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.

Earlier this year, Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst issued estimates for Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV, pegging 2008 sales for the title at 13 million copies. Not a bad take. Analyst analyzers populating the post's comments called that figure into question, with insight ranging from "Durrrr" and "dude is captain obvious" to "unbelievable" and "unrealistic."

Today, Ernst upped his estimate to 15 million on word from Take-Two that the publisher had already sold through 8.5 million copies of GTA IV, with 11 million shipped to retailers. Ernst noted that "We expect GTA IV sales to re-accelerate in the latter part of year in conjunction with the seasonal holiday period."

As for Final Fantasy XIII shipping 7 million in 2008?

This morning we reported on SEC filings (yes, there have been enough SEC filings to wallpaper my apartment this week) that revealed that Electronic Arts has amended its offer to purchase Take-Two. The previous offer expired today, but EA's back for round two, extending its deadline to May 16th. Although some analysts have speculated that EA would need to raise its offer in order to cinch this acquisition, the same SEC filing also shows that some change has actually been shaved off of the previous bid of $26 per share - the new bid is $25.74 per share.

Why, then, is the bid lower? Well, it's not because EA docked it. Last night, about an hour after Take-Two's annual meeting, the results of the vote that took place were announced, and as it turns out, Take-Two shareholders approved the extra cash and the 780,000 shares that the management team was seeking. The approval of that compensation package dilutes EA's offer - more stock equals less value per share - but many current shareholders were not allowed to vote last night. Only those who bought Take-Two stock prior to February 19th got a say - even if they don't own any stock anymore. In other words, Take-Two itself reduced the per-share value of EA's bid, even though the aggregate amount of the offer hasn't changed.

We'd heard some rumors out of Asia that this deal was already sealed behind the scenes, but when we spoke to Owen Mahoney, EA's senior VP of Corporate Development, he stated, "It's not in the bag." We also heard from Take-Two this morning that only 8.3 percent of total shares had been sold to EA.

Where does EA stand, then? Mahoney tells us the clock is ticking for this deal. Hit the jump for our full interview, plus comments from Strauss Zelnick on his side of things.

EA Extends Take-Two Tender Offer

Following last night's Take-Two shareholder meeting, which Leigh was kind enough to cover, Electronic Arts has announced that they are extending the deadline on their tender offer to May 16th, 2008. The offer was originally extended from its original April 11th deadline to today in response to Take-Two's rescheduling of the annual shareholder meeting.

Also, as a result of Take-Two issuing additional stock following the approval of the company's incentive stock plan, the price per share EA is offering has dropped to $25.74 from $26.

EA reveals that as of 5PM yesterday, 6,423,787 shares of Take-Two common stock had been tendered in and not withdrawn from the offer.

For more on how all this works, be sure to check out Leigh's feature on the takeover.

GTA IV is complete and in production; the trucks are set to begin shipments to retail. This is just one item of positive news that Take-Two's executives touted at their annual shareholder meeting.

On the table? In addition to a reinstatement of the board, that controversial compensation package to executives, through which Strauss Zelnick's ZelnickMedia stood to see their monthly pay go up from $62,500 to $208,333. The compensation package also includes a bumped up annual bonus, from $750,000 to $2,500,000 per year, and 600,000 shares of common stock that the management also gets as part of the same compensation boost. Only investors who bought shares before February 19th were able to submit ballots on these issues.

Even chairman Strauss Zelnick acknowledged, though, that what most of the stockholders really wanted to hear about was EA. And he held little back in a spirited attempt to convince shareholders that, at least for the moment, they were better off not selling.

Hit the jump for Kotaku's full coverage of what went down in the meeting.

Take-Two is apparently the object of a class-action suit by one of its alleged shareholders who claims, basically, that the circumstances surrounding Take-Two's refusal to sell to Electronic Arts are so fiscally irresponsible it's criminal.

Yesterday, we discussed the strategies Take-Two undertook to try and stall or thwart EA's bid. They've been refusing to talk with EA or explore offers, and they're doing their best to entrench the current Board of Directors with that compensation boost that features stock that takes three years to fully vest. They also implemented that stockholder's rights plan — the so-called "poison pill." As it turns out, someone who is allegedly one of Take-Two's stockholders is none too happy with these tactics — and he's ticked enough that he's taking the company to court.

When it comes to Electronic Arts' takeover bid for Take-Two, we've heard nothing but silence for the past few weeks. In fact, it looks like business as usual for both companies; while EA's been utterly quiet on the topic, Take-Two has announced an executive hire and an Asian expansion as if nothing were going on.

But tomorrow, Take-Two is set to hold its regularly-scheduled annual meeting for its shareholders, where they can hear from the executives and vote on internal matters. And although this may look like just another routine affair, it might become clear on Thursday night whether EA's bid is likely to succeed— or whether it will end up dead in the water.

Not so clear on what's going on? Hit the jump for the whole story, including the anatomy of a takeover, possible outcomes, the reasons behind Take-Two's resistance, and more.

Take-Two Talks Asian Expansion As If No Big Company Was Trying Desperately To Buy Them

"Hubert Larenaudie is an experienced senior executive who has successfully built or expanded Asia Pacific operations for prominent interactive entertainment and consumer goods companies," said Gary Dale. "His in-depth knowledge of the region; his skill in creating the right product development, distribution and marketing strategy for each local market; and his track record of driving growth will help Take-Two realize the tremendous opportunities in APAC."

EA Mods Take-Two Tender Offer

"The actions of the Take-Two Board may increase the risk for their stockholders by delaying a potential transaction," said Owen Mahoney, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at EA. "We continue to believe that our $26.00 per share offer price is full and fair, and that a transaction between Take-Two and EA is the most compelling combination financially, strategically and operationally for all parties."

Analyst Calls Bullshit On EA Being Rockstar's "White Knight"

EA really wants Take-Two. Actually, they mostly want Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto—and they want them now. EA CEO John Riccitiello certainly thinks that the swallowing of Rockstar would be good for the developer of Manhunt, GTA and Bully, telling the New York Times "We, in many ways, represent a white knight." The kind of white knight who can provide stability and exposure, assumably.

Analysts, though? They think that EA's full of BS. Janco Partners' Mike Hickey told GameDaily.biz that "My belief is Rockstar would be perfectly happy if EA never put a bid in at all." Hickey called Riccitiello's perception as Rockstar savior "bullshit" not to mention disrespectful to Take-Two management and its developers.

Other analysts had their say, including Michael Pachter, who noted that Riccitiello's "white knight" analogy was "perhaps a misplaced attempt to sound clever." Yep. Fightin' words.

Analyst: EA's Riccitiello 'Disrespectful' Towards Rockstar, Take-Two [GameDaily.biz]

EA Talks About Their "Tender" Offer and a Line in the Sand

I had a chance to speak with Owen Mahoney, Electronic Arts senior vice president of corporate development, a short time ago about their decision to take their campaign to buy-out Take-Two to the next level.

"The timing of (the offer) was really driving off of what we think is best for the company," Mahoney said. "The offer has been open for two weeks now, the longer it is out there the less valuable it is."

On Tuesday Take-Two reiterated their position during their earnings report conference call that they would not be selling to Electronic Arts.

"We wanted to learn what they had to say and once we learned that we decieded the right thing to do was to bring it right to shareholders," Mahoney said.

Oh it's such a soap opera. Early this morning Electronic Arts decided to bypass Take-Two and go straight to shareholders, offering to buy up stock from them directly at $26 a pop.

Now Take-Two is "recommending" that stockholders give the offer a pass.

The Board of Directors of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today recommended that Take-Two stockholders take no action at this time in response to the announcement by Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) that it has made an unsolicited conditional tender offer to acquire all of Take-Two's outstanding shares of common stock for $26 per share in cash.

Consistent with its fiduciary duties, and in consultation with its independent financial and legal advisors, Take-Two's Board will review and consider EA's offer, and within 10 business days, will advise Take-Two's stockholders of the Board's position regarding the offer as well as its reasons for that position.

This coming from the board that just voted itself big fat raises? Big fat chance Take-Two.

Analyst: Take-Two Talks Buyout Before GTA IV

Despite predicting fiscal year sales of Grand Theft Auto IV to reach 9 million, with 6 million shipping out the first week, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes that Take-Two is ready to talk EA buyout. Citing a poor lineup over the next year, with major sequels such as BioShock 2 a long way off, Pachter believes that Take-Two will abandon it's stance on not discussing a potential buyout until after GTA IV is released.

"We expect that in order to save face, Take-Two management will withdraw its demand that any discussions wait until after the launch of GTA IV, and we think that management will engage in discussions with EA,"

GTA IV to sell 9m units, ship 6m in first week [GamesIndustry.biz]

Take-Two Only Lost $38 Million Last Quarter, Seems Pleased

Take-Two Interactive had plenty to sing about today. There was the official word on BioShock 2, even more Carnival Games for little girls and boys to enjoy and a reaffirmation of Grand Theft Auto IV's worldwide ship date of April 29. Yay! Sure, there were some delays, but all in all, not bad. The best news? The company managed to only lose 38 million bucks in its first fiscal quarter of 2008! That's better than the Take-Two gang had expected, with Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two, saying he was "pleased." This is how you lose money, people—with a faint hint of a smile on your face.

In a call to investors and analysts, Zelnick and crew chalked up the better than planned for quarter to sales of stuff like Carnival Games and Manhunt 2, plus portions of Take-Two's back catalog. I'm not much of a gambler, but I'd be willing to wager that next quarter, they'll do much, much better.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2008 Financial Results [Take-Two]

Ken Levine Still Involved In BioShock 2

With BioShock 2 in the hands of 2K Marin, and no longer at 2K Boston and 2K Australia, many of us were left wondering if designer and BioShock face Ken Levine would be working on the title. It would appear that he will be, in some capacity, at least, according to Take-Two CEO Ben Feder. He said today that Levine is "a terrific asset to the company and a brilliant game developer" and confirmed, in a roundabout way, that he'd be involved.

While most of the development duties sound like they'll be undertaken by the Marin studio, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick echoed Feder's praise, saying that Levine is "critical to BioShock." 2K Boston is said to be working on a separate intellectual property for 2K Games, but hopefully Ken will be at the very least creatively consulting on BioShock 2.

Take-Two Interactive announced today that Gearbox Software's Borderlands, which was announced this past summer for a Holiday 2008 release, won't be hitting until some time in 2009. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC sci-fi shooter was shown to press at the Leipzig Games Convention last fall—then shown to the public at the Spike VGAs—wasn't playable at the time and appeared to be very early.

According to Take-Two, the delay is due to the need "to allow additional development time for this highly anticipated game and provide a better balance in the release of Take-Two's triple-A titles."

Take-Two Interactive announced today that BioShock 2 was officially in the works, under the development wing of the recently formed 2K Marin studio. The sequel—rumored to actually be a prequel—to the Xbox 360 and PC shooter is planned for a fourth-quarter fiscal 2009 release date. Take-Two's fiscal year ends October 31, so expect it to hit unspecified platforms (read: Xbox 360) before the '09 holidays.

Take-Two also noted that the original BioShock has 2 million unit sales under its belt since its August '07 release. No pressure, 2K Marin! No pressure at all.

Shareholder Sues Take-Two

A Take-Two shareholder is suing the company, claiming that the board's rejection of an an undisclosed acquisition offer from EA was motivated by a desire to increase what its executives would be paid if the company were sold.

The lawsuit was filed by Prickett, Jones & Elliott on behalf of Take-Two shareholder Patrick Solomon on Friday in Delaware Chancery Court and names Take-Two Executive Chairman Strauss Zelnick and Chief Executive Benjamin Feder, who are partners of investment company ZelnickMedia.

The suit centers around the Feb. 15 decision to increase ZelnickMedia's management fees and bonuses to $16.5 million, from $3.8 million, in the event the company were sold.

This comes a day after major shareholders in the company started dumping stock... but to who? And the same day that Take-Two announced a provision for employees if they were to be fired in the case of a buy-out.

Oh strife, strife, strife.

Shareholder sues video game maker [LA Times, thanks Jack]