The Cut Scene - Video Game Blog by Variety

Sam Houser signals that he's cool with EA

It can't be a coincidence that Sam Houser is talking to the Wall Street Journal today about Electronic Arts.

With EA's bid for Take-Two expiring on Friday, Houser is making it pretty clear -- as far as he could  given the circumstances and his reputation -- that he'd have no problem with the deal going through. This is the key part of the story, as far as I can tell:

If EA succeeds in acquiring Take-Two, some analysts believe EA's star developers might demand a bigger share of game proceeds.

Another possible kink: Rockstar's history of autonomy. If EA ends up with Take-Two, Mr. Houser says it's unlikely that he would go so far as to seek EA's approval for game content. Still, he calls Mr. Riccitiello "the real deal" and sees some appeal in an EA alliance, which he says would make Rockstar a "much smaller fish in much bigger pond."

"I'm not someone who has any kind of problem with that," says Mr. Houser, who says EA turned him down for a job in the late 1990s.

As any reporter knows, business executives only talk when they have a good reason (or at least a reason they think is good). Sometimes it's as simple as wanting to publicize a product or themselves. Sometimes they're trying to raise their own profile or that of their company. Sometimes they're looking to push ongoing negotiations in a certain direction. I certainly know most sources don't talk to me out of the kindness of their hearts.

So when Rockstar chief Sam Houser goes on the record several weeks after "GTA IV" launches, but just a few days before Take-Two shareholders have to decide whether to accept EA's $26 per-share offer, and has nice things to say about John Riccitiello, he's telling the world that he's cool with this deal, if not outright endorsing it.

His actual quote may be very mild, but it's his decision to talk right now that speaks volumes. He also speaks about Rockstar's reputation for independence, and the story goes into the label's "bad boy" reputation, which to me is a symbol to investors that Rockstar doesn't intend to change one iota under EA, which is to say they intend to keep making hugely successful "GTA" games just like they always have.

The only question is, what does Strauss Zelnick think of it? The fact that Take-Two COO Gary Dale (who formerly worked with Rockstar) was allowed to talk on the record means that Zelnick must have not fought against the story, at a minimum (Rockstar does have its own very independent PR strategy).

So is Zelnick signaling that he's softening on his resistance to the deal at all now that "GTA IV" is out and a big hit? Will Houser's signal that he and his Rockstar team will be just fine under EA motivate any more Take-Two shareholders to sell? We'll find out by Friday.

PS Too bad the Housers remain so resistant to having images of themselves in public. I would have loved to see one of those classic WSJ sketches of Sam the way he's described: "[sporting] a scruffy beard that stretches to the top of his chest."

Grand Theft Auto IV sells $500 million-plus in its first week

Remember when I reported last month that, according to Take-Two Sources, "Grand Theft Auto IV" was on track to sell over $400 million at retail in its first week? Turns out my sources underestimated by around $100 million.

As I'm reporting in Variety this morning, Take-Two and Rockstar actually sold more than $500 million worth of "GTA IV" units, totalling more than 6 million units. That demolishes the $300 million-plus record that "Halo 3" set in September.

In fact, "GTA IV" broke that record on its first day, selling $310 million, or 3.6 million units on April 29. "Halo 3" sold $170 million on its first day in the U.S. (the game didn't quite have a simultaneous worldwide release)

And to the extent that it matters -- only a bit, in my book, given how different the economic model is -- it's bigger than the closest comparable box office record we could find: $404 million over six days for "Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End."

Given that huge first week figure and that there's likely to be a surge in sales come the holidays  (at least amongst the more permissive or clueless parents out there), I'd say "GTA IV" has a very good shot at beating "San Andreas'" franchise record of 21.5 million units.

Strauss Zelnick and his team are sure to be happy, since this make's Electronic Arts' case that it can do an even better job with the "GTA" franchise than Take-Two a bit harder to argue. It'll be interesting to see today whether investors had sales this massive built into Take-Two's stock price or if its get a bump.

2006's two best games have both been re-released

Looking through my ever-growing pile of recent games, it occurs to me that the two best games of 2006 -- in this much maligned reviewer's opinion -- have both been released in the past month. So if you never played "Okami" or "Bully" and you have  Wii or Xbox 360, I highly highly recommend picking them both up. I can say without reservation that they are both better than anything that has come out so far in 2008.

                                                                                    

"Grand Theft Auto IV" preview

Last Friday, Rockstar Games was in L.A. giving journalists an in-depth peek at “Grand Theft Auto IV,” along with a look at the improvements in “Bully: Scholarship Edition,” the 360/Wii version of 2006’s awesome “GTA at prep school.”

Demo’s were done at the Chateau Marmont hotel (but of course… where else would Rockstar do demo’s but Chateau Marmont?). I can’t deny that I was a little distracted the whole time wondering how many times Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears ever collapsed (from exhaustion, of course) in the very room I was sitting in. But once I got past that, I was just as impressed as I hoped to be by “GTA IV.”

Rockstar’s VP of development Jeronimo Barrera (who led me through the demo) wasn’t shy about how much of an advance his team thinks the game is. “’Grand Theft Auto 3’ changed the industry tremendously, but in many ways this is a bigger leap,” he boasted. (Sure, it’s kind of a canned line. But he sure seemed to believe it.)

Let’s start with the way he’s not right: Fundamentally, “GTA IV” is the same game we’re used to – the basic structure created in 2001’s “GTA III.” It’s a third person action title about a newcomer to Liberty City who meets lots of people, goes on missions both to earn money and fulfill a personal goal, and is capable of wreaking total havoc along the way.

We’ve also got the series’ trademark character types, from thugs to funny small-time gangsters to a stoic lead. Protagonist Niko is an Eastern European immigrant who is aptly described by one guy he meets as “a badass mofo who ain’t afraid to take cats down.”

But how is Jeronimo right? Graphically, “GTA IV” is really a cut above. Not so much in the minutiae, but the depth. As we’ve come to expect from “GTA,” there are no loading times, but the number of people and vehicles, the variety of settings, and the believable actions of them all are tremendous. Seeing the
Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn (or Liberty city’s versions of them) is just plain awesome.

Ditto the dynamic character and vehicle actions. Shoot a guy in the knee and he hobbles. Blow out a car’s right wheel and it veers in that direction. Pull a gun on a civilian and she’ll beg for her life. Liberty City feels alive and responsive. Even though  it’s not as big in area as San Andreas, there’s more richness and depth along the way, which I consider a very welcome tradeoff.

Finally, “GTA IV” attempts to seriously integrate modern day technology in a realistic way. Niko has a cell phone that he can use for any number of purposes. We’re used to cell phones that occasionally ring with player instructions, as in “No More Heroes,” but Niko can place calls on his and get responses. In the example I saw, he called 9-1-1 so he could –- you guessed it -– jack a police car. I also saw Niko use the police car’s computer to look up a criminal’s address. And I’m told “GTA IV” features in-game Internet access as well. I didn’t get to poke and prod those applications, so I have no idea how deep they go, but the idea of a character who can proactively and dynamically use modern communication tools is a qualitative leap forward in gameplay if it works.

There are some other less impressive but still welcome advancements, like a weapons system that works perfectly well –- nothing amazing, but finally “GTA” is on par with other action games. In-game music looks like it’s going to once again be ultra-deep and will probably feature some new on-demand twists we haven’t seen before. Personally, though I was kind of enjoying the right-wing talk station. It just felt right on a respite in the car between shooting sh*t up.

Not as much to say about “Bully: Scholarship Edition.” If you never played the original “Bully,” I highly recommend it. On PS2 it was my second favorite game of 2006 (only behind “Okami") and really wowed me with its solid gameplay and satirical eye. “Scholarship Edition” amps up the graphics, adds a few amusing missions and classroom activities, and includes some offline multi-player mini-games. Perhaps enough to make those who missed out on “Bully” first time around to feel like they got something for the wait, but not exactly a tricked out "director's cut" for those who have played it before.

(For a full gallery of new "Grand Theft Auto IV" screenshots, click here.)

The Grand Theft Auto movie that almost was

With the release of "Grand Theft Auto IV" coming up -- and, let's be honest, my wanting to start this blog off with a bang -- I thought it was worth letting readers know about a major story in the intersection of Hollywood and videogames, arguably the biggest ever, that almost happened last spring.

For years, everyone in Hollywood has wanted to get their hands on "Grand Theft Auto." Big name producers and senior execs at major studios all did their best to convince Rockstar to give up the film rights to their franchise. But the brothers Houser were reluctant, and who can blame them? "Grand Theft Auto" is a huge cash cow and has a bigger profile in the young male demo than most TV shows and movies. And God knows there have been a lot of awful videogame-based movies that hurt the property more than they helped. So, even amongst those able to navigate the Rockstar bureaucracy and talk to the right people, the answer was always "no."

But last year, something changed. By the spring, a deal was virtually in place with one of the six major studios to start developing a "Grand Theft Auto" movie. Eminem was quite possibly going to star.

I can't be sure of the reasons why Rockstar was finally open to a movie deal, though I suspect it had to do with the new management at parent company Take 2. This was soon after the board was ousted following a financial scandal. The new (and current) chairman, Strauss Zelnick, has significant ties to the traditional media industry given his previous posts as CEO of BMG music and president of 20th Century Fox.

How close was this deal to happening? Reporters at Variety (and, I have since learned, other publications) were preparing their stories based on conversations with the studio in question. Internally at Take 2, people were talking about it as a done deal. Then at the last minute, it all fell apart. I'm told Take 2 couldn't finalize terms with the studio, though I'm not sure if it was a purely financial issue or if, in the end, the publisher got cold feet about giving away rights to its baby.

Who knows if Rockstar will ever be willing to make a movie deal again. But for those who think that in principle the publisher would never be interested, last year's events prove them wrong. Perhaps one day it'll happen. Maybe even before the "Halo" film.

Update (2/4/08, 4:25 PM): Someone from Rockstar pinged me with this statement, attributed to VP/co-founder Dan Houser, that they have been giving to other journalists who apparently called to ask about the above story. It doesn't really contract my post since, as I said, no deal was ever in place. But I certainly stand behind my reporting that it came awful close.

Rockstar was not involved in this project in any shape or form nor is it something that we're currently interested in.  There was no GTA movie in the works as far as Rockstar is concerned. Some movie producers were trying to put something together to entice us to make a movie, as studios and production teams frequently have done in the past. This proposal was no more interesting than the numerous others we receive. We never entertained proceeding with the project.