GA News Bulletin: GTA gets into Guinness, Microsoft back on the phone with Yahoo, BlackBerry Thunder by September

GTA IV finds its way into Guinness Book of Records

Well, could a week go by without mentioning Grand Theft Auto IV in some form? I don’t think so. It looks as though the gaming-sales torch has been passed from Halo 3 to GTA IV (nice numerical progression there) as the former clocked in at $170 million opening day sales compared to the latter’s monstrous $310 million.

Daniel Terdiman over at CNET made an interesting observation though. Given the recent numbers put up by video games many have been citing the gaming industry as the fast-cash juggernaut of the entertainment industry however J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows recorded opening day sales of $220 million dollars. I think we can all see where this is going…

It’s crossover time: Harry Potter and the Master Chief’s Double Date in Bohan.

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Touch-screen BlackBerry in 3rd Quarter

On the heels of the BlackBerry Bold, the latest release from Waterloo based Research In Motion, comes word that RIM is nearly ready to launch their iPhone rebuttal, tentatively named Thunder. The release date is thought to be some time within the 3rd quarter, which puts it on store shelves sometime before October.

Though details are scant, it has been established that Thunder will be distributed exclusively by Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone PLC abroad. But perhaps the most surprising aspect of these rumours: the Thunder will feature only four physical buttons! Blasphemy to the QWERTY loving BlackBerry addicts.

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It’s Official: Microsoft and Yahoo are on speaking terms once again

Recently word arose that a certain someone (financier Carl Icahn) was irate with Yahoo’s reluctance to accept a bid from Microsoft and that he would be pursuing somewhat desperate measures to force the company to reconsider, including forming a 10-member dissident board that would play a role in the annual July 3rd company meeting. Now comes word that Microsoft and Yahoo are once again talking turkey but with a different agenda this time around: “Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo!”

So much for Bill and Co. saying they’ve moved on. Ah, unrequited love…

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