Electronic Arts said today that it will not acquire publisher Take-Two until after the Federal Trade Commission finishes reviewing the acquisition for potential antitrust concerns (via Reuters). The FTC has until August 21 to complete its probe and we're betting they won't finish early.

After an innumerable amount of extensions, EA now says, because of the investigation, its offer to Take Two shareholders has been extended to July 18, the last day of E3 Media and Business Summit. We suspect there'll be some thrilling behind the scenes action going on next week.

A Wal-Mart spreadsheet allegedly listing products that the company is having difficulty stocking states that the 40GB PS3 "will be replaced with [a] new model in early August." We received this sheet from an employee that's sent us solid information in the past though s/he can't confirm the origin of the note that the model will be replaced. Of course, in the eternal battle over semantics, "replaced" could simply mean some minor tweaks to the model and the addition of the DualShock 3.

For those keeping track, if the 40GB version actually ceases production it would be the third version of the PS3 to do so. Let's take a trip down memory lane: The 60GB PS3 was last seen in late 2007 roaming the plains of retail (some still speak of finding them in random places today) and the 20GB was officially declared dead in early 2007 after it went missing from retail for months. Perhaps next week's E3 will shed some light on the fate of the 40GB unit.

Update: Adjusted for the possibility that "replaced" could mean basic changes to 40GB model, like the addition of DualShock 3.

Stockholders have approved the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games to form the goliath Activision Blizzard. GameDaily reports the deal officially closes on July 9 and the new company will trade on the Nasdaq under Activision's ATVI ticker. This instantly makes Activision Blizzard the new alpha dog in the industry with a value of $18.9 billion -- EA now trails with $14.1 billion.

Without getting into the nitty-gritty details, Activision Blizzard is expected to have the highest profit margins in the industry. Activision Blizzard should also continue to enjoy bagiggles of cash flowing into its coffers unless franchises like World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero suddenly self-destruct.

Ubisoft has purchased Hybride Technologies, the Montreal-based visual effects studio behind several commercial, television and film projects; the studio is best known for its work on the films Spy Kids, 300 and Sin City. Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot says the acquisition is part of the company's plans to extend its brands to other forms of entertainment.

Hybride and Ubisoft will move forward by sharing technology and developing tools for video games and visual effects. The acquisition is initially expected to generate sales of 6 -7 million Euros. We're certainly curious to hear what the first game will be that uses Hybride's artists post-purchase in its production.

You may remember in the announcement video for this year's Bungie Day when rascally Luke Smith hinted at the announcement of a new Bungie game. Well, the 7th has come and gone and we're still no closer to knowing what the team is working on after finally undoing the double square knot on Master Chief's apron strings. If yesterday's episode of the Bungie podcast is any indication though, it seems we'll be hearing something at the start of E3.

Here's the exchange between co-hosts Luke Smith and Brian Jarrard you can find at the 90-minute mark of this week's cast, in script form for your reading pleasure:

Jarrard: "Isn't there something going on on July 14th, or something like that?"
Smith: "Yeah, around then."
Jarrard: "Somehow that's sticking in my head for some reason. Guess we'll have to see."
Smith: "Yep, we'll just have to."

So, what could it be? Well, as it's being announced on the same day as the Microsoft press conference, we think either a new 360/PC game or something Halo 3 related is a safe bet. How's that for vague?

[Via CVG]

Sony Computer Entertainment's president of worldwide studios, Shuhei Yoshida, isn't blind to the fact that exclusive games are becoming a rarity these days. In an interview with UK blog ThreeSpeech, the man who replaced Phil Harrison says that, given the trend towards multi-platform releases of major titles, first-party studios and games become "more important" – and that Sony is focusing its assets internally.

Yoshida echos much of what we've been hearing from Sony over the past few months with regards to exclusives, stating that "in this generation, it costs much more to develop one product." This results in what he says is "pure economic pressure" that has caused "most of the third parties to move from some exclusive titles to more multi-platform titles."

"Because we know that is the trend, we, as a company, can invest in our first-party studios," says Yoshida, who is relocating to Japan as his division is set to play an ever more integral role in PlayStation's future success. Collaborating more closely with SCEI prez Kaz Hirai, Yoshida says he'll be working "not only to create games, but to participate in the overall direction-setting of our company and our future platforms." Future platforms? Let's just focus on exclusive, first-party titles for those present platforms of yours for now, 'kay?

[Via CVG]

With development of the latest Call of Duty falling to Treyarch, what's COD1/2/4 dev Infinity Ward up to? We'll give you one guess. If you said "Call of Duty 5," Activision would say "no comment." But you'd likely definitely be correct. But the company, who recently renewed its publishing contract with Activision, has its sights set on more than sequels.

In an update on his blog, IW's director of communications / community manager Robert "Fourzerotwo" Bowling reveals that the company is looking at "the possibility of a unique new IP" – one that it will "have complete control over." We're going out on a limb and betting that it won't have anything to do with military combat.

As for its next game? The one that's not an original IP and wow-that-sure-sounds-like-COD5? Bowling says that IW is "excited to be working on our next project, but it's going to be quite a while before I can share any details on exactly what that project is." "Quite a while" = [insert industry event here] '09.

[Via GameSpot]

Max Schaefer, co-founder of Flagship Studios, admits that things didn't go exactly as planned with its first title Hellgate: London; however, he believes the developer's sophomore effort, Mythos, is coming together much better. Schaefer tells Eurogamer (via GI.biz) that Flagship was "probably biting off too much" as a new developer with Hellgate and was rushed at the end, but with Mythos it's focusing on core features and taking time to polish.

Schaefer hopes Mythos can "put a dent" into some of the big MMOs out there and he believes the free-to-download-and-play model of the game -- with item sales bringing in money -- gives the developer a chance against the boxed subscription-based MMOs.

Yet another company has climbed on board the Unreal Engine 3 bandwagon, as UK-headquartered Ignition Entertainment dropped word that it has licensed Epic's popular tech to help fuel what the company calls a "groundbreaking" new FPS.

In development at Ignition's Florida studio, nothing is yet known of the project beyond that it will be based on an original, as-yet-undisclosed IP. Well, that's not entirely true, as the company does note that the game will be both "exciting" and "fresh," giving us hope that at long last someone will bring together two of our most fond loves, letting us shoot bad guys and raid the salad bar from the comfort of our living room.

With the recent announcement and then following super double announcement of Square-Enix's plans to bring Chrono Trigger to this week's second place finisher, our minds began to to wander like a starry-eyed, formerly monastic governess, vacationing in the hills of Austria. If Squeenix can turn a 16-bit RPG from 1995 into a soon-to-be bestseller in 2008, what other 13-year-old franchises could we breathe new life into in order to turn a tidy profit?

We immediately thought of Pogs, which swept the nation like a plague of circular cardboard locusts in the middle of the last decade -- after all, the obsession with collection hasn't waned in the minds of our nation's youngsters. Unfortunately, Archibald von Pogstein passed away last year, taking the secrets of Pog synthesis with him. We then turned our minds to music, and naturally, TLC's "Waterfalls", the official HIV and gun violence-related slow jam of 1995, came to mind. The Joystiq crew gathered to perform a breathtaking cover of the R&B classic -- unfortunately, we lost the master recordings shortly before distribution.

We eventually settled on bringing back one of the top-grossing films of 1995, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Unfortunately, Mr. Carrey's reluctance to tarnish his new "serious" image by reprising his most beloved role brought the remake's production to a screeching halt. Instead, we're planning on making Ace Ventura quotes hilarious again by incessantly using them around friends and loved ones. We're sure we can find some way to parlay that into a get rich quick scheme -- aaalllllrighty then?

- PSP: 58,861 490 (0.83%)
- DS Lite: 48,884 12,285 (33.57%)
- Wii: 48,480 7,443 (18.14%)
- PS3: 17,973 2,363 (11.62%)
- PS2: 7,673 1,327 (20.91%)
- Xbox 360: 5,104 2,549 (99.77%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: Kinda hot these arrrchiiiives

France may not have the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, but it will soon have Capcom. The publisher is opening offices in the country that brought us such great things as champagne, escargot, and jokes about France as part of continuing efforts to increase sales of its games in Europe.

Capcom Entertainment France will report directly to Capcom Entertainment Europe, and we're sure it will soon be hard at work on localized versions of such famous franchises as Homme de Méga, Combattant de Rue, and Mal Résident.

HMV, the music, movie, and games retailer with locations throughout the UK, Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong, is finally catching up with the wants needs of modern gamers. Starting later this year, the chain will begin selling second-hand games at some of its locations, ramping up across the globe in 2009.

We're not sure why it took so long for HMV to begin selling used software. Perhaps it thought it was actually in Japan, which lifted its ban on used game sales in 2002?

In any event, the move will put HMV on a level playing field with other UK games retailers, including Game and CEX, who have offered used titles for some time (the latter dealing in them exclusively). Now all HMV has to do to recreate the US game-buying experience is to get bought out by GameStop. You know, like New Zealand's Gamesman.

Former Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell received 3 million Euros ($4.76 million) for running the company into the ground to leave the company last year. GameDaily reports Bonnell was apparently given the package by Infogrames -- which was a majority shareholder at the time -- without Atari's management receiving a copy of the agreement until two months after the deal was done.

Of course, this is a ghost from Atari's past, not the new incarnation we're slowly getting to know. We just like this story because, frankly, we're jealous. We want $4.76 million for throwing a company into financial ruin ... heck, we'll settle for a $100 bucks and a free round of drinks at the pub.

IT security firm Sophos reports that someone has been messing around with the official US PlayStation website. "Messing around" as in fitting its SingStar and God of War pages with fake ads that tried to make (and may have succeeded in making) visitors believe their computers were riddled with viruses.

Phobos says that the bogus pop-ups prompted those who saw them to purchase what turned out to be equally bogus anti-virus software. The "scareware" has since been exterminated by Sony's IT jockeys, but we can only wonder how many hapless gamers were drawn into the hacker's insidious ... web of lies before it was too late.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and co-chairman Brian Kelly have each received bonuses from the company of approximately $3 million each. Michael Griffith, CEO of Activision Publishing, also received a bonus according to SEC filings, but his was only for around $1.5 million -- poor guy. The bonuses were given due to Activision's incredible success last year.

With the Vivendi merger imminent, it's worth noting some analysts find Activision an excellent investment. It's not every day you can clearly point to a game publisher and see guaranteed profits in the near future.