With EA's deadline for Take-Two Interactive coming up fast, a lot of people are eagerly waiting for Take-Two's reply to the game publishing giant's takeover bid. Whatever happens, though, it seems like Rockstar Games president and co-founder Sam Houser actually sees a few good things about an alliance with EA.

By this time, you probably already know that Vivendi and Activision have left the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). That being the case, the companies' names aren't on the ESA's official website. Then again, LucasArts isn't on the site either. Could this mean that it has left the ESA as well? More on this in the full article after the jump.

Normally, a major event such as E3 would have all the big name companies attending it.  This year will be different, though, as five publishers have decided to drop out of the event altogether. Part of the reason may be due to reported bad blood between them and ESA president Mike Gallagher. More on this after the jump.

The latest news regarding the Vivendi and Activision merger has come in. It looks like the new company called Activision Blizzard has been given the go-signal by the European Commission. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

A lot of talk has been going around regarding the currently pending Activision-Vivendi deal and EA's US$ 2 billion offer for Take-Two Interactive. While it may seem that mergers and acquisitions are the current trend, THQ's Chief Executive Brian Farrell feels that it isn't a necessity for company growth. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

The cover of Electronic Gaming Monthly's (EGM) May issue got our attention. Apparently, Vivendi's 50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition has a sequel. Yes, you read that sentence right. 50 Cent II is currently in the works. Curious to know more? Then head on over to the full article.

If the Activision/Vivendi merger pushes through, Citigroup analyst Brent Thrill has predicted a bright future for the company. He pointed out that the revenue of this new merged entity could rise as high as US$ 1.39 billion in 2009. If you haven't been keeping up, that's a full 15% higher than the guidance figures that were initially presented. In case you want to find out more about this, be sure to check out the full article.

Numbers are in, and Activision has more than a few reasons to be proud about its third quarter of fiscal 2008 financial report. Thanks to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock,  Activision experienced substantial growth in revenue and it took top honors in software sales. More details at the full article.

(Editor's Note: What with controversies last week, the gaming industry's Batmobile might've lost its wheel - while the Joker got away - but that doesn't mean this sleigh ride will be stopping any time soon.)

G'day Christmas shoppers! This week in the gaming industry, we get to see the birth of a new umbrella corporation (sans the bio-engineered zombies) and a whole slew of issues to settle. QuickJump QuickPeek 24 is here to pop open a bottle of eggnog and more updates!

After Activision and Vivendi's announcement of the Activision Blizzard merger, will other gaming companies follow suit? At the very least, EA is open to the acquisition of other development studios, since there's a lot of talent to tap into that's not within EA's in-house studios. Check out more details in the full article.