The hype boosted the shares of the publisher as much as 3.4 percent, with Take-Two shares valued at up to $27.10 while Electronic Arts (EA) shares were valued at $25.74. "'Grand Theft Auto IV' is a violent, intelligent, profane, endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun," The New York Times wrote.
Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick may have the last laugh if the game meets or even exceeds its expectations. Zelnick urged rejection of the Electronic Arts past offer, insisting the price was far too low, and said the company should wait until after the game's release. "Clearly there were very high expectations for the game going in and it looks like from the early buzz that it could exceed those already very optimistic expectations," said UBS analyst Ben Schachter.
Schachter continued: "These ratings are quite extraordinary. It's something special and helps us understand why Take-Two was so confident and adamant that they wanted to wait."
Written by: James Delahunty @ 28 Apr 2008 19:24
