Rockstar's Houser talks EA takeover

18 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski May 12th 2008 11:55AM
Filed under: Business

In a recent piece about Rockstar Games' head honcho, Sam Houser, The Wall Street Journal probes the mind of the "secretive, demanding workaholic" about numerous topics, including EA's hostile takeover of its parent-company Take-Two. Houser says he sees some appeal in being under EA and that his company would be a "much smaller fish in a much bigger pond."

Houser, who was turned down for a job at EA in the '90s, says it's unlikely he'll seek EA's approval on game content. A major point in the Activision/Vivendi merger was that Blizzard remained as untouchable as it was under Vivendi. Whether Rockstar will have that luxury in a hostile takeover remains to be seen.

Tags: ea, houser, rockstar, take-two, wall-street-journal, wsj

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Z: May 12th 2008; 12:02PM

I was watching a few episodes of Firefly last night. Great song!

Bleu: May 12th 2008; 1:40PM

Wow Houser is cool with this hostile take over..God forbid it and if by some miracle it does I will never by another rockstar game as long as I live, I will not support E fucking A in no way possible.

EMOruffino: May 12th 2008; 11:23PM

"Firefly, could you shine your light? Now i love your ways cause there just like mine. Now im justified as i fall in line. And it's hard to try, when your open wide."

sorry lol.... please continue....

Nigeria: May 12th 2008; 12:17PM

The descriptions sound amazing. I especially liked the "shoving a post through someone’s head" part. It sounds fun.

Nigeria: May 12th 2008; 1:11PM

Wow, where did everybody go?

Vcize: May 12th 2008; 12:19PM

I don't understand how anyone can complain about any story that uses a firefly reference.

I'm pretty sure I would thumbs up a story titled "Analyst predicts Killzone 2 will outsell Gears 2 by a 30 to 1 ratio" if it involved a firefly reference.

Nate: May 12th 2008; 12:19PM

Sweet Firefly reference. Honestly, though, the EA takeover is pretty boring. Corporate crap goes down with a hundred lawyers and twice as many accountants. Just let me know when it's over and what happened.

Esat Dedezade: May 12th 2008; 12:24PM

Thats a pretty cool extract. Is it a poem? Where is it from?

Wyvernlink: May 12th 2008; 12:46PM

That is the lyrics from the opening song of Firefly. One of the best canceled sci-fi shows ever. If you get a chance to watch it it's definitely worth it. Awesome show.

The only show I know with epic folksongs about a man they call Jayne.

Esat Dedezade: May 12th 2008; 1:51PM

Thanks you for not being sarcstic regarding my lack of knowledge about something clearly very popular.
You were most helpful :)

Chris: May 12th 2008; 2:56PM

Haha, amen to that Esat. Every time I comment I prepare myself for some asshat trying to beat me down. That's all I'm doing, all day is tearing down walls, and I just keep building them up- I'm always thinking one step ahead... like a carpenter... who builds stairs...

And I'm done.

kbomb1upc: May 12th 2008; 12:37PM

@Vcize
"I don't understand how anyone can complain about any story that uses a firefly reference."

Because they've done this image about three times now. First time really cool, Second time still cool, Third time meh...

Sam K: May 12th 2008; 1:16PM

If, by "meh", you mean "still makes a reference to Firefly and therefore, is still cool," then yes, third time, "meh".

Ranus Studios: May 12th 2008; 1:31PM

Plus one zillion for Firefly reference.

Arnie: May 12th 2008; 2:00PM

Firefly refrences ftw!!
Use them more!!

Ghaleon: May 12th 2008; 3:01PM

Am I really the first "HOWDY STRANGE-AH, dis is HAUSAH!"

Stranger: May 12th 2008; 4:34PM

Considering it's public knowledge that Rockstar and Take Two's contract expires in like, January '09 or thereabouts; I'm fairly certain Rockstar is going to dictate their own terms with EA, should they even consider sticking around.

(Go independendt Rockstar! Strike a one-time publishing deal for each game you release, if anybody can set a trend, it's you guys!)

Must add mine to the list of commenters delighted at the Firefly reference, too. Well done!

Craig: May 13th 2008; 10:07PM

I don't care how many times they're using it! They're still getting people to ask "wtf is that from", keeping the Firefly alive! w00t!

I love that show, for no reason should it have been canceled.

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