Analysts have been throwing their two-cents into the wind since EA decided to pursue Take-Two seven months ago, so it is no surprise that Janco Partners’ Mike Hickey would have to have his say in the matter as well. He feels that Activision Blizzard might be considering making a move on Take-Two themselves.

Speaking to the The Deal.com, Hickey explained:

“We absolutely believe Activision will take a look at Take-Two. If a competitor is for sale, you take a look, and if EA is your real rival, why wouldn’t you stir the pot a little bit?”

UBS Securities’ Ben Schachter though, feels that Activision Blizzard is too busy at the moment to consider further acquisitions since they only finalized their merger yesterday and have loads of work stacked on their plates to content with for the time being.

With Electronic Arts still pursuing Take-Two and extending their offer until August 21, it is highly likely that EA will eventually – but unfortunately – acquire the company. If indeed Take-Two were to be bought by a massive publishing/development conglomerate, it would be in the gaming industry’s best interest if Activision Blizzard were to purchase them instead. EA is basically nothing more than a conqueror riding in on horseback to rape and pillage anything of value and then force their heavy hand upon the survivors.

Via: GI.biz

The merger of Activision and Vivendi has finally come to fruition, and is now the “world’s most profitable pure-play online and console game publisher,” Activision Blizzard.

You may recall that yesterday, 92% of the shareholders voted a resounding “yes” to the melding of the two giants.

Here are some lovely quotes regarding the merger:

Robert Kotick, CEO: “The completion of this transaction marks the beginning of an important new chapter in the history of interactive entertainment.”

“By combining leaders in mass-market entertainment and subscription-based online games, Activision Blizzard has leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry.”

“With more than 10.7 million subscribers on World of Warcraft, and with tens of millions of people playing Guitar Hero, Activision Blizzard’s games are transcending the traditional stereotypes and are more popular as a form of entertainment than ever before. We look forward to building upon our brands to create value for our shareholders, customers and consumers.”

Blizzard co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaine: “From the beginning, our goal has been to make the best games in the world, and this transaction strengthens our ability to do just that. As part of Activision Blizzard we’ll have the reach and resources to share our games with an even wider audience – while maintaining the same approach as always to providing high-quality entertainment and services to our players.”

If you are now confused as to who will retain what titles, Neil Long with MCV has been working hard to keep you up to date with information on Activision-Blizzard’s towering mass of news. I have posted the new roster for you below, and you can view the rest of it after the jump.

The new structure is as follows:

• Robert Kotick: President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard
• Mike Griffith: President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Publishing, which includes the Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile divisions in addition to the Activision business.
• Bruce Hack: Vice-Chairman and Chief Corporate Officer of Activision Blizzard, accountable for leading the merger integration and the finance, human resources and legal functions.
• Mike Morhaime: President and Chief Executive Officer of Blizzard Entertainment.
• Thomas Tippl: Chief Financial Officer of Activision Blizzard
• Jean-François Grollemund: Chief Merger Officer of Activision Blizzard.

Via: MCV

Read the full article »

The Florida Judge handling Jack Thompson’s Bar Trial has recommended he be permanently disbarred and fined $43,675.35 for the cost of the trial. In a 169 page document, Judge Tunis makes her recommendation based on evidence presented at the trial as well as her personal experience very clear.

The Florida Bar has recommended disbarment for a period of ten (10) years. This Court respectfully declines to follow the Bar’s recommendation… This case involves factual findings of cumulative misconduct, a repeated pattern of behavior relentlessly forced upon numerous unconnected individuals, a total lack of remorse or even slight acknowledgement of inappropriate conduct…

Additionally, the Court is taking into consideration a review of the Respondent’s conduct not only as proven by the evidence, but by what this Court has witnessed of the Respondent’s behavior throughout the eighteen (18) months of litigation. The undersigned finds no evidence whatsoever to indicate that the Respondent is amenable to rehabilitation, or even remotely appreciates the basis upon which a need or purpose for such rehabilitation is warranted…

Over a very extended period of time involving a number of totally unrelated cases and individuals, the Respondent has demonstrated a pattern of conduct to strike out harshly, extensively, repeatedly and willfully to simply try to bring as much difficulty, distraction and anguish to those he considers in opposition to his causes. He does not proceed within the guidelines of appropriate professional behavior, but rather uses other means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to those whom he perceives oppose him.

Thus, after careful consideration of the underlying facts in the instant cases, together with the Florida Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, the applicable aggravating and mitigating factors and the precedent case law, this Court makes the following recommendations for John Bruce Thompson:

A. Permanent disbarment, with no leave to reapply for admission.
B. Disciplinary costs currently totaling $43,675.35.

It seems that Judge Tunis has come to know Thompson quite well. Thompson first attempted to have the Florida Bar Association declared unconstitutional in 1992. This confrontation has been a long time coming. Thanks to GamePolitics for keeping us up to date.

Every so often, I’ll read a funny story online, laugh, and think that it’s some piece of amusing satire. And then I realize that it’s actually completely true. Like this story about the re-naming of the upcoming WiiWare title, Beer Pong. Apparently, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was upset that the game had been cleared by the ESRB for minors as young as 13 years old, despite the clear references to alcohol. The ESRB’s president says the game was cleared because, while there is of course beer in the game, no one is ever shown drinking it. Still, Blumenthal is calling for the ratings board to change their policies regarding games involving alcohol. Meanwhile, the title’s developer, JV Games, has announced they are stripping the game of all reference to alcohol and changing it’s name to “Pong Toss.”

It’s probably for the best really. It’s important that kids don’t even know that alcohol exists until they’re at least 18; the same goes for sex and cigarettes. That way when they finally leave the comforting shell of their homes, they can experience all of these things at once during a magical time called “freshman year at college.” It’s the American way.

Via Courant

Yikes. In a bit of a blow to Bethesda, Fallout 3 has been denied classification by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, which means that since it has received and “RC” rating, it is hereby banned from being sold in Australia.

Australia is very stringent when it comes to rating games, and if you have followed the history of such actions in the past, you may recall all the troubles Rockstar has has with the GTA titles, and more recently,  Dark Sector from D3P was cut to pieces just so it could be released in the land down under.

Australia does not grant games a rating above 15+, but allows movies to receive 18+ ratings, and to help you make sense of the classification system, here are the rules:

There are six classification categories for films (G, PG, M, MA 15+, R 18+, X 18+) and four classification categories for computer games (G, PG, M and MA 15+). The R 18+ and X 18+ categories do not apply to computer games in Australia. Films and computer games can also be classified RC (refused classification). RC films and computer games cannot be legally sold or distributed in Australia.

I suppose all the drug use, slavery and addiction references that were just recently revealed to be part of the game were the main factors in the decision. This means that Fallout 3 will have to be drastically cut to get the green light for our Australian brethren, which most likely will be the case because I seriously doubt Bethesda will just skip such a lucrative opportunity  to make money off Australian gamers.

Via: GamesIndustry.biz

We all knew it would happen and was happening, therefore the news that 92% of Activision shareholders gave the go ahead with the Vivendi merger is a bit anti-climatic. Still, it is news despite the pre-E3 drought we experience every year around this time.

The deal will give Vivendi a 52% controlling stake in Activision, which with the annual revenue of $3.8 billion from cash cow World of Warcraft at their disposal, they will finally not only be the largest gaming company out there, but CEOs Robert Kotick and Jean-Bernard Levy will be able to look EA’s John Riccitiello straight in the eye and say “suck it”.

Not that either would or anything, but considering Vivendi’s history which dates back to 1853 combined with this huge merger,  they very well could if they wanted to.

[Reuters]

Apparently in agreement with Keith Ramsdale, the boss over at EA UK, Microsoft’s Neil Thompson also feels that games would see delayed release dates if the dual ratings system (per the Byron Report) was implemented. However, Thompson also believes that the games would end up costing UK gamers more money as well.

A weird bit of news cropped up the other day that revealed how a lawsuit had been filed against Nintendo and then quickly withdrawn. The suit came from Morgan Creek Productions, who claimed Nintendo had used copyrighted music from their 1993 film True Romance a few years back in a commercial for Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. So why was the whole lawsuit dropped in a matter of days? Simply put, Nintendo really did have permission to use the music, according a statement from them:

A lawsuit filed by Morgan Creek Productions, Inc. against Nintendo of America was recently dismissed. The lawsuit alleged copyright infringement by Nintendo for its use of the song “You’re So Cool” in a Nintendo GameCube television commercial produced by advertising agency Leo Burnett USA, Inc. In response to the lawsuit, Leo Burnett provided Morgan Creek Productions with a copy of a music license entered into between Leo Burnett USA, on behalf of Nintendo of America and Morgan Creek, for licensing of the song. The lawsuit was dismissed by Morgan Creek Productions the following day.

Yep, looks like the paperwork for that deal just got lost on Morgan Creek’s side of things. So, no harm, no foul.

Via Kotaku

The 2,676 people who filed claims against Rockstar in the “Hot Coffee” class action lawsuit will be splitting a monetary settlement of less than $30,000, according to the New York Times.

The contents of the settlement which Jonathan reported yesterday, stated that the customers who were offended by the sexual mini-game in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas would be granted anywhere from $5 to $35 each, or a revised edition of the game. Those who were “offended” had to enter a certain code to even get to the content, so if they did it was their own fault in the first place if they were offended.

Take-Two stated that the claims amount to less than $30,000 but unfortunately the company spent $1.3 million in legal fees. Add to this the $860,000 charitable donation the company agreed to and you get a bill totaling $2.19 million plus the production cost of the altered game and the distribution of it.

However, there is still the possibility, although small, that the civil lawsuit can still go to trial. The  settlement will go before Manhattan’s Federal District Court for final approval next Wednesday, so keep your eyes peeled for more details.

Via: New York Times

Anyone who’s played GTA IV remembers that infamous rape scene in the game, which allowed to accumulate points and…what’s that? You…you don’t remember that? Oooooh, that’s right, because there wasn’t one. Well, try explaining that to Connecticut Senator, Gayle Slossberg (D). She’s apparently convinced that the rape scene is there, she just has to get far enough along in the game to access it. At a press conference last week, she stated a law requiring clearer warning labels was needed to curb the corruption of youth. She doesn’t seem to know quite what the labels should read though, considering this statement on them:

“I mean what would it say? ‘This game will make you a sociopath’?”

Yeah, they really need to label those games better to make sure parents know about all the wild and crazy scenarios that aren’t actually in the game itself. Like how in Pokemon Snap, Pikachu would sometimes sell you drugs in exchange for sexual favors. That got you bonus points from Professor Oak, as I recall.

Via New Haven Advocate