over Shovelware

Never let it be said Take-Two aren't focused on quality. They don't have the packed release schedule of companies like EA or Activision, but pound-for-pound, their games are amongst the best-regarded in the business. A strategy chairman Strauss Zelnick is very keen on, telling VentureBeat that quality will always win out over quantity:

In periods of high growth, like where we are now, B titles and C titles can do OK. But as soon as you get to the point where the platform penetration has reached its asymptote, then quality reins supreme. We think that if you focus on quality all along, regardless of where the market peak is, you will do better.

Explaining, perhaps, why T2's Wii catalogue isn't quite as robust as some other publisher's.

E3 perspective: Q&A with Chairman Strauss Zelnick on the future of Take-Two Interactive [VentureBeat]

EA Extends Take-Two Offer As FTC Continues Investigating

It had to happen - EA has extended the expiration date for its bid to acquire Take-Two, while the Federal Trade Commission continues its investigation. Although EA recently certified its compliance with the FTC's broad-ranging request for information, the publisher reached an agreement with the FTC through which it promises not to complete any acquisition until August 21.

In that fashion, the extension is merely a formality, to allow the bid to remain outstanding until the investigation concludes. The new bid deadline is now August 18, so it's safe to assume we'll see at least one more extension at that time, since any move EA makes would need to be after the 21st.

It looks like EA has made a bit of small gain, though, as far as the likelihood of bringing the acquisition to fruition:

Rumor: Prank Results in Half-Assed "Confirmation" of GTA IV for PC

Not sure what to make of this. Bullshit radar says "proof of nothing" because there's no reason for tech support to be looped in on a game in development. That said, two guys worked up an extremely patient, social engineering prank that had 2K Games support believing, or at least suspicious of the possibility of a hacked Grand Theft Auto IV demo on pirate sites. And in the back-and-forth, it turned up this reply from tech support:

"The PC version of GTA IV has not even been announced for release and is still in development so is not about to be released on a website."

It's time for the Take-Two Interactive E3 2008 press conference! What mysteries lie beyond the jump? Will they talk about GTA DS? Will they concede and hand over the company to EA right then and there? Will they...I dunno...talk about an upcoming movie for an hour?

God I hope not.

CEO Ben Feder On Turning Things Around At Take-Two

Take-Two CEO Ben Feder is not a gamer, unless you're talking Carnival Games. He and Board chairman Strauss Zelnick were brought in as turnaround experts during some very low times at Take-Two. The SEC was investigating, the company wasn't profitable, and many people were wondering if it could weather the storms.

Now, it's a different story — Grand Theft Auto IV and BioShock are some of the highest-rated titles on Metacritic, and Take-Two is the number three publisher in the industry. The turnaround strategy seems to be working.

Feder credits the success to focus on the part of the publisher's creative studio teams. "They had their heads down, not focused on what was going on outside of what they were doing," Feder said. One of those outside things is an ongoing and aggressive acquisition bid by Electronic Arts, which Feder declined to discuss.

He was happy to discuss GTA IV's unprecedented debut. Since he's a business kind of guy, I asked him how much he deals with the Rockstar team:

That guy is Seth Krauss, the less-public and certainly-not-recommended-for-disbarment other half of litigation involving Grand Theft Auto and Take Two. He's the general counsel for Take Two, and Gamepolitics ran across a profile of him in The National Law Journal. While it's not stocked with amazing conference room screengrabs or a discussion of next-gen subpoena-quashing physics, it does reveal some interesting tidbits about Take Two's legal muscle.

Whatever you think of the law or those who practice it, this guy's out there lawyerin' and lobbyin' for your rights to play — well, Take Two games, at least.

Bully Ads Are A-OK With ASA

31 complaints against a TV ad for Take-Two's Bully: Scholarship Edition were dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority. The complainants said that the ads "glorified and trivialized" bullying, but the ASA found that the ads themselves were not in violation of any standards.

According to GamesIndustry, the ASA did find the game distasteful, but was not glorifying violence because of its "comic and exaggerated" nature:

"Although many might find the name and content of the game to be in poor taste, the content of the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," it said.

ASA dismisses Bully advertising complaints [GamesIndustry.biz]

EA Clears FTC Hurdle In Take-Two Bid

Electronic Arts has satisfied the Federal Trade Commission's extensive second request for information in the publisher's bid to acquire Take-Two, the company revealed through an SEC filing today - and, pursuant to EA's agreement with the FTC, it won't "consummate" any acquisition before August 21.

That is, unless the FTC finishes its investigation sooner. It's now got the information it needs from EA in its quest to determine possible antitrust issues, but Take-Two has appeared to struggle with fulfilling the broad-ranging request; when it was initially uncompliant, the District Court of Washington, D.C. had demanded it show cause, with Take-Two risking an injunction if it failed to pony up.

However, Tiffany Steckler of EA's corporate communications said that the August 21 timeline applies regardless of what Take-Two does:

It's hard to believe by this year's E3 is one week away. The show unofficial kicks off at 10:30 a.m. Pacific on Monday when Microsoft starts their press conference. While the show floor, or what there is of a show floor, won't open until Tuesday, there will be plenty of events to look forward on Monday alone. Here's a run down of some of the highlights for the week:

Sunday
8 p.m. Kotaku Party: Open to everyone (21 and over)

Monday
10:30 a.m. Microsoft Presser
1 p.m. Shane Kim Roundtable
3 p.m. EA Presser
8:30 p.m. Gears of War 2 Reception

Tuesday
9 a.m. Show Floor Opens
9 a.m. Nintendo Presser
11:30 a.m. Sony Presser
2: 30 p.m. Ubisoft Presser
4:30 p.m. Capcom Presser
7 p.m. Activision Presser (Not technically a part of E3)

Wednesday
9:15 a.m. E3 Keynote by Gov. Perry
10 a.m. Sony Roundtable
10:45 a.m. Take Two Presser
1 p.m. State of the Industry Keynote
2:30 p.m. Konami Presser

There are, of course, plenty of booth tours, one-on-one interviews, meetings and parties that I didn't include in this concise snapshot. What are you most eager to check out? Me? I'm psyched for the big three's keynote's because those are almost always chockful of news. I'm also interested to see what both Take-Two and EA have to say at their pressers, I expect some news from both, maybe even related, though I sort doubt it. More than any year before, though, I think this E3 will be the year of the third-parties. Lots of big games being shown off.

Hit the jump to vote on what you most want to hear about and see next week.

Take-Two Considering Venom Studios Close

"No, We Do Not Hate Ken Levine"

BioShock made team leader Ken Levine famous. While he renegotiates his contract with Take-Two for more money and power, there have been rumors that Levine isn't exactly Mr. Popular. More like Mr. Unpopular! Apparently, the BioShock team did not enjoy working with him. Not so says lead BioShock programmer Chris Kline:

What’s kind of curious is these rumors floating around, and we read them on the Internet.. Oh, there’s some rumor that like, after BioShock, everybody hated Ken and everybody left. And everybody’s in the office like ‘where did this come from? I didn’t leave. Are you leaving? No.’ The answer is, after BioShock finished, nobody left... We would love to know [where the rumor came from]... It’s rough for us, because we’re like, it’s the same old team, we’re still there, still like working with Ken, we’re doing great stuff... If you ever meet Ken, he’s the most unassuming guy. He’s the biggest nerd. But what you have to do in a game is go out there and get people excited about your project... What I think people like about Ken, or what’s made him an ‘icon’ is that he tells the truth... He takes his case to the gamer, and that really gets people excited.

You heard it here! Ken Levine: Nerd, icon, exciter.

The Truth About Ken Levine [Next Generation]

Take-Two Settles FTC Compliance Issues In EA Bid

Take-Two has resolved its issues with the Federal Trade Commission, clearing at least one regulatory obstacle for Electronic Arts' acquisition bid, the company revealed in an FTC filing this morning.

The U.S. District Court of Washington D.C. had asked Take-Two to show why it wasn't complying with the FTC's broad-ranging information request as it investigates potential antitrust issues for the possible combination, probably regarding the companies' sports portfolios.

For its part, Take-Two had claimed that complying with the full scope of the FTC's requests would have been too expensive and labor-intensive, and asked for "reasonable limits."

It's now gotten those limits yesterday through an agreement with the FTC, and the investigation will now continue without the need for Take-Two to appear in court. EA had also previously reached an agreement with the FTC that would delay any acquisition attempt until the completion of the investigation - the fact that Take-Two won't have to appear in court should simplify the process quite a bit.

Said Take-Two in a statement, "The Company is pleased that a resolution has been reached that should substantially reduce the economic burden on the Company and focus the inquiry in a way that should minimize the distraction to the Company’s employees. The Company intends to continue to cooperate fully with the FTC."

EA's current offer deadlines July 16th, but any acquisition will have to wait until the FTC makes its final determination.

Riccitiello: Take-Two Bid Focused On Holiday Season, Not GTA IV

Don't believe what the timing tells you - EA's bid for Take-Two was never about Grand Theft Auto IV. That's what EA CEO John Riccitiello told an audience of investors during William Blair & Company's annual stock conference, where he was a speaker today.

"For clarity’s sake, I think you’ve got a slight mis-remembering of what we said," Riccitiello told an audience member who asked about capitalizing on GTA IV's release value. "We were extremely explicit that there was no possibility whatsoever that we would be able to acquire the company or close the transaction prior to the release of GTA IV."

"What we said is we wanted to close the transaction in time to affect holiday sales for some of the games like Midnight Club, catalog for GTA and others. And so the reason we’re continuing to extend it, that was our plan all along and that was the way we described it at the time."

The questioner was probably prompted to the question by EA's recurring comments about the time sensitivity of their offer, but Riccitiello said that "the depreciating nature of the asset was not necessarily about GTA."

"It is that one more holiday period where we can sell more puts money onto the bottom line."

No End In Sight: EA Extends Take-Two Offer Again

Electronic Arts has announced this morning it has extended the deadline for its acquisition of Take-Two until July 18th, after the previous deadline expired at market close yesterday.

The publisher has not, however, raised its offer above $2 billion, or $25.74 per share, as the FTC's investigation process continues. Take-Two was recently asked to explain to the U.S. district court of Washington, D.C why it is refusing to fully comply with the commission's information request. Take-Two risks an injunction if it doesn't provide the full scope of info, which has been speculated to pertain to portions of its sports portfolio.

EA senior VP of corporate development Owen Mahoney congratulated Rockstar on Grand Theft Auto IV's successful launch, but maintained that despite the title's success, EA's offer "reflects a full and fair price based on the long-term value of Take-Two's entire operation."

Levine Figures He's Worth More Money, In Renegotations With Take-Two

Since leading the team that put out BioShock, Ken Levine's been enjoying his fair share of accolades, awards and respect. But money? Well, his cash income's the same as it was pre-BioShock, something he (and his Hollywood agent) are looking at changing. Variety reports Levine's been in negotiations for months now with Take-Two, hoping to not only get the kind of money being such a big name warrants, but an increased amount of creative freedom as well. Be interesting to see how it all pans out, especially if it sets a precedent for other big-name devs to follow.

Ken Levine re-negotiating contract with Take-Two [Variety]

Examining The Antitrust Issues In EA's Take-Two Bid

We know that, as we speak, the FTC is thoroughly investigating the possible takeover of Take-Two by Electronic Arts, to be sure that there are no antitrust issues. The FTC first made one request for information, and then a second one, indicating they're analyzing the deal very closely.

EA cut a deal with the FTC by which it consented to a 15-day extension on the investigation period, making it 45 days, and in return the publisher agreed it wouldn't move to acquire Take-Two until the investigation was closed or until the 45 days expired.

Newsweek's Level Up legal affairs columnist, former FTC lawyer Justin Blankenship, wrote a new piece trying to pin down exactly what issues the FTC might be looking at. Though the specifics are not public record and not likely to be sussed out easily, Blankenship learned a few details - like where the FTC's greatest area of concern likely is, and whether Take-Two is risking a legal injunction to stonewall EA:

Take-Two Gets Into FTC Pissing Match

A U.S. District Court is asking Take-Two why they are refusing to comply with a subpoena and civil investigation demand from the Federal Trade Commission, the company reported today.

Electronic Arts wants to buy Take-Two, we all know that. And Take-Two is playing hard to get, slightly souring EA's advances. In fact, we've heard the only reason that Electronic Arts is still pushing deals at Take-Two left and right is because they want to get their Federal Trade Commission approval for the deal.

With that in hand, EA can walk from the table and return when it makes more since for everyone involved and, in theory, they wouldn't have to go through the FTC approval process again. Thing is, Take-Two now isn't playing nice with the FTC either.

Take-Two Boss: 2K "Out-Rate" EA Sports

Speaking at the Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference, the square-Jawed and wonderfully-named Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick let rip on EA Sports, choosing his fight, and his words, super-carefully:

When we go head-to-head with 'Brand X' we out-rate them significantly...We outsell them when we go head-to-head. It's sort of an unheralded achievement. This is a tough business.

On one hand, he's right! 2K's basketball and hockey games are normally top-shelf, and they've got baseball to themselves. But the "head-to-head" bit...yeah, it's dancing around that elephant in the room. 2K don't have an NFL game in the US. They don't have a football game in Europe/Asia. That's like saying my 92 Corolla can take on a Ferrari head-to-head, so long as we're...both sticking to the speed limit. And the speed limit's 30.

2K Sports unheralded against EA Sports, says Zelnick [GI.biz]