EA posted a loss to the tune of $97 million for the first fiscal quarter of 2008. Yikes. On a brighter note, it’s better than Q1 2007 where they showed a $132 million loss.
Revenues looked pretty good, however, with $804 million in sales. If you look at last year’s numbers, it’s a huge improvement from the $395 million in 2007’s first quarter.
John Riccitiell, the company’s CEO, had this to say in a statement:
Innovation and quality are rising, our games are more accessible and fun, and we have more new titles than at any time in our history. From Spore on the PC to Dead Space on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to MySims on the Wii and Nintendo DS to Scrabble on the iPhone and Facebook, this is the best title portfolio in the company’s history.
He’s right, they do have some strong titles. Maybe they’ll have a net profit next year at this time. Who knows.
Tetris has been a staple of the gaming world for years. If you’ve never played any version of the hit puzzle game, you should have your gaming card revoked. No matter what gaming platform exists, someone somewhere will make a version of Tetris. The iPhone is no different as EA has stepped up to bring everyone’s favorite block dropping game to Apple’s mobile phone.
For those of you who may have lived under a rock for the past 20 years, let me break down Tetris for you. Seven different shapes block fall with your goal to rotate and move the pieces to form horizontal lines. Once you do, that line disappears and whatever is above it drops to fill the gaps. The more lines at once, the bigger the score. You get the picture.
Sudoku became all the rage a few years back. You can’t go to any news stand or read a newspaper without finding Sudoku puzzles everywhere. So it’s only logical to bring the game to the iPhone.
If you’re not familiar with Sudoku, let me break it down for you. The game consists of a 9×9 grid that must be filled with numbers. Each row, column, and the nine 3×3 boxes must each contain the numbers 1 through 9 but only once each. It’s a fun challenge and can range from easy to insanely hard.
Do like words? We do here at Loot Ninja. We write a lot, so knowing some cool words to twist your brain is always a plus. Enter Scrabble, the age old table game where you are challenged to link exceptional words on a board to score points. EA now brings the classic to the iPhone, but just how well does it translate to the mobile touchscreen?
This isn’t a graphical powerhouse, even for an iPhone game. But it doesn’t need to be. The game board and tiles are clear and crisp and the menus look nice. The game has some cool sound effects when you get bonus scoring and when you place letters on the board (it sounds like it does in real life). There’sa steady track of background music playing, which can get annoying after playing for a while.
EA’s new boxing arcade title will be making its way to Xbox Live on July 31. PSN will be getting it on August 7. The demo will have create a character mode, which is very rare on demos. You character will be transferable to the full game, which comes our way this September.
This does not necessarily mean we will see 5 new games, but it definitely means that they plan on keeping the Battlefield name around for a while. No word on what the games will be based on, but we can assume they will still be large, multiplayer battles in nature. If they go back to WWII like CoD did, I might just jump out a fucking window.
When Tiger Woods first hit the scene, the game not the golfer, people were instantly hooked. Since then, it has become a staple of the EA Sports family and every year we are treated with a new release. Like many of EA’s sports games, not much has changed from year to year and gamers are not as quick to grab the latest version. This video comparison is of last year’s and the current versions. The 09′ looks much better, but will their be any new features instead of a view new courses and original characters?
Are you playing Army of Two? I think most people have moved on to bigger and better things, but some of you still might be co-oping your way to greatness. According to Unscripted 360, EA Montreal will be bringing a pair of campaign maps our way for the cool price of nothing.
Free maps is always a plus and I think will be received well. It might even pull gamers back from GTA4 or Call of Duty for some more gold coated guns. You know you want that bling.
The biggest merger that has not happened yet still has much life left as EA extended their deadline which expired last week to another 30 days. No one is surprised. EA is still pursuing the reluctant studio who is still waiting to sell as GTA IV makes history. The announcement quotes Senior VP Owen Mahoney:
Extending our offer will allow the FTC review process to continue. EA’s offer price remains unchanged at $25.74 per share and our offer is still subject to conditions that include regulatory approval. As stated earlier, we retain the right to terminate the offer if the conditions are not satisfied.
EA is no longer the only interested buyer out there. Take Two still feels the offer is inadequate and is talking to other people. Now, this could be a move to drive the price up or maybe they really are looking elsewhere. Take Two had this to say:
This is the same highly conditional proposal that EA offered Take-Two stockholders on March 13, 2008, which our Board of Directors thoroughly reviewed and unanimously determined to be inadequate and contrary to the best interests of Take-Two’s stockholders. As such, the recommendation of our Board of Directors that stockholders not tender their shares to EA remains unchanged. The Board is committed to maximizing stockholder value and is exploring all strategic alternatives to do so. We said we were willing to begin formal discussions with interested parties on April 30, following the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, and we have in fact begun that process. We are confident in the significant growth potential of Take-Two and in the unique value of our business given our strong position in this growing and dynamic industry.”
Needless to say, you might want to buy some Take Two stock. Someone is going to pay out the ass for it.
Looks like things are moving along with the hostile takeover attempt by EA. They’ve gone ahead and secured a $1 billion loan from Morgan Stanley and others to help in the cost of buying out Take-Two.
I guess it’s inevitable at this point. What EA wants, EA gets. No more 2K Sports, more yearly sequels to games that don’t need them. I don’t see any way this is going to be good to gamers. Sure, it lines the pockets of the executives on both sides, but if it serves to hurt gamers in the long run, I don’t approve.
What do you think? Is Take-Two as we know it over?
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