The End of another Genre?

[Milton Bradley]

'Grand Theft' maker: $2 billion is not enough - CNN.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- The company behind the hugely popular video game "Grand Theft Auto" says it is not going to jump at a $2 billion buyout offer from Electronic Arts Inc. The offer is "the wrong price at the wrong time," Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. chief executive Ben Feder said Monday, after the news of the $26-per-share bid sent Take-Two's shares up 55 percent to a $26.89 close. Electronic Arts is undervaluing Take-Two and not factoring in the benefits of its recent turnaround efforts, Feder said in an interview. Take-Two said it is open to discussions with EA, but wants to wait until April 30, the day after the latest version of Grand Theft Auto hits store shelves. But analysts said Take-Two may not have the luxury of time. While Take-Two wants a higher price, EA could make this bid hostile, or walk away and come back with a lower offer, they said. "There can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the premium we are proposing today," EA's CEO John Riccitiello said during a conference call. "We believe our proposal is fully priced," he said. Since "Grand Theft Auto IV" should by now be essentially complete, he added, the buyout bid "would not jeopardize the development of this incredibly important title." GTA has sold more than 65 million copies in the decade since the first game in the series, where players complete gritty crime missions to rise to the top.

Will this be the end of another genre of video games? Certainly EA has had their hand in tanking a whole genre before. ( Think baseball, basketball, football, etc...)


Personally, I have been boycotting EA products since the killed Motor City Online, so this move could potentially create another vast hole in my potential computer entertainment.


So, not only do I dislike big companies buying out their competitors, I am also displeased when weenies like Electronic Arts look to consolidate entire categories of gaming under their particular brand of mismanegement, like they have done in the past.


This looks grim from my perspective.

[Chaossaber314]

What? You don't want a Need For Auto: Grand Theft Speed, Bling Bling edition?

In all seriousness, I don't know what's grim about this. They said they rejected the offer. Frankly, why would they take any offer right now with GTAIV looming along the horizon that is guaranteed to be another best seller?

[Milton Bradley]

EA usually gets what it wants. They are the big fish feeding on the smaller fish.


I don't like it because I boycott EA, and the will be the end of my GTA adventures.

[Chaossaber314]

Maybe, but you'll at least be able to play GTAIV.

[Muckraker]

I'm not complaining at all about the bid since I bought ten 100-share contracts to buy TTWO stock last summer when it was $14/share that expire in January of 2009. I will be really happy the higher it gets pushed this year.

GTA is the most lasting video game franchise of all time. If EA ends up screwing that up because they don't feel like providing adequate compensation to the Rockstar devs or because their greed causes them to make it "accessible" to the teen market then they are complete idiots. The fans of GTA are typically diehard and, as the teens whose parents wouldn't let them get GTA3 and GTA4 get older, the potential market for next gen GTA games will grow exponentially.

Even though I lost my job last year, I fully intend to shell out the $500 for a PS3 and GTA4 the day it hits stores. San Andreas cemented the position of the GTA franchise in history and there are millions of us fans that will always want more and more of it.

Now all I need is for someone to make a new version of Severence (Blade of Darkness) and I will be a happy camper :)

Here's to hoping TTWO stock hits $40, regardless of what company buys them out.