Take Two takes a loss, Jungle Hunting and Turtle Soup 360 style – Welcome to the column that wishes it could celebrate Steak & BJ day with more than a steak known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. No, I’m not a First Sergeant in Rainbow Six…told you! I’m about three bars in though, not too bad I guess. However, I did complete the co-op terrorist hunts for a nice achievement. I am also only three missions away from the co-op st…ry achievement. Chipping away at what I know I can do. I’m still only about 400 points in of my 1500 points that need for the Old Spice Gamer challenge which ends on April 22nd. A little over a month away.
Ode To Morgan Webb
That’s one lucky dog I can tell you. I would imagine whether it would be this dog or another, that the life of a Morgan Webb pet would be a very lax one. Not exactly pampered perhaps, but full of little rewards. Little treats in your bowl, sitting on the furniture and everything a dog could wish for. Of course, the best benefit would be seeing Morgan bend down all the time and give you a goodnight kiss *sigh*.
Quick news stories of interest
Take-Two has announced its financial report for the fiscal quarterended January 31, 2007. The company still suffered a loss, but not aslarge as last year’s.
While the company is still playing the next-gen transition card toexplain its losses, strong sales of NBA 2K7, Grand Theft Auto: LibertyCity Stories on PS2, and San Andreas in Japan helped to narrow thoselosses. Net revenue for the first quarter was $277.3 million comparedto $265 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2006. Net loss for thequarter was $21.5 million compared to $29.1 million in the prior year’sfirst quarter. The loss includes $6.4 million for legal and otherprofessional fees associated with the company’s recent investigation of stock option grants and the Company’s responses to the New York County District Attorney’s subpoenas.
According to Gamasutra,analysts think Take-Two will need more than GTA to lift it out of thesedire financial straights. “We think that Take-Two’s flagship franchise,Grand Theft Auto, will continue to generate significant profits, but itis clear that the profit potential from its sports business and from’everything else’ will not be realized in fiscal year 2007,” saysWedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter. “If the company achieves merely’breakeven’ results, profits from GTA will be fully offset by lossesfrom everything else.”
*Whine*, that’s essentially what Take-Two is doing. They simply can’t make any money unless it involves Grand Theft Auto. (Which is kinda like stealing money isn’t it?) Anyhow, the frustrating thing is that they are still playing the we aren’t on the newest consoles card. Their sports titles are the only one that show up. Speed up the development of your other titles then and stop complaining. They should see some growth from their exclusive baseball license since that came out at the tail end of the quarter and will help their sales next time we hear this report. I hope they do well because they do put out some good stuff; but they really need to stop blaming and do something about it.
Sony Demos Special Gran Turismo Demo
Sony got the ball started late last week on what we expect to be atradition at car events for the next few years. The company showed offa special version of Gran Turismo HD Concept at the Nissan Motor Sports Exhibition 2007 over the weekend in Yokohama.
This special version of the PS3 Gran Turismo 5 demo had one thing youwon’t be able to download for yourself via the PlayStation Store: theXanavi Nismo Z. The car was playable for all attendees of the event.Sony and Nissan also held a tournament where attendees could take onprofessional racers in a digital race.
Joining the updated demo was a new trailer video showcasing the latestSkyline. Hopefully, Sony will be kind enough to make the videoavailable for download via the PlayStation Store. We also wouldn’tcomplain one bit if our GTHD Concept demos ended up getting updatedwith an additional car.
Nice little promo shot I suppose. I personally have never understood the allure of the Gran Turismo series. I’ve bought several for both PS1 and PS2. I just don’t see it or don’t understand it. Truthfully, racing for me starts at Mario Kart goes to Burnout and ends at Road Rash. I like destruction and mayhem. It’s also good that Sony put themselves out at the car events; it does help to bring exposure and position Gran Turismo as “the” racing title.
XBOX Moment
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Arcade) – XBOX Live Arcade
As of this morning, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have made their way to your XBOX Live Arcade. Available for a measly 400 points; the original arcade game can be had to download and enjoy until you brain becomes turtle soup. If you aren’t aware of the plotline, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Dontaello and Raphael take on the evil Shredder to save April. The nice thing about this title besides the 5.1 Dolby Digital sound and 720p graphics is the 4 way xbox live multiplayer. Playing with up to 4 people from anywhere in the world. I mean, I plugged a crapload of quarters whenever anybody was playing it in the arcades, but this does bring a new level of excitement to the proceedings. The only downer I can see is that I have received a list of the achievements for this title and they are hard. They mostly center around how you beat the bosses. Beating a boss isn’t hard, however beating that boss and only losing a certain amount of health or not getting touched by their special weapon is one that requires a lot of skill. I’ve beaten the game in the arcades at least half a dozen times; but I keep thinking how much some of those bosses beat me before I beat them and know the achievements are going to be tough. But go download this classic for sure as this should provide for many hours of co-op fun.
Arcade Classic of the Week
Jungle Hunt
This arcade classic started off as a ripoff of Tarzan. So much that it was forced to dramatically change the look and some of the trademark infringement material. Basically it’s you, a jungle explorer off to save your girlfriend from a pack of cannibals. You do everything in this game from swinging on the vines like you are Tar…(this reference has been removed due to trademark infringement)to avoiding boulders small and large. Even some crocodiles are thrown in for those tender moments. Most recently, this title has been ported over in the Taito Legends collections for Playstation 2 and the original XBOX.
PS2
God of War II
PSP
Call of Duty 3: Roads to Victory
XBox 360
Call of Duty 3 Gold
PS3
College Hoops 2k7
Wii
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
DS
Mind Quiz: Your Brain Coach
Herbie Rescue Rally DS
The big release this week is of course God of War II, destined to most likely be the last truly great title on the PS2. (and probably play a whole lot better than most of the titles you find on PS3) This will surely sell a million copies and then some. Call of Duty 3 takes a page from COD2 and goes gold. This offering does have a few more maps and a couple new guns but nothing to truly go crazy over. Probably just better off to get COD2 Game of the Year edition. More extra stuff and good achievements to boot.
Some Final Thoughts and Mutterings
I did purchase a game for myself last week. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories for PS2. One would think, a bargain at $14.99. Liberty City Stories was a pleasant surprise, really; but so far Vice City Stories has been a bit of a disappointment. The engine just feels old, and not to mention music is in just stereo? The original Vice City had DTS for pete’s sake! I know the majority of their effort is going into Grand Theft Auto 4 coming out later this year (and I pray and hope it’s like the original Vice City and not so much San Andreas which was my least favorite of the series until VCS). I’ll have a review probably by the weekend, I do think it’s fair as a lot of people will see this in the $20 and under and want to pick it up. Have fun kiddoes.
As Always,
Kedrix of Aldrianian
(*The Forgotten One*)
