Grand Theft Lotto

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It's still pretty quiet on the earnings front. H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) and National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) report this week, and those in dot-com retro mode may want to see how far along CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) has come. Tomorrow, it will be Take-Two Interactive's (Nasdaq: TTWO) turn in the spotlight.

Unfortunately, the small video game house that became a force to reckon with on the success of its Grand Theft Auto franchise has already warned investors that it will produce a loss for its fiscal second quarter. Between the financial restatements and corporate shuffles, life at the company hasn't been all that different than the rumble tumble action of its signature games.

And while Take-Two still expects to earn $2 a share on nearly $1.2 billion in revenues this year, one would think that things would be even better. With the console makers slashing prices on their video game systems and the economy improving, software developers should stand an even better chance of parting the gaming youth from their disposable income.

Indeed, video games are great business if your titles are worth buying. Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) and Activision (Nasdaq: ATVI) are both recommendations in Motley Fool Stock Advisor. Electronic Arts is merely outpacing the market with a 15% gain, Activision is trouncing it to pieces. Its stock has soared 154% since it was highlighted last year.

While severance payments and unexpected game delays may seem random elements in Take-Two's slip this quarter, you can't always count on Wall Street to give you a "continue" option at the end of every blown opportunity. That's just not the way you play the game.

Will Take-Two bounce back, as it expects, or is this quarter's dip the start of something worse? With hardware getting cheaper, which games will be the biggest hits over the holidays? All this and more -- in the Video & PC Games discussion board. Only on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is still trying to figure out a way to beat his 10-year-old son at NFL Street on the Xbox. He does not own shares in any company mentioned in this story.