EA Extends Expiration Date for Take-Two Offer to July 18, 2008

NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that it has extended its tender offer for all of the currently outstanding shares of common stock (including the associated preferred stock purchase rights) of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (”Take-Two”) (NASDAQ:TTWO) to 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on July 18, 2008, unless further extended. The tender offer was previously set to expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on June 16, 2008.

“Our offer price remains unchanged at $25.74 per share, which is a substantial premium to where Take-Two’s stock was trading prior to our offer,” said Owen Mahoney, Senior Vice President of EA Corporate Development. “We congratulate Rockstar on the successful launch of GTA IV but believe our offer reflects a full and fair price based on the long-term value of Take-Two’s entire operation.”
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V.2 PLAY Presents AWAY Shuffle Dungeon

Madrid- May 29th, 2008- Virgin PLAY is proud to give the first details of their newest Nintendo DS game, after signing with AQ Interactive. Virgin PLAY will be the publisher and distributor of AWAY Shuffle Dungeon in the PAL territories.

Hironobu Sakaguchi and Naoto Ohshima are the lead designers for the project. Naoto Oshima and Hironobu Sakaguchi both well known names in the industry for their work on their best-selling projects, and are now masterminding the characters and environment for Away respectively. To complement this dynamic duo, Nobuo Uematsu, one of the best known composers for videogames in Japan, is now dedicating his creative talent to compose the music for Away. With these 3 talented men working on the project, Away promises to become their next big hit.

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EA Q4 and Fiscal Year Results-Not So Good

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 13, 2008–Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced preliminary financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

Full Year Results

Net revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 was $3.665 billion, up 19 percent as compared with $3.091 billion for the prior year. Beginning in fiscal 2008, EA no longer charges for its service related to certain online-enabled packaged goods games. As a result, the Company recognizes revenue from the sale of these games over the estimated service period. The Company ended the year with $387 million in deferred net revenue related to its service for certain online-enabled packaged goods games, which will be recognized in future periods.

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Wiikly Update Takes a Week Off

NINTENDO’S WII-KLY UPDATE TAKES A WEEK OFF

May 12, 2008

To celebrate today’s launch of the new WiiWare™ downloadable game service for Wii™, there will be no Virtual Console™ games added today. But don’t worry – next week the Wii-kly … Read More

Protothea Fact Sheet (1000 Wii Points)

Protöthea™

Product Description Protöthea™ is a top-down vertical scrolling shooter game putting players in complete control of a last-generation spaceship, with the challenge to destroy an asteroid called “Maqno 01” and sabotage the plans of the political faction called “The … Read More

Protothea Official Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO – May 6, 2008 – Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, announced that Protöthea(TM) will be available in May for WiiWare(TM) in North America – Protöthea is rated “E” for Everyone.

Protöthea, Ubisoft’s exclusive … Read More

Zoo Hospital Announced for Wii

The future of the zoo is in your hands as Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, today announced Zoo Hospital for Wii™. As a recent Veterinary College grad, you must help … Read More

Crosswords DS Challenges Players to Fill in the _____

Classic Game Gets a Modern Revamp on Nintendo DS

REDMOND, Wash., May 5, 2008 – Mario’s parent company (8 letters). Letter-based puzzles (10 letters). Dual screen, abbr. (2 letters).

Today’s launch of Crosswords DS for the portable Nintendo DS™ video … Read More

Iron Chef Wii/DS Announced

Following widespread speculation and anticipation, leading software publisher Destineer has today confirmed its partnership with United Media, a leading independent licensing and syndication company, to publish the video game Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine exclusively for the Wii™ system and Nintendo DS™.

Developed by Black Lantern Studios, the game is based on the highly rated Iron Chef America program, a spinoff of the worldwide hit Iron Chef, produced by Fuji Television. Iron Chef America: Supreme Cuisine features the voice and likeness of the show’s host, Mark Dacascos, and Destineer will announce the involvement of additional talent from the show shortly.

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The World Ends With You Features, Coming to Australia

Story

The story begins as our hero, Neku, wakes up amidst the hustle and bustle of Shibuya, Tokyo. Confused and disoriented, he receives a message on his phone warning him that he will cease to exist unless he completes a … Read More

NINTENDO REVEALS ITS NEXT ENGAGING EXPERIENCES

Be sure to read the whole press release because it confirms some new information including:

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chroncles NA name confirmed
• 3rd Party support for Balance Board
• TellTale making new episodic game for WiiWare

WiiWare, Wii Fit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl Shown at Game Developers Conference

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 20, 2008 – The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco attracts the top creative minds in the video game industry. With that audience on hand, Nintendo announces news that reinforces its commitment to provide entertaining and enriching experiences for veteran and new gamers alike. WiiWare™, Nintendo’s new downloadable game service, launches May 12 and expands development opportunities for developers the same way Wii™ expanded the world of video game players. Wii Fit™, the upcoming title for Wii, launches May 19 and introduces the Wii Balance Board™ peripheral. And Super Smash Bros.® Brawl draws in fans of all kinds.

“We are excited to participate in the Game Developers Conference this year to share with developers and consumers alike our upcoming unique services and products,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We are hopeful that they will appreciate our offerings of WiiWare, Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which represent a trio that will continue to attract new players to the world of video games.”
At the conference, Nintendo speakers will outline a number of plans for the coming months on their respective panels:

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Creators of Zoo Tycoon(TM) Franchise to Develop New Property for Nintendo Wii and DS

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 19, 2008–THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) and Blue Fang Games today announced that they have entered into a development agreement for a brand new videogame property. The new property is in development for Nintendo’s Wii(TM) and DS(TM )systems, as well as Windows PC, and is scheduled for release in fiscal 2010. Blue Fang is most noted for its immensely successful Zoo Tycoon(TM) franchise, which continues to reach a broad audience of casual game players on the Nintendo DS(TM) game system.

“With sales in excess of seven million units worldwide, Blue Fang’s Zoo Tycoon franchise has served to expand the casual gaming demographic through its accessible, compelling gameplay,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of publishing, THQ. “We’re confident that this new property will strongly appeal to the new generation of casual players on Nintendo Wii and DS.”

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BioWare officially announces Sonic Chronicles for 2008

LONDON (13TH February, 2008) – SEGA Europe today confirmed the name of the forthcoming Sonic RPG adventure, as being Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Developed by industry admired and RPG specialists, Bioware, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood will appear on … Read More

Wrapstar Launch Wii Nunchuck And Remote Four Pack

February 2007, London United Kingdom - February sees London-based company Wrapstar celebrating the launch of their revolutionary range of skins for Wii Nunchuk and remote.The high-tech skins will be available for the first time in two special four-packs, Fusion and Invasion.Each pack contains four unique skins for Wii Nunchuk and remote only. Priced at £9.99 each, Fusion and Invasion packs are certain to be snapped up, particularly as one Wrapstar skin usually costs from £4.99.

Wrapstar Managing Director Max Haddow says, “These skins are much more high-tech as we have had to incorporate the intricate layout of the Wii Nunchuk and remote and allow for this in our cuttings.”

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IGN Wiikly Review Summary

Not sure why this is showing up now, but thanks to the people over at neogaf for putting this together.

Summary Complete:

Smash Bros.:

-Pikmin are multiple throw items.
-Matt has been trying to force himself into using the wii-mote only option. Fran a more core smash player, found he could do everything he needed to do with the option, though he still prefers to use the GC.
-Better than Galaxy/Metroid?? Matt: No, not for him. It is a really damn fine great fighter, but it does have some issues that need to be acknowledged.
-They haven’t decided who will review it, perhaps multiple people since its so huge

SSE:

-Matt on SSE: Its not entirely polished, its a good single player mode but it does have its flaws
-Some loading screens have ten second loads.
-Bozon “There may be a different ending i still gotta get”
-Bozon “It did start to get more fun, at about the 50% mark when you’re no longer playing to unlock characters and the evil presence really makes its mark and you want to start it”
-When it comes to review, even though we don’t love the single player much, we realize its a multiplayer oriented game so it won’t be doc’d a lot of points for what is essentially a side mode, they then go on to list the vast amounts of other side modes

MoH:Heroes Australia:

-No explanation provided for why there was no online
-PR said it was a misprint on the box.

BoomBlox:

-We like it, fun Jenga-style game for the Wii, feels like it was designed for the Wii.
-Bozon originally thought it would be a mid 7.0′s game before going over to EA thinking it would be kinda meh, apparently after the EA visit he’s enthused about the game.
-Matt’s biggest let down was that in the level editor when you start to make huge levels, there could be some slow down, they hope its fixed prior to release.
-”Its one of those games that’ll get a score, but really its a fun game to play with the family”

Okami:

-No advertising blowout, no TV commercials
-No New Content, but the controls are feeling better and it looks better.

Julian (Factor 5 President) Interview:

(Paraphrased responses but very accurate)

Q — Will this game push the Wii Hardware?
A — We want to push the hardware, for us its easy to push the hardware. A lot of it is exploiting the uniqueness of the Wii. On the graphical side of course we are going to try to out due everything else on the platform, like we did with the GC star wars games, but of course the emphasis is on the controls. He personally really loves the pointing device. Pointing stuff is probably the biggest innovation they are working on right now.

-Matt and Bozon talk a little about how some games over-use the waggle just to waggle(No specifics) then talk about PES and their innovative use of the IR.

Q — Are you going to use the nun-chuck controller?
A — I can’t comment yet, you try to design every game for the Wii to avoid the nun-chuck, but for some games the nun-chuck is a very viable option. When trying to go casual, the first barrier to over come is the ability to not have to use the nun-chuck.

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Georgia is Gaming

I received an interesting package from the State of Georgia over the weekend. It was from the Digital Entertainment Liaison for the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Film, Music and Video office.

Inside was a copy of the “Videogame Style … Read More

NINTENDO’S POPULAR BRAIN AGE 2 POPS UP IN UNLIKELY PLACES

People Everywhere Find the Brain-Training Game Engaging

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 27, 2007 – Hair salons, RV shows and shopping malls might not be the first places you think of when it’s time to exercise your brain. But that’s exactly where … Read More

September 26, 2007 Declared Guitar Hero Day in New York City

Activision, Inc., publisher of the wildly popular Guitar Hero® franchise and the City of New York are proud to proclaim September 26, 2007 “Guitar Hero® Day” in New York City. Fans are ready to rock the streets of Manhattan as … Read More