We hope you opted to use pencil when scribbling the release date for Rockstar's latest non-felony related driving game into your Niko Bellic pinup calendar. Midnight Club: Los Angeles – the fourth installment in Rockstar San Diego's pimp-your-ride racing game – has jettisoned the old September 9 release date in favor of a new October 7th date (October 10 for you Europeans). Ostensibly, the extra time is being used to put that final coat of Turtle Wax on the open-world, track-less, load-time-less title but we like to imagine they're having difficulty getting the LA traffic experience just right.

Take-Two will cooperate with the FTC's probing of the company in regards to Electronic Arts' persistent courtship, according to the publisher's most recent SEC filing (via GameDaily). Last week a U.S. Court set a hearing for June 24 to determine whether or not they company was in compliance with the FTC. According to the latest filing, Take-Two's agreement alleviates the need for a court appearance.

While stating it intends to cooperate fully, Take-Two noted that it would "appropriately limit the scope of its production of information and witnesses ... [We are] pleased that a resolution has been reached that should substantially reduce the economic burden on the Company and focus the inquiry in a way that should minimize the distraction to the Company's employees."

In a few hours, the third deadline in Electronic Arts' takeover bid for Take-Two Interactive will pass. GamePolitics has a pretty good roundup of speculation stories regarding the deal; meanwhile, we've also heard from Forbes and go-to analyst guru Michael Pachter on the situation.

Take-Two reported that EA only controlled 8% of the company's stock following the last deadline. We expect a press release from EA bright and early tomorrow morning about its next move and a response from Take-Two a little thereafter.

Two gamers have filed a lawsuit against Electronic Arts, alleging that the publisher's exclusivity agreements with the NFL, NCAA and Arena Football have led to anti-competitive practices. The focus of the suit, according to Gamespot, stems from EA's actions after sales of Take-Two's NFL 2K5 pushed the publisher to drop Madden 2005 from $50 to $30. Instead of competing with Take-Two, according to the suit, EA entered into multiple exclusivity agreements and was able to raise the price of Madden 2006 back to $50.

Additionally, the suit notes that should the EA-Take-Two acquisition come to fruition, it would "remove one of the few companies with the ability and expertise to compete in the market for interactive football software." The plaintiffs seek restitution for all those who purchased an EA football game after August 2005, "disgorgement of all profits made as a result of anticompetitive actions, and that the infringing agreements be declared null and void."

With "bigger and better" becoming a mantra of sorts for modern game design, it seems only logical for the developers and publishers of our favorite blockbusters to expand their operations in tandem with their goals. Speaking to Develop, Ubisoft head of global development, Christine Burgess-Quémard, has said that the Tom Clancy and Prince of Persia publisher is always looking to widen its worldwide business.

"We want to continue our strategy of innovation, and in order to do that, we need to have more people and generate more business," she explained. "Every blockbuster we work on, we invest in new studios, new teams and new projects." As for measuring up to rival monoliths, EA and Activision Blizzard, Burgess-Quémard states that Ubisoft (or is that Take-Twobisoft?) won't be caught resting on its laurels. "We are in the race, definitely – and we're not in it to come last."

Now, please remember the other half of the aforementioned mantra, Ubi. Bigger and better. We could certainly do with fewer giant corporations pumping pollution into our virtual environments.

As part of GameDaily's interview with Sid Meier, the site asked about the chances of an Alpha Centauri II. Meier responded, as almost everyone at Firaxis and 2K Games does, that the rights for a return to Planet is in the hands of EA. The site followed up with EA, which actually responded to the Alpha Centauri question, stating that there is still "a lot of good will toward Sid" from when he worked with the publisher and that, although it's inappropriate to comment on the issue due to the current buyout situation, it "can't think of anyone better suited to doing another Alpha Centauri game."

Meier has been quite diplomatic about the possible acquisition of Firaxis' parent-company, Take-Two, by EA. Our "glass is half full" view on the issue is that although EA hasn't done anything with the Alpha Centauri license in almost ten years, nothing horrible has happened to it either.

The machinations of the corporate video game world have become a soap opera of unwelcome attention, would-be suitors, potential partnerships and, of course, undead vampires. While EA's restless pursuit of Take-Two continues (and continues and continues), the latter publisher isn't simply lapping up all the attention. No, Take-Two is on the lookout for potential partners, and have their "eyes open to anything to maximize stockholder value, including remaining independent."

Forbes puts the partnership pieces together, arriving at either Activision or Ubisoft. Considering Activision is sorta busy with its own mega-merger, that leaves little ol' Ubisoft. Of course, by "little" and "old" we really mean "big" and "rich" – the publisher apparently has a $1.2 billlion acquisition war chest which still won't get them close to the price Take-Two is holding out for.

So, perhaps a partnership (which we'll immediately begin calling Take-Twobisoft) if not an outright acquisition? There's plenty of delicious corporate synergy to go around, what with Take-Two's stable of strong IPs and Ubisoft's total lack of a sports division. Oh, and remember back when EA couldn't keep its eyes off of Ubisoft? It actually controls close to 25% of the voting shares in the French publisher, making any outside partnership increasingly sticky. The drama!

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter expects EA will own Take-Two when this buyout saga comes to an end, but before that, there's a few more chapters to write. GameDaily reprints the analyst extraordinaire's latest commentary where he envisions EA will increase its bid by a "modest amount" and attempt a "friendly deal." Pachter surmises Take-Two will reject the offer, especially after it recently talked about working the Wall Street corner for other opportunities.

Pachter expects EA wants this deal done before this holiday, but that Take-Two management has an incentive to wait until after April 1, 2009, due to some stock finagling (remember, in the end, this is all about money). When all is said and done, though, Pachter believes EA will acquire Take-Two. He expects once EA walks away from the table after the next rejection, and it proves there are no other bidders salivating for Take-Two, that all parties will meet again and work something out.

In the same conference call that gave us this head scratcher, Take-Two reps tap danced over a number of other issues, including their official reason for delaying GTA IV's hotly anticipated DLC, as well as any potential partnerships that may be lurking on the horizon.

Regarding the company's resolution to keep the GTA IV downloadable content out of players' hands until sometime between November 1 of this year and January 31, 2009, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick calmly stated that the decision was based on "portfolio balancing," and that the delay was "not based on development issues." Even as our hearts ached for additional Liberty City shenanigans, Take-Two reps on the call remained enthusiastic, and for good reason, given that during the last quarter the GTA brand made up an impressive 78% of the firm's total publishing revenue.

As part of a conference call following Take Two's second quarter earnings, company officials addressed questions from analysts on a number of topics, including the previously announced plan to give fan favorite BioShock a movie makeover. Despite the obvious vocal excitement from Take Two officials regarding the project, it may be some time before we see Big Daddies and Little Sisters frolic on the big screen, with Take-Two chair Strauss Zelnick stating that "it's unlikely that [the movie] would be released alongside BioShock 2...and it's more likely that it would be released alongside BioShock 3, but that remains to be seen." No, that's not a typo: BioShock THREE.

Additionally, while no specific details were shed on what we can expect from the movie, Take Two certainly appears to be taking a somewhat hands-off approach to the project. Zelnick commented that while the company "feels it is something that could be beneficial," Take Two has "structured the deal so we have no economic structure or risk."

In light of all the important news coming out of Take-Two's just-released financial report, it would be easy to skim over the actual financial numbers at the core of the release. That would be a shame for Take-Two, as the report shows incredible growth for the company when compared to last year.

Quarterly revenues were up a staggering 163% year over year, from $205.4 million to $539.8 million, mainly on the strength of Grand Theft Auto IV (and not on the strength of titles like Go Diego Go! Safari Rescue). These revenues were enough to turn a loss of $29.2 million during last year's second quarter into a profit of nearly $115.4 million during this year. The company's coffers have ballooned to include nearly $1.1 billion in assets, up from $830 million at the end of the last fiscal year in October.

The report also reveals that 2008 might finally be the year that the PS2 finally starts its slow decline, at least from Take-Two's perspective. At this time last year, 37% of Take Two's revenues (a plurality) came from PS2 games. This year, that ratio is down to 10%, while the Xbox 360 and PS3 shot up to 41% and 31% of revenues, respectively. The company only has one PS2 game listed on tap for the rest of the year: MLB Power Pros 2008.

As part of Take-Two's glowing second quarter financials, the publisher confirmed that Grand Theft Auto IV has been flying off shelves (GASP!), announcing that as of May 31, more than 11 million copies "have been sold in to retailers," while nearly 8.5 million units "have been sold through to consumers."

Take-Two further puffed out its financial chest this afternoon concerning the high profile title, boasting that GTAIV surpassed all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales, selling about 6 million units worldwide and filling company wallets with more than $500 million in its debut week.

No question: Take-Two lurves their BioShock baby. In an announcement today, the publisher revealed that, to date, BioShock has shipped over 2.2 million units across both the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows platforms. Not too shabby, eh?

It's clear that with this news, Take-Two's gearing up for BioShock mania. Combine strong sales with the recent announcement of BioShock on PS3, news of the Verbinski-directed BioShock film, and the inevitable BioShock 2 announcement from 2K Marin, and we're on the cusp of the next big franchise in gaming. Good thing or bad thing?

Those waiting for more Grand Theft Auto IV content will have to wait a little bit longer. According to Take-Two's Fiscal Q3 2008 report, the first batch of GTA IV downloadable content will be coming in Q1 of fiscal 2009, instead of the originally planned Q4 of fiscal 2008. In real calendar terms, that means the DLC, which is rumored to include whole new cities, is due between November 1, 2008, and January 31, 2009.

The reason behind the delay, according to Take-Two, was to "provide a better balance in Take-Two's release schedule." The statement specifically mentioned Xbox 360, with no talk of content for the PS3.