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Celebrate Max Payne 3's PC launch with this fancy new trailer
Max Payne may be a grizzled, drug-addled alcoholic, but he's looking a heck of a lot prettier in his latest trailer. With today's launch of Max Payne 3 on PC, Rockstar doled out the latest clip from that platform's lofty graphical watermarks. That means more than just a better looking Max; this trailer has a better looking everything.
Ben Gilbert06.01.2012
Analyst: GTA V will launch in Q1 2013, sell 14 million copies
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia is predicting big numbers for Grand Theft Auto V something fierce. Bhatia projects Grand Theft Auto V will debut during the first three months of 2013 and will pull in $700 million in revenue for Take-Two Interactive with 14 million copies sold over its launch window – though Bhatia didn't say just how long he considers this launch window to be.This $700 million figure is close to the $775 million earned by Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days of launch back in November, which is an entertainment record that has yet to be bested. Rockstar's previous effort, Grand Theft Auto IV, has shipped over 22 million copies worldwide.
David Hinkle05.26.2012
Take-Two ends fiscal '12 with loss, high '13 projection raises eyebrows
Take-Two Interactive's revenues for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, were $825.8 million, short of last year's $1.14 billion, because it didn't have Red Dead Redemption in it. Last year's breakout star, L.A. Noire, did well with 5 million units shipped, but that doesn't compare to the more than 13 million units (8.5 million at that time) done by Red Dead Redemption.Overall, the publisher had a net loss of $108.8 million for the year, compared to the $48 million profit in the previous year.Here's where things get interesting: During this afternoon's investor call, CEO Strauss Zelnick reiterated a point from earlier in the call that there are "titles yet to be announced for fiscal 2013." This is significant because the company expects revenues of $1.75 - $1.85 billion for the fiscal year ending next March. Look back at that blockbuster Red Dead Redemption year, and note that revenues reached $1.14 billion. So, what's the deal?Officially, at this time, Take-Two plans to launch Borderlands 2 in September, NBA 2K13 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown in October and, finally, BioShock: Infinite in February. Although any one of those could be a runaway hit, there's still $600-$700 million missing over that impressive Red Dead year to hit the projection. Either Grand Theft Auto 5 is secretly on the docket for this year or Take-Two is expecting blockbusters from more than one of the announced games.
Alexander Sliwinski05.22.2012
NBA 2K13 slotted for October 2
NBA 2K13 is set to launch on October 2 for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP and PC, Take-Two Interactive announced today. This is in line with the October precedence set by previous NBA 2K titles. Developer 2K Sports has yet to reveal any details about the game, but our best guess is that it will feature an orange ball and some tall dudes.2K13's direct predecessor, NBA 2K12, shipped 5 million units, Take-Two said.
Jessica Conditt05.22.2012Max Payne 3 ships 3 million units, PC launch pushed worldwide June 1
Max Payne 3 has shipped 3 million units since hitting shelves last week, publisher Take-Two Interactive revealed in its FY 2012 financial report.Take-Two also announced Max Payne 3 is now scheduled with an international PC release date of June 1. Rockstar initially planned to launch Max Payne 3 for North American PCs on Tuesday, May 29, but has pushed that back to meet the standard European launch day of Friday that week. All's fair in love and gritty, noir-style war.
Jessica Conditt05.22.2012
XCOM delayed again, beyond Q1 2013
XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the strategy game, is still coming on October 9, but XCOM the shooter is growing ever more distant. Take-Two's latest earnings report gives the game a "fiscal year 2014" date, which puts it between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014.The previous release window announcement put it in the previous fiscal year – and that announcement was, itself, a delay from a proposed March 6, 2012 release date. At this point, 2K is racing against science; if engineers of the future develop a method to contact and interact with alien life for real, this game will suddenly seem less exotic.
JC Fletcher05.22.2012
Max Payne is moving forward (mostly toward next week's launch)
Despite Max Payne 3 not launching at retail until next Tuesday, Rockstar went ahead and released the "launch" trailer this afternoon. And despite Max's crippling addiction to painkillers and booze, he seems to be moving forward with his life, as seen in the clip. Where he's going ... that's another story entirely.
Ben Gilbert05.10.2012
Wedbush thinks Grand Theft Auto 5 will launch in October
With this morning's announcement that BioShock Infinite will now launch in February 2013, publisher Take-Two Interactive altered more than a game's launch date. Take-Two is a publicly traded company, and one fewer gigantic product launch during the holiday season – arguably Take-Two's only holiday product launch, unless you count fall launches of Borderlands 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown as "holiday" – means that shareholders will want to know what's up. That worry is reflected in Take-Two's stock price, which took a five percent hit since the market opened this morning.But when Infinite got pushed out of the holiday season, it opened the slot up for another high-profile Take-Two-published title: Grand Theft Auto 5. "In our view, the delay opens the window for Grand Theft Auto V to be released in October 2012," Michael Pachter of Webush Securities wrote in an email this morning, echoing a release window leak from earlier this year.In his eyes, Infinite wasn't just delayed to make it "something even more extraordinary," as Ken Levine put it, but because the folks at Rockstar, "notified Take-Two that GTA V would be ready for October." He believes this resulted in Take-Two offering Irrational Games an extra few months to prepare BioShock Infinite. His logic? "The studio [Rockstar Games] has scheduled every prior GTA release during that month (with GTA IV delayed to April 2008, due to bugs in the PS3 version)."Furthermore, Pachter and co. speculate we could hear more about GTA 5's launch date "as early as May 22" during a scheduled quarterly investor call, or perhaps in a few more weeks at E3 2012. We've yet to hear back from Irrational, Rockstar, or Take-Two on the subject.
Ben Gilbert05.09.2012
Max Payne 3's multiplayer footage gets us all nostalgic
The gangs of Max Payne 3's multiplayer setting make us forget all about the balding alcoholic star of Rockstar's upcoming game. Instead, they're more reminiscent of a film classic from 2002 set in Rio de Janeiro's poorest neighborhood, City of God. Take a look at the new multiplayer trailer above, then compare with a trailer for the film below the break. We think you'll see more than a few similarities.
Ben Gilbert05.03.2012
Max Payne 3 DLC plans laid out, grab all with Rockstar pass
Max Payne 3's multiplayer and co-op offerings won't thin as quickly as Max's hair. Rockstar today announced plans for seven separate DLC packs spanning June through next fall, following the game's launch in May. June's "Local Justice Map Pack" kicks off the content expansions, adding three new multi maps, including one that works with the game's "Gang Wars" mode (Police Precinct), as well as the others (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Payne Killer).This summer will see four additional map packs dropping, and the fall will bring two more. Should all of this be conflicting with your good budget sense, Rockstar's season pass is returning from LA Noire, this time offering a 35 percent discount over buying each pack individually. The pass costs $30.
Ben Gilbert05.01.2012
Extensive Max Payne 3 PC download pre-order incentives on Amazon
Amazon hopes to make an awfully compelling argument for your Max Payne 3 purchase. Pre-ordering the PC download version not only nets some in-game incentives, but some money that goes toward other Rockstar games.First, Amazon is giving all pre-orderers a $10 voucher for an immediate download of Max Payne 2, which just so happens to cost $10 on Amazon, so that's free. Amazon will knock down the price for both L.A. Noire and GTA IV to $4.99 up until April 15. You'll be able to grab those gratis with another $10 voucher if you want, or spend it on other Rockstar wares.On top of the free games, a pre-order will also grant you several pieces of in-game content: a classic skin pack for multiplayer that includes characters from past games; a multiplayer weapons pack; increased painkiller capacity; and a "Max Payne Retro Avatar."Update: Whoops, as you probably noticed, it's April 18. Amazon just got in touch to say they are extending the deal on GTA IV and L.A. Noire until April 20.
David Hinkle04.18.2012
Watch Max Payne slowly dive into groups of henchmen whilst shooting
We wouldn't call it the smartest move out there, but Max Payne seems hellbent on jumping head first into groups of thugs who're firing guns directly at him. The latest trailer from Rockstar Games for Max Payne 3 portrays our balding hero as even more psychotic than we'd guessed!
Ben Gilbert04.12.2012
An Irrational fear of monsters
"A good monster is a monster you can imagine in repose."That was the advice acclaimed horror writer and director Guillermo del Toro gave Ken Levine, the creator of the BioShock franchise, during a conversation on the Irrational Games podcast. Levine takes those words to heart in his own creative direction, and before building any terrifying monsters, he makes sure Irrational develops a rich, empathetic backstory that places each of the deformed, viciously homicidal creatures in routine settings, where they perform the most base of actions: contributing to society, petting a dog, relaxing, mourning.Four Irrational members – Levine, art director Nate Wells, lead artist Shawn Robertson, and sound man Pat Balthrop – gave the PAX audience a glimpse into the secret lives and creation of five major BioShock Infinite villains: the Motorized Patriot, Handyman, Siren, Boys of Silence and Songbird.
Jessica Conditt04.09.2012
Rockstar North employee CV gives Grand Theft Auto V an October launch window [update: CV pulled]
Like several major games in the franchise, Grand Theft Auto V is being developed by Rockstar's Edinburgh, Scotland-based Rockstar North studio. Character animator Alex O'Dwyer is an employee at Rockstar North, according to both his LinkedIn page and his CV, and he seems to think that Grand Theft Auto V will launch this October.As seen in the image above, O'Dwyer's CV puts GTA V's launch window firmly in the holiday season – not exactly a bizarre concept considering Rockstar's history of launching GTA titles during the holidays (with the exception of Grand Theft Auto IV, that is). It would also put sufficient time between Rockstar's May launch of Max Payne 3, but would totally buck the trend of Rockstar releasing more than one title in any given year. It's worth noting that Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, may not be keen on launching GTA V in the same month as BioShock Infinite.Regardless, we've reached out to Rockstar and O'Dwyer for comment, but, well ... it's Easter. Hopefully we'll hear something soon. For now, we're putting this squarely in the "rumor" column.Update: Mr. O'Dwyer's CV was pulled down. We still haven't heard from Rockstar, nor have we heard from Mr. O'Dwyer regarding the date.
Ben Gilbert04.08.2012
Take-Two's Zelnick regrets THQ quote
Friday 6 April175 lbs (That's 170 of muscle and five pounds of delicious Legal Seafood New England Clam Chowder.) Food consumed today: Chowdah! Chowdah! Chowdah!Early morning. Boston. I watched the sun rise this morning, contemplating regret and its place in business ... and the universe.Oh, Diary,I made a faux pas yesterday, which I understand is also known as a gaffe to those whose offices reside below the 20th floor of any office building. I was asked about the difference between that wandering camp of nomads at THQ and the Empire of Take-Two (and its kingdoms of Rockstar and 2K Games), and gave what I think was a very measured response. I may have overstepped when I said, "THQ won't be around in six months."Oh boy, did I stir up the hornet's next. THQ understandably wasn't too happy and reflexively responded that my "perception of THQ is outdated and inaccurate." Blurgh, Diary, I have to see THQ CEO Brian 'Feral' at the corporate mixers, so I had to play nice and offer up a cheese plate of mea culpa."While discussing our strategy I spoke out of turn about someone else's. It was inappropriate and I regret it," I told Game Informer.But, Diary. Come on ... between you and me. We both know the truth.XOXO,Nostradamuss
Alexander Sliwinski04.06.2012
THQ: Take-Two CEO's perception is 'outdated'
THQ has contacted Joystiq with a response to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick's dire prediction from this afternoon: "Obviously, Mr. Zelnick's perception of THQ is outdated and inaccurate. His comments are irresponsible and false. Perhaps he would be better off commenting on his own business."
Alexander Sliwinski04.05.2012
Spec Ops: The Line narrative trailer ripped from the headlines
In fairness, the trailer above for Spec Ops: The Line was likely cut and produced over the course of a few months. As such, its "ripped from current headlines" nature isn't really 2K Games or Yager's fault, but it does make for an awkward juxtaposition against recent news.
Ben Gilbert04.05.2012
BioShock Infinite's 'Boys of Silence' are awfully loud (also: terrifying)
A motorized George Washington with a machine gun is worrisome, sure. And that dude with his giant porcelain hands? More menacing than Washington, no doubt. We think you'll agree, however, that BioShock Infinite's latest "heavy hitter," the "Boys of Silence" are by far the creepiest of the game's big boss dudes.
Ben Gilbert03.20.2012Max Payne takes his shootdodge to the streets of New York
It's no secret that Max Payne leaves his New Yorker past behind in Max Payne 3 as he heads for Brazil, but perhaps you didn't realize that chunks of the game will explore Max's history in the Big Apple. That history, unsurprisingly, involves leaping through the air while firing two handguns.
Ben Gilbert03.19.2012
BioShock Infinite's sad men with giant hands, exposed!
BioShock Infinite's version of Big Daddies sometimes resemble George Washington, and other times they're terrifying giants with exposed hearts and enormous porcelain hands. Take a look at the latter group in the latest trailer, just above.
Ben Gilbert03.14.2012