Posted on 09/27/2013 8:31:26 PM PDT by Red Steel
There were plenty of headlines for game maker Take Two Interactive last week when it announced that “Grand Theft Auto V” had raked in over $1 billion in sales within three days of its release. That’s quicker than any other form of entertainment has ever managed to earn a billion bucks — it took 17 days for “Avatar” to rake in that much in the cinemas.
Avatar ended up making about $2.8 billion thanks to the long life cycle of the film in theaters, something video games can’t exactly replicate. While plenty of people see a movie they love a couple of times, not many will buy their favorite game twice.
But where modern games can replicate that long, sustained spending cycle — and for much longer periods — is by getting their players to keep shelling out money as they play the game. Some charge monthly subscriptions for access to enhanced online worlds, others offer in-game stores where players can kit-out their characters by spending real-world money.
Grand Theft Auto V is about to jump into that phase of revenue raising, as it prepares to roll out GTA Online on October 1...
For players, GTA Online has a whole bunch of bells and whistles that sound like fun. For investors in Take Two Interactive, here’s the lines that mattered in the company’s announcement yesterday:
Spend cash you’ve gained on cars, clothes, guns, properties and much more. You can either quickly accumulate cash through profitable activities like knocking over armored cars, winning street races, doing stick-ups or a host of other cash-making endeavors
(Excerpt) Read more at stream.wsj.com ...
If you are looking for work, buy this game and rack up some points to sell to someone else on Craigslist. It could be your second career.
Well they got my $59.99 @ day one.
How do you like GTA5?
Buncha dumbasss low information voters are buying this “game!”
Stupid! Really Stupid People!
Their world is going to Hell in a Handbasket, and they are spending a billion bux on a FRickin’ Game?
I no wonder America is in trouble, economically, socially, and politically!
As gruesome as these games seem.. they are brilliant.
Rock Star makes great games.
I’d have more respect for them if the theme was hunting jihadis.
I’d give it a solid A. Been since 2008 since GTA 4. Better graphics and gameplay.You play three characters. Definitely worth playing.
I’m surprised they haven’t they are the South Park of video games.
But then again, South Park backed down.
At some point, if we hope to survive as a nation, we will need to clean up our culture....
bump
GTA V is loads of fun. It’s a gorgeous game, is open-world (meaning you can go anywhere at any time), and is full of interesting things to do. Sure, there’s an ‘edge’ to it (it is rated M), but it is the freedom to do anything that gives it its appeal. I just finished a series of off-road ATV races and am now taking flight school at the airport.
And it is *funny* (in the same sense that Breaking Bad is also hilarious, although GTA’s humor is satire). The game rips hard on modern culture in all its forms.
That being said, I really hope The Last of Us wins Game of the Year - the best video game I’ve ever played.
The software is brilliant
Much of the game is morally hazardous
They could use the same platform to make better games but they won’t
No one spent “a billion bux on a fickin’ game”. Individual buyers spent about $60 each. What’s the big deal? Its some cheap recreation. Haven’t you spent any money on recreation lately? (Based on your post, you might want to think about it)
Enjoy your mahjong or cribbage...or whatever.
Nowhere in his post did he call for it to be banned as far as I could tell.
I suggest you read his post and not take a little offense to it...as a gamer. Nor did I say that he wanted to ban it. But he sure did infer his vehement dislike for the genre. Thus his attitude is the same as people who would like to make them unavailable for the greater good.
Apparently violence still pays with ignorant people buying this crap.
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