We are really on the ball with this one, but you will notice the site has a new design (only took a week to write an update about it). Over the coming weeks you will notice various little changes around here as things are tweaked and added too, say, such as the banner at the top of the page that has changing already. This is the first version of the site that has actually been designed to be on-line, look at the Site Information page for more on that. Various page names have been altered and sections re-thought. The primary purpose of this re-design was to make for easier updating, as well as easier navigation between pages. The pages that already existed have been heavily updated, so there is likely information you where un-aware of everywhere you look.

The forum has recently had a face lift also, so you might want to peep that out. Now all that is left is for you to check it all out and give us feedback.

Just as a foot note to the previous news post, it seems as though Mr. Urbaniak is certain of it being a Manhunt sequel and not just a working title, he has confirmed that it is Manhunt 2 and when asking about cursing he says ‘I do knock off a few curse words’. We had to ask, since we had a feeling it may have been additional pick up lines for Bully, and since Bully has a rating of T (for teen) that pretty much rules out the use of foul language. He isn’t at liberty to say anymore on the matter, other than he is certain of it being Manhunt.

We have also had a quick look over at the United States Patent and Trademark Office to check if there had been any developments on any patent registrations from Take-Two, all we turned up (that was relevant) was that the registration date for Manhunt now states ‘February 28 2006’.

Actor James Urbaniak recently posted the following on his Live Journal site:

Speaking of killing people, today I recorded a character on RockStar's next Manhunt game. There's a confidentiality agreement and I am sworn to secrecy but I will disclose this much: I'm a bad guy. This meant, of course, recording various sinister taunts and, on the off chance that the player actually defeats my character, various death sounds. The guy who directed the session was in the sound booth with me, describing and miming the various ways my character is attacked as I responded with grunts, gasps, gurgles and groans. My script ended up covered in spittle.

The post dates back to the 16th of March and the source seems legitimate. This is the second voice actor to state as much over the internet in recent months, the last time it occurred I chose not to post it since the source failed to respond to the last query that I sent to him, perhaps he was instructed otherwise.

James Urbaniak performed the voice of Innocentz #5 in the original Manhunt. For more information on James check out his IMDB and MySpace pages respectively.

Still not official news but it is certainly looking more promising, with the announcement of a Rockstar sequel, magazine speculation and voice actor confirmation, just how long can it be until we get an official word on the matter?

Ever wondered just how much the creative team behind a hit game is worth to a company? Then read on.

1. Take-Two Interactive revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday that the company has entered into a three year $25 million employment agreement with "key Rockstar personnel."
The agreement, which was revealed in a 10-Q filing, is structured to compensate the Rockstar employees with restricted stock in Take-Two Interactive and "unspecified" internal royalties.

According to the filing, the deal was made because the company is "highly dependent on the expertise, skills and knowledge of certain of our Rockstar employees responsible for content creation and development of Grand Theft Auto and other titles." The filing contains the standard caveat that the agreement does not guarantee the long-term employment of the Rockstar staff nor does it guarantee the future success of any games developed by Rockstar.

2. In a note to investors this morning, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter suggests the deal could come back to hurt Take-Two. He suggests that the next two console versions of the series will debut in fall of 2007 and fall of 2009, meaning the three-year agreement will only see one true console sequel to the series through to completion. Between $25 million in increased expenses plus whatever increase was made to Rockstar's royalties on the series (Pachter assumes the new agreement includes a higher royalty rate), Pachter thinks the company will have a harder time meeting expectations for its 2007 and 2008 fiscal year.

For more information about the above mentioned and more check out the Take-Two Interactive Software Quarterly Report which can be located here.

Source(s): (1)IGN, (2)Gamespot, Shareholder.com

Today Take-Two Interactive has released details of its First Quarter Fiscal 2006 Financial results. In this report they re-confirm that a sequel to a Rockstar brand is on its the way for a fiscal 2006 release, which ends around Halloween of this year for those counting.

In this report there is emphasis on that it will be on current gen consoles, Bully, the second GTA PSP game, the PS2 code of Liberty City Stories and the recently announced Table Tennis game are all mentioned in addition, thus ruling them out.

What this does is rule out any chance of the Rockstar sequel being a GTA game, this narrows our list of possibilities down even further. So lets take another look at the possibilities:

Max Payne: This can still be ruled out for the reasons mentioned before and if the other games in the series are anything to go by then the time window for release of the game is cut very short, these games tend to be on show in excess before release.

Midnight Club/ Smugglers Run/ Red Dead Revolver: It is extremely unlikely to be either of these games; all franchises are developed at Rockstar San Diego, which are currently setting up to ship Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix and of course the Table Tennis game, so I would say they are pretty busy at current time.

The Warriors: I stick by what I said before, the developers are likely holding off.

And then of course there is Manhunt. It is possible that another Rockstar branch is handling one of the other franchises but seeing as how the above mentioned all have trademarks of their development house I am not sure if that would work.

With all that said, lets have a look at the various Rockstar developers and what they are likely up to:

Rockstar Leeds: Likely working on the second PSP GTA game as well as porting over GTA: Liberty City Stories to the PS2.
Rockstar Lincoln: Deal solely in quality assurance and localisation so there isn’t any chance of them working on a game.
Rockstar London: No announcements have been made, although the studio is fairly new so I doubt anything will come from them for a year or two to come.
Rockstar North: Known to be working on GTA next gen, likely watching over Rockstar Leeds as they progress, possibly a current gen game in the works?
Rockstar San Diego: Working on Table Tennis for the 360 and finishing up Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix.
Rockstar Toronto: Unknown, possibly a Warriors sequel for next gen consoles, seeing as a remake is on the way?
Rockstar Vancouver: Hard at work on Bully.
Rockstar Vienna: Who knows? They where last noted as working on the PS2 code of Max Payne 2 and the X-box port of Vice City.

Take-Two also made mention of Rockstar sequels on next gen consoles:

For [fiscal] 2007, the company anticipates a strong next-generation lineup from Rockstar Games, including sequels to several of Rockstar's most successful franchises.

So even if a Manhunt sequel doesn’t come out this year it doesn’t mean that a sequel isn’t on the cards.

Jack thompson has been angry as of late as he received flowers from a gaming website at his responces to the murder simulator videogames like Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto. In a letter to the website posted on JoyStiq he says.

- Today I received a floral arrangement from an Internet video game-enthusiast web site to mock my concerns about the mounting body count caused by violent murder simulation video games, such as Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt, for which deaths Take-Two and Blank Rome share responsibility.

- This harassment of me follows Take-Two’s and Blank Rome’s lead in characterizing me in the media and in an Alabama courthouse as, variously, a bisexual pedophile, “mentally ill,” “paranoid,” and so forth.

- Now your collaborators send me flowers. How pretty they are, in contrast with what Take-Two and Blank Rome do for a living. Let me tell you what is going to happen to these flowers.

- There are people dead in Medina, Ohio; Red Lake, Minnesota; Troy, New York; Cold Spring, Minnesota; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Oakland, California (the trial started yesterday); Lake Worth, Florida; Fairfax, Virginia; Leicester, England; Fayette, Alabama; and now Gassville, Arkansas, to name just a few, all dead because you money-grubbing sociopaths put profits ahead of children, private mendacity ahead of public virtue, lies ahead of truth.

- They are today being forwarded to the three of you, in the memory of all of the people who now lie in the ground because of your reckless design, marketing, and sale of mature-rated murder simulators to children, facilitated by lawyers who know no shame.

An interesting development popped up on Game Politics last month regarding the Take-Two Buyout Rumours we posted about, Jack Thompson emailed U2 frontman Bono regarding the rumour. Here are a few things i have picked from the article.

- "Dear Bono," the letter begins, "I write you as a fellow brother in Jesus Christ, appreciative of your bold witness to the transforming truth of the Gospel, in both your words and your deeds... I write to encourage you, respectfully and in a spirit of brotherly love, not to purchase Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.

- Thompson then argues that the PS2's dualshock controller "desensitises the user to the act of killing" because it "sends a visceral jolt back into the hands of the player each time he kills."

- Next in the firing line is Bully, a forthcoming Rockstar title that is set in a school and which has already caused controversy despite the fact it has yet to be released. Thompson describes it as a "Columbine simulator" that will "spawn more school violence," alleging that Take Two has "lied to the public about what is actually in this game." He also claims that he has obtained screenshots which show the game's true content, stating: "I can hear Take-Two saying to you, Bono, if I were to show you these clandestine screenshots, "Who are you going to believe, Bono; us or your lying eyes?"

- Thompson warns Bono that buying Take Two "will serve as a refutation of your Christian witness [sic]", stating that unless Elevation Partners plans to buy Take Two for the purpose of incinerating the Grand Theft Auto games and the other murder simulator titles that Take Two owns... Then you will be tying a millstone around your own neck.

He seems to just pick on whatever the latest game is from Take Two and Rockstar claiming to know more than everyone else. It is hard to believe the game can be any more violent than Manhunt. Clearly another mention of Manhunt in the email from Jack, it sounds like Jack would love Bono to get hold on Take Two and shutdown any "murder simulator titles" This would be bad news for Manhunt 2, hopefully if Bono does buy into anything he doesn't listen to Jack.

Source(s): Game Politics, Eurogamer