Late Night Consoling

In its official fiscal results and an analyst conference call, publisher Take-Two revealed various details about its upcoming game lineup:

- The PS2 version of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, first published for PSP, will ship in late April. When questioned by an analyst about the price point for the game, Take-Two CEO Paul Eibeler responded that since the PS2 is a significantly less expensive console than its portable cousin, the game will follow suit. He did not name a specific number, however.
- When asked about the significant delays to Rockstar Vancouver's Bully (PS2, Xbox), Eibeler responded that the "current climate" may not be particularly fitting for the game, indicating that it may be more of a political issue than a development issue that has seen the game held back. However, he does expect it to come out some time in the "back half" of the year. Given the company's fiscal calendar, this would be between May and October of this year.
- Take-Two will release a "sequel of a Rockstar brand for a current generation console system" this year. This is not the PS2 version of Liberty City Stories or Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition REMIX, which are a port and reissues, respectively. Since it was not included in the section talking specifically about the second quarter, it is likely this too will be released between May and October. It is also not referring to the planned additional GTA game for PSP, as Eibeler noted in the conference call that Take-Two considers PSP a next-gen system.
- For the fiscal year starting this November, Take-Two expects "sequels to several of Rockstar's most successful franchises" on next generation consoles, which almost certainly includes Grand Theft Auto.

Xbox Live's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb posts that there were five title updates released for Xbox 360 this week. They pertain to King Kong, SmashTV, Toryumon, Hardwood Hearts, and Madden NFL 06. He did not have any information on what was contained in the updates.

GamesIndustry.biz also has a short article on the recent Dead or Alive 4 mandatory patch, pointing out that the patch is only a bug fix and does not add any content. Author Ellie Gibson notes that this violates Microsoft's previously stated stance that Xbox Live should not be used for patch delivery, which would encourage developers to catch bugs before games ships.

Nintendo announced today that its DS online service Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection has reached a total of one million unique users in under four months (three months and three weeks, to be exact). The company claims that this is a worldwide record in terms of time to reach that milestone. In total, those gamers played a total of over 27 million game sessions.

Currently, only three games for the system make use of its online service: Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing: Wild World, and Tony Hawk's American Sk8land. Two more are due on March 20, Tetris DS and Metroid Prime Hunters. - Press release.

The Associated Press is reporting on a somewhat surprising usage of Nintendo's Brain Training (DS) software in Japan. Apparently, the semi-game as well as DS hardware is being stocked in hospitals for patients to rent out during their stay. "We've made 10 Nintendo DS's available and they're almost always rented out," said one hospital administrator. Doctors apparently even recommend that older patients buy the game to use as "a good form of [mental] stimulation." Brain Training (Brain Age outside of Japan) consists of collections of logic and number puzzles designed to improve IQ. Nintendo plans to release the software, whose English language version also includes Sudoku, on April 17.

Microsoft announced today that it has been granted its 5,000th patent, and it just so happens that it is a gaming-related one. The technology, which Microsoft already used in Bizarre Creation's Project Gotham Racing 3 (X360), is essentially what we know as spectator mode in online games. The patent is described as "a system for generating a spectator experience in real time from a game or event, such as highlights, instant replays, and unique views of the action within a game to enhance the experience for spectators rather than players." The patent also allows for a website hub containing information and statistics about games as well as downloadable preview videos.

PC gamers will be familiar with spectator mode from a wide variety of PC games, most notably first person shooters and strategy titles. Microsoft's technology seems to differentiate itself by adding various control mechanisms for the observer not necessarily present in other implementations. - Press release.

Take-Two released its fiscal first quarter 2006 results today, covering the period from November 1, 2005 to January 31, 2006. The company took a big hit on sales, dropping to $265M from $502.5M in the same quarter of last year. It saw a net loss of $29.1M, down $84.3M from a net income of $55.2 year over year. The company cited various factors, including legal fees, consumer hesitance due to the next-generation console crossover, and expenditure for developer acquisitions--the company recently purchased Sid Meier's studio Firaxis and BioShock developer Irrational. Unsurprisingly, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, Xbox, PC) was the company biggest seller, with GTA: Liberty City Stories (PSP) taking the second slot, followed by Firaxis' Civilization IV (PC). - Press release.

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