According to the Grand Theft Auto IV publisher, EA’s offer to buy the company primarily undervalues Take-Two’s game franchises. “After careful evaluation, the board has determined that EA's proposal substantially undervalues Take-Two's robust and enviable stable of game franchises, exceptional creative talent and strong consumer loyalty," the publisher said in a statement.
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Yesterday, EA decided to put Take-Two management to the screws by making public its to-that-point private $2 billion acquisition offer that would yield an at-the-time princely 64 percent premium to shareholders. Take-Two formerly rejected the proposal on February 19, saying the offer "substantially undervalues" its franchises, creative talent, and consumer loyalty.
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Is Wii ready for some (amateur) football? Electronic Arts will finally find out later this year, as the publisher today announced NCAA Football 09 for a slate of five systems, including Nintendo's latest console. The collegiate gridiron sim will also take the field this fall for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable, but has now been discontinued for the original Xbox.
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"Electronic Arts has put a new casual - well more casual - spin on its popular The Sims franchise by announcing a new collection of downloadable Sims titles over EA's casual games service, Pogo.com. The line, titled The Sims Carnival, currently includes two different titles, neither of which come across as particularly compelling nor innovative, a line of thinking with which we think EA should be intimately familiar."
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Electronic Arts has officially confirmed a spin-off of its popular Command & Conquer franchise, Tiberium, for Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3. According to the publisher the blend of first-person shooter and tactical squad based gameplay has been in pre-production for two years at developer EA Los Angeles.
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On the upcoming holiday season, Hickey says "We believe the recent release of killer content (Halo 3 - BioShock), lower hardware price points, and limited Wii (hardware/software) supply could shift market focus from Wii casual to 360 hardcore this holiday." "A market shift toward core gamer platforms (360/PS3) and a potential PS3 price cut (November) should benefit [EA] this holiday," Hickey portends.
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In his latest note to investors, Lazard Capital Markets Colin Sebastian has commented on the recent establishment of EA Casual Entertainment, a new Electronic Arts division focused on developing and publishing casual game titles, calling the move a significant growth opportunity for the company.
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According to this Variety story, Hollywood director Zack Snyder has signed a deal with EA to develop three original games. Like previous EA parter Steven Spielberg, Snyder will work with EA’s Los Angeles studio in Playa Vista to produce the titles. “Zack Snyder has a fresh and bold creative style that resonates with our core audience,” EA Games label chap Frank Gibeau said in a statement. Snyder was the director of the Watchment movie, 300 and Dawn of the Dead.
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Partnership Will Include World's Largest Multi-Sport Gaming Tournament, Offering Consumers Opportunity to Compete Against Each Other and Their Sports Heroes.
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Although the company is still trying to keep a lid on its official plans, more news has emerged fleshing out EA's fledgling new Blueprint project, explaining it is focused on developing low-cost original IP that can be used across multiple media. Variety's Ben Fritz managed to get Blueprint boss Neil Young to talk on the subject at GDC last week: "We focus on creating IP in new ways for our media and finding smart ways to spread it across the media landscape.
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