Take Two executive chairman Strauss Zelnick warned his rivals that the company’s success in 2008 was “just an hors d'oeuvre” at the firm’s press conference in LA this morning.

However Zelnick didn’t mention EA’s acquisition bid for the company in his opening speech – but there’s still time for him and CEO Ben Feder to address it.

At the time of writing, the company had confirmed NHL 2K9 for Wii, as well as NBA 2K9 and more 2K Sports franchises such as TopSpin 3 and baseball game The Bigs.

Zelnick said:

“We had a great year last year, but that was just an hors d'oeuvre – our pipeline this year is even more impressive.

“GTA was not only the most successful of any debut video game in history – it was the most successful debut of any entertainment product in history. The added content we’re adding this year, we expect to show that our franchises are growing ever more valuable as the industry evolves.

“We’ll also add value with other hit franchises, such as Bioshock and Carnival Games. We’ll continue to develop each major franchise to become important building blocs for Take Two’s structure.”

Take Two CEO Ben Feder then took the stage, proclaiming Bioshock as “the game of E3”.