How Sony Lost Grand Theft Auto IV

Newsweek's N'Gai Croal posted a series of interesting pieces on his blog last week, titled Dispatches From The Console Wars. The first two deal with the Xbox 360 and why Microsoft hasn't managed to move their promised 10 million units yet, and reactions from major third parties about the situation.
But it's the third post where things really get interesting, as Croal gives some details about why Sony lost the Grand Theft Auto exclusive this generation. To hear him tell it, it all hinged on the simultaneous worldwide launch and some foot-dragging by Kutaragi:

We've learned that Take-Two and Rockstar Games were interested in continuing their longtime relationship with Sony, in which they premiered their Grand Theft Auto games on PlayStation platforms exclusively for 6-12 months before bringing them to other systems.
Also, Ubisoft was interested in making Assassin's Creed, due in stores next spring, exclusive to the PS3. But neither company's top executives–all extremely important figures in the games industry–could get an answer from Kutaragi. PlayStation's Japanese headquarters was effectively radio silent, and without Kutaragi's signoff, the normally independent American and European branches had no authority to reach agreements on the exclusives they believed could be valuable to the PS3 cause.

Dispatches From The Console Wars [Newsweek]