September 10th, 2002 (12:00am) - It’s got sunny beaches, scantily-clad women, an all-star 1980s soundtrack and edgy violence -- everything, in fact, except Don Johnson.
A reunion of the popular police show "Miami Vice?"
No, "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" is a video game and the hotly anticipated follow-up to a controversial title that dominated sales charts for nearly a year and sent publisher, Take-Two Interactive ( news - external web site) Software Inc. to new heights.
The game’s predecessor, "Grand Theft Auto 3," released last October, became a blockbuster and established a formula that gamers loved and critics panned for its reliance on out-of-control car chases and gratuitous violence.
Along the way, the game, for Sony’s PlayStation 2 ( news - web sites) and the PC, sold more than 7 million copies, at an average price of about $49, for an estimated total near $350 million.
If the game had been a Hollywood movie, it would have ranked as the seventh-highest grossing film ever, based on domestic box office --- bigger than "Forrest Gump" and just shy of the original "Jurassic Park."
New York-based Take-Two has high hopes that "Vice City," the next installment, will send it into the elite ranks of the $30 billion-a-year global game publishing business by breaking the earlier game’s formidable sales record.
"It clearly has that potential, no question at all," Take-Two Chief Executive Kelly Sumner told Reuters.
On Monday, Take-Two and Sony Music Entertainment, a unit of Sony Corp ( news - web sites). , which also makes the PlayStation 2, announced a deal to issue seven soundtrack albums based on the in-game radio stations in "Vice City" and featuring artists such as Judas Priest, Blondie and Flock of Seagulls.
"We fully expect it to be the biggest game of the year," said Pete Roithmayr, vice president of games merchandising for retailer Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. "I would expect it to be an extremely difficult title to find if you don’t pre-buy, at least initially."
U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Tony Gikas, in a note to clients last week, estimated that as many as 4 million copies of the game have been pre-ordered and that the game will out-sell its predecessor "GTA 3" by up to 25 percent.
"Now that word of mouth is out there, the initial sales figures are going to be huge," said Dan Hsu, the editor of leading fan magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly. "It’s just going to blow away everything at retail."
BEACHES, BABES AND CAR CHASES
"GTA 3" has been nothing less than a phenomenon, ranking as the best-selling game in the United States for four months and still regularly selling in the top three.
It has also been roundly criticized in some corners for its blatant violence, including the ability to attack police and old ladies, among others.
Despite some outcry, the franchise shows no sign of abating.
In a conference call with financial analysts last week, Take-Two raised its earnings and revenue guidance for fiscal 2002, ending in October, and the first quarter of fiscal 2003, ending in January, largely on the prospects of "Vice City."
While most video game publishers have seen their stocks fall this year, with just a few trading marginally higher, Take-Two shares have gained 56 percent.
That performance has come in spite of an investigation into the company’s accounting practices by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( news - web sites) and a halt in the trading of its stock while it restated past results.
Sumner made clear that the game is not just a sequel to "GTA 3," with new locations, new characters and more territory in which to wreak havoc.
