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GTA hauls in $710M, M-rated Wii games "viable"

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Dec 18, 2008 1:13 pm PT

Take-Two chairman raises possibility of GTA Wii, CFO says carjacking franchise made up 60 percent of fiscal year sales; stock sinks below $9.

Yesterday's Take-Two Interactive earnings report grabbed headlines for a variety of reasons. It was bundled with news that the New York City-based publisher had signed Rockstar Games cofounders Dan and Sam Houser to contracts that will keep them around through 2012. The company reported record profits for the year even though its fourth fiscal-quarter (which runs August-October) earnings fell below expectations, which sent its stock spiraling southward. As of press time, Take-Two shares had dipped below $9, more than $3 below its Wednesday closing value, and roughly $17 less than Electronic Arts' February buyout offer.

In a conference call with analysts, Take-Two executives revealed that the company's 2K Games label would no longer be publishing Champions Online. They also divulged some other nuggets of information about exactly how important the GTA series is to the company's bottom line. CFO Lainie Goldstein revealed that the felonious franchise accounted for 60 percent--or $710 million--of Take-Two's earnings for the fiscal year ended October 31.

In the aforementioned underperforming fourth quarter, GTA games generated 40 million, or 17 percent, of the publisher's sales. For its 2009 fiscal year, Take-Two expects 45 percent of income to come from Rockstar and 55 percent from its 2K label. Of that 55 percent, 25 percent is expected to come from 2K Sports (NHL 2K10, NBA 2K10), 20 percent from 2K Games (BioShock 2, the Civilization series), and 10 percent from the 2K Play casual brand.

Given GTA's sustained popularity and the Wii's increasing ubiquity, many analysts have wondered aloud if the series will ever come to the console. One such analyst put the question directly to Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick during yesterday's call. In response he offered an at times apparently contradictory message.

"We've got a bunch of sports titles that are going to take advantage of the Wii, [but] some of our best content really isn't appropriate for the Wii," explained Zelnick. "Frankly even for the M rated content that we think is much more appropriate for the PS3 or 360, we have to look at the Wii as a viable platform across all our labels. We have to because you can't ignore the install base. You just can't." Curiously, no mention was made of Manhunt 2, Rockstar's first M-rated game released on the Wii.

Zelnick went on to explain that Take-Two views the forthcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars--due out March 17--as a test case. "We're going to do a lot of learning with GTA Chinatown Wars on the DS in terms of bringing that kind of content to a Nintendo platform. Our partnership with Nintendo is as strong as it's ever been. We're excited about it. We talk to them all the time. They provide great feedback for us. We're highly focused on it."

252 Comments

  • djTeka

    Posted Jan 27, 2009 12:06 pm PT

    It could look better compared to the GTA games on the PS2, heck, the Xbox 1 versions.

    So what is the problem here? That the Wii game won't look as good as the one that came out only less than a year ago?
    Pffft, some problem that is.

    GTA IV plays too realistic, in my opinion.
    I liked it better when it was more fun and cartoony, not boring and gritty, like it is now.

    They don't even have to do a top down GTA again (other than Chinatown Wars) to make it work on the Wii.

    Since I have a DS, I'll likely buy CW (no, not the crappy channel, the game I just mentioned), see if it's any good, and by my sale, possible help the game get to the Wii.

    I can't wait to see if one of the missions is setting Niko Bellic on fire and watching him die a slow death, never to be a main character in a GTA game again.

    (But then again, when have GTA characters returned in the same form, other than the PSP remakes of III and VC?...
    Oh, they might make a PSP SA and then a PSP VI... damnit)

    If they even make PSP games anymore, that is.

  • niniodelpunk

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 8:45 pm PT

    @ kejigoto

    there is no next gen? how about you use a bit of google today, it won't harm, type "Sparse voxel octree"... There is a next gen and it seems visually promising, and the next gen nintendo will probably be what I was expecting from the wii, a better motion controlled system.

  • Dark_Lord777

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 12:44 pm PT

    I can see it now "GTA pub games". Not the full game, just the mini games. Wii players will enjoy bowling, pool, darts and go cart racing. With local multiplayer and use of your Mii's. It will be fantastic!

  • momurdaman2003

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 8:40 am PT

    I dunno, I really dont like the games wii offers...

  • BLuFAlc0n

    Posted Jan 4, 2009 3:33 pm PT

    The Wii has won the 7th Gen wars, whether you like it or hate it!
    Nothing can catch up to the Wii. Especially when it makes price-drops. It's wasn't a special year for Nintendo @ 08, but THIS YEAR! IS GOING TO CHANGE! kinda like @ 07. I have a feeling that the IMPOSSIBLE will HAPPEN on the Wii! also, the games that the Wii will be getting, awesome games!

    The 360 and PS3 will be fighting towards 2nd, but not the 1st, which belongs to the Wii. All those discriminations, ARE GONE! although there still some from the likes of Epic Games.
    Rockstar decided to be awesome, and if a GTA did came out to the Wii (which will happen anyways), I wouldn't care of the graphics but waht I will want in GTA is a Multi-Player feature (Offline), and a good story, also a better character than Niko Belic.

  • smeghead83

    Posted Jan 3, 2009 5:11 am PT

    A GTA game on the Wii was inevitable, giving how much of a phenomonem it is. Nintendo can't be ridiculed or ignored, yes it may not be graphically as advanced as its competition or bolster the same processing power, but it has still managed to beat both. It has out sold both the 360 and the PS3 and has already won this "console war"...all thats left is for the 360 and sony fanboys to decide which of their consoles is 2nd.

  • thug9cole

    Posted Jan 1, 2009 5:13 pm PT

    gta for wii would be awesome maybe i would take it back out the box its been sitting in since zelda!

  • Pices

    Posted Jan 1, 2009 12:19 am PT

    I just have to put this page in My Favorites Tab because fanboys can't just keep their mouths shut...

  • rarson

    Posted Dec 30, 2008 6:16 pm PT

    Sounds like Take Two is wanting to jump into the Wii shovelware business. Now, fanboys, I'm not saying that the Wii has nothing but shovelware, but when I hear a company like Take Two talking saying things like "you can't ignore the installed base" of the Wii, it sounds to me like they want to cash in on something that many other companies have obviously been cashing in on, judging by the amount of mediocre games available for the Wii. Take Two has had its share of mediocre games anyway.

    I'll stand by and eagerly wait to see what they come up with, but I'm not getting my hopes up for anything special.

  • Karjah

    Posted Dec 30, 2008 2:08 pm PT

    Darn right let's see some more M rated games on the wii Resident evil 4 wii, no more heroes, and CoD:waw were awesome games.

    Rockstar is just talking out of it's butt some of the best games on wii are M rated titles and they do sell.

  • thekey posted Dec 27, 2008 8:47 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    thekey

    Posted Dec 27, 2008 8:47 am PT (hide)

    A Wii version of this game would be laughable. LOL!!!

  • kejigoto

    Posted Dec 26, 2008 5:49 pm PT

    @ neogrunt123

    Having the poor ideals about gaming that you have something tells me you haven't developed anything outside of a mod for a PC game. I'd love to hear what game you developed for the Wii/360/PC and how much of a commercial success it was.

    Are we talking about a port of MGS4 or GTA IV to the Wii here? No, we are talking about its own stand alone game separate from any other console. Also the whole porting business works both ways, could you say port Super Mario Galaxy to the 360 or PS3 and have it be the same game it was on the Wii? No, you'll lose the things that make it a Wii game in the process such as controls.

    Now the whole idea of porting a 360 game to the Wii is about to be destroyed with Dead Rising: Chop till you Drop which is looking rather well and though I've seen a downgrade on the amount of enemies on screen I'm not sure how much of a downgrade it is. Now you will see a drop in certain things when porting to the Wii, like graphics and the amount of enemies on screen, and that may hender some games being ported that are heavily graphics driven, but overall though it hasn't stopped some games. Then you get something built as a 360 exclusive and its suddenly coming to the Wii, I don't see Capcom making a terrible port with only 10 zombies on screen at a time, calling it good, and throwing it onto store shelves.

    The Wii is in the current generation of gaming, there is no next generation of gaming because we know nothing of the next generation since Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony haven't really said anything beyond "We got something in the works". I question your statement about being a developer and I'd love to see you back that up, but as it stands now, for all to see, THE WII IS A CURRENT GENERATION SYSTEM. It goes beyond graphics and though the Wii can't do everything the 360 and PS3 can do, there are still things the 360 and PS3 can't do that the Wii does with ease.

    Enough said, now let's hear what game you developed.

  • thps48

    Posted Dec 25, 2008 10:29 pm PT

    This is probably the closest I, and every other white, middle-class male with the potential to be a member of either congress or parliament c. the 1800's, will get to becoming a minority. Those who own a Wii, I mean of course, but Take-Two may be surprised to find a strong hardcore mature audience on the DS and Wii unless I'm right and 10 people buy Chinatown Wars while everyone else plays Brain Age 0: Dr. Naka-something-or-other's dark origin. Nonetheless, pretty much everything, The Plague, conflicts, both bare-fisted and armed, and the inevitable apocalypse included, gets over a hump and the Wii's current "library" shouldn't be an exception. :j

  • Kevin1985_basic

    Posted Dec 23, 2008 7:10 pm PT

    More big titles should be there on Wii... Nintendo should dominate the game industry again, ahead of the much hated money-laundering Microsoft and god-damn Sony and their blue-ray.

  • Pices

    Posted Dec 22, 2008 6:46 am PT

    @YoJim8obaJoe

    Wii has no good games?

    Super Smash Bros.Brawl Super Mario Galaxy Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Okami Wario Land: Shake It!

    No More Heroes Boom Blox Resident Evil 4 Mario Kart Wii Skate It Super Paper Mario Wii Fit Shawn White SnowBoarding Medal of Honor Heroes 2 Zack and Wiki Disaster Day of Crisis Battalion Wars 2 Blast Works De Blob Naruto Clash of Ninjas Revolution 2 Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

    Red Steel Oh and please don't make me list 50 great Wii games coming for 2009. If people are not playing the Wii, that’s their fault. Besides, according to m4g.com, the statistics show that 80%-90% of Wii owners still play their Wii.

  • YoJim8obaJoe posted Dec 22, 2008 12:32 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    YoJim8obaJoe

    Posted Dec 22, 2008 12:32 am PT (hide)

    tawagivercetti

    Posted Dec 22, 2008 12:42 am GMT

    @ Gamminator

    GTA has never been about the graphics its about great gameplay and awesome radio stations. Wii sales indicate that it is not a fad, rather a phenomonem. Nintendo can't be ridiculed or ignored. And btw GTA is coming for the ds!! woot! Wii is next I bet. Go watch some dragonball Z (Now thats a fad, for little kids too, lol)


    yeah but most that buy a Wii regret it a few weeks later when they realise there no good games hardly

  • Pices

    Posted Dec 21, 2008 11:09 pm PT

    @tawagivercetti and ausdavec

    I couldn't agree more...

  • tawagivercetti

    Posted Dec 21, 2008 4:42 pm PT

    @ Gamminator

    GTA has never been about the graphics its about great gameplay and awesome radio stations. Wii sales indicate that it is not a fad, rather a phenomonem. Nintendo can't be ridiculed or ignored. And btw GTA is coming for the ds!! woot! Wii is next I bet. Go watch some dragonball Z (Now thats a fad, for little kids too, lol)

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