In the wake of Microsoft’s $44.6 billion takeover bid for Yahoo comes news that Electronic Arts has made a takeover bid of their own.

They’ve offered $1.9 billion for Take-Two Interactive Software, the company best known for the mega-hit “Grand Theft Auto” franchise.

The deal would see EA regain the throne fromActivision as king of the video-game industry.

Take-Two immediately rejected the offer, accusing EA of trying to scoop up the company with an “inadequate” bid just before the publication of “Grand Theft Auto IV.”

EA says their “label” system means more independence for acquired companies, kind of how indie-like subsidiaries work with their parent movie studios (Miramax to Disney, for instance).

Here’s an excerpt from EA CEO John Riccitiello’s open letter explaining the takeover bid:

“Many of the people at Digital Illusions in Stockholm, Criterion in the UK, Mythic in Virginia, and more recently BioWare and Pandemic will tell you that so far, the experience at EA has been good. If you know people who work for these studios, I’d encourage you to talk to them. Ask them about our Label organization model. It’s the model we hope to use with Take-Two.”

So EA is trying really hard to make its “labels” happy and secure—good to know, but what about the gamers? What can they expect from a takeover/merger like this?

For starters, the deal would give EA a monopoly in sports gaming. EA recently extended its exclusive deal with the NFL until 2013. The acquisition of Take Two would put EA in control of 2K Sports releases “NBA 2K,” “College Hoops,” “Major League Baseball” and “NHL 2K” series, among others.