Ben and Rob discuss the potential ramifications of a successful EA bid for Take-Two Interactive.

Watch Video: http://www.tomsgames.com/us/site/f [...] mers_.html

We want to know what you think of the deal. Will EA get Take-Two in the end? How does this affect what games will be released? Does it matter to you?

-Ben

If EA acquires Take-Two and then cans Mafia II, or only releases it for the consoles, I will have a fit.

Man, I remember when EA was just this humble little company with great games like Archon and Bard's Tale. I would have never dreamed that they would become the corpo-juggernaut that they are today. Just imagine if they could replace the current board and execs with the geeks that were in charge back in the early 80s - I'd feel much better about the Take-two takeover for starters.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, Chazwuzzer. Don't forget Mail Order Monsters. They had a lot of great games back then. The video pretty much touched on everything. It will be bad for gamers and good for the companies. They'll make lots of money and try to spin it as how great it will be for gamers, and then they'll kill excellent franchises like Civilization or NBA 2K.

EA is like a giant parasite. They latch themselves onto a successful studio, drain away all creativity until it's just a bland, unoriginal husk of a game. The thing that I really hate about them is that they try to spin their ridiculous methods as being great for gamers, like in game ads or paying for extra content to have an edge in online games. Even their games that are fun and innovative (like Battlefield 2) are ruined by bugs, poor design decisions, etc. They're more interested in making a half-assed sequel a year later than improving and supporting the game they have.

I've never seen a game company that's so universally despised. You don't get that sort of reputation without earning it. Mergers and acquisitions are pretty much just never good for gamers. And EA is only shooting for Take-Two because they have penis envy and are feeling inadequate now that they're not the biggest game company anymore.

Anyone who is looking forward to EA and Take-Two merging is either really young and/or the same type of person who buys every Madden or Need for Speed that they crap out each year. I mean, Madden is filled with cheesy emo music... enough said.

Maxor 127 - Mail Order Monsters - holy moly - nostalgia overload.

And Devon - yeah, the treatment of the Bullfrog material was an unforgiveable sin. And as a person who ranks UltimaIV as one of the greatest titles of all time, I cannot sufficiently describe my disgust with the craptastic release of UltimaIX.

Its like when Lorraine Williams took over TSR - take a great company run by hobbyists and turn over control to someone that disdains gaming. What happens? Product turns to crap.

I enjoyed the video discussion very much. It raised some interesting points. The best pro merger point I heard made was in regards to the smaller development houses under the Take 2 banner no longer having to hold up development for the GTA cash cow. The problem I see with this, is it assumes that EA will allow these projects to begin with. I would hope they do, but I fear the worst.

I don't care for businesses that operate with the bottom line in mind first. I understand that the purpose of any business is to prosper and this brings with it financial reward. To my way of thinking however, if you produce a high quality, original product, the profits will come.

EA and companies like EA, seem content to milk a title until almost no one even remembers why the franchise was popular to begin with. They seem to operate with the profit in mind before considering the product. It's almost like development time is viewed as a distasteful obstacle standing between EA shareholders and the mountain of cash to which they are entitled.

You guys asked if this is good or bad for gaming. I say it's bad. The volume of craptastic game clones that companies like EA release serves to crowd out the work of smaller studios IMO. In a market where shelf space in retail outlets is shrinking for the PC game, every one of those stinkers is stealing shelf space that could be inhabited by a better, (hopefully) more original game.

I agree, mergers are inevitable. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

Ah yes, HiOctane - now THAT was a racing game! Bullfrog had so much excellent IP, and EA wasted every little bit of it.

I can't seem to get THG videos working, either under IE or FF.. this only started recently, and I haven't made any changes that I know of.

Yeah, BF2142 was pretty bad. Lots of good ideas in that game but horrible execution. I've seen better free mods. I never liked their sports games. I've always gravitated towards the 2K games. If EA made good sports games, I'd have no problem playing them. I tried a Madden game last year but it was just horrible. The worst part was the music. It's like Madden for 14 year old girls. If they're going to have crappy music, they should at least have crappy music that fits the style of the game.