Digital Trends
When Vivendi Games dumped Wet late in the production cycle nearly a year ago, the future for the title looked bleak, even though it was nearly completed by most accounts. Fortunately, Bethesda swooped in and bought the rights to the title earlier this year, and the newly reincarnated action shooter was out in full force at this year’s E3.
These last two weeks have been interesting. Before CES, Warner Brothers basically gave up on HD DVD and Toshiba (in what was an amazing lack of good judgment) clearly putting HD DVD on the ropes (and the newly lowered prices came too late to make a difference). This was followed by CES which really lacked anything that I would call a true break-out new product of the iPod or iPhone caliber. This week we had MacWorld, and while it is focused and everything that Steve Jobs announced effectively stood out, it was like the middle movie in a movie trilogy in that there really wasn’t a whole lot to get really excited about, unless you are an Apple fan and for them just having a MacWorld is likely excitement enough.
It just became a lot easier to buy titles from Rockstar Games. The publisher has signed a deal with Steam todistribute its title over the Internet, joining several others companies, such as Eidos. Given the continued rise of Steam, which now boasts 13 million subscribers, it seems like a naturalmove to create deeper market penetration. Initially the company will be making 10 titles available, including the Grand Theft Auto series, Manhunt and the Max Payne titles. None of thoseare brand new, of course, but Rockstar is still betting that there will be a demand for them in this new format, especially as Steam is currently offering them on sale at 10% off, with an ultimatebundle of all 10 games for $53.95. Rowan Hajaj, head of finance and corporate development at Rockstar Games, told Vnunet, "We are continuallylooking for ways to give back to our fans, and this collaboration will give people a chance to easily revisit some of our greatest titles."
Quote from the review at HardOCP:
“Please keep in mind that we have increased our resolutions and AA/AF levels as to bring more of a challenge to these cards. Both have been marketed on their DX9 abilities to deliver “cinematic” effects and that is what we want to hold them to.
Quote from the review at The Firing Squad:
“As long as you realize you’re buying a John Woo shootout sim and not a story-driven narrative with lots of cool weapons, locations, characters, and multiplayer longevity, Max Payne 2 won’t be a disappointment. Although it’s using some slick cutting-edge technology, in other regards, it’s ultimately a modest game that easily meets it own modest ambitions.”
TDK Mediactive owns a variety of key franchises, many of them in the kids market – which Take-Two has little presence in at present. Among the franchises which the company will acquire as part of this deal are Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean, Robotech, The Muppets, The Land Before Time, Masters of the Universe, Ultimate Fighting Championship and Star Trek.
“The addition of TDK’s mass market and children’s licensed properties to Take-Two’s properties will complement our portfolio of proprietary brands, and provide an excellent platform for Take-Two to further expand and diversify its product offerings,” commented Take-Two CEO Jeffrey Lapin.
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