Rumor Round-Up: Sid Meier MMO, Take Two Buy-Out, Guitar Hero IV, and more!

A slow news week translated into a slow week of rumors as well.  However, there were a few that floated around the ethers this week.
It was nice to find out that Sid Meier and the Firaxis team are contemplating an MMO.  There aren’t any details as to what the game will entail or even if it will be a project on the immediate horizon.  The fact that Mr. Meier’s brain has been toying with multiplayer online ideas is enough to get us giddy.

It sounds like Guitar Hero IV may be in the works.  G4TV.com’s TheFeed claims that a reliable source can confirm the music game is in its initial testing phase.  It seems as though Activision prefers boxing their product and shipping to store shelves.  According to the TheFeed, a fully published boxed approach rather than multiple DLC releases is consistent with company statements that Activision will turn Guitar Hero into an annual franchise.

Viacom was thought to be interested in picking up Take Two Interactive in order to get a slice of the interactive entertainment pie.  The rumors came from within the financial community rather than the gaming community.  Since the initial rumblings of a possible buy-out, the message boards and gaming blogs have mooted this notion.  The fact is, no one is sure what will happen in Take Two’s future, but it looks like a great buy for anyone due to the fact that it is trading at a deep discount relative to the competition, and it’s got GTA IV on the horizon.

GameStop, GameCrazy, and your local shop may be in for a bit of competition.  Circuit City has recently conducted market research and found that annual used game sales in North America total about $1.5 Billion.  Those are pretty persuasive numbers.  So persuasive in fact that the electronics chain may decide to jump into the used game fray.