????2012年本應該是視頻游戲商Take-Two Interactive大獲豐收的一年。今年初，作為游戲界的傳統重量級作品，《馬克思?佩恩》（Max Payne）系列的最新作品《馬克思?佩恩3》被寄予厚望。但事與愿違，雖然游戲好評如潮，Take-Two也對其進行了公司史上最大規模的市場營銷活動，但這款耗時八年打造的游戲仍陷入叫好不叫座的尷尬境地。

????Take-Two近來時運不佳。截至7月份，公司已連續第二季度沒能達到分析師的預期。《俠盜飛車5》（Grand Theft Auto V）的上市遙遙無期，該系列是Take-Two最富盛名也是最賺錢的產品。Take-Two不得不把希望都寄托在計劃于本周上市的科幻西部射擊游戲《無主之地2》（Borderlands 2）上。

????Take-Two公司同時希望《無主之地》能幫助該公司減少對《俠盜飛車》的依賴。雖然缺乏新作上市，但《俠盜飛車》系列游戲的銷售額仍然占據了Take-Two 公司2012財年凈收入的14%。截至2011年9月，《俠盜飛車》系列的總銷量比Take-Two其它游戲銷量總和還要高出2,000萬份，是Take-Two第二暢銷游戲系列的銷量的六倍多。

????《俠盜飛車》系列取得了巨大成功，其研發工作室Rockstar Games也水漲船高，獲得了獨一無二的開發話語權。Rockstar的開發周期相當漫長（最近一部《俠盜飛車》游戲于2008年上市），無疑推高了Take-Two的總體研發費用。

????韋德布什證券（Wedbush Securities）分析師邁克爾?帕切稱：“（Rockstar）那幫人總是幻想自己是詹姆斯?卡梅隆（好萊塢導演，代表作有《泰坦尼克號》、《阿凡達》等——譯注）。一般的游戲工作室三年就可以開發出一部作品；不過，Rockstar并不是這樣。”雖然他們的游戲總是備受好評，但這并不能保證銷量。看看《馬克思?佩恩3》就知道了。

????不過，《無主之地2》的成功至少能Take-Two在第二財季緩口氣。帕切預計《無主之地》的銷售額將占據Take-Two季度營收的54%。更為重要一點是，《無主之地》系列有望成為該公司另一個長期而穩定的收入來源。

????《無主之地2》于今年9月上市，距離第一版上市不到3年的時間。這款游戲有望大賣特賣。咨詢公司Cowen and Company分析師道格?克魯茲認為，《無主之地》或將成為Take-Two的第三大標桿作品，前兩款作品分別是《俠盜飛車》和意大利式西部射擊游戲《荒野大鏢客》。克魯茲稱：“（上季度）的焦點在Take-Two不盡如人意的營收，這點我們都心知肚明。《無主之地2》的熱銷會讓大家心滿意足。”

????視頻游戲調研公司VGChartz的數據顯示，《無主之地2》首周即在美國毫無壓力地達到100萬銷量，是《馬克思?佩恩3》首周銷量的兩倍多。

????《無主之地》系列能大獲成功的部分原因在于其融合了兩大流行視頻游戲類型——第一人稱射擊和角色扮演。Take-Two首席技術官卡爾?斯萊特奧夫在7月31日的營收電話會議上說：“（《無主之地2》）是一款非常獨特的游戲。目前還沒有類似的作品。這對我們而言是一個大好機會。”

????自8月1日以來，Take-Two的股票已累計上漲超過35%，這至少反映出資本市場頗為看好《無主之地》系列。不過，雖然《無主之地2》有大紅大紫的潛力，但它仍然難以扭轉Take-Two的頹勢。

????投資公司BMO Capital的分析師愛德華?威廉姆斯稱，Take-Two和第三方工作室Gearbox一同開發和發行《無主之地2》，無疑降低了前者的利潤。視頻游戲行業的利潤本就大不如前，而《無主之地2》的營收中歸Take-Two的比例也降低了。調研機構NPD則表示，8月份的行業銷售額下滑了20%，部分原因在于玩家們正在等待下一代游戲機上市。

????Take-Two還必須擺脫《俠盜飛車》的陰影。投資公司Ascendiant Capital Markets的分析師愛德華多?胡稱：“Take-Two是《俠盜飛車》公司。雖然該公司的其它作品也不錯，但影響力與《俠盜飛車》還無法相提并論。”

????譯者：項航

????2012 was supposed to be a banner year for video game maker Take-Two Interactive. The spring was supposed to mark the triumphant return of Max Payne, one of the gaming world's traditional heavyweight franchises. But positive reviews, eight years of development, and one of the company's largest marketing campaigns ever couldn't convince gamers to purchaseMax Payne 3, the franchise's latest installment.

????Take-Two (TTWO) had had a rough go of it lately, and in July the company missed analyst's estimates for the second straight quarter. With no release date in sight for Grand Theft Auto V -- the latest sequel to the company's best-known and most profitable franchise -- Take-Two must rely on space western shooter Borderlands 2, which hits shelves this week.

????Take Two is also likely hoping that Borderlands can help the company rely a little bit less onGrand Theft Auto. Despite the lack of updates to the franchise, Grand Theft Auto product sales accounted for almost 14% of the company's net revenue in fiscal year 2012. As of September 2011, Grand Theft Auto titles had sold 20 million more units then the rest of Take-Two's catalogue combined. That's over six times the number of games sold by Take-Two's second most successful franchise.

????This unbridled success has given Grand Theft Auto's in-house developer, Rockstar Games, free reign over the studio's development process. Rockstar takes a considerable amount of time between releasing its games (the latest Grand Theft Auto game was released in 2008), driving up Take-Two's overall development costs.

????"[Rockstar] fancy themselves James Cameron in everything they do," says Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, "Everyone gets a game out in three years; Rockstar doesn't follow these rules…." And while the studio's games are consistently praised, they aren't guaranteed financial successes. Rockstar produced Max Payne 3.

????At the very least, the success of Borderlands 2 will make or break Take-Two's second quarter. Pachter estimates that Borderlands sales to account for 54% of the company's quarterly revenue. More importantly though is the Borderlands franchise's potential as another long-term source of revenue for the company.

????Borderlands 2's September release date comes a little under three years after the original game was published. The game also has major hit potential. Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz sees Borderlands as a potential third anchor franchise for Take-Two, along with Grand Theft Auto and the Red Dead franchises, a series of spaghetti western shooters. "[Last quarter] the focus was on the missing earnings, everyone knows that," Creutz says, "One big hit [Borderlands 2] can pay for everything."

????According to the video game research firm VGChartz, Borderlands 2 is on pace to rack up over 1 million United States unit sales in its first week. That's over double the first-week U.S sales of Max Payne 3.

????Part of Borderlands' potential success has to do with its blend of two popular video game genres, first person shooters and role-playing games. "[Borderlands 2] is a very unique title," Take-Two COO Karl Slatoff said on the company's July 31 earnings call, "There's nothing else like it out there. It's a great window for us."

????Take-Two's stock has soared over 35% since August 1, reflecting, at least in part, growing enthusiasm about Borderlands. Still, despite its hit potential, Borderlands 2 isn't a perfect fit for a Take-Two turnaround game.

????Take-Two must also escape the considerably large shadow of Grand Theft Auto. "Take-Two is aGrand Theft Auto company," say Edward Woo, an analyst at Ascendiant Capital Markets. "While the other games are useful, they don't have as much of an impact."