REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Electronic Arts Inc. (“EA”) (NASDAQ: ERTS - News) today announced that it has proposed to acquire Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (“Take-Two”) (NASDAQ: TTWO - News) in an all-cash merger valued at approximately $2.0 billion.
 
EA’s proposal of $26 per share in cash represents a premium of 64 percent over Take-Two’s closing stock price on Feb. 15th, the last trading day before EA sent its revised proposal to Take-Two, and a 63 percent premium over Take-Two’s 30-day trailing average price over the thirty trading days ending on that date.
 
EA’s proposal was contained in a letter sent on Feb. 19th by EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello to Strauss Zelnick, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Take-Two. The Take-Two Board’s subsequent rejection of the EA proposal led to EA’s decision to release the letter and bring its proposal to the attention of all Take-Two shareholders.
 
Mr. Riccitiello said today: “Our all-cash proposal is a unique opportunity for Take-Two shareholders to realize immediate value at a substantial premium, while creating long-term value for EA shareholders. Take-Two’s game designers would also benefit from EA’s financial resources, stable, game-focused management team, and strong global publishing capabilities.”
 
The EA letter warned that further Take-Two delay in accepting EA’s proposal could prevent Take-Two’s shareholders and other constituents from realizing its benefits. “There can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the same high premium we are offering today,” Mr. Riccitiello wrote. The letter added that timely completion of the proposed transaction would allow EA’s strong publishing and distribution network to positively impact the ongoing post-launch sales of GTA IV and support the new Take-Two titles scheduled for launch later in the year and during the holiday selling season.
 
As noted in EA’s Feb. 19th letter, EA’s proposal is not conditioned on any financing requirement. It is, however, subject to certain customary conditions as set forth in the letter. EA’s $26 per share proposal is based on the current equity capitalization of Take-Two. Although EA indicated in the letter that its proposal was subject to negotiations commencing by Feb. 22nd, EA intends to keep its proposal open for the present to give Take-Two’s shareholders and Board of Directors further time to consider it.

We remain committed to executing our existing business strategy and turnaround plans and to building value for all of our stockholders. We intend to vigorously resist any attempt by EA to acquire Take-Two at a price that does not adequately value our Company and its growth opportunities.

Sony is opening up its in-game advertising platform -- likely providing a boost to the already-burgeoning $400 million in-game-ad market and sparking a battle among the three key players who sell these ads.
 
The maker of the PlayStation3 system will offer an open platform, meaning in-game-ad-serving companies Double Fusion, IGA and Google-owned AdScape all will be able to sell ads in games that run on PS3, according to people familiar with Sony's plans. The three companies will strike deals with the major game publishers creating PS3 games, such as Electronic Arts, Activision and Ubisoft. Increasingly, those who score the plum publisher deals will turn out to be the winners in the competitive and fast-growing space.

Sony's open platform is a clear departure from how things are done on Microsoft's Xbox, whose exclusive model means all dynamic in-game ads must be brokered through Massive, a company the software giant acquired in May 2006. That acquisition essentially closed off the opportunity for other in-game ad brokers to sell inventory in games that run on its Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles -- and it elevated the bet they are placing on Sony.
 
Of course, one potential complication of an open philosophy is that, at least initially, Sony's decision will make in-game advertising harder to buy, as an advertiser could have to buy through as many as three different parties to place ads in a single game -- Massive for the title's Xbox version, another for dynamic ads in the version that runs on Sony's PS3 and a third for baked-in product placement in the game.

Motorstorm 2 is due out in time for Christmas and moves the action away from the desert locale of the original. Gamers will be able to race around a lush island environment, full of interactive vegetation. The game will feature four-player split-screen action

So what will Resistance 2 offer? I was shown only a trailer but it's clear developers Insomniac want to make a statement. Online the game will host 60 players simultaneously.
It screams epic and tellingly it concludes with the line: "You haven't seen what we are truly capable of."

So what else was I shown? Well, I was shown a trailer for a game not due out till 2009 but was sworn to absolute secrecy. Apparently, Sony just wanted to give a glimpse of what the console will be capable of.
In fact, the game is such a secret that when I mentioned the game to Phil Harrison last week he was unsure at first whether even to admit the title existed. When I explained I had been shown it under strict Non Disclosure Agreement terms he looked relieved.
I don't mean to be a tease - all I can say is that I was left speechless.
If the footage I was shown truly is "in game", as told to me by the Sony PR people, then we could be on the brink of a step change in what games consoles are capable of in terms of story-telling and immersion.

in a lengthy interview with PlayStation World, Nippon Ichi Software's Souhei Niikawa talked about Disgaea 3 and his company's plan for the future. The 34-year old native of Osaka, who serves as head of the company's development division, has overseen the development of Disgaea 3 in his role as the game's producer. Since Disgaea 3 was the company's first PlayStation 3 project, it took developers some time to get used to the new hardware. According to Niikawa, seven months were spent doing basic research. Afterwards, development of the actual game took less than a year, though. Nippon Ichi Software wanted to release its first PlayStation 3 title about a year after the system's launch to get used to the new development environment. Niikawa acknowledged that PlayStation 2-based development would have been smoother, but emphasized the importance of getting used to the new high-spec hardware early on.
Currently, Nippon Ichi Software was working on various adventure titles. The company apparently is also thinking about expanding into genres other than RPGs and adventure games. Last but not least, Niikawa asked fans to look forward to the announcement of various new titles for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable in the future.

Disgaea 3 has been available in Japan since January 31st. During the first two weeks since its release, it has sold about 70,000 copies.