Mexico state congress seeks ban of video game

From the Article
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) -- A shoot-em-up video game set in the border town of Ciudad Juarez has angered local officials who are busy fighting all-too-real violence.

Chihuahua state legislators said Sunday they have asked federal authorities to ban "Call of Juarez: The Cartel," which is based on drug cartel shootouts in Ciudad Juarez.

About 6,000 people died in drug-related violence in Ciudad Juarez in 2009 and 2010, making the city, located across from El Paso, Texas, one of the deadliest in the world.

The website of game developer Ubisoft Entertainment SA says the title is due for release this summer. Screen shots from the game show three characters armed with a pistol, an assault rifle and a shotgun ready to open fire on a city street.

The game's promotional slogan urges players, "Take justice into your own hands and experience the lawlessness of the modern Wild West." No one answered a message left at the company's San Francisco office.

Ricardo Boone Salmon, a congressman for Chihuahua state, where Ciudad Juarez is located, said the state legislature unanimously approved a request this week asking the federal Interior Department to ban the game.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mexico-state-congress-seeks-apf-702968631.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

Take Two Rallies on Acquisition Speculation

   Shares of Take-Two rose 4.71% today to $10.67 on speculation that the company could be a takeover target. How did traders get the idea that TTWO was in play? The company announced earlier this morning that CEO Ben Feder would be leaving his position at the end of the year. Sounds like a bunch of hokum. Back in 2008, EA attempted to take out Take-Two at $25.74 per share which valued the company at about $2 billion. As of today's close, TTWO's market cap is $906 million. At the lows of March 2009, TTWO was worth about $450 million. Amazing how the value of companies can bob like a jetty in rough surf in the space of 2 short years. 

   I don't put much stock in the takeover talk. Trigger-happy traders jump on a lot of shit which usually doesn't pan out. EA's market cap is about $5.5 billion so if they were to make a play for TTWO again, they'd probably have a pay at least a 30% premium to TTWO's closing price for today. That's $1.2 billion and in my opinion, unlikely to pass. Who else could make a run for TTWO? Activision is one possibility and maybe Ubisoft - I'm bearish on Ubisoft so an acquisition announcement would be good fodder for the way I'm thinking on UBI since they'll get smashed.

Ubisoft believes in Kinect

   Using history as my guide, I can predict how the Kinect will fare in the marketplace when it's released next month. All of the game analysts can crunch their numbers, work the potential sales models, and make their projections but all that is for naught. The Kinect is going to be a failure just like Sony's Move is going to be a failure. It's not me saying it though - history is talking and what it says is that accessories don't make a console. Despite the "excitement" and activity centered around the Kinect and Move in the market right now, the adoption of the accessories will never reach a level that'll convince publishers to continue making games for them.

   The news about Ubisoft angling to become a major player in Kinect game software has my brain ticking and making plans. With my conviction that the Kinect is going to be a failure and Ubisoft's conviction in the Kinect, that leaves me with one conclusion: Short Ubisoft shares on the Euronext Paris bourse. There's nothing else to do when I'm shown an opportunity. I won't start shorting until after Christmas however. Sales for anything related to video games go on a rampage during the entire month of December so Ubisoft shares are probably going to get some appreciation. The new year should bring reality crashing down on Kinect however and I'll be waiting.