Despite EA’s failed takeover last year, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey believes that Take-Two remains an attractive acquisition target.

“We continue to believe the company could be an appealing asset for an acquirer, particularly given the mega franchise centric nature of current market demand and retailer initial buys, in addition to the incredible game development talent and the potential online functionality of many of their games,” Hickey wrote in an investor note, shortly after the Grand Theft Auto and BioShock publisher reported a third quarter loss of $55.5 million.

According to the analyst, the fact that the majority of Take-Two’s IP “is platform magnetic” to Xbox 360 and PS3 could prove to be a blessing following recent price cuts to both consoles and ahead of the release of new motion control technology from Microsoft and Sony.

“We believe the Natal technology from Microsoft and potentially the motion controller technology from Sony (both expected in CY10), could provide an inflection point in console installed base growth as each aggressively push for market share (including the elasticity benefits from recent price cuts); while Nintendo’s platform installed likely wanes from a faded value proposition and mounting pressure from the effervescent Apple Inc," he said. " Importantly, the majority of the company’s IP is platform magnetic to Microsoft and Sony, potentially dampening a potential market retrenchment from Nintendo related products while benefiting from the aforementioned installed growth.”

Last February EA made a $2 billion offer to acquire Take-Two, but it was eventually withdrawn in September 2008 after months of uncertainty about whether or not the deal would through. Take-Two said at the time of the withdrawal that it was still in discussions with other parties about "strategic alternatives," but soon after announced that it had officially ended all discussions with "various interested parties," opting to remain an independent publisher.

Speaking of possible Take-Two suitors, Hickey told Industry Gamers that "the large multimedia guys are always potentials." On the game publisher front, he suggested Activision, "maybe" Ubisoft and even EA might see value in a takeover.