VOA慢速英语 2008 0516a

Economics Report - For Fans of Anarchy¹, Grand Theft Auto² IV Is a Big Smash
Popularity of video game series makes Take-Two Interactive³ a takeover target. Transcript⁴ of radio broadcast:
16 May 2008

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

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A lot of marketers would kill for a product like Grand Theft Auto. GTA Four is the newest in the popular series of violent video games.
　

Grand Theft Auto IV on sale at a store in West Hollywood, California

The Rockstar Games division of Take-Two Interactive Software in New York is responsible for Grand Theft Auto. Estimates suggest that Rockstar spent about one hundred million dollars developing the newest version.

Take-Two said about six million copies were sold worldwide in the first week, with a value estimated at more than five hundred million dollars. The first-week performance represented, it said, the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment.

Some players reported problems with the game. Rockstar released a software patch to deal with those problems.

Grand Theft Auto started as a two-dimensional video game in nineteen ninety-seven. It was moderately successful. But in two thousand one, Rockstar released the third version. This time, players felt like they were inside the game. Three-dimensional graphics⁵ made it a hit.

Together, the first three titles sold more than seventy million copies.

Gamers say they like the realistic action and interesting storylines. Critics of violent video games -- well, you can imagine how they feel.

Grand Theft Auto takes place in Liberty City, a fantasy world of criminals, prostitutes and guns. Players can rob, kill, drive wildly and gain points in the process. The game is rated for players seventeen years and older.

The success of Take-Two has made the company a target for bigger players in the video game industry. Electronic Arts, the industry leader, has offered to buy Take-Two for two billion dollars. Take-Two has rejected the offer; it says it is worth more than that.

The Entertainment Software Association says nine and a half billion dollars worth of video games were sold in the United States last year.

Electronic Arts just reported that its sales were up nineteen percent in the last year, to more than three and a half billion dollars. Still, EA says it had a loss of four hundred fifty-four million dollars, compared to a profit of seventy-six million the year before.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Archives are online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

2 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

3 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

4 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

5 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。