Take-Two, helped by Brunswick Group in shooting down the $2 billion EA offer, said when the bid came in that they would wait until “Grand Theft Auto 4” was released. Nice move.
In a sure sign that video games are now firmly entrenched in the upper echelon of consumer entertainment, Forbes noted that analysts and entertainment execs were sweating out the GTA4 launch because of its potential affect on television and movie receipts. According to the AP, GTA4’s sales beat the most recent blockbuster game, Halo 3, by $200M and even approached the $500M+ global weekend receipts of the recent “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie.
Reviews of the game were predominately positive and media reports in the wake of the robust sales figures are equally fawning. But there is a bit of a cloud over the astonishing PR and financial success of the game’s launch.
Last week, Seattle Times tech columnist Brier Dudley blogged about his dealings with Rockstar Games’ PR reps [the game was developed by Take-Two’s Rockstar Games unit] at the PR firm Laforce + Stevens. Dudley was offered a flight to New York and a hotel room in exchange for an interview with a Rockstar co-founder and a day spent playing the game to review it. Dudley noted he couldn’t take the freebies but would gladly make the trip to test the game and conduct the interview. But first he had to be interviewed by the PR reps, who told him they didn’t want coverage of the takeover offer or of the company’s PR mess of a few years ago when sexual content was found hidden in an earlier edition of GTA.
Dudley told the PR team he didn’t plan on leading with those facts, but he wouldn’t agree to any restrictions. The interview and review never happened. Dudley didn’t sound particularly surprised about the incident, but relayed the story because he said it is a) something he should disclose, and b) something he thought readers might be interested in – “how intensely the makers of triple-A games manage the pre-launch flow of information.”
Dudley told me in an email that he thought the conditions were requested by the client, Rockstar Games.
I emailed Take-Two and phoned James Laforce to get some info about the PR plan. So far, no response.
There is only so much a crisis PR pro can do. That’s the lesson learned from the drunk driving arrest of my Congressman Vito Fossella in Virginia a few days ago. [Full disclosure: I have never voted for the five-time elected Fossella, who took over for Susan Molinari.]
The New York tabs had a field day with the arrest of “Vino Vito,” especially when they reported that New York City’s only Republican Congressman turned to a “mystery woman” to bail him out after he was nabbed by cops in the early morning of May 1.
What was Vito thinking? Not even the skilled Fraser Seitel- - though he would give it a gung-ho effort -- could get him out this mess. Yet crisis pro Susan Del Percio dutily stepped up to the plate and told intrigued reporters that the woman, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel Laura Fay, was a “old friend” of Fossella, who reps Staten Island and the slice of Brooklyn that I live in. Right-o. Since when does a married man with three kids, call on another woman in the middle of the night to get him out of the drunk tank? Was it because he was in her neighborhood?
Del Percio was soon reduced to telling a Daily News reporter that she would not answer such a "demeaning and highly inappropriate question.” And what was that untoward question that frazzled the crisis manager? It had to do with whether Vito fathered a “love child” with Fay. Bingo.
Fossella, who faces a mandatory five day jail term if convicted, spilled the beans today. “I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a three-year-old daughter,” he said in a four-paragraph statement. “My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry.” Those beans should have been spilled last week after Vino sobered up and apologized to his supporters.
Vito believes people are wondering about his political future, but he doesn’t want to think about politics right now. Note to Vito: nobody cares about your political future. Just take responsibility for your deeds and go away. You are an embarrassment to the Congressional district, one that doesn't like the image of its Representative driving around Virginia drunk and stopping by his girl friend's house while the sainted Mary Pat is home with the kids in Staten Island.
Sharp-clawed New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser has just posted some advice for the “frisky legislator who broke several key commandments that have long ruled the behavior of men who insist on having their cake and eating it, too.”
She told Fossella to “never get bailed out by a female friend, good or otherwise” and “never, never under the pain of death, hire a thing called a ‘crisis management consultant.” To Peyser, that is a sure admission of guilt.
Vito is finito. If he doesn’t step down, Republicans are going to toss him over overboard.
If they are lucky they will persuade Molinari to abandon her high-salaried gig at Ketchum and make another run at it for the good of the Grand Old Party.
All eyes are on West Virginia as the Mountain State holds its primary May 13, a contest in which Hillary Clinton will swamp Barack Obama. One can hardly wait.
Clinton has every right to stick it out to the bitter end in Denver this August. Though the campaign is short on cash, the Clintons are worth more than $100M and can easily afford to mount aggressive pushes in the final round of small market states. They can bankroll needed outreach to the super delegates. It’s their money. They can do what they want with it. Clinton has just written another check for $6.4M for her campaign. That’s on top of the $5M that she already had loaned it.
The basic question: Why bother? Phil Singer, a campaign spokesperson, today conceded that Clinton can’t win the nomination even if the Michigan and Florida tallies are recorded. Clinton had her best shot at Obama yesterday. She took it, but fell short. Clinton was hammered in North Carolina and won a squeaker in Indiana. The delegate gap widened. With his win in N.C., the Illinois Senator proved he is a “closer.” And as the front page New York Post put it: Clinton is “toast.”
Former Senator George McGovern, an ardent Clinton supporter, is now backing Obama after yesterday's contests. The former Democratic presidential nominee is urging Clinton to drop out. Other supporters will follow. Hillary will suffer more political damage over the next few weeks as others abandon her? It will be a sad spectacle. Clinton would be foolish to injure her standing in the party by stubbornly sticking to her lost cause. Albany awaits.
"Fighting Hillary" went down for the count in N.C. There is nothing wrong with that. The Democrats don’t need another few months of political bickering between their two contenders.
Mark Twain must have had visions of the Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience amusement park venture in his head when he coined the phrase, “Truth is Stranger than Fiction.”
This blogger thought he had stumbled upon The Onion when he read a piece on the 'Net about Los Angeles businessman Llewellyn Werner’s grand plan to open a Disneyland-like park smack dab in the heart of Baghdad.
Demonstrating that can-do American spirit, Werner says he plans to make a lot of money with his 50-acre plot next to the “Green Zone” that he hopes one day will feature a refurbished zoo, rides, skateboard park, concert hall, museum, housing and hotels. Animals for the zoo are arriving daily to replace the ones that were starved, looted, killed or eaten following the `03 invasion.
Werner is confident that Iraqis won't bomb his fantasy land because both Shia and Sunni children need somewhere to play. The Iraqi government has given Werner a 50-year lease on the land, and promises to provide security. Note to Werner: round up some of the guys from Blackwater to run the rides.
Werner sees a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Iraq because of its large unemployed skilled workforce and huge oil reserves. General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces in Iraq, is said to be a “big supporter” of Werner’s idea. He wants Iraqis to blow off some steam in an amusement park rather than blow up Americans.
A tip of the cap goes to Werner for his entrepreneurial spirit, but his hare-brained development is the last thing Iraqis want.
Iraqis -- as do most Americans -- want the U.S. out of Iraq. They don’t want a symbol of American culture plucked down in the heart of their capital city for the next half century.
Werner should think things over. Coney Island could sure use some new rides.
Microsoft and Yahoo can both be faulted for the collapse of Steve Ballmer’s hostile (and, at times, bizarre) takeover attempt. But the software giant, which has taken an image hit, is apparently not crying over spilled milk and is moving on quickly, although the corporate melodrama between the companies may not yet be over.
There were rumors last month that Yahoo was exploring a deal with TW and AOL to fend off Mircrosoft, but the Times says Microsoft-AOL talks have continued since Steve Ballmer pulled the plug on his offer for Yahoo late last week.
But while Yahoo thought Microsoft’s offer was low-balling its worth, AOL could be more receptive. Desperate times ...
As the WSJ noted yesterday, a deal with Microsoft could be a welcome “exit strategy” for TW chief Jeff Bewkes as he works to assuage shareholders who see AOL as DOA for the company.
For Microsoft, it’s a huge web presence (AOL’s the largest U.S. ad network) but also one that is partially aligned with archenemy Google, which has a five percent stake in AOL and could easily afford to take the whole operation off TW’s hands. Google is also said to be a possible white knight for Yahoo. But if Yahoo blew off Microsoft's more-than-fair bid, what can one think of its leadership if Yahoo climbs into bed with its largest competitor?
Microsoft and Yahoo can both be faulted for the collapse of Steve Ballmer’s hostile (and, at times, bizarre) takeover attempt. But the software giant, which has taken an image hit, is apparently not crying over spilled milk and is moving on quickly, although the corporate melodrama between the companies may not yet be over.
There were rumors last month that Yahoo was exploring a deal with TW and AOL to fend off Mircrosoft, but the Times says Microsoft-AOL talks have continued since Steve Ballmer pulled the plug on his offer for Yahoo late last week.
But while Yahoo thought Microsoft’s offer was low-balling its worth, AOL could be more receptive. Desperate times ...
As the WSJ noted yesterday, a deal with Microsoft could be a welcome “exit strategy” for TW chief Jeff Bewkes as he works to assuage shareholders who see AOL as DOA for the company.
For Microsoft, it’s a huge web presence (AOL’s the largest U.S. ad network) but also one that is partially aligned with archenemy Google, which has a five percent stake in AOL and could easily afford to take the whole operation off TW’s hands. Google is also said to be a possible white knight for Yahoo. But if Yahoo blew off Microsoft's more-than-fair bid, what can one think of its leadership if Yahoo climbs into bed with its largest competitor?
Take-Two, helped by Brunswick Group in shooting down the $2 billion EA offer, said when the bid came in that they would wait until “Grand Theft Auto 4” was released. Nice move. 
The New York tabs 
Clinton staffers, like communications chief Howard Wolfson, look downright silly 
It was The Times (London), however, 
The 
