Duke Nukem Train Wreck Trashes Take-Two

[Andy Chalk]

Duke Nukem Train Wreck Trashes Take-Two

The sucking toilet swirl that is L.A. Noire [http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Nukem-Forever-Pc/dp/B002I0JAJ2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1308167534&sr=8-2] have taken a pretty big bite out of Take-Two's stock value.

The release of L.A Noire, Rockstar's latest magnum opus, coupled with the decade-late-but-still-anticipated launch of Duke Nukem Forever, must have looked like can't-miss good news to everyone at Take-Two Interactive. That expectation probably makes the recent slide in the company's share value even tougher to swallow, because those are the games being blamed for it.

Take-Two's share price fell by more than four percent yesterday and while the company remains up more than 20 percent for the year, it's slipped by over 15 percent since mid-May. Two factors, according to Red Dead Redemption [http://www.marketwatch.com/story/take-two-hit-by-sales-data-duke-nukem-ratings-2011-06-14], which moved roughly 1.5 million units over the same period last year.

And then there's the Duke. Despite all the hype, not to mention a development cycle that stretches back into the 90s, Duke Nukem Forever has been almost universally panned by critics, notching a Metacritic score of 49 on the PlayStation 3 [http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/duke-nukem-forever]. That's "unmitigated disaster" territory right there.

In an investors note issued yesterday, analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen and Co. said the "extremely poor" reviews of Duke Nukem Forever are one reason why he now believes that the likelihood of Take-Two achieving its year-end financial target "has been significantly reduced." So much for betting on Duke, eh?


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[Hungry Donner]

The L.A. Noire loss is disappointing, even if I have no interest in the game and couldn't play it if I wanted to. However they should have known better than to bet on Duke. If it had been a smash hit they could have still ridden that if expectations had been low, instead they really pushed something that they should have known was very risky.

 

[Auxiliary]

They should have brought LA Noire to the PC as well. Point and click adventures are right up our alley.

 

[sunami88]

They should have brought LA Noire to the PC as well. Point and click adventures are right up our alley.

Seconded. I really want to play this game, but I'm between consoles at the moment...

 

[Fappy]

I understand relying on L.A. Noire, but why the hell would they take such a big risk on a game that has had some many issues? That's just poor decision making on their part.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

looks like they'll be getting bought out by EA or Activision after all.

Say hello to GTA milking!

They should have brought LA Noire to the PC as well. Point and click adventures are right up our alley.

Seconded. I really want to play this game, but I'm between consoles at the moment...

then they would have had piracy making sales even worse. great.

 

[hieiwrath]

How can piracy makes the sale worse? And why piracy and pc are related?

 

[DonTsetsi]

looks like they'll be getting bought out by EA or Activision after all.

Say hello to GTA milking!

They should have brought LA Noire to the PC as well. Point and click adventures are right up our alley.

Seconded. I really want to play this game, but I'm between consoles at the moment...

then they would have had piracy making sales even worse. great.

Because consoles cannot be pirated? Few people would pirate a PC game and wouldn't pirate a console game.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Welcome to 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The world ' investor hell.
THIS is the fate that awaits people that gamble their money.
Sometimes you win, and this time you lose.
It'll be a shame if they start chucking new titles from an already successful series just to get by and finish the month in the black.avoid finishing the year in the red.

 

[DEAD34345]

Shame about L.A. Noire not doing so well, I thought it was incredible. However Duke Nukem was pretty much exactly as bad as I thought it was going to be...

I was worried Take Two was in some real trouble here, but they're still up from last year apparently so it can't be all that bad.

 

[CezarIgnat]

then they would have had piracy making sales even worse. great.

You do know there's piracy for consoles too right?

 

[MrSmallz84]

As Duke Fan Boy I have to say that the game is bad but, I still like it!?! I think this is more down to nostalgia then the game! DNF deserves the review scores it got and the stocks deserve to fall due to "Betting On Duke", sadly. I also agree that I wouldn't of minded playing La Noire, but as I'm a PC player I never got the chance! And as for the piracy of a PC version I don't quite agree there, I say this because when a game comes out that is multi platform I always see the XBOX 360 version pirated 1st without doubt! There is another point to this though and that is it's a lot harder to chip/flash an XBOX then to download a cracked copy of a PC game and install it. I just find not many people raise this point on piracy.




P.S. So this is how this comment malarky works then!

 

[Worgen]

I dont like the idea of stocks being dropped based on game reviews, I mean that sort of thing just encourages people to only make cod type games since those things sell stupid well or some other kind of gritty war game

 

[4RM3D]

L.A. Noire seems to be a pretty good game. It's a shame it didn't sell well. Point and click adventures are a dying breed. Welcome to the CoD generation.

If the game would have been released on the PC I would have bought it.

As for the Duke... Well I did see that coming. No way the game could have lived up to the expectations.

 

[Nick31091]

Sad about L.A. Noire; definitely a game I would have gotten if it was on the PC. Duke, well, frankly I think it was a mistake for them to try to finish it. Just let the poor man rest in peace already!

 

[Booze Zombie]

L.A Noire? Damn it, it was a good and fun game with plenty of play time!

 

[teh_gunslinger]

looks like they'll be getting bought out by EA or Activision after all.

Say hello to GTA milking!

They should have brought LA Noire to the PC as well. Point and click adventures are right up our alley.

Seconded. I really want to play this game, but I'm between consoles at the moment...

then they would have had piracy making sales even worse. great.

How does that even make sense? Let's say that the game shifted only 50.000 copies on PC and was pirated 17.000.000 times. That's still 50.000 more copies than than they sold now. Replace 50.000 with whatever number you imagine it would sell. The pirated copies makes no difference.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I dont like the idea of stocks being dropped based on game reviews, I mean that sort of thing just encourages people to only make cod type games since those things sell stupid well or some other kind of gritty war game

Actually, they're based on sales, not so much on reviews. At least in the case of L.A. Noir.

Plus, DNF is incredibly shit. Would you rather see the stocks rise thanks to a shitty yet well-selling game?

Regardless, I hate investors in the game industry anyway. Yes yes I know why they're needed for a lot of big projects, but if only all investors would all come from the same gaming industry, or at least a comparable entertainment industry. People outside it just don't 'get' a creative industry like the game industry, and it really shows, leading to wrecks like KotOR2 and most new MMO releases, Age of Conan being the saddest example.

 

[Cousin_IT]

LA Noire was worth renting & the less said about DN:F the better. Any company basing it's financial prospects for a year on an innovative (but deeply flawed) long shot & a long-running joke deserve a battering on the stockmarket.