activision

Should EA takeover of Take-Two worry gamers?

Imagine the game industry dominated by two giants.

That's what could happen if Electronic Arts succeeds in its $2 billion attempt to grab Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive and Activision's planned merger with Blizzard goes through.

As in so many other industries, an EA/Take-Two merger would indicate massive consolidation, especially in the wake of the December announcement that media giant Vivendi was buying Activision to become Activision Blizzard. But gamers probably shouldn't worry that an industry pyramid dominated by EA and Activision will mean less innovation.

After all, even with a wide gap between the … Read more

EA sheds (very little) light on bid for Take-Two

I'm not usually one to get up for something happening at 5 a.m. PT, but in the case of this morning's Electronic Arts conference call to discuss its proposed $2 billion takeover bid of Take-Two Interactive Software, I made an exception.

That's because I assumed that EA might provide some new piece of information that would materially enhance details of the game maker's Sunday bid announcement.

My mistake.

In reality, the EA conference call, which lasted nearly an hour, was largely a rehashing of the information the company published in its Sunday press release, accentuated … Read more

EA tries to buy Take-Two to keep its top spot

In a startling bit of news, Electronic Arts announced Sunday morning that it has launched an uninvited bid to buy Grand Theft Auto video game franchise publisher Take-Two Interactive Software for $26 a share, or what could be a $2 billion deal.

And while EA, in its press release, did not make any reference to Vivendi's December agreement to purchase Activision, there can be no doubt that this is the response EA had to make to keep its spot as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the video games business.

The announcement comes on the heels of what appears to … Read more

Activision rides 'Guitar Hero' gold to massive profits

Who'd have thought a guitar game could help one of the world's biggest video game companies double its earnings?

That's what happened though, as demonstrated by Activision's third-quarter earnings, which it reported Thursday afternoon.

According to the company, which was recently bought by communications giant Vivendi, Activision brought in third-quarter profits of $272.2 million, nearly twice its profits of $142.8 million from the same quarter a year ago.

Why?

Well, it's clear that a huge part of it is massive sales of the company's explosive hit, Guitar Hero III.

Other games, too, … Read more

Episode 623: Mouse ambush on a cat

Can Activision Blizzard compete with EA for mindshare?

I woke up this morning to news that France's Vivendi has agreed to buy a controlling interest in Activision, perhaps creating the world's-largest independent video game company.

The new entity will be known as Activision Blizzard--a suitable name based on the fact that Activision has the best-known video game brand in the new company, but that Vivendi's Blizzard Entertainment unit also produces World of Warcraft, one of the most successful massively multiplayer online games of all time.

But what is not clear is whether the new company will be able to achieve something that is clearly part … Read more

Episode 612: Judges gone wild

'Halo' theme song coming to 'Guitar Hero III'

What do you get when you cross two of the most popular video game franchises in history, Halo and Guitar Hero?

According to the video game blog Joystiq, you get a free downloadable copy of the Halo theme song, available Thursday to owners of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

Apparently, some people thought the Halo theme song would be included with Guitar Hero II, but they were wrong. And now, instead of coming included with the third iteration of the franchise, it's being offered as a free download.

We're talking about video game royalty here, folks. Many hundreds of … Read more

'Rock Band' launches, 'Guitar Hero' trembles

One hundred fifteen million dollars.

That was how much revenue Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock brought in in its first week on the market recently.

But the Guitar Hero franchise, which Activision bought in 2006, has lost its monopoly as the only major video game giving users the fantasy that they can join Steven Tyler or Bono onstage.

That's because Harmonix, the studio that developed the original Guitar Hero, has finally launched Rock Band, its own version of the rock star genre game, and the market is likely to heat up pretty quickly.

Many Guitar Hero … Read more

'Guitar Hero III' users reporting problems with their axes

Even as Activision and its RedOctane publishing arm have had a great couple of weeks of sales of their recently released hit, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, some fans of the game have been complaining about its quality control problems.

On forums and on game blogs, some users are reporting that wireless versions of the game's guitar aren't working properly.

"I was having some real problems once I hit tiers 4 and 5 on medium," wrote Mark Methenitis on his blog, Law of the Game. "I found that the red and yellow buttons were … Read more