I just knew some litigation was going to come of this.

It looks as though Duke Nukem Forever publisher Take-Two isn’t going to let the recent closure of the game’s former developer Apogee Software, Ltd.’s 3D Realms go without some form of retribution for its near 12 years of slacking. Bloomberg initially broke news of the publishers’ grievance stating Apogee/3D Realms “breached an agreement to design the latest installment of Duke Nukem” claiming Apogee/3D Realms “never produced the game and instead closed its studio on May 6, terminated development of the game and fired employees who had been involved in the Duke Nukem project”. Take-Two insists that “Apogee continually delayed the completion date for Duke Nukem Forever”, and ” Apogee repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward competing development of the PC Version of the Duke Nukem Forever”.

It is worth noting that Apogee Software, Ltd. (official title of now defunct 3D Realms) & Apogee Software, LLC (developers of forthcoming Duke Nukem Trilogy) are two separate entities.

Originally, Take-Two paid $12 million to former Duke Nukem Forever publisher Infogrames for exclusive publishing rights to the game back in 2000. However, it seems, at least according to Take-Two, that a second unspecified agreement was struck between the publisher and 3D Realms in 2007.

After news of 3D Realms closure hit the internet last week, Take-Two spokesman Alan Lewis confirmed that they were not providing 3D Realms with “ongoing funds for development of the title.”

Shacknews humorously reminds us “The two companies were on less than cheery terms during development of the game. After Take-Two publicly expressed hope that 3D Realms would finish the game in 2003, 3D Realms president George Broussard famously reminded Shacknews users that the game was self-funded, saying: ‘Take Two needs to STFU imo.’”

VE3D obtained scans of the actual court documents of the case shown here. The documents reveal more juicy details such Take-Two demanding 3D Realms hand over a complete snapshot of the game in its current state as well as all associated source code and assets. Take-Two further demands 3D Realms not leak the game or assets.

Also, it seems Take Two’s lawyers confronted New York Supreme Court judge, Charles E. Ramos, on the day of announcement of their closure (May 6th) to demand a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order. As of May 12th, Take-Two’s revised injunction appears to have been accepted as the myriad of asset leaks seemingly have stopped.

Scott Miller, head of 3D Realms, making his first public comments since 3D Realms’ closure, chimes in stating that Take Two’s actions are “100% spin, being eaten up by those who have no clue whatsoever…. we cannot talk yet. We will, soon…”

Andrew Burnes over at VE3D wittily adds “And finally, those hoping for a quick resolution will be disappointed – Take Two’s filing states that their case won’t be ready for trial for between nine and twelve months. By the time the case is concluded, Duke Nukem Forever will surely be outdated, necessitating yet another engine change.”

Strange days, indeed.

While we mourn the loss of 3D Realms as well as the joke formerly known as Duke Nukem Forever, it seems there are a handful of former employees of 3D Realms who refuse to go quietly into the night. Game assets from what we can only speculate as the final push for DNF are now being leaked onto the internet.

While I’m not sure if their (former employees) motives are sincere, I am getting the feeling there are some former bosses and/or publishing associates who are rather irritated right now.

To give fair warning, some of these are NSFW (not safe for work):

Some former (now unemployed) 3DR employees thought it would be good résumé reach out to post their DNF work via blog sites:

Just a minute, I’ve got to adjust my soapbox before I talk about comparing playing violent videogames with accepting torture.

As the battle over torture rages through the media, Huffington Post columnist Kari Henley has taken the opportunity to  blame the acceptance of torture by some US citizens on violent videogames and other media. She insinuates that you can’t have both videogames and morals in her post “America Doesn’t Torture… We just play Grand Theft Auto “.

“I believe if we are going to truly come to terms with abiding by moral codes against extreme acts of violence, we first have to start in our own living rooms to explore the increased levels of violence we witness on a daily basis that serves as news or entertainment. We say we “don’t f**#$ torture,” yet Grand Theft Auto is our favorite video game.”

After raging on about the depravity of popular adult television series and movies, Henley once again lashes out at mature rated videogames labeling them trainers designed to turn children into killers.

“And what about these modern X-Box and online video games? While I happen to enjoy the “G” rated Wii, over 11 million people are spending their time engrossed in the World of Warcraft or Grand Theft Auto where the point is to go around and kill people in a calculated way. Tell me again why this is supposed to be fun and relaxing?

According to the research oriented Warrior Science Group, watching violence is a technique used in the military to train soldiers to become killers, and video games do the same thing: “Every time a child plays an interactive video game, he is learning the exact same conditioned reflex skills as a soldier or police officer in training.”

The games Ms. Henley mentions are for adults who should be able to separate reality from role-play. The games industry has worked hard to uphold a ratings system to encourage this. Miss Henley is clearly using the torture debate as a platform to promote her agenda as President of the Board of Directors at the Women & Family Life Center. She’s also showing how woefully ignorant of videogames she is. Thanks Kari for removing any lingering doubts.

To be fair the article does mention that “those most in favor of torture are churchgoers.” We all know how often that group plays GTA. Doesn’t quite hold up her argument does it.

Rockstar has released three new screens for the upcoming downloadable content The Lost and the Damned for Grand Theft Auto 4. In case you have been living under a rock or have just not been paying much attention, the DLC is set in Liberty City and features a new main character, Johnny Klebitz. While the plot intersects with the storyline of the game, new missions that offer a new way to explore the city along with new multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles. They have even added addition music to the soundtrack to help freshen things up a bit.

The Lost and the Damned is expected to be released on February 17, 2009. Check back with us as more information is expected to be released between now and then.

After a renewed start we had an interruption these last few weeks but rest assured Filefront is still hosting and promoting all the great user created and hosted content contributed to us. We return with a double length post highlighting some great mods and files for quite a few outstanding games including usual suspects like Half-Life 2, the Battlefield games and of course one of my favorite series “that I am really no good at yet still enjoy” – Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War

Highlights from this week’s column include mods for:

• Doom III – Wrathchild Act I (not ROE compatible), Revised Alphalabs
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – A Provost of the Nine Divines, More Nord Beards
• Battlefield 2 – Operation Peacekeeper, Allies Intent Extended
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R – Ballistics Mod
• Far Cry 2 – new maps: MP_Surf & Gold Rush

There are also links to other maps, mods and patches for many of your favorite PC modifiable games. Be sure to check it all out after the jump.

Electronic Arts is being targeted by another class-action law suit over the DRM included with Spore, SecuROM. This time, California resident Alex McQuown is hoping to use Spore to take down SecuROM once and for all.

The grievances listed in Alex McQuown’s class-action suit against EA are much the same as the other suits with three big differences. His lawyers at Finkelstein Thompson claim that SecuROM damages computers costing consumer time and money to repair the havoc caused by its installation. The suit also asserts that EA has needlessly caused its customers grief. The figures prove that piracy of games that carry SecuROM has risen dramatically. The biggest difference in McQuown’s suit is that he invites every U.S. citizen that has purchased an EA product with SecuROM to join the class.

SecuROM comes with many of the most popular titles recently released including EA’s Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Dead Space; Ascaron’s Sacred 2; Bethesda’s Fallout 3; BioWare’s Mass Effect published by Microsoft; Ubisoft’s Far Cry 2 and Take 2’s Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC. Of course none of these games or companies have provoked as much protest as EA and Spore. I guess its not always a good thing to be high profile. You make a bigger target.

Read the New Spore Class-Action Targets EA SecuROM As a Whole for further details and a link to the original PDF of class-action suit submitted by Finkelstein Thompson on GameCyte.
thanks to Penny Arcade for explaining SecuROM so well.

Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek takes advantage of the innovative Wii controller to add depth to gameplay which is pure point and click on the PC. Players will engage in gesture based minigames as they dig into the mysterious accidents surrounding the Chantal family’s Icicle Creek lodge.

My daughters have really enjoyed the Nancy Drew series. Translating Nancy Drew adventures for the Wii will make them more accessible than ever to a growing casual gaming audience that are often more comfortable with consoles. Gamers can uncover Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek for the Wii in local retails stores or order it online from www.HerInteractive.com.

Today we are proud to post some progress on our TC development statuses. Yes, the plural form. As many of you know we are developing a total conversion called Resistance, but we decided to start again with the development of Trek Battles 3.

Read: NG Total Conversion Development News
More Star Trek: Legacy News: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

A new month and a progress report on what is going on with Aftermath. This news post will take a different direction to all the previous ones as this one there will be some bad news but there is good news too. It not all doom and gloom.

Read:Aftermath News: Change of Pace and a New Team Member
More Star Trek: Legacy News: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Read: Large Newspost from the XWW2 mod
More Battlefield 2 News: FileFront’s Battlefield 2 Files

Read:Black Mesa source – A celebration of the last decade!
More Half-Life 2 News: FileFront’s Half-Life 2 Files

Read:Visions Of Chaos Lord Of Change Preview and Updates
More Dawn of War: Soulstorm News: FileFront’s Dawn of War: Soulstorm Files

Once again we welcome back [i]Ace40k[/i] to the stage so that he can deliver to you, the Company of Heroes gamer the next version of his extremely popular sound modification! If you enjoyed his previous release…or, if you missed out on it, and you are of the mind that the weapon sounds that you hear while playing Company of Heroes lack that certain something, then count yourself lucky, as you are about to download a mod that will improve what you hear!

Download: Ace40k’s Sound Mod
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Stargate : La Releve (”The Relief” in English) is a French mod developed on the Battlefield 2 engine. The ambiance of the TV show is reincarnated in video game form to give you a new battlefield experience.

Download: Stargate: La Relève
More Battlefield 2: FileFront’s Battlefield 2 Files

dev_akm is now carrying over development after Oscuro’s retirement; Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul aims to make Oblivion a much more interesting, challenging, realistic and dangerous place, and also offers great rewards for the daring adventurer regardless of your level.

Download: Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul (v1.32f)
More Oblivion: FileFront’s The Elder Scrolls Files

Download: Commanders Revenges Extreme Edition
More Supreme Commander: FileFront’s Supreme Commander Files

Fast Fun and Crazy : Lite is a modification that edits a lot of the different units and structures in the game. This modification tries to make the gameplay faster while trying not to go out of control or unbalanced.

Download: Fast Fun and Crazy: Lite (v0.230)
More Command and Conquer: FileFront’s CnC 3 Files

Download: Silenced M21
More CoD 4: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

Download: Otherworld Episode 1 Beta (v2)
More Oblivion: FileFront’s The Elder Scrolls Files

Download: =AaTc= Jet Mod
More Star Wars Battlefront: FileFront’s Star Wars Battlefront Files

Download: Experimentals Wars
More Supreme Commander: FileFront’s Supreme Commander Files

Making a return engagement, ab2531 has submitted his updated version to his super-popular mod! NHCmod is what you want to download if you’re looking for a more juiced-up Company of Heroes!

Download: NHCmod | OF
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Download:Aliens vs. Predator 2 Master Server Patch
More Aliens vs Predator 2: FileFront’s Aliens vs Predator 2 Files

Download: Voice Chat Icons

More Return to castle Wolfenstein: FileFront’s Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Files

This is a nice surprise…a very useful mod by our buddy, Jose: “Throwable” objects! First order of business….the PK3 is named “throwable_sfutt.pk3″ Sfutt? Made me laugh…..sfutt. XD

Sorry, just had to point that out.

Download: Throwable Stuff
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Open up your bandwidth and submit! Submit, I tell ya! MUHAHAHAHAHA!! …errm *cough* yeah. Dartborne is here with what would appear to be the largest of the mods that are at your disposal…this bad boy weighs is at a whopping 430+ megs! And it is worth every kilobyte!

Download: Dartborne Mod
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Ever felt like your German potato masher just wasn’t enough? Well this is definitely your fix, how about not two potato mashers, but six of them! These grenades actually existed during World War Two under the name Geballte Ladung. Probably something pretty hard to scream as you are running away from it in battle.

Download: Big German Grenade (1.0)
More CoD 2: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

Faction commander is a powerful mod that allows you to dictate orders that your faction follows. The command system of this mod is composed of six types of commands and three classes of action codes.

Download: Faction Commander
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

It wasn’t long ago when GobDemoMaster gave us a mod where we could open doors that were locked in the game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Now he has come through with yet another version!

Download: Restored Doors/Rooms

More Knights of the Old Republic II: FileFront’s Knights of the Old Republic II Files

This is a simple tweak to saber colors and trails. By simple, I mean that a person who knows what they’re doing can probably replicate these effects in 10 minutes or less. I don’t think this 10 minutes was wasted, though.

Download: SM Cool saber effects
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: AOE Sound Pack

More Return to castle Wolfenstein: FileFront’s Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Files

Finally, what many Revolt fans have been waiting for, Revolt 4x — a version of Revolt you can play without crashing your entire game! smile This version features a number of key bug fixes that contributed to the instability of previous versions of the oldest CoD total conversion!

Download: Revolt 4x UO (Final)
More CoD: United Offensive: FileFront’s Call of Duty Files

After a bit of an absence, we are lucky to have Robin back with us to once again‘ wow’ you with some fantastic Far Cry adventure! This time your gaming experience will get a little spooky, with a bit of a dark ambiance…so if you’re scared of things that go bump in the night, then you shouldn’t leave furniture in the hallway…and you shouldn’t visit the far away island Lucifer Island!
Download: rll_Lucifer Island
More Far Cry: FileFront’s Far Cry Files

A Peaceful Moment is a screen shot captured by the author depicting a German officer overlooking a river beside a bridge. It actually is a quite peaceful screen shot, it’s a nice change of pace from all the action packed screen shots that are regularly viewed. This picture can also be used as a wallpaper if it fits your fancy.
Download: A Peaceful Moment
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

From the maker of the popular mappack: Insomnia, this developer has decided to create, and release, another map in the [i]‘Hell’[/i] style. WarlorD69 has stated that he made this map with the intentions of it being both beautiful and terrible…a tough combination to pull off, if you ask me! however, I think that he has done a fine job of it!
Download: Kings Cemetery
More Doom III: FileFront’s Doom III Files

For those of you that enjoyed the original release (and those of you that may have missed it) bigdane is back to tantalize you with his newest version! All of you sniper-lovers, don’t fret, there are still plenty of places to pick from…Essentially, Crater Lake (v2) is more or less, a total remake of the original Crater Lake, which will provide you with even more Far Cry 2 goodness and some serious Assault action!
Download: Crater Lake (v2)
More Far Cry 2: FileFront’s Far Cry 2 Files

The Last Palace is a 4 player map based on a war torn city in which 2 players start at a ruined Imperial Palace. This map is greatly detailed with craters, bombed out buildings, building rubble, and etc are littered throughout the map to give that warn torn city look; and coupled with custom decals, it just adds more to the experience.

Download: The Last Palace
More Dawn of War Dark Crusade: FileFront’s Dawn of War Dark Crusade Files

Download: Game_Jedi’s Map Pack

More Star Wars Battlefront 2: FileFront’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 Files

Download: rpg_dy100a
More Elite Force: FileFront’s Elite Force Files

Lafayette is a very small map that is built for 4 players mainly designed for instant action as the game starts due to how the points are laid out. Teams start at forested regions of the map which are located at opposing sides of the map and a road way is located in the middle.

Download: Lafayette
More Company of Heroes: FileFront’s Company of Heroes Files

Nope, this isn’t based on the firm, but rather a map from D2tm called Tropic Thunder Here we have a eight player map that is based on the topical landscape which isn’t done that bad; added in are few foliage, trees, canopy and the like to make the map more detailed.

Download: Tropic Thunder
More Dawn of War: FileFront’s Dawn of War Files

Far Cry 2: Canyon

Hot on the heels of the release that was just mirrored, DobiKuba has gone about sending in another rather large map to rouse the old killer instinct in you and to show off his mapping skills!

Download: Canyon
More Far Cry 2: FileFront’s Far Cry 2 Files

Before we begin I will hold up my hands and admit I’m a Final Fantasy fan, I attend regular mettings to kick the habbit so wish me luck there. Anyhow, FF VII being my favorite of the series I just had to grab this file and set traps around it to keep those other reviewers off. Now onto the review…..

Download: Final Fantasy VII Compilation
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-F.I.L.E.S.-Computer Screen
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

This is the Guardian Class, Oberth refit. Many of you should recognize this baby as it has popped up in a few news posts recently. Well its been a good wait for this to be finally done and dusted and props to Phoenix for getting her finished! Phoenix has also uploaded this as an entry to the ever growing list of entries to the Starship Contests.

Download: Federation Guardian Class
More Star Trek: Legacy: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Download: SM Steel Lasersword
More Jedi Knight III: FileFront’s Jedi Knight III Files

Download: Colt-1911- Texture -
More Stalker: FileFront’s Stalker Files

This is the Ambassador class and “Late Refit” originally released for BC by LC/Legacy and ported to Legacy by yopyop. This is a really high quality model which showcases yopyop’s impressive reworking of LC’s impressive model from BC.

Download: Ambassador Class
More Star Trek: Legacy: FileFront’s Star Trek: Legacy Files

Again, we regret that we cannot provide you with this weeks Demos, Patches and trailer. We apologize for the inconvenience! For now, here are the links to redirect you.

The new trailer for BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams may have many questioning just what 2K Boston has in store for us with such archaic imagery, but there are those who are wonder just what else there could possibly be left to do in Rapture. What or whom survived the last round remains to be seen, but what we do know, thanks to a recent quote from 2K representative Charlie Sinhaseni on Gamespot, is that the game is “destined” for the PS3, Windows based PCs and the Xbox 360.

While a psychic barnyard animal could have predicted that, what we are still unsure of is if each port of the game will be released simultaneously or not. Hopefully, this time around that will be the case–that way those who wish to play the PS3 version will not have to once again wait an whole painful year to get the game on their system.

When BioShock 2 was officially announced back in March, Take-Two stated that not only would Ken Levine be involved in some capacity, but that the game would be released sometime during the company’s Q4 fiscal year, which means we can hopefully expect it to hit sometime between August and October 2009.

Granted, that is over a year away and a lot can happen between now and then, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that this time around everyone will be able venture back into Rapture on the same day. In the meantime, just keep your eyes glued to 1UP for a more official announcement.

While Take-Two Chairman, Strauss Zelnick, may be the king of Men’s Fitness right now, there’s one place where he’s not so revered at the moment: Jim Cramer’s Mad Money. If you’ve ever flipped over to CNBC, odds are you’ve seen Cramer bring a wild amount of drama to the unlikely topic of stock trading. Part of the spectacle of the show extends to a “Wall of Shame” for businessmen who somehow cause their stocks to dwindle in the market, which found a new member recently in Zelnick (via GamePolitics). Cramer cited Take-Two’s rejection of EA’s $25.74 buyout offer as the reason for this, stating:

[EA's offer was] an offer no sane man can refuse. But Strauss Zelnick, Take-two’s chairman did just that…Welcome to the Wall of Shame, Strauss Zelnick. You managed to take a sure thing, a $25 stock and turn it into a $13 one [note: now around $12, as of this morning]. That takes talent.

Zelnick was added along with two CEOs from other companies whose stock suffered a similar fate, whom Cramer described as “The New Marx Brothers AKA The Destroyers of Capitalism As You Know It” (via CNBC). Aw, don’t feel too bad, Strauss. As long as your company keeps making great games, we’re still with you. But you have to do us one favor: no more Manhunt games. Ever.

I think just a decade ago, if you told someone that a video game executive would one day be on the cover of a fitness magazine, they’d probably just laugh in your face. These days though…well, they’d still probably laugh in your face, but they’d be wrong. This month’s Men’s Fitness features a cover and interview with Take-Two Chairman, Strauss Zelnick, alongside such headlines as “The Two Best All-Body Exercises Ever!” and “No More Gut!” It’s the first time a video game exec has ever made the cover of a health magazine, and it’s like staring into a bizarro universe — there’s even a picture of a Big Daddy right next to him.

In the magazine though, the 51-year old exec divulges his secrets on staying in shape, which include 50-mile cycling treks and getting in exercise whenever he can (via DasGamer). Heck, the man even sees a gym session as a way to discuss business:

“I schedule exercise as though it’s a meeting and treat it the same way… When someone asks me to have a drink, I suggest the gym instead.”

He doesn’t mention it, but I’ll bet there’s one other tip from his daily regimen that could help: constantly resist the advances of rival publishers wanting to buy your company out. That’s gotta take some serious muscles.

If the game is not enough to curb your appetite for simulated hoops, you can add a bit more of it to your life by participating online with “The Other Season“, which is an online fantasy league where gamers on PSN and Xbox LIVE get to play for NBA players actively participating as fantasy team owners. Players will be drafted into an NBA player’s NBA 2K9 fantasy teams, startedin October 28 so don’t be surprised if Chauncy Billups or Andre Iguodala happens to pick you. The winning team will have $10,000 donated to the NBA player’s charity of choice.

Additionally, 2K Sports have also announced some good news for PC by revealing that NBA 2K9 will be available for the PC come October 21. This the the first time the franchise has appeared on a Windows based system, and should deliver the same basketball simulation experience as the console versions.

Looks like basketball simulation will finally reach gamers on a “global scale” where hoop trash talk will not be limited to just console players anymore.

Both the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers have already been knocked out of the 2008 MLB playoffs, and the season is nearing its end. But gamers needn’t worry as there’s more MLB action to be had this year — albeit in a slightly different form than they’re probably used to. MLB Stickball releases this week for 800 Microsoft points ($10), and as the name implies, it isn’t exactly your traditional baseball game in downloadable form.

We don’t know a ton about the game, but it is 2K Sports’ first release on XBLA. You can buy and collect Topps MLB cards that will unlock their corresponding players for use in the game. Environmental objects like fire hydrants and windows can be hit when you swing, each having a different effect like being an instant out — which makes this sound closer to a Mario baseball title than MLB 2K8. You can listen to the Sports Anomaly guys talk about the game’s announcement right here or check out the game for yourself this Wednesday.

However, according to recent comments made this morning by Take-Two’s Chairman of the Board, Strauss Zelnick, the company has decided that it would be better for stockholders if the company continued to do business as usual.

Zelnick feels that the company has great creative forces working for it, is financially stable, and still a big enough competitor to brush off any offers that should come their way:

“Our management and outstanding and talented employees have maintained an unwavering focus on our products and our business through this lengthy strategic review process and we are confident in our prospects. We remain focused on maximizing value for stockholders and are executing on our business strategies in a determined manner.”

Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two added his two-cents regarding the decision to remain independent with the same amount of confidence the company has maintained over the past few months, by reminding the world of their recent financial cash cow, GTA IV:

“We have delivered solid financial results and expanded our portfolio of leading titles, which includes the powerful Grand Theft Auto franchise, as well as 15 other wholly owned brands with sales of more than one million units each..with no debt and an undrawn $140 million credit facility [this gives] us the financial flexibility to continue to do what we do best: innovate and create the great games that our customers have come to expect.”

Yes, it is easy to be confident when you have big name games in your portfolio coming to consoles like BioShock PS3, Duke Nukem Forever, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, GTA: Chinatown Wars and GTA IV coming to the PC in November. The biggest and most interesting thing I find though is that Feder states that they have no debt. How many companies can say that?

Take-Two sort of dodged the bullet on the EA take-over though, and while most companies would have been content to sell out to the first monopolistic giant to make an offer, they didn’t. While they did this in the best interest of their company, it is the gamers who are the big winners in the end.

Banner day for Take-Two and GTA IV fans. Lots of news so I will just state the facts.

• Eurogamer has reported that exclusive DLC for GTA IV should be hitting the Xbox 360 sometime in November.
• Take-Two is reporting that the DLC will hit during the Q4 of their fiscal year 2009 (Nov 08-Jan 09)- so we will keep you posted on that
• The DLC will consist of two 10-hour episodes
• GTA IV had now sold over 10 million units

All of this comes on the heals of Take-Two’s financial report which was released this morning, full of bragging rights. For example,  Q3 revenues are up from $206.4 million to $433.8 million with net income for Q3 totaling at $51.8 million or $0.67 per share. If you pull up numbers for the same time last year, you will notice that they reported a net loss of $58.5 million or $0.81per share.

For the nine months ended July 31, 2008, net revenues were $1,214.1 million, compared to $689.2 million for the same period a year ago. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 was $112.1 million or $1.48 per share, compared to a loss of ($131.3) million or ($1.83) for the 2007 period.

No wonder they are not ready to hand the reins over to EA just yet.

For the full press release which includes a slew of boring numbers, hit the jump.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. – Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 Financial Results

Non-GAAP EPS is $0.93, versus ($0.62) Non-GAAP Net Loss a Year Ago – Top and Bottom Line Results Exceed High End of Guidance – Non-GAAP EPS is $0.93, versus ($0.62) Non-GAAP Net Loss a Year Ago

Top and Bottom Line Results Exceed High End of Guidance

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO) today announced financial results for its third quarter ended July 31, 2008, which exceeded the Company’s previously issued guidance.

Net revenue for the third fiscal quarter was $433.8 million, compared to $206.4 million for the same quarter of fiscal 2007. Third quarter sales were led by the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV, as well as Top Spin 3 and Sid Meier’s Civilization® Revolution™.

Net income for the third quarter was $51.8 million or $0.67 per share, compared to a net loss of ($58.5) million or ($0.81) per share in the third quarter of fiscal 2007.

The third quarter results include $12.6 million in stock-based compensation expense ($0.16 per share); $5.4 million in professional fees and legal expenses, primarily related to Electronic Arts’ unsolicited tender offer ($0.07 per share); and $1.8 million in business reorganization costs ($0.02 per share). Results for the third quarter of 2007 included $10.8 million of business reorganization costs, legal expenses and other professional fees ($0.15 per share); as well as $2.8 million in stock-based compensation expense ($0.04 per share).

Non-GAAP net income was $71.5 million or $0.93 per share in the third quarter, compared to a net loss of ($44.9) million or ($0.62) per share in the third quarter of 2007. (Please refer to Non-GAAP Financial Measures and reconciliation tables included later in this release for additional information and details on non-GAAP items.)

For the nine months ended July 31, 2008, net revenues were $1,214.1 million, compared to $689.2 million for the same period a year ago. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 was $112.1 million or $1.48 per share, compared to a loss of ($131.3) million or ($1.83) for the 2007 period. Results for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 include $31.1 million in stock-based compensation expense ($0.41 per share); $10.7 million in professional fees and legal expenses, primarily related to Electronic Arts’ unsolicited tender offer ($0.14 per share); and $2.9 million in business reorganization costs ($0.04 per share). Results for the first nine months of fiscal 2007 included $34.3 million of business reorganization costs, legal expenses and other professional fees ($0.48 per share); as well as $12.6 million in stock-based compensation expense ($0.18 per share).

Non-GAAP net income was $156.6 million or $2.07 per share in the first nine months of 2008, compared to a net loss of ($84.4) million or ($1.18) per share in the comparable period of 2007. (Please refer to Non-GAAP Financial Measures and reconciliation information included later in this release.)

Business Highlights

Among the significant recent business developments, Take-Two noted the following:

– Sales of Rockstar Games’ blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV continued to exceed the Company’s expectations. Over 10 million units have been sold through to consumers as of August 16, 2008.

– Carnival Games™, a wholly owned and internally developed title for the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo and Nintendo DS™, has shipped over 2 million units since its debut in late August 2007. 2K Play will be expanding the franchise with Carnival Games: Mini-Golf for the Wii in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008.

– Gary Dale was named Chief Operating Officer of Take-Two, responsible for Take-Two’s publishing labels, sales activities, international expansion and business development initiatives. He had previously served as Executive Vice President of Take-Two.

“Take-Two’s exceptionally robust third quarter results reflected our continuing efforts to build a diverse roster of outstanding entertainment software brands, supported by an increasingly productive and efficient business organization,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two. “Thanks in particular to the creativity of our global development teams and their passion for producing great entertainment, we are benefiting from a portfolio that is the strongest in our Company’s history, as well as one of the most valuable in our industry.”

Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two, noted, “I’m extremely pleased with our strong position heading into the holiday season. Our world-class holiday portfolio includes Grand Theft Auto IV, Top Spin 3, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution, and Carnival Games, as well as upcoming hits such as Midnight Club: Los Angeles, BioShock for PLAYSTATION®3, and a range of sports titles. Longer term, we’re sharply focused on bringing our popular products to new regions and new markets, as we continue to seek opportunities for profitable growth and enhanced stockholder value.”

Financial Guidance

Take-Two’s guidance for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending October 31, 2008 is detailed below. The Company has increased its guidance for fiscal year 2008, while reducing its guidance for the fourth quarter, primarily due to the significantly better than expected third quarter results and shifts in the timing of certain product releases, the most significant of which are Midnight Club: Los Angeles and Midnight Club: LA Remix, which will now be released on October 21st and October 24th in North America and Europe, respectively.

Revenue* Non-GAAP EPS (a)(b) —————— ——————— Fourth quarter ending $285 to $335 $0.01 to $0.05 10/31/2008 Fiscal year ending $1,500 to $1,550 $2.08 to $2.12 10/31/2008

* In millions

(a) The Company’s non-GAAP EPS estimates for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ending October 31, 2008 exclude approximately $0.18 and $0.59 per share, respectively, of stock-based compensation expense; and approximately $0.03 and $0.21 per share, respectively, of professional fees and legal expenses related to unusual matters, including the Electronic Arts tender offer and the Company’s related review of strategic alternatives; as well as business reorganization costs. The Company’s stock-based compensation expense for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2008 reflects the cost of approximately 2 million stock options and 1.5 million shares issued to ZelnickMedia that are subject to variable accounting. Actual expense to be recorded in connection with these options and shares is dependent upon several factors, including future changes in Take-Two’s stock price.

(b) EPS estimates reflect tax expense primarily for international operations.

Key assumptions underlying the Company’s guidance include continued consumer acceptance of the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo; the ability to develop and publish products that capture market share for these current generation systems while continuing to leverage opportunities on prior generation platforms; as well as the timely delivery of the titles detailed in this release.

Product Pipeline

The following titles shipped during the third quarter of fiscal 2008:

Title Platform ———————————————————————-

Carnival Games™ DS Don King Presents: Prizefighter Xbox 360 MLB® Power Pros 2008 Wii, PS2 Sid Meier’s Civilization® Revolution™ Xbox 360, PS3, DS Top Spin 3 Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS

The following titles are planned for release in the remainder of fiscal 2008:

Title Platform ———————————————————————-

BioShock® PS3 Carnival Games: Mini-Golf™ Wii Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess Wii, PS2, DS Go, Diego, Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue Wii, PS2, DS Grand Theft Auto IV (Japanese edition) Xbox 360, PS3 Midnight Club: Los Angeles Xbox 360, PS3 Midnight Club: LA Remix PSP NBA® 2K9 Multiple platforms NHL® 2K9 Multiple platforms Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization™ Games for Windows® The Wonder Pets!: Save the Animals DS

Take-Two’s line up announced to date for fiscal 2009 includes the following titles:

Title Platform ———————————————————————-

BioShock® 2 TBA Borderlands™ Xbox 360, PS3, Games for Windows® Champions Online™ TBA (MMOG) Grand Theft Auto: IV PC Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars DS Grand Theft Auto IV episodic content Xbox 360 Mafia II Multiple platforms Major League Baseball® 2K9 Multiple platforms MLB® Superstars Wii NBA® 2K10 Multiple platforms NHL® 2K10 Multiple platforms

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.

GamePolitics finds the rumors believable given the open hostility between the two companies since the beginning of the year.

While Seeking Alpha ultimately discounts the rumor, it’s known that EA management is not especially fond of the Strauss Zelnick team at T2. That has a lot to do with the rich deal Zelnick put in place for himself and his crew in the event of an acquisition. Given that atmosphere, hardball tactics (such as a walkout) would seem to be in the realm of possibility.

I personally find it hard to believe that EA would walk out of negotiations. Playing hardball this late in the game is is fairly useless considering T2 knows just how badly EA wants to buy it out. Succeeding in dropping the value of T2 stock doesn’t change the fact that EA extended its final buyout offer deadline several times over the past year.

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 and until discussions between EA and Take-Two have been terminated or such parties have entered into a transaction. As previously disclosed, EA now requires due diligence to support any proposal to acquire Take-Two and there can be no assurance that any proposal, negotiations or transaction will result.

Once again, this doesn’t mean that an acquisition is imminent, but with EA having dropped its hostile takeover attempts and the two sides seemingly on the same page, the possibility of a buyout is as real as ever.

The latest rumor concerning GTA IV’s upcoming DLC says that the first batch of new content will add 15 hours of extra gameplay to the hit title. The news apparently stems from web comic, RPG-TV, though the author has since removed this information. This is kind of disappointing, considering initial rumors on the DLC indicated they would be adding whole new cities comparable to San Andreas. Now it sounds more like they’re just adding some extra missions. Hopefully we’ll actually hear some official news on the additional content soon.

Via ShackNews

CNet’s Digital Home asks a compelling question, “Does it matter who buys video games?” In this recent article, the author sites a survey that finds 17% of the GTAIV videogames sold were bought by or for kids ages 6-17. Given that 80% of the kids of the kids that didn’t buy it themselves got it from their parents or older siblings the author takes a stance against regulating the sale of M rated games. His point is that these kids’ parents are likely to go get it for them anyway.

The original intent of not allowing underage kids to buy video games was to stop them from picking up a violent title that their parents didn’t want them to play and bring it to a friend’s house where they wouldn’t know. And while that is an admirable idea, it simply doesn’t hold up.

To think that ID’ing kids for a video game will somehow stop violence and the proliferation of violent video games is extremely foolhardy. If they’re turned down, they’ll simply go to the next place and see if they can win someone over there. And if all else fails, they can enlist the help of an older person.

Stopping underage children from buying video games may be a great PR stunt, but that’s all it is. Children are getting their hands on M-rated games and there’s no changing it. So we have one of two options: ignore it or just forget about age limits altogether. I vote for the latter.

I have to say that I’m going to have to agree to disagree. As a father, I feel it’s important to have those ratings and prohibitions in place. I reserve the right to decide which mature rated videogames… if any my children can play. I also should have the right to purchase those titles which I approve of for my children.

Many parents seem not to be as involved with their children or aware of their activities as they should be. Having an age limit in place serves as a protection to children who might not be able to handle a mature title when parents fail to do their job.

It’s a well know fact that videogames are a recent favorite scapegoat for the media and politics. Videogames are the latest bad influence on today’s youth like comic books, rock and roll and so many other controversial forms of media and art that have been targeted over the years. Unfortunately, it seems these talking heads are doing their job well.

According to a recent survey by parental advisory website What They Play, parents are more worried about their kids being exposed to Grand Theft Auto than beer or pornography.

The poll, which ran August 1-6, 2008, queried parents on what they’d be most concerned about their 17-year-old child indulging in while at a sleepover. More than 1,600 respondents revealed they’re more apprehensive about their child smoking marijuana (49 percent) and playing the video game Grand Theft Auto (19 percent), than watching pornography (16 percent) and drinking beer (14 percent).

The poll is a follow up to a survey seeking to find out whether sex or violence triggers parents’ anxieties more:

The results of the initial What They Play online poll, conducted April 4-10, 2008, found that the 1,266 participants were most offended by the following in a video game: a man and woman having sex (37 percent); two men kissing (27 percent); a graphically severed head (25 percent); and multiple use of the F-word (9 percent).

No one should really be surprised at these results. It’s pretty obvious that games including adult sexual situations will earn a mature rating more often than one featuring graphic violence. While we’ve become placidly inured to gore and violence, our nation holds true to its Puritan roots remaining squeamish over sex and nudity.

The latest Question of the Day survey in progress is based on Gears of War 2 which will offer parental controls to turn off blood and foul language. Personally I don’t understand why a mature rated game should offer these features at all. The Gears of War series and many others like it were never intended for children.