MediaFile

E3: Strauss Zelnick dishes on Wii U, Zynga and why foie gras tastes better than chewing gum

Take-Two Interactive occupies a massive booth at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where it’s showing off its new games and serving beer at the elaborate sports bar it constructed on the show floor.  Under its CEO, Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two has been showing renewed financial health in recent quarters. In February, it posted its first profitable year in nearly a decade without a new release of its blockbuster video game franchise “Grand Theft Auto.”  Zelnick sat down with Reuters for an in depth chat touching on everything from Nintendo’s new console to Zynga’s business model, and the difference between foie gras and chewing gum.

Reuters: Are publishers on board more than ever before with Nintendo on the Wii U?

Zelnick: Well, It’s hard to know, right? At E3, there’s always a great deal of enthusiasm, as there should be. It remains to be seen what the releases schedules look like. We do think it’s pretty interesting. What they are doing with one display in your hands and the other display that’s wireless in front of you and the ability to have them work independently as well as together, creates a lot of interesting creative opportunities and that’s what we’re looking for. We’ll see how our creative teams feel but right now it looks pretty interesting.

Reuters: Will the touchscreen appeal to the mass market?

Zelnick: It all depends on the execution. You can take that product and execute a kid’s game that’s simple or take that product and do something that’s very complex. It remains to be seen. And that was what was exciting about the Wii. We supported the Wii in the beginning. If you recall, we did “Carnival Games” for the Wii and we also did “Manhunt 2” for the Wii, so we did do an adults-focused title. As it turns out, the Wii turned out being more interesting from a family and kids point of view. It remains to be seen how the Wii U plays out but obviously it’s interesting. We support it. We love all our children equally and we support everyone.

Reuters: You launched a new franchise recently, “L.A. Noire” and a year ago you launched another entirely new franchise, “Red Dead Redempion.” How hard is it to launch new intellectual property in this landscape?

Take-Two Interactive occupies a massive booth at the Los Angeles Convention Center, where it's showing off its new games and serving beer at the elaborate sports bar it constructed on the show floor. Under its CEO, Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two has been showing renewed financial health in recent quarters. In February, it posted its first profitable year in nearly a decade without a new release of its blockbuster video game franchise "Grand Theft Auto." Zelnick sat down with Reuters for an in depth chat touching on everything from Nintendo's new console to Zynga's business model, and the difference between foie gras and chewing gum. Join Discussion

Activision’s brainy toys take over

At E3, the huge video game trade show that kicks off in LA on Tuesday, the main attention usually falls on first-person shooter titles aimed at teens or young male gamers. Games targeted at children can easily get lost under the bright lights.

Activision Blizzard, known for “Call of Duty” and ”World of Warcraft” is trying to change this by backing its new kids game, “Skylanders” with a hefty marketing push at E3.

“It’s getting the full triple-A treatment,” said Laird Malamed, a senior vice president of development at Activision.

“I don’t rememeber a triple-A product launch of new intellectual property like this,” said Malamed, who added that he helped launch the first ”Call of Duty” game in 2003.

“Skylanders,” which is aimed at 6- to 10-year-olds, features action figures that come to life onscreen when you hook them up to consoles. A chip inside the figure stores its characters’ achievements and progress within the game. ”Skylanders,” which also goes by the nickname ”toys with brains” was written by Toy Story scribes Alek Sokolow and Joel Cohen.

While Activision first announced the game at New York’s toy fair in February, it revealed ahead of E3 that the same toys can be used with all consoles–Nintendo’s Wii, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation3. If one child is playing the game at home on an Xbox, for example, he or she could bring the toy to a friend’s house and then load up the same character on a PlayStation– a move the company called a “first-ever cross-platform gameplay experience.”

At E3, the huge video game trade show that kicks off in LA on Tuesday, the main attention usually falls on first-person shooter titles aimed at teens or young men. Games targeted at children can easily get lost under the bright lights. Activision Blizzard, known for "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" is trying to change this by backing its new kids game, "Skylanders" with a hefty marketing push at E3. Join Discussion

EA cuts out middleman, launches video game download service

It might be a few days before a stampede of people will storm into the LA convention center to catch the video game industry’s latest wares but EA wasted no time in getting out the word about its new digital download service, dubbed “Origin.”

“Origin”, which EA announced on Friday, lets consumers buy and download PC games directly from the publisher online, as well as track all of their games across different platforms.

Publishers like digital delivery of games to consumers because they offer higher margins than games sold in brick and mortar stores like GameStop.  EA has been pushing its digital strategy hard to investors and its digital business is now growing faster than the company’s overall business.

Sales of online games, including digital downloads, Facebook games, online subscriptions and other forms, is expected to grow to $18 billion by the end of this year, according to DFC Intelligence, while regular sales of games sold in stores is expected to slip.

Users can find games on Origin the same time they come out in stores.

While there are other ways to download PC titles on services such as Steam, EA is offering exclusive titles on the new service. It will be the only place to find a digital version of “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” the highly-anticipated massive multiplayer game that will come out later this year.

It might be a few days before a stampede of people will storm into the LA convention center to catch the video game industry's latest wares but EA wasted no time in getting out the word about its new digital download service, dubbed "Origin." Join Discussion

Sony not out of the woods

Sony cranked up its video game networks over the weekend starting with the Americas after an unprecedented breach led to the theft of personal information from more than 100 million user accounts.  But experts continued to  criticize the Japanese electronics giant for failing to plug other potential holes in its vast global network.

Using little more than a web browser, a search engine and a basic understanding of security systems, one researcher found more than five entryways into Sony’s systems in the United States and elsewhere shortly after the story went to press. ”"Sony still has several external security issues that need to be addressed,” John Bumgarner, chief technology officer for the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, tells Reuters’ Jim Finkle.

Bloomberg weighed in on Monday to lay out how hackers of Sony’s networks and others have Amazon.com’s cloud computing services to launch attacks, citing unnamed sources.

Kazuo Hirai, Sony’s No. 2, has played a prominent role in dealing with the crisis. Whether Sony recovers from the drubbing to its brand will decide if he takes his place as leader of the company.

We’ll have some tips for Hirai later this week at the  Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York and Paris, where we plan to ask a broad range of tech chiefs how they would fix the one-time mighty electronics giant.

Sony cranked up its video game networks over the weekend starting with the Americas after an unprecedented breach led to the theft of personal information from more than 100 million user accounts. But experts continued to criticize the Japanese electronics giant for failing to plug other potential holes in its vast global network. Join Discussion

“Jackass 3D” tops “Avatar” on Viacom Chief’s movie list

“My favorite 3D movie of all time is Jackass 3D,” Viacom’s Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said on Wednesday at  Reuters Global Media Summit. The movie, which grossed $116 million in the United States, according to Box Office Mojo was  “relatively low cost” and “significantly profitable,” Dauman said.  “You’ll see more of that coming.” 

What else might the future hold for Viacom in 3D? Possibly Snooki.

Reuters Breakingviews columnist Rob Cox asked Dauman if audiences can  soon expect a Jersey Shore in the third dimension.

“I’d love to see that,” Dauman said, “Gym, tan and laundry in 3D.”

Earlier this month, Viacom said it is selling Harmonix, the video game publisher behind Rock Band and this year’s  Microsoft Kinect hit “Dance Central.”  Dauman said the sale is proceeding swifty but declined to divulge details prospective buyers.  Media Summit  guest chief executives Bobby Kotick and Strauss Zelnick  from Activision Blizzard and Take-Two  respectively, said they’re not interested.

“Whoever puts the best proposal forward from all perspectives will be the winner,” Dauman said.

“My favorite 3D movie of all time is Jackass 3D,” Viacom’s Chief Executive Philippe Dauman said on Wednesday at Reuters Global Media Summit. The movie, which grossed $116 million in the United States, according to Box Office Mojo was “relatively low cost” and “significantly profitable," Dauman said. "You'll see more of that coming.” Join Discussion

GlobalMedia: EA nabs triple word Scrabble score from Oprah

Forget sports tournaments or new movie releases as boosters for game demand. Electronic Arts’ latest hero is America’s most famous chat show host.

Chief Executive John Riccitiello,  at the Reuters Media summit, went out of his way to praise Oprah Winfrey, whose recent shout-out of Scrabble  gave a new lease of life to the not-so-new word game.

“We’re very thankful to Oprah for mentioning Scrabble on iPad as one of her ultimate favorite gifts. There was a 400 percent pop … on her word.” He said. “I think there’s different grades of favorite so we were happy to be among her ultimate favorites.”

So did Riccitiello contact Oprah directly to say thanks? “My sense is that the number of people sending her flowers is too many for her to notice my petunias,” he said.

(Photo: Reuters)

Forget sports tournaments or new movie releases as boosters for game demand. Electronic Arts' latest hero is America's most famous chat show host. Join Discussion

Saints over Colts, says EA’s “Madden”

If Electronic Arts’ recent track record on Super Bowl predictions is any guide, it looks like New Orleans may well bring home the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday.

EA ran a simulation of the Super Bowl XLIV matchup through its popular “Madden NFL 10” game on the Xbox 360, and the Saints edged the Indianapolis Colts 35-31.

A little taste of play-by-play from the world of make-believe sports:

“With the game hanging in the balance, Drew Brees hits David Thomas for an 11-yard touchdown and the game winning score. Drew Brees takes home MVP honors as the Saints earn their first Super Bowl Championship title in the franchise’s 46 year history.”

EA’s prediction is nothing to be scoffed at. Last year, the game publisher predicted Pittsburgh would top Arizona 28-24 – eerily close to the game’s actual results, which the Steelers won 27-23.

EA used “Madden” to predict the results for both the AFC and NFC championship games within a margin of three points. And the company said it has correctly predicted the Super Bowl winner in five of the last six years, since it began running the simulation in 2004.

If Electronic Arts’ recent track record on Super Bowl predictions is any guide, it looks like New Orleans may well bring home the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday. Join Discussion

Investing in the Internet… literally.

The headlines were salacious, the scandal was set. This was going to be the water-cooler story of the week.

27 year-old Erik Novak from British Columbia paid out a record-breaking $330,000 (USD) for a digital space station. Let that sink in for a moment.

A digital space station.

In a video game.

Perhaps even better than all the jokes you and I could write all day was the argument from the company that this was a sound investment.

First Planet Company created “Entropia Universe” and then the “Planet Calypso” massively-multiplayer online videogame to act and feel like a real economy. It has a bank in Sweden with an ATM card and an exchange rate of 10 videogame “PED”s to $1 USD.

Looking for an out of this world investment? This guy found it. Join Discussion

THQ CEO: Don’t bet against the Wii

Remember how you couldn’t get a Nintendo Wii? Remember the long lines at retailers, and “No WIIs” signs in store windows. The Wii is still very popular, but the momentum has slowed a bit, leading some to wonder if it has lost its mojo.

And even though games like “Wii Fit Plus” and “Wii Sports Resort” are top sellers, adult action titles like Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ and Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed” have been getting all of the fanfare.

But Brian Farrell, long-time CEO of THQ, which publishes games on the Wii including “All Star Cheer Squad”  and “World of Zoo” said that its the short-sighted game publisher who thinks the Wii is dead, if only because, you know, those things are everywhere, Farrell said at the Reuters Media Summit.

“One of the good things about my tenure is I have seen a lot, and you tend not to listen to fads. You tend to follow your judgment about how markets work. So when we heard (other developers saying they had not made enough games for the Wii) last year, we were just ‘steady as she goes’ on the Wii. That is the way we feel about it now.

There about 40 million Wii’s out there globally. That is a huge installed base. It is music to our ears when people say, ‘horrible market, we are getting out of it.’ We have made a lot of money over the last 15 years of my tenure going into markets that other people have given up on.

Does it have the high growth it used to have? No. Is it a perfect market to harvest with low cost, high quality products? We are delighted with the numbers so far on “The Biggest Loser”, “Super Hero Squad”, “SpongeBob”.

There is still a lot of money to be made on the Wii, so I love it when my competitors say it is over.”

Remember how you couldn't get a Nintendo Wii? Some now wonder if it has lost it mojo. THQ CEO Brian Farrell says go ahead rival game developers, bet against the Wii: make his day. Join Discussion

Fire in the hole: Call of Duty obliterates Hollywood box office

Here’s a blog post from our colleague Ben Deighton in London:

Robotic drone planes and night vision sniper rifles take their aim at traditional media in the latest installment of the Call of Duty series — Modern Warfare 2.

The game made about $310 million North America and the UK in its first day, dwarfing the up to $60 million that blockbuster movies gross on their opening.

But it’s not just in cash terms that games like Modern Warfare 2 are challenging the medium of film. Played on a wide screen TV in dazzling high definition, graphics have become so detailed and carefully rendered that they almost give players the sensation of being in a film themselves.

Like the first installment, players occupy a range of different characters, including a British special forces fighter and a U.S. soldier.

This means that the scenes range from assaulting an oil rig by submarine and attacking a base in the middle of a blizzard and escaping James Bond style on a snowmobile, to fighting through the oval office.

However the game subverts the largely historical message of the Call of Duty series, and instead paints a bleak future where players find themselves retaking the White House from Russian invaders and fighting pitched battles through U.S. suburban houses.

Robotic drone planes and night vision sniper rifles take their aim at traditional media in the latest installment of the Call of Duty series -- Modern Warfare 2. Join Discussion