EA Attempting Hostile Takeover of Take 2

[bapenguin]

Quick! Someone put EA CEO John Riccitiello on the cover of Madden. Otherwise Take 2 is done for. You see, according to Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/ea-makes-all-cash-tender-offer-to-purchase-take-two/), right now EA is making cash offers to buy all remaining stock of Take 2 in an attempt for a hostile takeover.With Take-Two Executive Chairman Strauss Zelnick having thoroughly rejected EA's initial buyout offer, the Madden and Burnout publisher has redirected its corporate Katamari at Take-Two shareholders. EA has announced the commencement of a tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock of Take-Two Interactive Software at $26 per share. Valued at approximately $2 billion, the offer reportedly represents a 64% premium over Take-Two's closing stock price on February 15, the company's last trading day before EA began its increasingly aggressive financial courtship. Compared to Wednesday's stock price, it constitutes a 4.4% premium.

Wow...EA is pretty serious about this. Definitely can't be good for the games industry.

[Telefrog]

Remember how everyone was saying that this Riccitello fellow was turning EA onto a great new direction?

Yeah... Good times.

[Mdot23]

This is getting a little out of hand.

[Shadowstorm]

I AM ANGRY ABOUT THIS AND I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT ANY LONGER!

Caps.

[fitbabits]

Jesus, the more things change, the more they stay the same. At least with EA! I feel for those who were duped by the "new" EA.

[Gorvi]

This will not lead to good things.

[Mephistopheles]

I'm waiting to see how EA escalate if shareholders refuse to sell.

[Dr.Finger]

I would be nice to see what Take-Two does with competent management. Zelnick has done well so far, but that company has been grossly mismanaged the past few years.

[TrackZero]

Personally I find the whole GTA thing has been losing my interest for some time now. I don't know if this is a long-term wise move.

[fitbabits]

This is also a relatively inexpensive way for EA to hook up with the MLB license they lost out on.

[Johan]

Jesus, the more things change, the more they stay the same. At least with EA! I feel for those who were duped by the "new" EA.

I don't "feel" for them, because I think it was stupid to be duped by EA.

There; I said it. If you're a bleeding heart and you thought that EA had somehow "reformed" from its ways, you were/are a stupid sucker. They're a company, not an addict in a twelve-step-program who is actually getting help and changing his/her ways.

I continue in my EA boycott...one I have successfully maintained for years with a list of games I have picked up from them as short as the number of fingers on one hand; used games, too! :D

[menage]

Screw this. One company owning all others can never result in a good outcome.

[Herald42]

Screw this. One company owning all others can never result in a good outcome.

Why do you think they fought for the LotR license?

One ring to rule them all.

[Doctor Setebos]

I would be nice to see what Take-Two does with competent management. Zelnick has done well so far, but that company has been grossly mismanaged the past few years.This.

I'm sorry, folks, but I can't ride the EA hate train on this particular news item. This can ONLY be good. T2 has one of the most proliferate, recognizable licenses in the world, and they haven't made money in 3 years. Their management is incompetent and corrupt. What they need is a complete cleansing of the upper management and an influx of reliable cash sources, and no one can provide that but EA.

If EA doesn't step in, T2 would disappear within a year. Despite GTA4.

[jpublic]

I would be nice to see what Take-Two does with competent management. Zelnick has done well so far, but that company has been grossly mismanaged the past few years.

Good point. For that that people say EA is evil, they are a remarkably competent *business* house.

I, like Johan, have very few EA games. I'm pretty sure I've bought *maybe* one in the past 5 years, and that was LOTR: The Third Age, which I sold promptly.

So hell, let them be the same EA. Let them buy Bioware, Take 2, Ubisoft, and whomever else. I don't give a shit. Just make games I like.

[TyphoidMarty]

This.

I'm sorry, folks, but I can't ride the EA hate train on this particular news item. This can ONLY be good. T2 has one of the most proliferate, recognizable licenses in the world, and they haven't made money in 3 years. Their management is incompetent and corrupt. What they need is a complete cleansing of the upper management and an influx of reliable cash sources, and no one can provide that but EA.

If EA doesn't step in, T2 would disappear within a year. Despite GTA4.
Going to disagree with that one. Also I am averse to this methodology in general, you might not like T2 but who is next on the block with EA and Activision bringing near infinite resources to bear like a giant fricking laser on any company they like?

[defiant]

This.

I'm sorry, folks, but I can't ride the EA hate train on this particular news item. This can ONLY be good. T2 has one of the most proliferate, recognizable licenses in the world, and they haven't made money in 3 years. Their management is incompetent and corrupt. What they need is a complete cleansing of the upper management and an influx of reliable cash sources, and no one can provide that but EA.

If EA doesn't step in, T2 would disappear within a year. Despite GTA4.

Yes because EA is so adept at managing well recognized and performing franchises, like:

(a) wing commander
(b) ultima
(c) strike commander
(d) privateer
(e) syndicate
(f) magic carpet
(g) crusader
(h) simcity
(i) dune
(j) dungeon keeper
(k) lands of lore
(l) etc

[Citizen Philip]

You know who also had a vision of domination and glory?

[Itchyeyes]

This.

I'm sorry, folks, but I can't ride the EA hate train on this particular news item. This can ONLY be good. T2 has one of the most proliferate, recognizable licenses in the world, and they haven't made money in 3 years. Their management is incompetent and corrupt. What they need is a complete cleansing of the upper management and an influx of reliable cash sources, and no one can provide that but EA.

If EA doesn't step in, T2 would disappear within a year. Despite GTA4.
I agree. I can't help but see all the backlash against EA on this one as nothing more than knee jerk reactions to favor "the little guy". But T2 isn't some independent developer here, they're a massive corporation with a laundry list of corruption charges. I do realize that this is probably bad for sports game fans, but this is the direction that that area of games has been moving in ever since the leagues figured out how much money was in selling exclusive licenses. If not EA, someone else would have taken over the sports games genre within a few years anyways.

[Kelegacy]

Motherfucker.

Between the success of the Wii making shitty casual games ridiculously popular, and EA eating all the competition with studio purchases and now publisher takeovers, my hobby is one step closer to being fucked.

[Itchyeyes]

Yes because EA is so adept at managing well recognized and performing franchises, like:

(a) wing commander
(b) ultima
(c) strike commander
(d) privateer
(e) syndicate
(f) magic carpet
(g) crusader
(h) simcity
(i) dune
(j) dungeon keeper
(k) lands of lore
(l) etc
You don't get it. This isn't about games, it's about money. It doesn't matter how good T2 is at managing their IP's, the company is a sinking ship in terms of its finances. And without someone buying them they're going to take all of those IP's and developers down with them, just like Interplay did back in 2004. Everyone wants to think that games can be developed in a vacuum where money doesn't matter, but that's just not reality. Someone has to pay the bills and T2 isn't doing it.

[Telefrog]

I agree. I can't help but see all the backlash against EA on this one as nothing more than knee jerk reactions to favor "the little guy". But T2 isn't some independent developer here, they're a massive corporation with a laundry list of corruption charges. I do realize that this is probably bad for sports game fans, but this is the direction that that area of games has been moving in ever since the leagues figured out how much money was in selling exclusive licenses. If not EA, someone else would have taken over the sports games genre within a few years anyways.

See, I'm with the people that say that T2 has been sitting on their management thumbs and squandering their primo licenses for years, but I refuse to let that suddenly become free reign in my mind for EA to take over any company with troubled management. If a company has shitty strategy, then let it die naturally. Everyone gets to bid on the licenses when the creditors liquidize the assets.

I get that it's a business, but I'm with Johan on this one. All of you that bought Riccitello's talk about the softer, cooler EA have a rude awakening coming. EA is EA. It's not going to change anytime soon.

[bapenguin]

You know who also had a vision of domination and glory?

Everyone ever created?

[Itchyeyes]

If a company has shitty strategy, then let it die naturally. Everyone gets to bid on the licenses when the creditors liquidize the assets.
Tell that to all the people clamoring for another Freespace or all the die hard Fallout fans who got burned when Interplay went under. If EA buys T2, then the developers come with it, and there's still a good chance that we'll have Firaxis working on the next Civ game and 2K Boston working on the next Bioshock and Rockstar working on the next GTA. If T2 has to shutter it's doors and auction off its IP's, then it's anyones game and franchises like Civ and Bioshock don't go to the people who made those games what they were or whoever is the most qualified developer but simply whoever is the highest bidder. And that's if it auctions them off. There's a good chance that it will take quite a few of them with it to the grave, and we'll never see any of those game again. On the list of possible ways this could sort out, T2 going under is not something that is good for anyone.

[captainspankypants]

If a company has shitty strategy, then let it die naturally.

There is no such thing as a "natural" death for a company of this size, with licenses this popular. A company like T2 CAN'T just say, "oh well, guess we'll go out of business now." It gets eaten by the piranhas, or in this case one giant shark. Imagine if McDonalds was in huge financial trouble. They're not going to just close their doors, someone's going to buy that shit up, one way or another.

[defiant]

You don't get it. This isn't about games, it's about money. It doesn't matter how good T2 is at managing their IP's, the company is a sinking ship in terms of its finances. And without someone buying them they're going to take all of those IP's and developers down with them, just like Interplay did back in 2004. Everyone wants to think that games can be developed in a vacuum where money doesn't matter, but that's just not reality. Someone has to pay the bills and T2 isn't doing it.

Did someone mention interplay?

http://www.interplay.com/

Tada! Back from the grave....we hope! :cool:

[Doctor Setebos]

Did someone mention interplay?

http://www.interplay.com/

Tada! Back from the grave....we hope! :cool:Yeah, Acclaim and Atari have done the same thing in recent years. Look what it's done for them! :rolleyes:

It's the name only. Nothing more. If you think any remnant of the former company still exists within that name, you are delusional. And I mean that in a nice way. :D

[Dr.Finger]

Yes because EA is so adept at managing well recognized and performing franchises, like:

(a) wing commander
(b) ultima
(c) strike commander
(d) privateer
(e) syndicate
(f) magic carpet
(g) crusader
(h) simcity
(i) dune
(j) dungeon keeper
(k) lands of lore
(l) etc
I'm not saying that Electronic Arts is perfect - they're far from it - but they're Take-Two's best shot. Barring some sort of miracle, Take-Two was headed for trouble. Either they would have imploded, with their properties sold off piecemeal, or another company would have swooped in and bought them. Outside of Sony and Microsoft no one in the industry can afford to buy them, so they would either end up as someone's first party developer, or in the hands of a company (like Warner Bros) that's trying to break into gaming. And as much dislike as some have for Electronic Arts, they're worlds better than a company that's never done significant business in the industry.

Besides, show me a publisher that's been around as long as them that doesn't have a list of abandoned/neglected franchises that long.

[Doctor Setebos]

Hey - if Warner Bros bought T2, maybe we'd get a Justice League/GTA crossover! :eek:

[alienhead]

Here's what will happen. EA will overspend trying for this takeover. They will realize, after the fact, that Take2 was not worth the money. They will slowly kill off different game divisions until all that is left is the Madden team and the GTA team. Then a year later they will go bankrupt. How likely is this to happen? In the last ten years this has happened over and over in the software Industry. Of course, EA is huge at least they have that going for them. They do love to devour developers.

[Generation ABXY]

Who knew a hostile takeover could include such a tender offer? :p

Also, can anyone clarify this for me: In a lot of comments about this, I see some people worrying about the future of GTA and others saying it won't be affected by this - which one is it? I'm pretty sure Rockstar owns the franchise, but does Take-Two own Rockstar and, even if they don't, will anything change if/when EA buys them out? I'm seriously confused on this issue...

[Podfork]

Interesting counter-point (http://uk.gamespot.com/users/chikahiro94/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25347282&om_act=convert&om_clk=soapbox&tag=soapbox;subject;2) for those who can only see as far as the EA part of all this.

This isn't a 'good guy' 'bad guy' thing. However much idealistic gamers with an over-simplified view of the situation try to assert it is.

[Itchyeyes]

Who knew a hostile takeover could include such a tender offer? :p

Also, can anyone clarify this for me: In a lot of comments about this, I see some people worrying about the future of GTA and others saying it won't be affected by this - which one is it? I'm pretty sure Rockstar own the franchise, but does Take-Two own Rockstar and, even if they don't, will anything change if/when EA buys them out? I'm seriously confused on this issue...
Take Two owns Rockstar, 2K, and Firaxis. There are some lead members of Rockstar that have a contract with T2 that ends fairly soon here, so they would not be required to come with the rest of the company if EA bought them, but by and large the GTA franchises and the majority of people who work on them would go to EA in the event of a buyout.

[Kelegacy]

Overspending killed Russia, maybe it will kill EA as well?

I doubt it.

[morose]

Nevermind, Podfork's link says what I was getting at much better than I can myself. :)

[Itchyeyes]

Interesting counter-point (http://uk.gamespot.com/users/chikahiro94/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25347282&om_act=convert&om_clk=soapbox&tag=soapbox;subject;2) for those who can only see as far as the EA part of all this.

This isn't a 'good guy' 'bad guy' thing. However much idealistic gamers with an over-simplified view of the situation try to assert it is.
Gamers with Jobs (http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/37795) has a good article on the subject as well.

[fitbabits]

Overspending killed Russia, maybe it will kill EA as well?

I doubt it.

Why doesn't EA go after a company like SEGA? Revitalize the Sonic brand or something.

[Itchyeyes]

Revitalize the Sonic brand or something.
Technically, they're kind of trying that right now, since EA now owns Bioware which is working on the Sonic RPG.

[Dakar]

Gaming is quickly becoming network television. With all the shitty side-effects of having a few massive behemoths running the industry.

[Telefrog]

Tell that to all the people clamoring for another Freespace or all the die hard Fallout fans who got burned when Interplay went under. If EA buys T2, then the developers come with it, and there's still a good chance that we'll have Firaxis working on the next Civ game and 2K Boston working on the next Bioshock and Rockstar working on the next GTA. If T2 has to shutter it's doors and auction off its IP's, then it's anyones game and franchises like Civ and Bioshock don't go to the people who made those games what they were or whoever is the most qualified developer but simply whoever is the highest bidder. And that's if it auctions them off. There's a good chance that it will take quite a few of them with it to the grave, and we'll never see any of those game again. On the list of possible ways this could sort out, T2 going under is not something that is good for anyone.

Who cares? I mean really. They're videogame licenses. If they're good, and have a decent business case, the licenses will fall to people that believe they can do something with them. If they're crappy, then let some ham-fisted amateurs work with them. What do I care?

I just know that I don't want all of the sports licenses in the world to go to one company.

Edit: No matter what happens to T2, I'm pretty sure that Firaxis and Rockstar will come out okay. No publisher will let their stuff fall through the cracks.

[Flatpicker]

This is probably good news for the take 2 dev teams.
The management there has been lax for quite some time and a shakeup was just a matter of time.

[Venkman]

This.

I'm sorry, folks, but I can't ride the EA hate train on this particular news item. This can ONLY be good.

EA will have no competition in the video sports arena if they buy take 2. I don't particularly care for the games, but that can't be good for the development market.

[Itchyeyes]

Just a little food for thought, an EA buyout of T2 would reunite Firaxis with rights to Alpha Centauri.

[Virtual Machine]

Whether you zealots like it or not, EA releases some damn fine, and damn popular product. The whole "Evil empire" schtick is both pointless, childish, and fucking stupid.

T2 has been on the rocks for what? 4 years now? If anyone can turn them around, it's a company that understands the cost of making games, and how to polish and present a title to the public.

[Johan]

If anyone can turn them around, it's a company that understands the cost of making games, and how to polish and present a title to the public.

Substitute "TURD" and you've got it.

Also, there's nothing "childish" about avoiding products from a company I DO NOT APPROVE OF. It's called "exercising my right to buy what I want." :rolleyes:

People who bitch about them AND buy their products are the real fools.

[asimonk]

Overspending killed Russia, maybe it will kill EA as well?

I doubt it.

Actually, it is well documented (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=261sgYPcjes)that Rocky in fact, killed Communism.

I have mixed feelings about this. They have managed to utterly ruin many great franchises, but at the same time, Mass Effect, Rockband, I can't help but wonder (hope?) that maybe there is some balance that can be achieved between innovation and next year's sports game.

I just wish I didn't have to start from scratch with every new iteration of Tiger Woods.

[Itchyeyes]

It's called "exercising my right to buy what I want." :rolleyes:
I get the feeling EA would say the same thing about Take Two.

[fitbabits]

Whether you zealots like it or not, EA releases some damn fine, and damn popular product. The whole "Evil empire" schtick is both pointless, childish, and fucking stupid.

T2 has been on the rocks for what? 4 years now? If anyone can turn them around, it's a company that understands the cost of making games, and how to polish and present a title to the public.

Popular does not really equal good. See Batman Begins (the game) for details.

[PopoWRX]

Just a little food for thought, an EA buyout of T2 would reunite Firaxis with rights to Alpha Centauri.

I...did not know that...wow...um...Go EA?

[Heretic Machine]

Take 2 deserves assimilation; in fact, it is a mercy. Other publishers will rise to take their place, and in time they will sink to the same levels, such is the way of things.

[jpublic]

Johan,

Let me ask you a question - do you not buy their games because they're from EA, or do you not buy them because they haven't published anything you want?

See, I'm in the latter situation. Looking through my shelf, I have only a couple EA games (Undying, AlphaCent and a bunch of Origin stuff that's been repacked).

I don't care who publishes my games. I don't care who makes them. Make the games I want, and I'll buy your product. End of line.

[Emabulator]

Whether you zealots like it or not, EA releases some damn fine, and damn popular product. The whole "Evil empire" schtick is both pointless, childish, and fucking stupid.

T2 has been on the rocks for what? 4 years now? If anyone can turn them around, it's a company that understands the cost of making games, and how to polish and present a title to the public.I agree. T2 has been ripe for a takeover for a while now.

The downside is the effect it will have on the sports gaming market. This does leave EA with somewhat of a monopoly on that market. Although it is not a monopoly in the traditional sense with product prices already being "fixed" due to the nature of the console game sales model. On the bright side if the games are of poor quality subsequent sales will suffer and EA knows that. Leave a hole open in the market and somebody will find a way to fill it.

[fitbabits]

I wonder if Microsoft will table a counter offer. That would be interesting.

cat

[Kem0sabe]

and how to polish and present a title to the public.


Hilarious... So EA is known for its polished releases?

[Ix Quantum xI]

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/4047/eaborgcubeag3.jpg

Resistance is Futile

[Itchyeyes]

Hilarious... So EA is known for its polished releases?
Yes and no. People like to lump every game that comes out of EA as coming from the same people, but EA, like most other large developers, is simply a collection of smaller developers. EALA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA_Los_Angeles), DICE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Illusions_CE), Criterion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterion_Software), and Maxis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxis) all have pretty good track records, EA Tiburon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA_Tiburon) and EAUK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA_UK)... not so much.

And then you have the myriad of games that EA does not develop but merely distributes, which can range from titles like Orange Box, Rock Band, and Crysis all the way down to bottom of the barrel movie tie-ins. I think it's here that EA gets a lot of its bad rep. Their distribution arm is purely business and almost no creative control is involved. As a result, the EA brand gets slapped on a lot of crap that they really had very little to do with.

I'm not trying to say EA is a standout developer. They put out some really crap games sometimes, and are responsible for tearing apart some really good development studios. But if we're going to rag on them, you also have to give credit where it's due and as many shitty games as they put out, they also turn out some really good ones too.

[menage]

Can't even remeber my last EA game. Burnout 3 I think, and I wasn't happy with that after the joy that was 2.

Still, they release some good stuff again (Skate), but I hope to god that they keep the good devs (Bioware) separated from the shitpit they also produce. That didn't go to well in the past.

Hopefully the million + copy's sold of ME adn Bioshock proves that great games don't need the word Urban in the title.

[Johan]

I get the feeling EA would say the same thing about Take Two.

Their "right" to do so is restricted by laws against monopolies, as well...so if they get too large, they will lose that "right."

Also, their "right" to buy Take Two is restricted by the rights of the board and shareholders to NOT sell their shares to EA.

I never said they couldn't buy Take Two. I said I continue to be well aware of their business practices and I, for one, do not approve of them. Hence, I, for one, do not buy their products.

[Beelzebud]

This is what gaming is becoming. Soon you'll have like 2 or 3 companies publishing all the games. With their closed console systems, they won't have to worry about mods being made they don't approve of, or can't profit from. Innovation and originality will take a back seat to visuals, and profit margins.

The future ain't what it used to be.

[Itchyeyes]

Their "right" to do so is restricted by laws against monopolies, as well...so if they get too large, they will lose that "right."
Which doesn't apply in this case since EA is not considered a monopoly. In fact, as of Jan 2008 they've dropped to the 3rd largest game publisher behind Nintendo and Activision.
Also, their "right" to buy Take Two is restricted by the rights of the board and shareholders to NOT sell their shares to EA.
Which is exactly what this is about. So far, the shareholders haven't been given the choice on whether or not to accept EA's offer. T2's management has been standing in the way (and conducting some shady business at the same time). So now EA is appealing directly to those who actually own the company.

[RorschachCCCLX]

I hate EA for their business model. if you see what they did in the late 90's , they attempted to colude with sony to help kill off sega and make it so only one console maker would survive. this is EA's dream senario, that they have a partner where they can hump out the same game every year and kill orignality and compitision.
in 1984, this kind of shit killed the industry, but it needed killing, maybe its that time again.

Die EA!

[beefyjr]

Just a little food for thought, an EA buyout of T2 would reunite Firaxis with rights to Alpha Centauri.

More importantly, if EA bought Take 2, the buyout would reunite 2k Boston with the System Shock license.

[Mantooth]

This is probably good news for the take 2 dev teams.
The management there has been lax for quite some time and a shakeup was just a matter of time.

Not good news for the large number of those developers that will lose their jobs. EA is not going to absorb everyone.

[tombofsoldier]

But then all they'll need is Activision until they can build build hotels!

[Doctor Setebos]

But then all they'll need is Activision until they can build build hotels!Activision is bigger than EA. They would have a difficult time scraping together the cash. :rolleyes:

[Virtuoso]

Here's what will happen. EA will overspend trying for this takeover. They will realize, after the fact, that Take2 was not worth the money. They will slowly kill off different game divisions until all that is left is the Madden team and the GTA team. Then a year later they will go bankrupt. How likely is this to happen? In the last ten years this has happened over and over in the software Industry. Of course, EA is huge at least they have that going for them. They do love to devour developers.

This is the absolute dumbest thing I have read in a while.

How do you type? I can't imagine anyone being this dumb without a machine breathing for them.

[ElektroDragon]

Screw this. One company owning all others can never result in a good outcome.

Come on, all you high level clerics! Resurrect Teddy Roosevelt! Pronto!

[Itchyeyes]

Activision is bigger than EA. They would have a difficult time scraping together the cash. :rolleyes:
Especially since Activision is now mostly owned by Vivendi (market cap ~$28 billion).

[Beelzebud]

This is the absolute dumbest thing I have read in a while.

How do you type? I can't imagine anyone being this dumb without a machine breathing for them.

I can see all of that happening minus the bankruptcy part. Why the need to be such an asshole about it?

They've bought studios and closed them down before. It wouldn't be the first time.

[Virtuoso]

Substitute "TURD" and you've got it.

Also, there's nothing "childish" about avoiding products from a company I DO NOT APPROVE OF. It's called "exercising my right to buy what I want." :rolleyes:

People who bitch about them AND buy their products are the real fools.

You are really missing out if you refuse to buy Rock Band, Mass Effect, a new KoTOR game, GTA4, Dead Space, Orange Box etc. just because of the company that payed the bills for them.

Thats really sad in my opinion, that you would fault the developers for who pays the bills regardless of the originality or polish of the content.

In effect, what you are doing is telling EA that originality doesn't sell and you are justifying the outlook that you hate to their shareholders. The fact of the matter is that Joe Budweiser is going to go out and buy Madden no matter what, but it is up to people like us to support games that are good regardless of the publisher or distributor.

Not seeing those consequences is in my opinion, childish, which of course you have a right to be.

[Virtuoso]

I can see all of that happening minus the bankruptcy part. Why the need to be such an asshole about it?

They've bought studios and closed them down before. It wouldn't be the first time.

He meant that EVERY EA game would be gone except the GTA and Madden franchises. Reread it, its pretty stupid.

[Itchyeyes]

He meant that EVERY EA game would be gone except the GTA and Madden franchises. Reread it, its pretty stupid.
Still, you could have just said what you said now instead of being such a jerk about it.

[Johan]

Not seeing those consequences is in my opinion, childish, which of course you have a right to be.

http://www.wootuf.com/ajr21/picard_wtf.jpg

I buy the games I want to buy. The precious, precious few I have bought from EA have been bought used, and therefore not bought from EA, technically! :D

I don't like Rock Band.
Dead Space does nothing for me.
Orange Box is uninteresting.
KotOR may get a used purchase.
Mass Effect will get a "borrow" from a friend who owns it, not a purchase.

I'm not "missing out" as you say, because the games I want to play, I will buy used or borrow. From EA, that is PRECIOUS FEW. :D

Want a cookie?

[Virtuoso]

Still, you could have just said what you said now instead of being such a jerk about it.

Really I was just trying to be funny. Looks like I failed.

[bjornbarspingvinen]

Motherfucker.

Between the success of the Wii making shitty casual games ridiculously popular, and EA eating all the competition with studio purchases and now publisher takeovers, my hobby is one step closer to being fucked.

True. I feel the same way.
If EA buys T2, watch the sport category fall into snail like evolvement in the future.

Ea buying take2 may be good for shareholders but it will suck for consumers. EA will cancel NBA2k8 and keep their shitty NBA live game alive, NHL2k will be no more, watch for more titles to get canceled and forgotten like they have done in the past (bullfrog and similar)

E

[Virtuoso]

I buy the games I want to buy. The precious, precious few I have bought from EA have been bought used, and therefore not bought from EA, technically! :D

I don't like Rock Band.
Dead Space does nothing for me.
Orange Box is uninteresting.
KotOR may get a used purchase.
Mass Effect will get a "borrow" from a friend who owns it, not a purchase.

I'm not "missing out" as you say, because the games I want to play, I will buy used or borrow. From EA, that is PRECIOUS FEW. :D

Want a cookie?


The problem is that not buying those games means not supporting the developer. If nobody support the developer more of those games do not get made.

You may get to play them now, but because you disagree with the umbrella organizations business practices (in this case bailing out a failing and corrupt company), what you are really doing is dooming them to failure, and preventing yourself from playing any of their products in the future.

You may not be missing out now, but you will later.

And BTW, not liking Rock Band? Seriously? Teh lame0rz.

[Generation ABXY]

I'm not really the kind of person who is against EA. If they have a game I want, like Army of Two (they did that, right?), I usually plan to buy it...whether I ever get around to it or not is a different story. My problem with EA is that when they have a successful franchise, they, like Activision, try to pump out yearly installments.

Don't get me wrong, I love GTA - it is my favorite non-Nintendo franchise - and I'd love to see more...just not at the expense of quality, and quality is what you get from the series' you'll-get-it-when-it's-done development times. I can't see EA letting that continue, and, frankly, I don't want to hand over $60 every year for only part of a game. And I don't have the willpower to say, "no!"

[Beelzebud]

Is it so wrong to not want everything to just be homogenised crap?

[Itchyeyes]

I'm not really the kind of person who is against EA. If they have a game I want, like Army of Two (they did that, right?), I usually plan to buy it...whether I ever get around to it or not is a different story. My problem with EA is that when they have a successful franchise, they, like Activision, try to pump out yearly installments.

Don't get me wrong, I love GTA - it is my favorite non-Nintendo franchise - and I'd love to see more...just not at the expense of quality, and quality is what you get from the series' you'll-get-it-when-it's-done development times. I can't see EA letting that continue, and, frankly, I don't want to pump out $60 every year for only part of a game.
To be fair, Take Two hasn't exactly been taking it easy with the GTA series. When GTA IV comes out in April it will have been the 6th GTA game to come out since GTA III in 2001. That's an average of 1 GTA game every 13 months.

[Xerxes]

I don't "feel" for them, because I think it was stupid to be duped by EA.

There; I said it. If you're a bleeding heart and you thought that EA had somehow "reformed" from its ways, you were/are a stupid sucker. They're a company, not an addict in a twelve-step-program who is actually getting help and changing his/her ways.

I continue in my EA boycott...one I have successfully maintained for years with a list of games I have picked up from them as short as the number of fingers on one hand; used games, too! :D

I knew the whole new EA thing sounded fishy. They only thing did right was get rid of Kudo. I wish he was still with them now.:rolleyes:

Wow me and Johan have the same EA policy.
/high five

[Virtuoso]

I'm not really the kind of person who is against EA. If they have a game I want, like Army of Two (they did that, right?), I usually plan to buy it...whether I ever get around to it or not is a different story. My problem with EA is that when they have a successful franchise, they, like Activision, try to pump out yearly installments.

Don't get me wrong, I love GTA - it is my favorite non-Nintendo franchise - and I'd love to see more...just not at the expense of quality, and quality is what you get from the series' you'll-get-it-when-it's-done development times. I can't see EA letting that continue, and, frankly, I don't want to hand over $60 every year for only part of a game. And I don't have the willpower to say, "no!"


Have you seen EA lately? They've been delaying games left and right for, what did they say?

Oh yeah, polish. Thats why Army of Two came out a couple months later than expected (they missed the holiday deadline to revamp it, I call that dedication to getting things done).

Now, what this says about their sports games........

[Generation ABXY]

To be fair, Take Two hasn't exactly been taking it easy with the GTA series. When GTA IV comes out in April it will have been the 6th GTA game to come out since GTA III in 2001. That's an average of 1 GTA game every 13 months.

So it's still not yearly, right? :p

Have you seen EA lately? They've been delaying games left and right for, what did they say?

Oh yeah, polish. Thats why Army of Two came out a couple months later than expected (they missed the holiday deadline to revamp it, I call that dedication to getting things done).

Now, what this says about their sports games........

Hey, numbnut, I was talking about successful franchises. When they have a successful franchise, they try to milk it. Army of Two was a new IP. When they get GTA, it will already be an established franchise.

[Itchyeyes]

Is it so wrong to not want everything to just be homogenised crap?
You're framing the debate wrong. Nobody here is arguing that they want things to become homogenized crap. The argument is about whether EA will actually do that to Take Two's franchises, whether Take Two would not do that to them themselves, and what the alternatives are. If Take Two goes under and takes many of its IP's with it, many of us may be wishing for anything out of our lost franchises, even homogenized crap, in a few years.

[Virtuoso]

Hey, numbnut, I was talking about successful franchises. When they have a successful franchise, they try to milk it. Army of Two was a new IP. When they get GTA, it will already be an established franchise.

I really don't think that will be the case, aside from their established sports franchises, but I really don't have anything to back that up. We shall see I suppose.

Thanks for being a dick for no reason though.

[Generation ABXY]

You're framing the debate wrong. Nobody here is arguing that they want things to become homogenized crap. The argument is about whether EA will actually do that to Take Two's franchises, whether Take Two would not do that to them themselves, and what the alternatives are. If Take Two goes under and takes many of its IP's with it, many of us may be wishing for anything out of our lost franchises, even homogenized crap, in a few years.

You're right, there's no guarantee that EA will ruin it and that Take Two won't. Still, in a power play like this, it is annoying to see a company you actually like being used as nothing more than a pawn. As others have said, EA may have little to no interest in the company itself and may be solely interested in removing some competition in the marketplace. If that's the case, not only will it hurt whatever fans there are of Take Two's stuff, but also people who've been holding out hope the EA's will get better.

But again, nobody can say for sure just yet...at least nobody here.

I really don't think that will be the case, aside from their established sports franchises, but I really don't have anything to back that up. We shall see I suppose.

Thanks for being a dick for no reason though.

Says the man/woman who just told someone he can't believe anyone could be that stupid without needing a machine to breath for them. As Demetri Martin might say, "those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones...unless they are trying to escape."

[Itchyeyes]

You're right, there's no guarantee that EA will ruin it and that Take Two won't. Still, in a power play like this, it is annoying to see a company you actually like being used as nothing more than a pawn. As others have said, EA may have little to no interest in the company itself and may be solely interested in removing some competition in the marketplace. If that's the case, not only will it hurt whatever fans there are of Take Two's stuff, but also people who've been holding out hope the EA's will get better.

But again, nobody can say for sure just yet...at least nobody here.
It seems like you're focusing mostly on the sports games, in which case I have to agree that it's frustrating to see the competition in that area continue to dwindle even further. But keep in mind that there's much more to this than 2K sports. Even EA would not spend $2 billion just to eliminate some competition. T2 has a strong stable of developers and IPs that includes Rockstar, Firaxis, and Irrational (or 2K Boston). These all play a big role in the takeover as well, and EA most certainly has plans to continue to use these developers.

It's with these developers that I see the silver lining to this deal. As long as EA doesn't try to simply assimilate these developers into the greater corporate structure (which, given the way that Bioware has been treated so far, seems reasonable for at least the short term), I think it could be a good thing. T2 has had terrible and corrupt management for years and removing them from the equation benefits a lot of people. Likewise this takeover reunites some IP's like System Shock and Alpha Centauri with their original creators.

[Generation ABXY]

It seems like you're focusing mostly on the sports games, in which case I have to agree that it's frustrating to see the competition in that area continue to dwindle even further. But keep in mind that there's much more to this than 2K sports. Even EA would not spend $2 billion just to eliminate some competition. T2 has a strong stable of developers and IPs that includes Rockstar, Firaxis, and Irrational (or 2K Boston). These all play a big role in the takeover as well, and EA most certainly has plans to continue to use these developers.

It's with these developers that I see the silver lining to this deal. As long as EA doesn't try to simply assimilate these developers into the greater corporate structure (which, given the way that Bioware has been treated so far, seems reasonable for at least the short term), I think it could be a good thing. T2 has had terrible and corrupt management for years and removing them from the equation benefits a lot of people. Likewise this takeover reunites some IP's like System Shock and Alpha Centauri with their original creators.

I don't know if I'd put it past them to go through all this just to snuff 2K Sports; they said before that division was their sole intent of going after Take Two, and everything else is just "gravy." Of course, I can't say whether they were lying, but I suppose that is possible, too.

Honestly, I have no interest in the sports titles no matter who they belong to; I don't play those sort of games. However, it is often the risks associated with these sort of things that come out of no where and knock us on our ass, not the benefits. As I've said though, it could turn out a number of ways no matter who does what...so I'll be watching closely. Obviously, there's nothing I can do about it anyway.

[RudyPoo]

Awesome.

It will be nice to see what can happen with the Take 2 dev teams now that they will get some real support.

-R

[Telefrog]

Awesome.

It will be nice to see what can happen with the Take 2 dev teams now that they will get some real support.

-R

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Bahamut]

I fear for the day when EA is huge enough to want to start up their own console.

But as for this bit of news, I am with some of the minority here - I do not see any real reason to hate on EA for this. I remember a friend, who works for a company that got recently bought out by EA, telling everyone about how the whole EA hate has gotten out of line, and that other companies were bidding for the company he worked for as well. If I remember right, the company still functioned as normal, and that the EA takeover didn't change much in the workplace.

Also, Take Two isn't exactly the most innocent company as some have mentioned. They have quite a history of corruption (most notably the founder of Take Two), and the family that runs it has shown little regard for good business practices excepting using it as a means to continue their luxurious life.

[jpublic]

I fear for the day when EA is huge enough to want to start up their own console.



See, now *this* leads to some fun speculation. Both EA and Activision have mentioned that they would prefer a single console, instead of the multi-console market.

The more powerful these two become, might we see a push in the next generation for a single box? The WiiBoxstation 480?

[DarkDaY]

well, the only thing I can do about it is not buy any of their product, its a small thing but its all I got.
EA...boycott.

[fiercey]

Personally I find the whole GTA thing has been losing my interest for some time now. I don't know if this is a long-term wise move.

On the flip side, it's just gaining mine. I've thought they looked lame-o from the start, but GTA 4's trailers really have me wanting in.

-f

[fitbabits]

Personally I find the whole GTA thing has been losing my interest for some time now. I don't know if this is a long-term wise move.
On the flip side, it's just gaining mine. I've thought they looked lame-o from the start, but GTA 4's trailers really have me wanting in.

-f

I fall somewhere in between these two points... I own all the GTAs (including 1, 2, and London), but I've yet to be blown away the way I was when I first played the original. IV, on the other hand, has me very interested!

[Johan]

The problem is that not buying those games means not supporting the developer.

I don't care. I'm not a welfare agency for developers. I give charity to charitable organizations, and I'll be damned if anyone is going to guilt me into making purchases of products...especially entertainment products! :rolleyes:

Wow me and Johan have the same EA policy.
/high five

Woot! :)

[Xerxes]

I don't care. I'm not a welfare agency for developers. I give charity to charitable organizations, and I'll be damned if anyone is going to guilt me into making purchases of products...especially entertainment products! :rolleyes:

Well I do support other folks. But EA. If you let yourself be aligned with them so be it. Bioware got $800 million for falling in with them, I doubt they'll lose sleep if I support Shitstop.

[Johan]

Well I do support other folks. But EA. If you let yourself be aligned with them so be it. Bioware got $800 million for falling in with them, I doubt they'll lose sleep if I support Shitstop.

I'm with you on EA! Woot!