Joystiq

Take-Two held an conference call, following the disappointing news of BioShock 2's delay, to update investors on its current financial situation. With BioShock's absence, Take-Two's holiday sales will rely on Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony and the PSP version of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. While all are arguably high-profile titles, none are expected to generate the kind of revenue as a brand new BioShock title -- and that's going to hurt Take-Two's bottom line.

Like many other publishers suffering from the economic depression, Take-Two has confirmed the company will not be able to achieve profitability for the fiscal 09 year. While specific figures were not released during the call, the company once again reiterated that its outlook for fiscal 10 is far more positive, expecting profit "without a new multiplatform Grand Theft Auto release."

Touting a lineup that includes Max Payne 3, BioShock 2 and a number of "unannounced titles" for release in late 2010, analyst Jesse Divnich of EEDAR agrees. "The news of BioShock 2 being delayed into fiscal 2010 has drastically changed my view on the Take-Two. I originally anticipated that Take-Two would outperform the industry in fiscal 2010. Now, I expect them to dominate fiscal 2010."

Speaking to the Telegraph, Peter Bale, executive producer of MSN, announced that Microsoft will launch a streaming music service "imminently" -- by the end of July, according to the Telegraph. Bale said the service will perform similarly to Spotify, a streaming music service which offers both an ad-supported listening option as well as a premium subscription with no ads (similar to Pandora in the US), though Microsoft has yet to reveal the business model of its service. Bale added that Microsoft is considering extending the service to the Xbox 360, though he divulged no concrete details.

Having already announced support for another music streaming service on Xbox, Last.fm, it's surprising to hear this announcement so soon after E3. It's not surprising, however, to think Microsoft would prefer to see its own service on the Xbox 360 as well. After all, the company has seen sizable success in renting movies and selling television shows on Xbox Live Marketplace, making music the next logical step.

With Microsoft set to unveil the Zune HD this fall, we wouldn't be surprised to see the new music service tying into the new Zune Video marketplace as well.

[Via Xboxic]

Did you hear about the PS3 Slim that fell off the back of the assembly line in Taiwan? Well, actually, the box took the fall, and then the console worked its way free of its cardboard confines, limped out the backdoor unseen, swam a short 700 miles or so south to the Philippines, toweled off, enjoyed a few bottles of lambanog, and promptly passed out under the stall of a electronics vendor. Phew! Guess it was the peddler's lucky day, eh? Unfortunately, our salesman was unable to hustle this miraculous merchandise into the hands of a wary shopper; who did, however, walk away with a brilliantly befuddled cell phone video of the rarity (posted after the break).

Of course, there's an alternate version of the story, too, as an alleged translation of the vendor's pitch puts it: "You won't see this [PS3 Slim] elsewhere because it's still new -- we just got it in. It's not yet available in other countries." The end.

We asked Sony to take a look, and according to a representative, it was the first time she'd seen the video, and then, predictably, she issued the standard company line: "We don't comment on rumor and speculation." So, it's your call. But let us at least advise you against booking a ticket to the Philippines and heading straight for the black market. For anything.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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In a move that's not all too surprising, Take-Two has announced that BioShock 2 has been delayed until fiscal 2010. The game, which was originally scheduled for an early November release, is being delayed to "provide additional development time for the title." While Take-Two's next fiscal year begins in November, the lack of a specific timeframe for release suggests this delay will be quite significant. Update: Take-Two clarified at its press conference that BioShock 2 is now planned for release in the "first half" of 2010.

Perhaps the late addition of yet another developer to BioShock 2 should have acted as an early indicator of the delay. Take-Two's Chairman Strauss Zelnick publicly apologized about the setback in a press release: "We recognize that our revised outlook for the balance of fiscal year 2009, due to both internal and external factors, is a disappointment. That said, we concluded that moving the release of BioShock 2 into fiscal year 2010 was the right decision for the product."

Take-Two's investors are unlikely to respond to this news positively, considering the company's sparse presence this holiday season. With Take-Two's most anticipated titles -- Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and now BioShock 2 -- all appearing in fiscal 2010, the company will have little to rely on to bolster its current year results. Zelnick reiterated that "we remain confident in the long term potential for Take-Two's business, and our ability to capitalize on that potential through our exceptional creative talent and solid balance sheet."

This week's biggest release is undoubtedly Bplus' Bit Boy!!, an odd title that pays homage to the various bits that make up gaming's past. Bit Boy!! runs the gamut from gaming's humble beginnings during the 4-bit era, all the way up to the last generation's 128-bit capabilities. The goal is to rescue Bit Boy Kubi's pals, who've been imprisoned across the various worlds.

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Technically, that second one is actually Madballs in Babo Invasion. Lest you've already forgotten the game (and perhaps its spheroid protagonists), it's a top-down shooter supporting up to 16 players. Oh, and it has MadBalls in it. Remember those? You'll have to roll out 1200 ($15) for the full game.

Meanwhile, players can also return to Melee Island™ and relive the LucasArts classic in The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition. The remake of the point-and-click sports newly redrawn, high definition graphics and new spoken dialogue to boot. If you'd rather play it old-school, the original, pixelicious graphics are also available. It will set you back 800 ($10 / 478 Pieces of Eight).

We may have ragged on the first Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games a lot, but -- as horrible as we thought it was -- it managed to capture the interest (and money) of almost every man, woman, and child in all of the UK. So, Sega is working as fast as it can to get the latest version of its new money-printing machine, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, out to retail, announcing that the game will release this October.

CC2K claims to have read an advance script of the God of War movie, written by David Self. We can't really judge the validity of the claim. The plot is an adaptation of the first game, and it's pretty easy to come across plot details from the game, by, you know, playing the game.

The good news (well, good news if you like God of War's story), then, is that if this purported script is real (and it doesn't get rewritten to pieces, which it most certainly will, because it doesn't have any car chases or wisecracking sidekicks in it), it sticks to the game's material closely. One notable exception: the ending is different. We don't want to spoil the (possibly fake) ending of this movie that doesn't actually exist yet, so we'll leave it to you to see how Self left an opening for a sequel with a different story than what the game's sequel had.

[Thanks, Graeme Heron]

UFC President Dana White threw off the gloves at Saturday's UFC 100 event, making heated comments about Electronic Arts and its upcoming title, MMA. White stated that he was literally "at war" with the game company and confirmed the rumored plan to ban/blacklist fighters from UFC if they choose to make appearances in EA's new game.

White's anger toward EA stems from accusations that the gaming giant was originally "disgusted" with the thought of making a mixed martial arts title. Said White to MMAJunkie.com: "EA Sports told us, you're not a real sport. We wouldn't touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this." According to White, EA's reversal and attempt at an MMA game is a huge slap in his face and to the fans. "You know what the difference is?" White rhetorically asked. "I'm in the mixed martial arts business. EA isn't. EA doesn't give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts. They made that very clear."

It sounds to us like UFC 101 will get an extra match on the card. EA's John Riccitiello versus UFC's Dana White. We'd pay top dollar for that.

[Via Kotaku]

Like the welcoming of a new baby into the world, we're always excited about the birth of a new video game studio. But some Torontonians Torontions residents of Toronto weren't so happy about the 265 million-thick stack of Queen Es that their city laid down to get Ubisoft to expand there.

Globe & Mail columnist Marcus Gee fumed, "That quarter-billion has to come from somewhere, much of it from good Toronto businesses that don't have the buzz factor... Their tax burden will rise, and their business will suffer, while the cool kids in the video-game industry collect government cheques."

It's a statement that provides lots of insight, not only into the inner workings of the Toronto government, but also into the social standing of newspaper columnists if they think people in the video game industry are "cool kids."

Where does USA Today analyst Matt Krantz turn when he needs to hear blood rushing past his ears at 1,000 heartbeats per minute as he takes life to the edge? Why, investing in video games, naturally. "Just as Activision's games are for thrill seekers, the stock is, too," he wrote in a recent analysis of the company. "Investing in Activision shares will be filled with excitement, fear and suspense." Slow down, Matt, our adrenal glands just melted!

If you're up to it, you can read Krantz's full analysis of the stock right here. Or you can really push the thrill envelope and guzzle that cup of Starbucks that was super hot when you purchased it 30 minutes ago without sipping to see if it cooled. WOOOAAHHHH!

[Image credit: Tyla'75]

Battlefield 1943 was an instant hit. We know this because we could barely play for the first few days the game was available. That didn't stop others, however, who managed to get into games and get with the killing. DICE's Gordon Van Dyke recently left an update on the official game forums, stating that players managed to get over five million kills on the game's first day of release. We imagine over half of those were people who had no business being in that airplane to begin with.

Oh, and for you kids keeping count and anxiously awaiting the new Coral Sea map, it looks like it'll be available sometime this week on Xbox 360. PS3 players will likely have to wait a while, as they're lagging behind big time in the kills.

[Via VG247]

Various outlets reported this morning that, based on the Twitter accounts of a few Midway employees, the company name will be dissolved in the acquisition of Midway by Warner Bros. Midway's Geoff Mogilner told us this morning that those reports are simply unfounded. "The name and the mark are owned by Warner Bros. and it is up to them to figure out the branding strategy," Mogilner said to Joystiq. In the midst of buying and selling various Midway properties, basic things like the company name can easily be swept under the rug and forgotten about while people talk about intellectual properties and trademarks.

According to Mogilner, when WB officially acquired Midway in an auction last month, it not only bought various IP (Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter, etc.) but also the branding. "They [WB] bought the assets and the trademark and all the copyrights and the logo and all that ... to say the name is dead, it's silly but, ya know, it's premature -- the company Midway Games, Inc. still exists," Mogilner told us. He is, of course, speaking about the remaining studios still owned by Midway -- Midway Newcastle and San Diego among them -- who he says are still up for auction, "At this point, as long as they're open, we can still get bids. We're actively trying to figure out that situation. We were required (and it was prudent) to give notice to the people at those studios." We've contacted Warner Bros. for comment on whether or not it will continue using the Midway name on future ex-Midway products and have yet to hear back as of publishing.

Update: Warner Bros. has responded to our request for comment with, well, no comment. We asked the company if it will be using the Midway name going forward on ex-Midway products, to which WB officially responded, "We [WB] are not yet commenting on Midway." That's all (for now), folks!

[Via Big Download]

Did you know: At EASU, all applicants are accepted regardless of standardized test scores and academic history? ... Well, just so long as there's space on the servers.

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