In response to a question at the Pacific Crest Technology Leadership Forum in Vail, Colorado earlier today, Electronic Arts Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown offered EA's most definitive statement yet on a possible deal between Take Two Interactive Inc. and EA.

"That's a deal whose timeframe has, you know, come and long gone. And so we're just not interested in a large-scale, traditional packaged-goods publishing deal." Brown said.  He continued, "the types of things that we're interested in in terms of acquisitions are smaller scale, they tend to be more oriented to specific geographic opportunities."

He stated they were specifically interested in franchise acquisitions, acquisitions that would allow them more access to the Asian market, and acquiring online publishing technology.

On general industry weakness, Brown emphasized that NPD numbers underrepresent EA's digital direct model and online sales, which he said grew 38% year over year in the first quarter.

About EA Sports' Madden franchise, "demand metrics are tracking well," he said.

Disclosure: No position in TTWO or ERTS