As part of its public announcement to purchase Take-Two Interactive today, game publisher Electronic Arts has launched a website that addresses the possible fates of the most prominent parts of Take-Two’s business. You can read the lengthy EA-to-EA interview at EATake2.com, but here’s how they answered a few of our questions:

• Would this deal mess with the makers of “Grand Theft Auto“? EA asks and answers as follows:

Do you intend to kill or restrict any of the R* franchises?
We strongly believe that behind all the controversy is a core of great intellectual property and development talent. These titles don’t sell millions because they’re controversial; they sell because they’re great games. We have no plans to change that.

• But doesn’t EA already have a sports division? So wouldn’t this crush Take-Two’s baseball, basketball and hockey franchises?

Would you kill 2K Sports?
Any integration starts with our respect for the teams and people that make great games. Beyond that, it’s too early to discuss plans for managing Take-Two.

• EA just bought Pandemic and BioWare, so why reach for Take-Two now?

Why now?
We’ve waited to ensure that our proposal did not disrupt development on GTA IV. The game is scheduled to launch in about two months, which means the core development should be essentially complete.

At the same time, the reorganization of the EA Labels is basically done and our newest studios – BioWare and Pandemic – are settling in. Under the reorganization, creative teams at EA have a new sense of freedom and responsibility. There are more brand-new titles in development today than at any time in our history.

Finally, this is a good time to align our publishing strengths to Take-Two’s game roster. A timely integration would give a big boost to Take-Two’s games that are scheduled for release later this year and for their entire catalog leading into the holidays.

Okay, gamers, time for you to weigh in. Which games’ fates and which studios’ futures are you most curious about?

N’Gai Croal and I have been trying to discuss “Burnout: Paradise” all week in this very special can’t-stay-on-topic edition of Vs. Mode.

In Round One we did talk about the game: why I went from like to dislike to like for the game, and why N’Gai knew since the day he was born that “BP” would be awesome.

In Round Two we didn’t talk about the game as much. I wound up explaining why I think “Paradise” is a better “Animal Crossing” than “Animal Crossing” and soon stopped talking about the game. But then N’Gai got us even further afield. He even proposed that this game points to some sort of nutty One Game Future.

Except that he didn’t call it nutty. He left it for me to decide if it was, which I do at the top of today’s concluding installment, Round Three. After my letter comes more Mr. Croal, who writes about the possibilities of a “World of Burnout” and a “Little Big Burnout.”

Read on for the final letters. And soak in what may be the final drips of sanity we’re going to ever pour into a Vs. Mode, given the direction these things are going in…

(These exchanges are mirrored on N’Gai’s “Level Up” bog.)

Read more…

Yesterday morning one of my co-workers sent me a note about a Digg link to a so-called “Real Life Super Mario Galaxy.” I may have been busy, but this was something I couldn’t resist clicking.

What I saw were dozens of photos, all the work of Paris-based photographer Alexandre Duret-Lutz, who writes on his Flickr page that he’s been taking these kinds of shots since 2006. He calls this photo series “Wee Planets.”

I shot Duret-Lutz an e-mail, asking him if he’d heard of the “Super Mario Galaxy” comparisons, and if that game had served as an inspiration.

He wrote me back last night, saying: “Sorry. I’ve heard the name of that game a couple of times, but so far
I’ve never tried to check it out. I’m not really interested in video games.”

Fair enough, my friend. When you’re doing work this cool, you probably don’t have time to play video games.

But we here at the MTV Multiplayer blog do have time for video games. I asked our crack production team to test something out. Could the “real life” part of the Digg headline really apply? Could these images really serve as a foundation for a “Real Life Super Mario Galaxy”?

The answer came as a picture.

(Click the image for a larger view.)

Now I know Mario still doesn’t look that real. But you get the idea. Something to look forward to on a Wii 2 or a 3wii?

All spherical panorama images on this page are the work of Alexandre Duret-Lutz. See more of his “Wee Planets” series here.

Today has been a joyful day at work, not the least of which is because I received a nice Christmas greeting from Sony.

This was my second Christmas card from Sony.

And it was really just a nice wrapper to cover a preview disc of “Patapon,” the PSP rhythm-war game I wrote about last week.

The disc will certainly get some play during my holiday break. But first, it is motivating me to post, because it reminds me of something I’ve wanted to ask all of you:

*Multiplayer readers, do you often play video games with the sound off?

Is that an absurd question?

Hear me out…

(And also keep reading if you want to see the nifty interior of the “Patapon” card)

Read more…

If you owned a PS3 or a PSP you probably spent a bit of time upgrading your machine’s firmware. And then updating it some more.

The promise of the ever-evolving console was realized in 2007 by Sony, with mandatory firmware upgrades to the company’s gaming machines adding customizable themes to the PS3, an online store for the PSP, a popular folding@home cancer research initiative, rumble support for PS3 controllers that aren’t even sold in the U.S. yet, and a bevy of other security and functionality tweaks (alas, no “Home” service — not yet.)

How many times has the firmware been upgraded in PlayStation platforms this year?

I count 25 occasions and list them all below.

I pulled the list together using Sony’s official U.S. PlayStation blog, the Joystiq-affiliated PSP Fanboy and PS3 Fanboy sites and the handy dated forum posts on NeoGAF from users who reported downloading the firmware.

I have not noted how the PSP’s functionality improved each time, but I have mentioned one or two facets of each PS3 firmware upgrade.

Take a look at the list below. PlayStation fans, did you like your year in firmware?

January 24, 2007
PlayStation 3 Firmware 1.50
Included: Addition of auto-sign-in to PlayStation Network

January 30, 2007
PSP Firmware: 3.10

February 5, 2007
PlayStation 3 Firmware 1.51
Included: Improved support for PS2 titles

Read more…

In yesterday’s third round of Vs Mode, Newsweek’s N’Gai Croal trashed the idea of 3D, first-person “Metroid.” Such games shouldn’t exist, he told me.

It was a strong opinion, one I already knew he held. My first temptation was to issue a strong reply.

I reject the idea that any game shouldn’t exist and that any idea shouldn’t at least be tried. But while I offered my own stern words about why I think “Metroid” has been successful in 3D, I thought it was also a good time to talk about the whole break between 2D and 3D gaming, how that affected those of us gamers who didn’t leave the hobby but learned (or consented) to shift our tastes.

N’Gai and I talk about a lot of things in our Final Round today, but if there’s anything I hope gets people speaking, it’s these words that I wrote:

What’s it like to watch a great 2D game series go to 3D, have the masses praise it, and yet see it abandon key aspects in the process? I’m trying to put myself in your shoes which don’t feel altogether unfamiliar. Do we praise this situation or shake our heads? Did no one notice what happened to the “Mario” platforming series? Should anyone mind? None of the three 3D “Mario” games I’ve played (”64,” Sunshine,” or preview versions of “Galaxy“) feels as combative as the old 2D games. This has bugged me. In the “Mario” side-scrollers I was always wading in enemies. I could jump from the top of one enemy to the next, knock down rows of them with Koopa shells, and blitz through a whole bunch while invincible with star power. “Mario” 3D games are desolate by comparison. There are barely any Goombas and Koopas to fight. How many do you get on the screen at once? How many do you see in the average game minute? Very few.
…
There’s a very real argument to be made that something was lost in the transition from 2D to 3D, which is what the Wii’s backers have been happy to talk about. While it’s worth exploring why the transition ruined things for some gamers, I think little has been discussed about why other gamers didn’t lose touch and what kind of tastes may have developed in those of us who stayed hardcore on both sides of the break. What do such gamers have to add to a discussion that so often deals only with the lapsed 2D gamers and the children of the 3D era, to say nothing of the outsider casuals?

The rest of our exchange is posted below, as it is on N’Gai’s “Level Up” blog. He and I will be back at it next month, in our first Vs. Mode dedicated to a handheld game. Read more…

Attention: there’s been a change in plans.

I could, as promised, write about how on Thursday I had my most prototypical E3 moment (it involved being at the wrong hotel at the wrong time). But I won’t.

I could, as implied, write about the 15 or so games I played Thursday, many of which were amazing. But I don’t have time this morning. (Got to get to an interview!)

So instead I’ll provide, as also promised, an account of my most animal-oriented moment of the new E3.

Look carefully, now. Can you figure out what’s going on in this lead picture? If so, you win a lifetime subscription to this blog. Here’s a second picture to help you out:

(Thanks to EA and their “The Sims: Castaway Stories” celebrity guest, Susan the Chimp, for making this hard-hitting photo essay possible.)

As informative as Nintendo’s press conference was yesterday, after combing through their press releases there were a few items that they either didn’t have enough time to mention or, for some other reason, just did not.

1. WiiFit will have a channel dedicated to it where “family members will have fun staying active and talking about and comparing their results and progress.”
2. Four first party Wii games that will be released this year, but weren’t mentioned: Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast, Battalion Wars 2, Endless Ocean, Fire Emblem.
3. Six first-party DS games that will be released this year, but weren’t mentioned:� DK Jungle Climber, Chibi-Robo: Park Patrol, Mario Party DS, Nintendo Magic, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and Nintendo Crossword.
4. One huge item not mentioned: Whether or not Smash Bros. Brawl was going to be online.

Hmmm…

The original Super Mario Bros. 2 was hard, just watch and see how frustrated these two gamers are.

Gamecock rented a bus and hijacked members of the press, shuttling them across San Francisco to attend a game demonstration for Fury, a wild RPG/ third-person online brawler fusion. Later, the company would throw GDC’s most bitchingest after-hour party in an old theater that (oddly enough) also served as the venue for LucasArts’ 2006 holiday party.

Oh, and the GameCock was also at GDC itself, punching mokes like GameSpy.com’s Thierry “Scooter” Nguyen in the gut. Scooter really shouldn’t have been smiling after being punched so…