Looks like trouble never sleeps in Liberty City, indeed. This time around, it's a music copyright lawsuit that's filed against Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, particularly on the songs played on the in-game radio station.
Jamaican Linton White alleged in his complaint that the reggae song "Last Night" making its rounds on the GTA IV (Xbox 360, PS3) airwaves care of the reggae station, Massive B Sound System 96.9, was actually co-written by him with one David Brooks (aka "Mavado"). Apart from that song, there's also "Bullet Proof Skin", which he says he co-wrote with Brooks and Rodney Basil price.
Although Linton was recognized and credited as a producer on Mavado's Gangsta for Life album (2007), his beef is that he was not credited for co-authorship on the said tracks in the Liberty City Guidebook that comes along with a copy of the sandbox title.
Linton's complaint states that:
In the... Liberty City Guidebook... [Take-... More »
Take-Two may be thinking about bringing Grand Theft Auto to the Nintendo Wii, reports MCV. At an earnings call, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder commented on the close relationship the company has garnered with Nintendo in the development of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
"I will tell you that we've spent an enormous amount of time and effort working with Nintendo and developing that partnership," he said.
He goes on to comment that the company will "continue to build that relationship," and calls Chinatown Wars an "important step." When asked directly about a Grand Theft Auto game on the Nintendo Wii, Feder turned suspiciously evasive. "So without commenting on whether GTA specifically...is coming to the Wii or not, I will say that Nintendo and Take-Two work very well together," he said.
"We intend to continue to grow that relationship." This isn't by any means a confirma... More »
Yesterday's session featured some strange exchanging of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) shares, just one day before the company is set to release earnings.
There was no news released, though Barron's later said that the price decline was due to rumors about Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS) walking away from merger talks. ERTS had an executive speak at a conference right around noon.
Below is a graph of TTWO's trades between about 11:15 and 12:05, when shares declined sharply, rebounded sharply, and then settled roughly 5% lower than where they opened.
As the stock crossed $24 about eight minutes into the graph, the first pickup in volume can be seen, possibly by stop-limit orders being triggered. The price continued to slide on light volume until shares broke through $23, when volume accelerated to over 50,000 shares per minute.
As the shares dropped below $22, volume topped 150,000 shares per minute, which is impressive, consid... More »
It's unclear if the FTC's now closed investigation was the only thing holding Electronic Arts and Take-Two back from entering into negotiations, but regardless of that, an SEC filing made yesterday by EA has confirmed that the two companies have entered into a confidentiality agreement where Take-Two will reveal their three-year product plans, according to Reuters.
As a result, no further details on the negotiations will be revealed publicly unless the two decide to either end their discussions or formalize a deal.
From the filing: "The terms of the confidentiality agreement prohibit each of EA and Take-Two from, among other things, publicly disclosing the status or terms of any discussions or negotiations between EA and Take-Two unless EA or Take-Two notifies the other that it is terminating discussions.
As a result, EA does not intend to make any further announcements regarding the status of any discussions or negotiations with Take-Two unless... More »
The clock is ticking down on Electronic Arts's takeover bid for publisher Take-Two, and the company remains steadfast in its refusal to buckle. But the publishing giant doesn't seem ready to give up so easily.
When Electronic Arts made their initial offer of $25.74 a share in late February, a much higher premium than what Take-Two was trading for at the time, they apparently expected Take-Two to immediately jump on the offer, according to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter in an article from Forbes. But when Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick stonewalled, EA was stumped.
Now, with Grand Theft Auto IV on the market and Take-Two shares hovering around $26.59 a share, the takeover attempt seems to be at an impasse. Though Rockstar, 2K Boston, and 2K Sports remain tempting targets, there are other issues that may complicate the deal.
Many analysts can't agree on how much Take-Two is really worth, and any takeover would probably nec... More »
Activision boss Bobby Kotick has expressed concerns about the possibility of a merge between EA and Take-Two.
"That's concerning, sure," he told Reuters. "When you think about one company in control of the sports category, with no competition from anybody else, that could be a challenge."
That the deal would also knock the Activision-Vivendi deal out of the Guinness Book of Records is also playing on his mind, we'd wager.
The $18 billion deal currently stands as biggest in the history of video games, but it's expected that an EA / Take-Two merge would be worth significantly more. Now that GTA IV is out, talks between the two companies are expected to start soon.
The last week in games news was dominated by one game and one game only.
Yes, Relic announced Dawn of War II, and yes, it looks great. It looks as though another Thief’s on the way, and that’s fine. Even news that journalists had been to Konami Japan and finished MGS4 just bounced off the surface.
In the grand scheme of things, it was all filler. Nothing came close to GTA IV’s impending release as an attention generator, nor will it for the foreseeable future.
Last week, GTA IV cemented its place as the most hyped videogame in history. Since last Monday - as we entered April and the title’s launch month - the news merry-go-round and the gaggle that follow it have been talking about little else.
Monday was just ridiculous. The game was rated an 18 by the BBFC, was rumoured for DS and was shown in shots to be running in multiplayer for the first time, screens which were swiftly removed.
Swedish retailer Webhallen has today revealed the first image of a new PlayStation 3 bundle which will be launching in Europe alongside Grand Theft Auto IV. The bundle includes the standard 40GB PlayStation 3 console and a copy of the game.
The price listed is 4499kr, which is the same as the Gran Turismo 5 bundle that launched just over a week ago. While availability in other countries has not been announced, this indicates that the GTA bundle should sell for £299.99 in the United Kingdom and €399.99 elsewhere.
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