Round-Up: Take-Two Share Yo-Yo, Dissecta Talk, Razzies Get Game

Today's round-up includes news on another large Take-Two share movement, Dissecta's latest in its Australian game development lecture series, and some wonderful news for game-related movies, via the 2005 Razzie Awards, plus the latest from Gamasutra's sister GameSetWatch weblog and today's product news and Gamasutra job postings. - Following an unsourced rumor posted in tabloid paper the New York Post, shares of Take-Two Interactive increased almost 10% to $16.19, following a similarly large decrease on Friday. The rumor involved an unnamed potential suitor interested in buying the company, despite many analysts' claims that the current condition of Take-Two (following board member resignations, dwindling cash reserves, lawsuits related to its most profitable franchises) would make the company unattractive to buyers. "We believe key employee retention, over-dependence on one title, high cost structure, cash burn, and mounting liabilities, are some important reasons why an acquisition of Take-Two is highly unlikely," said Banc of America analyst Gary Cooper. - Dissecta has announced its first hosted event for 2006, a panel on "The Year of Next Gen." The session will feature speakers Chris Mosely, founder of Red Tribe, and Martin Wilkes, game manager of distribution company Stomp. Mosely's talk will focus on the development side of the next generation of console hardware, while Wilkes will discuss retail and distribution issues. The event will be held at the Australian Games Innovation Centre in Melbourne, starting at 7:00 PM on February 21st. - The 26th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, will dishonor a few video game-related films in its March ceremony. 2005 films receiving nominations are Alone in the Dark, with Uwe Boll nominated as Worst Director and "genius anthropologist" Tara Reid as Worst Actress and Doom, with The Rock nominated as Worst Actor. The generally low quality of video game-related movies have led to several Razzie nominations in recent years; hopefully April's Silent Hill will buck the trend in 2006, but the industry will still most likely have to answer for BloodRayne and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, when all is said and done. - New posts on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include a new way to map World Of Warcraft, a look at ATEI's new arcade games, including a bonus PlayStation 3 rumor, and info on ModDB's best PC game mods of the year, among many others. - Also updated: product news, including RealVIZ's upcoming release of its VTour graphics software, as well as the latest Gamasutra job postings from companies including Amaze Entertainment, Disney Buena Vista Games, Insomniac, The Art Institute of California, The Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago, Video Gaming Technologies, and Yager Development.