SharkJumping

Following the ABC/"Millionaire" textbook example of how to over-extend a premium brand, Rockstar Games & Take2 Interactive today that they will be launching Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PS2 on June 6 for the bargain bin price of $19.99.  For those needing a score card, Take 2 introduced Liberty City Stories as a very good PSP title in late 2005, but it was essentially a PSP version of their earlier Grand Theft Auto 3 - now it looks like they're taking the same code and releasing it on PS2, just to grind the last dollar out of the franchise.  If they're introducing new games (albeit, recycled) at the $20 price point for the PS2, then my guess is that almost all games will be at that price point by this Summer, which may not be the worst thing for this part of the console cycle.

Some would argue that a premium brand like GTA should really be nurtured and only line-extended when it's truly worth it, such as delivering a top game for a console launch rather than re-packaging the code for every possible price and platform but apparently that's not the plan at Take 2.  At least they have the simply amazing Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion XBox 360/PC game to take up the slack.