Take-Two on the ropes

[cliffbo]

Time for Sony to step in and buy yet another company? Come on Sony, pay the earth for this its worth every penny.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/27/take-two-on-the-ropes-shares-down-18-on-cash-burn-worries/

[xbdestroya]

For Sony to purchase Take Two outright at the moment would cost them a good bit more than $1 billion and require shareholder approval. I can't really see anything beyond Sony taking an equity stake in them to influence future development decisions, and even that, I'm just not sure if that'd be worth it for Sony. Take Two is kind of a lightning rod, even with it's blockbuster GTA franchise being considered by some to be 'key' to console success.

I could definitely see Sony not wanting to get any further wrapped up with all of that than it already is by default. Of course, a stake in the company to ensure GTA exclusivity and/or smarter spending on Take Two's part may not be a bad move, but it's going to be very expensive for this company, I'd say *too* expensive.

[cliffbo]

I could definitely see Sony not wanting to get any further wrapped up with all of that than it already is by default. Of course, a stake in the company to ensure GTA exclusivity and/or smarter spending on Take Two's part may not be a bad move, but it's going to be very expensive for this company, I'd say *too* expensive.

ye i absolutely agree that Sony wouldn't want to get wrapped up in any legalities... but, i think its a risk worth taking, at any cost. to have Take-Two in their arsonal would be incredible... but risky. when have Sony not been risk takers though?

[Domination]

There goes their cash cow. Hearing this news, they may have to go multi platform. :uhh:

[cliffbo]

There goes their cash cow. Hearing this news, they may have to go multi platform. :uhh:

you've just ruined my day... geeee thannnkkks :shifty:

[cliffbo]

Looks like the Hot Coffee has yet to cool. The city of Los Angeles is suing Take-Two Interactive for selling pornographic material—imbedded in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas—to children. In addition to requesting a $2,500 fine for each untrue or misleading statement made by the company, the lawsuit demands that Take-Two (and Rockstar) stop marketing to minors and return an estimated $10 million in profits made from sales of the game in California. Couple this latest development with news of plummeting stocks, and it could be some time before we see another GTA title hit the streets.

how rediculous is this though. i thought GTA was an 18 and the trouble you would have to go to to get this pornographic content is untrue. i certainly couldn't do it! guess i'll do what most kids do and just type 'porn' in my google bar. jesus the world gone mad!

[Garfunkel]

stupid 80 year olds, buying this for there 5 year old grandsons, then blaming R*, it is realy unfair.

And sony would not be able to buy T2 out easily

[nwo504]

dose sony own some of square??

[Fats]

I believe they currently own a 18.6% stake of Square:Enix.

[Raijin]

I believe they currently own a 18.6% stake of Square:Enix.


No, that was on Squaresoft but much less on Square-Enix.

[Fats]

Ah right, thanks for that. Any idea how much they own now?

[Helgunn]

Okay, so Take-Two is publishing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and as far as I know they don't own Bethseda... but if this Hot Coffee bullshit affects Oblivion in any way...

[xbdestroya]

Okay, so Take-Two is publishing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and as far as I know they don't own Bethseda... but if this Hot Coffee bullshit affects Oblivion in any way...

...then what? :shrug:

But seriously though, it won't effect Oblivion in any way - why would it? The sooner it ships the better for them.

[Phryne Astynome]

http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/lr19260.htm

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (“Take-Two” or “the Company”) is a New York-based publisher and distributor of video and computer games. During its 2000 and 2001 fiscal years, Take-Two inflated its revenues through fraudulent sales and improper accounting practices. Such practices included numerous “parking” transactions where the Company shipped several hundred thousand video games to different distributors, fraudulently recorded revenue from the shipments as if they were sales, and then accepted returns of the shipments in subsequent reporting periods. Some of the returns associated with this practice were not accounted for by the Company as returns in the later reporting period (i.e., they were not netted against sales). Instead, these returns were disguised as the purchase of new inventory. During this period, Take-Two also recognized sales of games for which production had not yet been completed. Take-Two used these artifices to materially inflate its reported revenues and profits and to meet analysts’ earnings per share predictions.

Yeah what an awesome company. Inflating their revenues like that. Check out their cash flow statement as well. This is a bady managed company that deserves to tank if you ask me.

[Z]

Time for Sony to step in and buy yet another company?
excuse me but that is short sighted. buying franchise can only take you so far. if it would have been that helpful, MS would have certainly bought a number if IPs. they wise thing to do is similar to what Midway has been doing recently and defenitly what Sony has been doing since PSOne days; buy the talent, not the names. what is the biggest game MS has ever made? did they buy that game specifically? no, they bought the dev team. Sony bought very talented and well respected team. the result of that is having some of the most successful franchises.

concerning a particular IP being big at some point, they can get timed exclusivity, ot at least secure a port. if you think about it, GTA was never PS2 exclusive. securing a game or a port doesn't have to be made by directly paying the publisher. they can do it in a number of ways like lowering royalties, licensing, taking on publishing, etc.

[xbdestroya]

Saw this today, felt it thread relevent:

ake-Two rebounds on buyout rumors
New York Post reports the Grand Theft Auto maker is in active talks with several interested parties, stock gains 10 percent on the day.

It would be tough to argue that last week was anything but a bad week for Take-Two, but this week is off to a much better start.

Take-Two's stock price jumped 10 percent today, up $1.50 to $16.19. Shares were trading hands at almost four times the average daily volume, spurred by reports in Saturday's edition of The New York Post that the company could be the subject of a buyout in the near future.

An unnamed source "close to the company" told The Post that Take-Two was in "active talks" with several buyers. It's uncertain how close to the company the source really is, as he or she apparently goofed on the name of one of Take-Two's biggest titles of 2005.

"For a fund, it is a bet that the cash flows from sales of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Liberty City Tales, and new management could get around the growing liabilities," the paper quoted the source as saying.

The stock had cooled somewhat in after hours trading, down almost 2 percent to $15.87.

[cliffbo]

guess this thread isn't too far fetched then. who knows what the future holds for this company but if they are bought out lets hope its Sony and not Microsoft

[Illmatic]

I'd say MS would be more likely to pick them up over Sony, but let's hope that's not how it goes. Maybe EA will buy them up :shifty:

[Sypher]

Eh, well all good things must come to an end. Honestly the GTA series was getting kind of stale. If anything, the devs will probably get snatched up by one of the Big 3.

Edit:I'd say MS would be more likely to pick them up over Sony, but let's hope that's not how it goes. Maybe EA will buy them up

GOD I HOPE NOT!! Then we'll have GTA: XTREME LOWRIDER D.U.B. Edition

[Helios]

Buying out Take-Two is one thing, buying the rights to use the GTA name and Rockstar North are completely different.

[Illmatic]

Buying out Take-Two is one thing, buying the rights to use the GTA name and Rockstar North are completely different.


I'm pretty sure they'd come with the package ;)

[mmilinski]

Time for Sony to step in and buy yet another company? Come on Sony, pay the earth for this its worth every penny.



Maybe not for Sony, not right now, but please don't bring such ideas online - MS is looking for companies to buy :smirk: