decline of the western civilization

MICROSOFT ON THE PROWL: TAKE-TWO AND INFOGRAMES ENTER RUMOUR RING
The cat\'s scratching at the bag. US reports are citing GTA3 publisher Take-Two as a possible target for Microsoft, as talk surfaces of Gates and Bonnell sharing a negotiations table

Microsoft\'s pockets are deep. The largest software publisher in the world reportedly has in the region US$40 billion (£28 billion) in capital ready for action, and it looks as though ground zero could be some major acquisitions in the games industry. Following the successful launch of Xbox in America, where an initial shipment of 300,000 units [estimated] of hardware sold through with barely a glitch, US cash publication Business Week has fingered New York-based Take-Two as a possible buyout target for Microsoft. Company president Paul Eibeler, who replaced short-serving chief Barry Rutcofsky in the position last July, declined to comment on the situation, describing merger talks as rumour at present.

Take-Two, publisher of vaunted PlayStation 2 gangster hit Grand Theft Auto 3 and visually stellar shooter noir Max Payne, is not alone as a rumoured future jewel for Microsoft\'s crown. Senior sources in the last week have indicated that talk of buyout discussions between Gates\' megalithic corporation and Infogrames is heating up. "I\'ve been in Japan, America and France recently and have heard exactly the same talk on all occasions," said one UK financial boss.

Infogrames supremo Bruno Bonnell, long rumoured as eyeing a career in French politics, stated in August this year that he and his corporation "share Microsoft\'s vision for the future of gaming." The publisher holds nine confirmed Xbox games for the European market at the moment, including Sega\'s portfolio of Gun Valkyrie, Jet Set Radio Future, The House of the Dead 3, Crazy Taxi Next, Sega GT 2002 and the next generation update of revered old-skool franchise, Panzer Dragoon.

When asked specifically about the rumoured Infogrames deal, a spokesperson for Microsoft replied with, "No comment." Infogrames remained unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

Take-Two\'s stock is currently considered undervalued at approximately US$14 (£9.70), making the publisher a possible target for Microsoft in the eyes of US analysts, when taking a recently strong line-up into consideration. Infogrames is currently trading at just 16 euros (£10) on the French stock exchange, following a steep rise in the last two months from around 6 euros (£4).

sigh, microsoft bringing its guerilla tactics to the console world
i was weary of this

i wonder what the price on Polyphony\'s  head is?

If Microsoft starts buying out developers, then Sony will have to do the same to counter attack.  Microsoft is completely screwing up the gaming industry IMO.  Where will Nintendo be after all this is done?  They don\'t have all that money to throw around, so they are pretty much screwed if a buyout war begins.

Yeah its a cheap (or should I say expensive) trick.

Go sony buy square, I know you want it!

MS needs big japanese developers in order to win this war

Lets all settle down and relax.

First off, they are rumors. Secondly, can you really expect Microsoft not to throw their muscle around. They want to win this war and I think that\'s good for everybody concerned.

I think Sony will be all the better now that they might start to feel the pinch of a competitor who is willing to do what they have to win. I can\'t wait to see what Sony has under their sleeve for their next system.

Now you can all line up in a row and start throwning bombs at me.

There are no morals in a massive competitive industry. Stop acting as if there are.

Buy Snowblind Sony! BUY BUY BUY!
BUY KONAMI! BUY NAMCO!! BUY CAPCOM!!

Buy them all! Bwhahaha!  :evil:

Take two might be thhe power behind Grand theift auto 3 and the up comming Emergency of State.

But by the looks of things they might not get it

A BusinessWeek analyst looks at the field and sees Microsoft and Rockstar k-i-s-s-i-n-g.

December 10, 2001

 
According to an analyst at BusinessWeek, Microsoft, which is looking to bring star-studded content to its system, should point its happy, open wallet at Take-Two Interactive, the makers of the much-in-demand Grand Theft Auto III. If there is one thing we all know about analysts, they love to speculate.
As has been Microsoft\'s strategy in the past, buying a successful company is always a key goal, and with the currently under-rated stock price at Take-Two, the company looks like a good buy. The only problem? Take-Two, according to our sources and after studying its business patterns, is not likely to comply with a buyout. A representative at Take-Two told IGN.com that the company does not comment on rumor, and wouldn\'t go past that. Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games do look good these days, with games such as Grand Theft Auto III, Smuggler\'s Run 2, Max Payne and the upcoming State of Emergency all appearing on PlayStation 2, but as you\'ll notice, Rockstar has invested heavily on PS2, and looks to that machine as the market leader. Still, as we are well aware of, anything can happen. Just look at the independently minded Bungie? They were bought up real quick-like, so it could certainly happen to Take-Two. We\'ll have more on the situation as it (or if it) develops.

oh and for everyone worryed about State of Emergency

Click Here

This a completely normal move for any company tryin to get into the console hardware market these days. Buy up 3rd party developers to guantee exclusive games and support. I jus wish Microsoft would buy up some of the LESSER known developers and build them up themselves like everybody else instead of going after established and successful developers. I guess Microsoft is just desperate for some exclusive hit titles.

10 bucks says they try an go after either Square or ID next.

take Id please!

Id + console = sux0r

Wolfenstein and Q3 would suit me just fine.

I don\'t think MS has to go after them necessarily, they\'ll come all on their own because of the xbox\'s environment.  Same goes for Blizzard.  It\'s a no brainer for big PC devs.  And this is definately a good thing.  I\'ll take two dozen bad PC ports for a Blizzard or ID game.

And like it or not, ID publishing games for the xbox is a good thing, and will attract people to the console.

yeah, wont be long before we see doomX

:rolleyes:

Originally posted by SonyFan

10 bucks says they try an go after either Square or ID next.

heh what do you think they have been trying to do with sqaure ever since the console has been around

i mean MS saw what Sqaure did for PSX and they want em - heck thats why they kept baiting the hook with negotiations and stuff but sqaure never bit into it

and i highly doubt sqaure will go anywhere - specially after sony\'s buy into their stock - even if they do develop for other consoles i doubt they will make anything exclusive to any other console besides PS2

Square better not leave. I remember in the glory Nintendo days when they left I didn\'t care (I was only like 10). But now I do and if they leave then they be poo poo heads.

Maybe they would take 989