Shrygue
September 23rd, 2008, 19:13
via Gamedaily (http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/grand-theft-auto-for-iphone/?biz=1)
With sales of GTA IV slowing down lately, the EA bid for Take-Two officially over, the threat of Rockstar's Sam and Dan Houser potentially signing with another publisher, and Rockstar's own reluctance to bring GTA to Wii, the future of the GTA franchise has certainly been kept fresh in everyone's minds.
And while Wii isn't really being considered at Rockstar at the moment, another very popular platform could be: Apple's iPhone. With GTA: Chinatown Wars coming to the DS and making use of the touch screen later this year, it wouldn't be too difficult for Rockstar to bring the game to Apple's increasingly important (for gaming and other apps) iPhone, notes Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey.
"We expect GTA will likely be ported to Apple's iPhone platform, leveraging the device's touch screen technology and accelerometer. Apple's determination to layer gaming applications into the device's consumer value proposition and growing installed base is likely sufficient motivation for a deal," he said in his most recent report.
Hickey also commented on the Housers' situation. Unlike Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, Hickey does not envision Sam and Dan Houser abandoning Take-Two. "We find it unlikely that the Houser brothers would leave Take-Two Interactive for a competitor, as loyalty, compensation, culture and compelling IP should be sufficient in aggregate to leave employment alternatives unappealing," he said.
With sales of GTA IV slowing down lately, the EA bid for Take-Two officially over, the threat of Rockstar's Sam and Dan Houser potentially signing with another publisher, and Rockstar's own reluctance to bring GTA to Wii, the future of the GTA franchise has certainly been kept fresh in everyone's minds.
And while Wii isn't really being considered at Rockstar at the moment, another very popular platform could be: Apple's iPhone. With GTA: Chinatown Wars coming to the DS and making use of the touch screen later this year, it wouldn't be too difficult for Rockstar to bring the game to Apple's increasingly important (for gaming and other apps) iPhone, notes Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey.
"We expect GTA will likely be ported to Apple's iPhone platform, leveraging the device's touch screen technology and accelerometer. Apple's determination to layer gaming applications into the device's consumer value proposition and growing installed base is likely sufficient motivation for a deal," he said in his most recent report.
Hickey also commented on the Housers' situation. Unlike Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, Hickey does not envision Sam and Dan Houser abandoning Take-Two. "We find it unlikely that the Houser brothers would leave Take-Two Interactive for a competitor, as loyalty, compensation, culture and compelling IP should be sufficient in aggregate to leave employment alternatives unappealing," he said.