There is no official word from Take-Two Interactive, but a listing at GameStop (that has since been taken down) advertised a strategy guide for Borderlands:Game of the Year Edition. The now mysteriously absent guide was set to release September 7, 2010. If such a game follows the precedent set by previous GOTY packages, it would contain all the previously released bits of downloadable content for the game. In Borderlands‘ case, that would be Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot, and The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.

First-person shooter fans’ wishlist for Bioshock 2 began with one word: Multiplayer.

Take-Two heard your cry and online multiplayer is getting so much attention, the company even has a whole design team working on competitive play. The world depicted in Bioshock 2 is unlike any other in gaming, so it is only fitting that the multiplayer is unique.

Players will be able to equip two weapons and two plasmid powers such as Telekinesis or Incinerate. The super powers can be used to activate vicious combos causing ridiculous amounts of damage. For example, combining water and electricity does large damage. The plasmid power Incinerate has a dramatic effect on a map with oil slicks on it.

Division 9 originally was a sort of spin-off to Irrational Game’s SWAT series. The funny thing is that no one thought a zombie game would sell back then. Right before Division 9 was set to be sold to Vivendi, Take-Two purchased Irrational Games and turned the game into vaporware.

In a move drawing lots of interest on Wall Street, financier Carl Icahn has increased his ownership stake in troubled Take-Two Interactive from 2.5 percent to 11.3 percent.

Icahn has a history of pushing for either change in or the outright sale of companies he invests in. This has increased speculation that Take-Two will be up for sale in the near future, and as a result the company’s shares shot up 10 percent after word of Icahn’s purchase got out.

Despite hit franchises such as Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club, Take-Two expects to report its second consecutive annual net loss in fiscal year 2010. Industry insiders are openly questioning the company’s management structure. The recent admission of Take Two CEO Ben Feder that the company he feels the company mishandled the release of downloadable GTA expansions will do little to restore faith.

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City wasn’t nearly as big a hit as Take-Two Interactive anticipated, despite being installments in one of gaming’s biggest franchises. = The double-pack of downloadable content didn’t crack the Top 10 on NPD’s sales charts in October or November 2009. During the company’s quarterly conference call with investors, Take-Two more »

Starbucks’ prices look positively reasonable when you consider how much a little “Hot Coffee” cost Take-Two Interactive.

The Grand Theft Auto publisher announced on September 1, 2009, that it has reached a $20 million settlement with investors in the class-action lawsuit filed over the Hot Coffee scandal surrounding Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

The suit alleges that Take-Two was cash strapped before releasing the highly anticipated GTA sequel and rushed the game out the door knowing about the extreme sexual content. Take-Two didn’t help its case when it claimed the hidden sex scene was the work of hackers, when it was designers at GTA developer Rockstar Games who left the content “in” the game. The thing turned into a PR and financial nightmare for Take-Two pretty quickly, leading to a GTA: San Andreas recall and a nosedive in the company’s stock price.

Los Angeles Lakers’ star and 2009 NBA Finals’ MVP Kobe Bryant is the cover boy for Take-Two’s NBA 2K10. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he makes a pretty effective pitchman as well.

Bryant told the LA Times this latest incarnation of digital basketball is so realistic it’s “like practicing without getting hurt.” The superstar comes from a family of gamers as he said his father, uncle, sister and six of his cousins all played the NES classic Double Dribble back in the day. That game had no NBA license and players with virtually no distinctive characteristics. These days, designers can make incredible replicas of our favorite athletes and Bryant’s game representation reflects his unique mannerisms. The virtual Bryant even juts his jaw out during crunch time the same way the real All-Star guard does.

Game-to-film translations begin with an uphill battle to, well, not suck. Universal Studios’ adaptation of Bioshockhttp://www.gamertell.com/gaming/tag/bioshock/ has hit some major stumbling blocks, including a change in director.

The movie treatment of the hit Take-Two game was initially to be helmed by Gore Verbinski, director of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Variety reports that Verbinski stepped down because budget concerns led Universal to move filming abroad to help cut costs through tax credits and favorable exchange rates. Verbinski couldn’t commit to an overseas shooting schedule because of another project although he will remain on as a producer.

The first Xbox 360-exclusive episode of Grand Theft Auto IV, titled The Lost and the Damned, has been well received by critics and fans since its February 2009 release. Wedbush Morgan Analyst Michael Pachter estimates L&D has sold more than 1 million copies to date and will reach the 2 million mark by the end of October 2009. While we will wait to see if his estimates come true, Take-Two Interactive released its Q1 Earnings Report which details a list of games that will be released by October 31, 2009.

Rockstar has not confirmed what the second downloadable episode will be about but…

National Public Radio is taking a mental holiday on December 31, 2008, with most of its shows airing 2008 highlights and recaps. For the year ender of Talk of the Nation (check local listings for broadcast times), hosted by Neal Conan, NPR has been promoting a pop culture recap featuring a mention of Grand Theft more »