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Thanks Nekrosoft for the heads up in BPN on the forums. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced today that Rockstar Games, in conjunction with Remedy Entertainment, has begun development of Max Payne 2, a sequel to the blockbuster hit Max Payne.

Max Payne 2 is expected to ship in calendar 2003.

Originally developed for the PC by Remedy Entertainment and produced by 3D Realms, Max Payne debuted as an award winning and top selling PC game in July 2001. PlayStation®2 and Xbox(TM) versions of the game were shipped in December 2001, and both achieved immediate critical and commercial success. Global shipments of the Max Payne franchise have exceeded 2.75 million units to date.

Take-Two also announced that it has acquired ownership of the Max Payne brand and all intellectual property rights associated with the brand, including trademarks, copyrights, characters, perpetual license to utilize proprietary technologies, including the Max Payne game engine and associated "Bullet Time(TM)" technology, and rights to license fees from ancillary Max Payne brand extensions such as cinema, television and literary productions.

Take-Two purchased the Max Payne property from Remedy Entertainment and Apogee Software in exchange for $10 million in cash and 969,932 shares of restricted common stock, in addition to certain future development incentives.

Kelly Sumner, Chief Executive Officer said, "A critical component of Take-Two's corporate strategy is to control the intellectual property rights to our key brands and as a result, build the most value for our company. Max Payne has been one of our most successful product franchises to date. The ownership of this top-selling brand allows us to broadly capitalize on the continued strength of the product on multiple platforms, and extend the brand with exciting sequels as well as providing opportunities for extending the brand to other forms of entertainment."

Scott Miller, Chief Executive Officer of 3D Realms commented, "This is a precedent-setting deal for Take-Two, Remedy and 3D Realms - the first time in our industry a highly successful IP alone has changed ownership hands. This deal validates our strategy for developing strong character-based games. Take-Two benefits tremendously by having full control of the Max Payne brand going forward and being able to properly leverage it to its full potential."

News source: Yahoo

``The one common link remains with all these letters -- they are always a fraud attempt to steal your money,'' Secret Service Special Agent Brian Deck said Wednesday.

The scam is best known as the ``Nigerian e-mail scam'' or ''419 scam,'' a reference to Nigerian penal code against fraud. Authorities now call it ``advance fee fraud.''

According to an FBI report, about 2,600 Americans said they were victims of the scams in 2001. Sixteen reported losses totaling $345,000; two individuals lost over $70,000 each.

The original scam takes the form of a plea from a government official or some other person overseas who wants help moving money -- anything from an inheritance to overpayment on a government contract. The victim is promised a cut of the total, which is in the millions of dollars.

Soon, the perpetrators claim there are problems that require the victim to pay lawyers' fees, shipping costs, taxes or bribes.

``Then they'll probably tell you to wait for this package, and then it's never going to show,'' Deck said.

The Afghanistan e-mail, claiming to be from special forces soldier ``Bradon Curtis,'' says he found $36 million in drug money during a patrol. The e-mail asks the recipient for help moving the cash, kept in a suitcase, out of Afghanistan.

``We will thus send you the shipment waybill, so that you can help claim this luggage on behalf of me and my colleagues,'' the e-mail reads. ``Needless to say the trust (placed) in you at this junction is enormous. We are willing to offer you an agreeable percentage of (these) funds.''

Deck said the newest e-mail is the first his office has seen that claims to be from a soldier in Afghanistan, but the scam evolves with technology and current events.

``The letters used to be mailed. Then faxing became the choice of the scammers. Now we are increasingly seeing e-mail being used,'' Deck said.

More recent scam letters refer to deaths from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including unclaimed cash found in the rubble of the World Trade Center or the inheritance of a fallen serviceman at the Pentagon.

The Secret Service gets about 13,000 advance fee scam letters forwarded to its office every month and about a hundred calls from victims or potential victims daily. Authorities estimate that the scammers collect millions of dollars each year.