GameTek Assets Sold to Take 2

Thursday, Take 2 Interactive Software announced it has acquired some of GameTek, Inc.'s assets as part of a strategy to expand global operations.

These consist of GameTek's European sales and distribution office, Alternative Reality Technologies (a Canadian development studio), and worldwide distribution rights to GameTek's PC CD title Dark Colony, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune for the Nintendo 64, and several Game Boy titles.

Dark Colony, developed by Alternative Reality Technologies, will be distributed by Strategic Simulations in the US and by Take 2 in Europe.

Originally planned for a September release, the two N64 titles' release dates have been pushed back closer to the holiday shopping season around late October or November.

The Nintendo 64 versions of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune will include new answers (it's Jeopardy, so you answer with a question) and puzzles just like those of the hit TV game shows. Additionally, players will be able to control the camera angles and viewpoints of the set. An animated Alex Trebek will host the cartridge Jeopardy! while Wheel of Fortune will include video footage of Vanna White.

The acquisition of Alternative Reality also gives Take 2 a new North American creative studio.

The company has also acquired US-based wholesale console and PC software distributor Inventory Management Systems. This acquisition creates worldwide distribution channels for current and future Take 2 products.

The company's European leg will remain unaffected by the acquisition, and Kelly Sumner, former president and COO of GameTek, will assume the role of president of Take 2 Europe. Take 2 will also be handling the distribution of the GameTek arcade shooter The Reap.

"Our mission is to diversify and build an organization of global proportions. The acquisition of IMSI and these GameTek properties provides us with solid worldwide divisions that are fully functioning and led by industry veterans," said Ryan Brant, the CEO of Take 2 , in a statement.

Take 2 told GameSpot News today that Robotech: Crystal Dreams, one of the other GameTek-developed N64 games, will not be handled by the company. GameTek could not be reached at press time for a comment on the fate of that title.

Console gamers may remember Take 2's first foray into the 32-bit console arena - last year's AD&D: Iron & Blood, a fighting game that was published and distributed by Acclaim Entertainment.