""I would expect that there would be two more pieces of downloadable content for GTA IV, that's what has been indicated to me, although formats are unsure. It's been indicated to me to me that would be the case," said Mitchell, of Kaufman Bros. Equity Research.

Mitchell also stated that he's expecting Grand Theft Auto V to be released in the 2011 financial year, and there's also the possibility of a new GTA title for the PlayStation 2 next year.

"Coming out of E3 there was no commitmen..."

"Full list of top titles:

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty: WaW
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 FIFA 09
7 UFC 2009 Undisputed
8 Left 4 Dead
9 Fallout 3
10 [PROTOTYPE]


Top Arcade Titles

1 Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers
2 GAROU -MARK OF THE WOLVES-
3 Castle Crashers
4 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
5 Worms
6 Sonic The Hedgehog 3
7 UNO
8 Hasbro Family Game Ni..."

"A series of landscapes painted from video games. These aren't from screenshots I found online; I navigated around inside of each of the games until I found a composition I liked, and then made a painting of it. I certainly spend more time in games than wandering the idyllic countryside. There's a whole spiel behind this, starting from frustration at 3D games slavishly imitating real life (though this has been lessened thanks to Braid and others), but really, artists should shut up and make pi..."

"Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)

1 Call of Duty: WaW
2 Halo 3
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 FIFA 09
7 UFC 2009 Undisputed
8 Left 4 Dead
9 [PROTOTYPE]
10 Rock Band 2


Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1 Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers
2 Castle Crashers
3 Sonic The Hedgehog 3
4 Worms
5 Sam & Max Save the World
6 UNO
7 CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars
8 Peggle
9 Hasbro Famil..."

"With the dawn of the new century came the dawn of a new console, the Playstation 2. A significant upgrade over its earlier iteration, the system provided developers with the power they needed to develop more involving and expansive games.

[...]What Do You Think?

Do you prefer open-playgrounds for your games, or would you rather follow the path laid out by developers?

Is the idea of Open-World Games a passing “fad,” or is it the future of games?

What direction will games move i..."

"Looks like it’s the usual suspects this week.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)
1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty: WaW
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
7 FIFA 09
8 UFC 2009 Undisputed
9 Left 4 Dead
10 Fallout 3

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1 Castle Crashers
2 Peggle
3 Hasbro Family Game Night**
4 Worms
5 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
6 UNO
7 Star Trek: D•A•C
8 The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai
9 ..."

"Rockstar Games Announces Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony for Download on Xbox LIVE® and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Available on Disc for Xbox 360® this Fall

Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce the fall release of both the second episode of Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony - exclusively for download on Xbox LIVE® online entertainment network, and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from L..."

"Few topics have the power to divide the game industry quite like digital rights management (DRM)--the technologies, copy protection, and anti-piracy measures used by companies to manage the right of use of their digital products. Everyone has an opinion when it comes to DRM, and it’s rarely a neutral one. Gamers get hot under the collar about its restrictive nature, publishers wax lyrical about its ability to stop piracy and improve revenue, while developers either renounce or defend it. So..."

"omparisons are made constantly within the gaming industry, from both gamers and critics alike. We often compare different games and franchises in order to determine which is the greatest for that particular genre. It therefore comes as no surprise when we talk about ‘heavyweights’ within the industry – specifically, particular developers and certain franchises which are hailed as leaders … or bench-setters for a certain genre."

"Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU’s)

1 Halo 3
2 Call of Duty: WaW
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 GTA IV
6 UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
7 FIFA 09
8 Left 4 Dead
9 Fallout 3
10 Fable II


Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

1 Brain Challenge
2 Castle Crashers
3 Star Trek: D•A•C
4 Hasbro Family Game Night **
5 Peggle
6 Worms
7 Space Invaders Extreme
8 UNO
9 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Class..."

"Regular visitors of PCGH already know the ENB Series Mods already since we have reported about the modification projects of Boris Voronstov. Now the programmer is dealing with GTA 4. Among other things he integrates sky lighting, realistic shadows (via Screen Space Ambient Occlusion) and modified reflections on cars. But regardless o the graphical improvements the game is supposed to remain at playable framerates.

A download of the GTA 4 mod is not available yet, but we can already offer ..."

""As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we've agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios," Shorrock wrote."

"While most of you are pooping your pants over APB, I am pooping mine over Prototype. If it manages to live up to the hype, I believe it will be the best game of the summer, and Radical will be one step closer to dethroning RockStar as the king of open world games."

"Thompson will be making an exclusive one day only appearance on Saturday July 4th, in which he will participate in a live debate with Joystiq.com legal columnist, Mark Methenitis on the topic of video game restrictions. In addition to the debate, Thompson will also participate in a special pre-screened question and answer panel where attendees will have the opportunity to pick the brain of one of gaming’s most notorious critics."

"MTV Multiplayer: If we’ve gotten to the point where we can have a “Grand Theft Auto” on the DS, how much progress does that bring you guys, Take-Two and gamers to getting a “Grand Theft Auto” on a Nintendo console?

Fils-Aime: I’ve said this — and it may have been in one of your interviews –from the get-go. I as a gamer — and Nintendo as a company — would love to see a new “Grand Theft Auto” on our home console. We think the volume opportunity is there."

"We need to be told what to do in a game from time to time. We rely on helpful characters to issue us with objectives and point us in the right direction. Imagine the wasted hours if they weren't there to help. Trouble is, some of them go about it all wrong and - although they're trying to help - just get right on our tits. Honestly, Navi's a joy compared with these nagging characters that need to *bleep*."

"Ruffian Games have put out a final call for developers to join their merry band on a journey to make awesome games. Having established their studio in 2009 Ruffian's recruitment drive is near an end and the places remaining are few."

"Windows gaming took center stage today in San Francisco at the annual Game Developers Conference, as Microsoft announced new features coming to the Games for Windows – LIVE online gaming service and community:"

"Video games allow us to enter worlds and scenarios in which we couldn’t possibly take part in in the real world. You may battle aliens on a distant planet. Or you may fight the Reich in a WWII shooter. The possibilities are endless, because what can be done in the realm of imagination is endless. So why do we continue to return to the same enemies that we’ve killed thousands of times before? The straightforward answer? Because they’re safe."

"this is out of order. why would you moderators and wannabe moderators try and alienate the community. just from looking round it seems that theres been a small group of you people, who are trying to create a class devide.
some of your responses to 13 to 15 year olds is nothing short of a disgrace, regardless of there behaviour.

we recently had a suicide here, were a young boy hanged himself over an argument
about a game.

looking around here, there are some people who arent even modera..."

"To honour the highly-anticipated releases of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and the latest installment of the survival horror videogame Resident Evil, Guinness World Records have announced some of the franchises' biggest records."

Good old Jack has been on the gamer's radars recently and never for good reasons either. Now before I state my opinions here, I would like to point out that I am in no way defending Jack and his antics but neither am I defending anyone elses. You could say I am trying to see a good side to all of this and give my general opinion on the gaming industry. So why am I doing this? I feel that Jack is misunderstood by the methods he uses and that one thing he does press on about the gaming industry...

"By a 10-3 vote, committee members approved H.B. 353, a bill drafted by Thompson and sponsored by Rep. Mike Morley. The measure targets the video game and film industries by amending Utah's current Truth in Advertising law. Retailers and movie theaters which advertise that they don't sell M-rated games or R-rated movie tickets to underage buyers and then do so would be liable for fines of $2,000 per incident."

"“We are aware of an error with the latest GTA IV title update and are confident the issue will be fixed within the next few hours,” said a rep.

“We apologize to our fans for any inconvenience caused.”

It was reported earlier today that Europeans had noticed pools of blood missing from around corpses, and camera angles dropped from sex scenes in the game.

Many had assumed The Lost and Damned had been the cause of the changes, by, as you can see, it was the separate patch.

Still..."

""Grand Theft Auto IV" is more than 2008's Game of the Year. It's also America's touchstone, the game that continues to inspire -- inspire the awe and ire of violent deadbeats, washed-up lawyers, dumb gangs, sexual predators and news-hungry journalists fearful of gaming's effects on the poor wee tots. And once in a while, it inspires a little bit of good, too.

In preparation for the "GTA IV: The Lost and Damned" download, there's no better time to take a look back on "GTA"'s considerable ra..."

"It's freedom that gives games their distinctive character as a storytelling form. They grant players the freedom to make choices rather than frog-marching them through the action. But therein arises a contradiction: in order to feel as if they're really interacting, players have to believe they can truly go anywhere and do anything in Liberty City. At the same time, in order for a story to get told, they must be gently but firmly stage-directed through the plot. "You've got this beautiful 3-D..."

The NPD Group before the weekend released the top twenty software and top ten software by platform lists for the January 2009 sales numbers, showing the top rankings in software sales for the month. The top ten rankings for accessory sales are also available.

Numbers are inserted where known.

Top 20 Games of December 2008:
01. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 777k
02. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 415k
03. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 292k
04. [360] Left 4 Dead (Electronic Arts) - 243k...

"Videogame Nation brings together games spanning the last 40 years, from Manic Miner (1983) to Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), taking players on a thrilling ride through the UK's gaming generations and tracing the journey of computer programming from the hidden realm of the bedroom to what has become a multi- billion pound industry."

"One of two GTA IV episodes planned exclusively for Xbox 360, The Lost and Damned has players taking on the role of motorcycle gang member Johnny Klebitz in a story that intersects with the main game's events. The expansion includes new missions, multiplayer modes, weapons, vehicles, and music.

Rockstar will also host special events throughout the week, including sweepstake promotions, a multiplayer match against "the people behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise," and an "Xbox All Nighter.""

"The way they've built it, Rockstar's Liberty City has the legs to sustain gamer interest for many years to come. Why not do three, four, five episodes? Ultimately the graphics will begin to age, but the depth of the world and the quality of its production means that it could, feasibly, continue to remain an income stream right through to the end of this generation. For the sake of round numbers, even if only 10% of the 7 million owners of the Xbox 360 GTA IV game buy The Lost and Damned at 16..."

"The clue can be found midway through the game, so, to catch you up, let me set the stage. Niko’s cousin Roman has a gambler’s itch. As his debts accumulate (he’s not a particularly successful gambler), Roman struggles to stay out of trouble with other gangs. This whole mess peaks when the local Russian mob kidnaps him."

"I fended off last year's hype machines like a fish resisting a hook, but by fall I was caught and reeled in by the likes of Spore, LittleBigPlanet, Gears of War 2 and Fallout 3. They were all innovative, and unique and groundbreaking, but none met my unreachable expectations.

Was it always like this? Has every big release launched like an easy home run, only to strike the foul post? My childhood memories say, "No," but my retrospective of the Most Hyped Games Ever says, "Yes."

That's ..."

"Nintendo will be pleased with the list of the world’s biggest selling videogames of 2008 – with Mario Kart Wii beating out titles such as Wii Fit and Grand Theft Auto IV to become the biggest selling videogame of the year worldwide."

"Let's face it-there are A TON of dreadful video games on the market. Sometimes it seems that for every good title, we get five more that suck.

Thankfully, the gaming gods have generous as of late, bestowing Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead, and other such blessings upon our game consoles. Sadly, this won't last forever, and there will always be that lull where games like Jumper: Griffin's Story or Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis fill the gaps between the gold.

Certainly this list c..."

"Postell Pringle is Playboy X in Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto IV.” Creative Loafing Editor David Warner talks to Pos about his multi-faceted acting career, and Online Producer Stephen Hammill makes a confession: He killed Playboy, and he’s sorry about it."

"Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on UU's)
1 CoD: World at War
2 Halo 3
3 Call of Duty 4
4 Gears of War 2
5 Left 4 Dead
6 GTA IV
7 Fable II
8 FIFA 09
9 Guitar Hero World Tour
10 Madden NFL 09

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)
1 The Maw
2 Castle Crashers
3 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
4 Worms
5 UNO
6 A Kingdom for Keflings
7 Braid
8 Banjo-Kazooie
9 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
10 Bomberman Live
The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.

..."

"Show notes:

RIP Jaleco

Killzone 2 comments cause ruckus - Is the game too overhyped for its own good?

Moar Intern Perry hate

Rapper Gamer Variety Hour ("Think about the possibilities!!")

News:

Sony and Microsoft Trade Blows

Pachter says Both Sides are Right

Outrun Online Arcade is Xbox 360 Exclusive...in North America

Video game regions - Why can't we all just get games at the same time!?

LEGO Batman is a Terrible Toy?

Capcom Regrets Giving Up Movie Rights

..."

"The first of two announced episodes for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned puts you in the boots of Johnny Klebitz, a member of Liberty City biker gang The Lost."

"

1. Quake
2. Halo 3
3. Half-life
4. Grand Theft Auto IV
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
6. Pac-Man
7. Doom
8. Resident Evil 5
9. Mortal Kombat
10. Contra
11. BioShock
12. Metal Gear Solid
13. wipEout
14. Portal
15. flOw
16. Resistance 2
17. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
18. Guitar Hero
19. Gran Turismo
20. Donkey Kong
21. Castlevania
22. Super Mario Bros. 3
23. Left 4 Dead
24. Street Fighter IV
25. Rock Band

"

"Rio de Janeiro is just asking for a Grand Theft Auto remake. A large gap between the rich and the poor, abundance of foreign tourists, thriving drug trade and pervasive police corruption due to low wages combine to create a petri dish for criminal activities. But don’t take my word for it, check out these excerpts from the Overseas Security Advisory Council… they make it sound like the acts common in a GTA game are actually commonplace in Brazil’s second largest city:"

"If we think about LittleBigPlanet, Age of Conan or Mirror’s Edge, we notice they have two things in common: very successful and well received demo versions (or beta stages) and very poor, lower than anticipated game sales. And since these are not the only titles in which a demo (or the lack of it) appears to be connected with their commercial success, I believe we should analyze the influence demos have in the game world and debate: are game demos game killers?"

The NPD Group has released their hardware and software numbers for the month of December, representing sales for the United States for the five week period of November 30th to January 3rd.

Notables this month:

• DS breaks PS2's record for most hardware sold in a single month, becoming the first to sell 3 million units (PS2 was 2.7 million)
• Wii Play top seller for both this month and the entirety of 2008
• Mario Kart DS breaks into the top ten this month

Hardware numbers:
NDS: 3040.0k (608.0...

"The problem comes when you go back and look at your list of achievements and see that there are some that are worth 30, 50, 100 or 150 points. Those are the ones you want. You probably also make the assumption if you don’t look at the list that some tasks would be worth a lot. For example, you would think, that completing 50 horde waves would be worth 100 points or at least 50. It’s not easy to do, and you need to have four or five players that work together and stick through all the waves..."

"A 6-year-old Virginia boy who missed his bus tried to drive to school in his family's sedan — and crashed. His parents were charged with child endangerment. State police said the boy suffered only minor injuries and authorities drove him to school after he was evaluated at a local hospital for a bump on his head. He arrived shortly after lunch, Sgt. Tom Cunningham said."

"

1. Grand Theft Auto Series
2. Metal Gear Series
3. NHL Series (EA Sports)
4. Street Fighter Series
5. Bioshock Series

"

"Today, 5th January 2009, is officially the twelfth day of Christmas. Most of you are probably back into your usual daytime routine by now, and are looking for something to entertain you during those long winter nights. The Twelve Games of Christmas is a feature series that has been run on each of the twelve days of Christmas here at Electronic Theatre, looking at the disc-based European releases of 2008, and selecting the best performers of each month. Today is the final instalment, and so it..."

"We get it. It’s hard enough for a company - dev or publisher - to turn a profit with each game release. Given the choice, would you risk losing tens of millions to completely reinvent your money-maker, or play it safe with a slight upgrade you designate a sequel? Hell, it took Capcom five tries to reinvent Resident Evil 4 and Ubisoft has no clue what to do with Splinter Cell: Conviction.

We’ve got some tips for these companies. We’ve come up with some ideas to reinvent franchises before..."

"Well, the year 2008 is finally at an end and though there were disappointments, many games lived up to the hype. The decision to make a Top 5 Games list instead of a Top 10 list was rooted in the fact that there were so many great games that it was tough for the staff to develop a consensus past the first five. Plus, the longer the list, the more you start to get all political with it and say crap like, "Boy, we need another game from x console in there." So here they are, our top five games ..."

"After 12 months of playing and enjoying as many games as possible, it’s time to take a break, look back and choose the best of the best - the best 10 games of the year 2008. As you can imagine, it’s a really tough mission, especially because the overall quality of the games released this year was pretty high (there were exceptions, of course), but we must choose the game of the year here, at the Unigamesity!"

"Welcome to the fourth edition of The Twelve Games of Christmas; Electronic Theatre’s feature series highlighting the greatest performers of 2008, one month at a time! Today, we take a look at April 2008, the games that you liked, loved or missed altogether – and can probably pick-up for a much more reasonable price in those January sales!"

"It's hard finding a trailer that sticks with you and keeps itself glued to the walls of your memories. Trailers that manage to do such a feat are easily worthy of some kind of media recognition. So in the good spirit of acknowledging awesomeness where awesomeness deserves recognition, Blend Games has proudly put together a list of the Top 10 Coolest Game Trailers of 2008. So without wasting a whole lot of words on a pointless lead-in to the list, you can check out our top ten picks for the co..."

"The larger publisher had aimed to acquire Take-Two for a cost of US$2 billion but failed because of Take-Two's assertion that the $25.74 per share price point significantly undervalued the company. Since the bid failed, no other suitors have come forward with a bid to acquire the financially troubled publisher."

"An object's visual design and intended purpose should work together. And while this may seem like common sense, many developers fail to recognize the need to follow such concept. This is most evident in open world games like Mass Effect and Grand Theft Auto 4. Most if not all open world games can fall into two categories, beautiful and aimless or ugly and purposeful."

"I played through dozens of games this year and tried at least a hundred more. And through them all, I experienced some amazing moments.

As I have done in years previous, here are my picks for My 10 Favorite Moments in Video Games for 2008. (As spoiler-light as I can make them.)"

"

Product Pipeline

We have announced expected release dates for the following key titles (this list

does not represent all titles currently in development):

                                            Internal or

                                             External                      Expected/Actual

Title                    Publishing Label   Development    Platform(s)         Release

----------------------   ----------------   -----------   -------------   -----------------

MLB® Sup...

"

"Now… here’s where things get interesting. From the text of the press release:

”In addition, Take-Two has agreed to fund the future development of certain new intellectual property to be owned by a newly formed company controlled by key Rockstar Games team members and published exclusively by Take-Two.”"

"Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. today announced that it has established a new incentive compensation program for the Rockstar Games label that is primarily based on a profit sharing arrangement, and at the same time has entered into new long-term employment agreements with members of the creative team of its wholly-owned Rockstar Games publishing label. The new employment agreements have an initial term ending on January 31st, 2012."

"1. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King / Blizzard / $36 (Average)
2. Spore / EA Maxis / $48 (Average)
3. The Sims 2 Deluxe / EA Maxis / $19 (Average)
4. Call Of Duty: World At War / Treyarch / $50 (Average)
5. Fallout 3 / Bethesda / $49 (Average)
6. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Exp. Pack / EA Maxis / $21(Average)
7. Grand Theft Auto IV / Rockstar Games / ($49 Average)
8. Left 4 Dead / Valve / $48 (Average)
9. Far Cry 2 / Ubisoft Montreal / $50 (Average)
1..."

""

"Award Winners

* Best Shooter: Gears of War 2 (Epic Games)
* Best Xbox 360 Game: Gears of War 2 (Epic Games)
* Best Indie Game Voted by the Fans: World of Goo (2D Boy)
* Big Name in a Game: Kiefer Sutherland (Call of Duty: World at War)
* Gamer God Inductee: Will Wright (Sim City, Spore)
* Best RPG: Fallout 3 (Bethesda)
* Best Music Game: Rock Band 2 (Harmonix)
* Best Soundtrack in a Game: Rock Band 2 (Harmonix)
* Studio of the Year: Media Molecul..."

"With the latest Title Update, some users are experiencing a Look/Spin/Stuck Key issue that interferes with user input. The temporary fix, described below, will restore Keyboard/Mouse and XInput (360) controller functionality. Support for DirectInput devices is currently limited. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

To fix the issue:

A1) Unplug any DirectInput controllers (gamepads, joysticks etc..)
A2) Reboot your computer
A3) Launch GTA IV

If the issue ..."

"GAME OF THE YEAR:

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
LITTLEBIGPLANET
FALLOUT 3
METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
GEARS OF WAR 2"

"It seems that entirely too often, people wonder what it would be like to see their favorite video games in real life. This results in a nearly infinite number of fan-made videos of varying levels of quality. I’ve done my best to find 12 great ones that span Mario Bros. to Portal. It’s abudantly clear that I’ve probably missed a large number, so feel free to leave your favorites in the comments. Ready…start!

"

"“It is a genuine pleasure to be able to list Rockstar in our catalogue and above all to be able to offer the cult GTA IV right from release,” Metaboli’s co-founder and VP of content Pierre Forest stated.

“We would like to welcome Niko Bellic, the most charismatic personality that the GTA license has ever known. Through its blockbusters GTA IV, Max Payne and Bully, Rockstar is a seminal publisher. This agreement enables us to become the first digital distributor in Europe to offer Rocks..."

"MESA -- Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies and the Sheriff's Animal Crimes Unit have concluded an investigation of two boys, six and seven years old, living in an East Mesa trailer park who admit to stoning and later hanging to death a four month old kitten.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio says the boys are too young to be charged with animal cruelty and apparently will not be getting help from Child Protective Services.

The investigation began with a call to the Sheriff's Office on October 23, 20..."

"

1. World of Warcraft
2. Tetris
3. Peggle
4. Everquest
5. The Sims
6. Bejeweled
7. Starcraft
8. Pac-Man
9. Street Fighter II
10. Doom
11. Halo 3
12. Fallout 3
13. Counter-Strike
14. Grand Theft Auto IV
15. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
16. Gears of War 2
17. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
18. Animal Crossing
19. Rock Band 2
20. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
21. Super Mario Bros. 3
22. Madden NFL 09
23. Solitaire
24. Burnout Paradise
25. Frogger

"

"When we sit down for a round of gaming with our console or PC of choice, we're usually on the look-out for extreme action, non-stop thrills and a sophisticated story. One thing we never expected to see was sex. But as the average age of the gaming audience grows ever higher, interactive entertainments are tackling more grown-up topics like the beast with two backs in a variety of different ways. Some games play it for humor, some use it as a plot motivator, and others let you fornicate just f..."

"

1. Silent Hill
2. Raccoon City
3. Megaton
4. Bowser’s Castle
5. Rapture
6. Kvatch
7. Mallet Island
8. Saffron City
9. Jacinto
10. Liberty City

"

"PC
Grand Theft Auto IV, Shaun White Snowboarding, The Tale of Despereaux, A Vampyre Story

PS2
Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, Singstar ABBA, The Tale of Despereaux

PS3
Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia Limited Edition, Singstar ABBA

Xbox 360
Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon, Prince of Persia, Prince of Persia Limited Edition, The Tale of Despereaux, Winter Sports 2 The New Challenge

Wii
Family Party: 30 Great Games, The King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Sa..."

"Enter our "meta-metareview," a list of every game released this year that's scored above 85% on average from reviewers around the world. You won't be surprised by the games that made the list; you will be surprised that some of your (and our) favorites didn't make it.

-

The best-reviewed game this year? April's Grand Theft Auto IV (98%), followed by a three-way tie between LittleBigPlanet, BioShock (PS3) and World of Goo (95%) -- all three of which were released in October. Metal Gear S..."

"Grand Theft Auto IV's appeal isn't only the open-ended offline single-player experience. Like with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, GTA IV for PC will support play in a number of online cooperative and competitive modes, some of which support of up to 32 players."

Do you enjoy games with collectibles? Then this list may be just the thing for you! Whether it's collecting letters, fossils or skulls these games are the top providers for those who love a good scavenger hunt. Collectibles have always made for good fun and lengthening gameplay, so here's the twelve best for you by gamedaily.com.

"GTA IV, which was released in April for the Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3, focused on former Eastern European soldier Niko Bellic and his escalating life of crime in the boroughs of Liberty City. This new episode, available Feb. 17 via download exclusively for those who own the Xbox 360 version (no price yet), stars Johnny Klebitz, a member of Liberty City biker gang The Lost.

"Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background," says Dan Houser, vice presid..."

"01. [NDS] Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe (Nintendo) 97,000 / 363,000
02. [PS3] Samuraidou 3 (Spike) 81,000 / NEW
03. [NDS] Tongari Boushi to Mahou no 365 Nichi (Konami) 72,000 / NEW
04. [NDS] Fushigi no Dungeon Fuurai no Shiren DS 2: Sabaku no Majou (SEGA) 45,000 / NEW
05. [PS3] Resistance 2 (SCE) 33,000 / NEW
06. [NDS] DS Nishimura Kyoutarou Suspense 2 Shintantei Series:… (Tecmo) 33,000 / NEW
07. [NDS] Ryuusei no Rockman 3: Black Ace (Capcom) 33,000 / NEW
08. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku..."

"The CTA made the earlier decision to remove the ads from the system following some violence in the city. The CTA felt that, based on the circumstances, it was in the best interest of our customers to remove the ads and further review the circumstances.

Last week, the CTA board voted to ban advertising for video games rated "M" and above. The ordinance, which takes effect Jan. 1, cites a "demonstrable correlation" between intensely violent video games and violent or aggressive behavior.

..."

"If that isn't enough bad news for you wannabe street thugs, it also turns out that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the DS game, may be delayed as well. Zelnick made sure to mention that Chinatown Wars may not make it's Q1 2009 target release date, meaning that the game will more than likely be pushed back to February, 2009 at the very earliest."

"I don't think the chart needs to be explained, you have the games, you have how much space they would take on your hard drive, and then how much time you'd be saving (not listed on the chart is how much relief you will be giving your poor disc drive). No longer do 360 fanboys have the fodder of "oh you PS3 people have to install games blah blah" .. in the end, if you have a big enough hard drive, you know you'll be installing these games soon enough."

"That reality is that Senator Obama may have questionable views when it comes to video games. One of his opponents during primary season was the infamous Hillary Clinton, another Democrat who has done everything in her power to block games such as GTA IV and Manhunt from ever seeing the light of day.

Gamers seem to also have forgotten that the same man also generalized them all as underachievers."

"19-year-old Ryan Chinnery of Ashford in Kent has been sentenced to eight years in prison for a series of sexual assaults throughout the summer of 2007.

As expected, various UK tabloids have been blaming video games for Chinnery's crimes, following his admission of obsession with Grand Theft Auto. In addition to an unhealthy love for pornography, Chinnery apparently spent hours in that game, though it was not specified which title he was fixated on."

What do gamers do when people in America are going to the booths to vote? They hold their own elections, for video game characters of course!

Take your pick from the likes of Sackboy, Tom Nook... and even 12-Pack! Even gamers like a good old beer now and then, right? Each candidate has a badge, their promises and their slogan.

So who gets your vote?

"People keep asking me if doing the installation is worth the trouble. Are loading times that much better?

I tested Microsoft's claim on four games, using my NXE-enabled 360. Above, you can watch the initial loading for "Grand Theft Auto IV," DVD vs Hard Drive. After the jump, check out loading comparisons for "Fable II" and "Gears of War."

...Each of the games took about 11 minutes to install and required between 6.6 and 6.8GB. It shaved off about nine to 15 seconds off the initial load..."

"1. In-Mission Checkpoints
2. Cars are actually fun to drive
3. Weapons are far more varied and awesome
4. You can be a cockney bastard
5. Real customization
6. Lots more to do
7. Superior multiplayer
8. It looks better
9. It's much funnier
10. It's not ashamed of its own stupidity"

"While Rockstar did not give any reasons for the delay, GTA IV for the PC will feature new enhancements and additions over its console counterparts. Not only has the game been configured for the mouse and keyboard controls, but the PC version will allow players to turn the city's traffic density up, and will feature graphical updates like better draw distances.

Minimum System Requirements

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo ..."

""

HipHopGamer has released a new episode of his popular gaming show and is possibly the most news filled yet. GTA V PS3 exclusive? Mass Effect 2 multiplatform? Level 5 to be bought by Sony? Crysis to appear on PS3? Halo 4 to come to the Xbox 720? And to to have forward compatibility? Rockband 2 Wii looking awesome? Those are just some of the content present in the show. He's a a bit biased about the PS3, but he same interesting content if nothing else.

"Above is the press release that was in my inbox today. Pretty cool stuff, we can all use new skins and achievements in our games. I also like it when game companies try to keep their games alive by using Holidays. Halloween is the perfect excuse to add Zombies to anything, why not GTA. In fact I may even play the game just to get the extra stuff. See ya in Liberty City."

"A new Eugenics Inc. "ad" has appeared on RockStar Social Club, issuing a vague quarantine order locking down the mysterious company's compound due to a contagious disease outbreak. Eugenics Inc. is a physical location in Grand Theft Auto IV, located in Bohan, though it doesn't play into any part of the game ... yet.

quote

"Contagious Disease

"No one shall enter or leave this premises without the proper documentation issued by Eugenics Inc. No person expect an authorized agent or empl...

"

"If you are on Rockstar Games’ mailing list, you should’ve received the information that the much awaited trophies for Grand Theft Auto IV are coming out on Monday, October 27. The trophies won’t be retroactive though, meaning it won’t just unlock the trophies by loading your save file. Well have fun starting over!

Will you start over just for the sake of trophies?"

"What I think (and this is of course my interpretation; I'm not trying to put words in Leigh's mouth) is that in the case of games that are different in some way (like a new IP, or a sequel from a new developer as in the case of "Silent Hill: Homecoming"), a lot of videogame critics obsess about the small stuff because they don't like the big picture. Here's my best example: "The Simpsons Game." Yes, it had some camera problems and yes the gameplay wasn't too fresh. But it was a parody of vide..."

Popular Australian review show Good Game recently reviewed Saints Row 2 and they were impressed, giving the game an overall score of 10/10 and 9/10 respectively.

If you were disappointed with Grand Theft Auto IV, then you might be more satisfied with what Saints Row 2 has to offer ...



Discuss in the Saints Row 2 forum

"Real world definition of "mature": Showing the mental, emotional, or physical characteristics associated with a fully developed person; involving serious thought.

Videogame definition of "mature":
Shits, tits and gibs.

What is adult? According to ratings boards and hand-wringing politicians, the only qualifications necessary are a bucket of blood, a stream of foul profanity and a parade of naughty lady parts. Ironically, the very things that are included to win over immature teenage bo..."

"Arbitrary Honorable Mention. "All your base are belong to us" - Katz in Zero Wing
5. "Get over here! - Scorpion in Mortal Kombat
4. "It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of gum" - Duke Nukem in Duke Nukem
3. "Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!" - Toad in Super Mario Bros
2. "Well, since you put it that way, I'm in!" - Nico Bellic in GTA IV
1. "Hey dudes, thanks for rescuing me. Lets go for a burger.... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" - The President in Bad ..."

"When asked about why EA was suddenly interested in buying Take-Two, the EA boss made it sound like he was trying to do the BioShock developer a favor:

"[We wanted] to help that company get through what has been an uneven profit experience."

EA wanted to help. How nice of them. It makes you wonder just how much (or how little) they ever cared about Take-Two in the first place, and when you get comments like this from BMO Capital Markets:

"We do not believe there is another serious bid..."

"Tiscali Games (CZ) has just put up what they claim to be 100 percent accurate comparison shots of GTA IV on both the PC and Console."

"With some games, ESRB ratings can be either too damning, or not restrictive enough. How many parents buy their children copies of games like Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV, regardless of the warnings on the box, pamphlets shoved into their hands by concerned Best Buy employees, or simple common sense? On the hand, there are plenty of other games that the ESRB just rates poorly. Mass Effect gets an M rating for fictional alien violence, but Call of Duty (which is based on actual military event..."

Gametrailers have posted the first trailer for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV.



Be sure to check out the hi-definition version of the trailer at the source link below. Grand Theft Auto IV will be released on Games For Windows Live on November 11. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are already available for purchase.

The guys over at Pwn or Die have done their best to photoshop Alaskan Governor turned potential Vice President Sarah Palin into some of our favorite video games as some of our favorite ladies.

From Cortana in Halo to Meryl in MGS, and even Samus and Lara Croft - it is worth peek for a laugh.

"I should point out that these are the top five games that have the most potential for being Halo, GTA IV and KillZone Killers via marketing, community support, critical praise and sales. It's possible any one of these titles could be as controversial as GTA IV, or as supported as KillZone 2, or as long lasting in popularity as Halo 3."

Lucky for our fellow New Zealanders, they will be able to buy Grand Theft Auto IV. They weren't sure if they would be able to get the game when the Society of Promotion of Community Standards petitioned to have the game looked into further.

"Click on the source to see the trophies."

"After that, play some multi-player GTA4 on the 26th, 27th or 28th of this month and you’ll be entered in the sweepstakes for that day. Best of all, this contest is available to people in both the US and Canada for a change, so there’s no excuse for us igloo dwellers."

"A teenager who torched three cars in Lyon, France, told police he was wanted to imitate scenes from the Grand Theft Auto video game.

The 13-year-old schoolboy used petrol to set light to three vehicles after playing on the violent GTA 4: Liberty City game on his home PC.

The game awards points creating as much as crime and destruction as possible in a city."

"What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Mario Kart Wii races to the first place on the Wii chart. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed force grips itself to the #1 spot on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and PSP charts. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning debuts first place in the PC top 5. Lastly Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir enters the DS chart."

Rockstar Games, makers of Grand Theft Auto IV and Microsoft have teamed up for a GTA IV weekend including a sweepstakes with prizes including an Xbox 360 Elite, 12-month Xbox LIVE Gold account and more.

"Before the over the top, logo heavy madness of today’s next-gen masterpieces became the visual norm for video game cover art, there was the basic beauty of the Atari 2600’s approach to package design. Clean composition and vague descriptive text came together to create something that was just so…intangibly fresh and mesmerizing."

"Hidden in this morning's press release about the Xbox 360 price cut in the UK was another mention that we should expect to see GTA IV downloadable content this autumn.

Microsoft's not-messing-around PR team writes: "Continuing its blistering pace on the Xbox 360 platform, the first of the Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable episodes for this record-breaking game will be available this autumn - the only console with new Grand Theft Auto IV content available this Christmas."

We should point o..."

"What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Mario Kart Wii races back to the first place on the Wii chart. After a price drop to $20, Dead Rising “rises” to the top of the Xbox 360 chart. Grand Theft Auto IV remains on the top of the PS3 chart. Yakuza 2 debuts in first place on the PS2 charts. Spore debuts globally on #1 in the PC top 5. Mario Kart DS returns to first pl..."

The team behind facial animation in Grand Theft Auto IV, Image Metrics, demonstrates a new capture technology that allows for the creation of facial graphics that are almost indistinguishable from real life.

"GTA IV is due on November 18th so you've still got plenty of time to add microchips and what not to your system in preparation."

"But new U.S. video game sales data from NPD Data may make it tougher for Take- Two to make that argument much longer.

GTA IV, the company's flagship game, was the 46th best-selling game in August, according to new NPD rankings. That's down from 45th place in July. The slowing sales have also brought fresh concerns that at about 8.5 million sold to date, Take-Two's powerhouse GTA IV may have a tough time meeting sales expectations.

"As a must-have game, we expect GTA IV sales to continue..."

"Take-Two Interactive announced alongside its quarterly results that Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV has sold over 10 million units as of August 16. The release noted that the publisher's fiscal third quarter was "led by the blockbuster" and continues to exceed the company's expectations.

With the PC release and the localized Japanese version still to come, it's looking more and more likely that GTA IV can hit that 15 million mark in 2008, as Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst ..."

"Add LEGO to the front of this list:

10. Lord of the Rings
9. Grand Theft Auto
8. The Matrix
7. BioShock
6. Terminator
5. Silent Hill
4. Scarface
3. Gears of War
2. The Elder Scrolls
1. The Seventh Seal"

"Seriously though, GTA 4 does have some good points...

It's a Grand Theft Auto game, so naturally it has a tremendous soundtrack. The funny talk shows, the country music, the hip-hop, it's all here. I have a surprising favorite amongst the soundtracks, though.

In San Andreas, CJ was a gangster and thus quite a bit of rap music was included.
Niko, however, is eastern European, so a station playing exclusively eastern European music was included.
Why I like this style of music, I have no..."

"Over the years, gamers have seen dozens of high-profile titles make their world debut by being featured on the cover of Game Informer. In fact, if you’re a regular shopper at GameStop, you’re probably one of the magazine’s more than two million readers.

But does a game getting on Game Informer’s cover signal it’s going to be great?

Can you be confident that these debuts will, one or two years later, become games you want to buy and play? Perhaps the magazine has a “Madden” curse ..."

"It's hard to say if the last week of the Olympics gave Segas' Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games a boost, but that hasn't stopped the PlayStation 3 version of the game moving up four spots from the previous week, into sixth spot. The Xbox 360 version of Beijing 2008 also made it into the charts, though at the much lower position of number 10. Nintendo's Brain Training series are regular contenders in the charts, with Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brai..."

"Last night on the Warzone, Weapon X gave us the skinny on the GTAIV DLC. Here are the things he mentioned:

1. GTAIV DLC will arrive in late October or Early November
2. The DLC will be more like an expansion pack
3. It’s rumored to cost 1600 MS points and will be very large

None of this is confirmed yet but Weapon X has some very good sources. Stay tuned for more info on this in the coming weeks."

"You can choose between mouse and keyboard or the Xbox 360 controller for PC. Those who played the predecessor already know that those features are not that innovative. The PC version of GTA San Andreas had a quite similar list of improvements.

The displayed Beta version of GTA 4 (PC) is not free of bugs. Tree textures sometimes looked very cubic and there were problems with the shadows. In general the critical points of the PC graphics are the same as they had been with the consoles. The B..."

In a surprise press release today, sales trackers NPD Group, Enterbrain and GfK Chart-Track Limited have announced that they will be collaborating on an all new Top Global Markets Report for video game sales, which will combine the trackers' US, Japan, and UK data, respectively, in a sales ranking chart to track the global sales of video games. They are currently working on incorporating the other countries they cover, namely Canada (NPD) and the rest of Europe (GfK). This is the one of the...

"Officials said the teens -- ages 15 and 16 -- told authorities they learned "how to do it" from playing Grand Theft Auto. The sad thing is, the mainstream press will probably believe them."

"1. Final Fantasy VII (originally for N64)
2. GTA IV (Originally PS3 Exclusive)
3. P.N.03, Viewtiful Joe, Killer7, Dead Phoenix, Resident Evil 4 (Originally GameCube Exclusive)
4. Contra: Hard Corps and Castlevania: Bloodlines (Originally Exclusively SNES)
5. Devil May Cry 4 (Originally PS3 Exclusive)
6. Halo (Originally Apple)
7. Dragon Quest IX (Originally for Consoles: Stolen by Handhelds)
8. Street Fighter II (Originally SNES Exclusive)
9. Shenmue II (Originally for Dreamcast)
10...."

"According to a report from newspaper La Vanguardia, by way of GamePolitics and Google's Spanish to English translator, Spain's cabbies are calling for a ban on Grand Theft Auto — Grand Theft Auto IV, we presume. After a Thai teenager was arrested on suspicion of murdering a taxi driver, claiming to have been inspired by GTA, the game was pulled from shelves in Thailand.

Now, Josep Maria Goñi, secretary general of the Catalan Taxi Federation, is asking the Spanish government to do the sam..."

"WWE man-mountain Randy Orton last night became an unlikely defender of the industry's creative freedoms, urging developers to fight back against critics with a rallying cry for "more violence" in videogames. The fantasy wrestling superstar, who's currently sidelined with a broken collarbone, was in London to promote THQ's SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, and revealed to Eurogamer how he was sick and tired of the bad press gaming receives, insisting that the makers of adult titles had nothing to be ash..."

"Unlike most industry award shows, G-Phoria's twelve month of eligibility run from August of the preceding year through July of the current year.

Xbox 360 was named the station's favorite system -- which falls in line with the award distribution. Of the show's 18 game awards, only four went to titles not available on Microsoft's system: Best Graphics and Best Voice Acting for Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Best Racing Game for Nintendo EAD's Mario Kart Wii, an..."

"Violent video games were around long before Grand Theft Auto and Dead Rising showed kids the fun of drunk driving and hitting golf balls into a crowded food court.

Here are some early generation video games that set the bloody tone for today's games. Even if you're too young to remember these, your parents probably played them, whether they admit it or not ...

Texas Chainsaw Massacre


Barbarian
"

"There has been hardly any news on the exclusive content that Xbox 360 owners will get when the GTA IV DLC goes live. But according to GameTrailers, there will be some news regarding the DLC coming this Friday on GameTrailers TV.

Even more interesting is that GT TV will be interviewing Michael Hollick, who is the voice for the main character Niko Bellic and they will talk about the upcoming downloadable content for GTA IV which is scheduled to be released at the end of the year."

"Grand Theft Auto IV will be released for PC on 21st November in Europe, Rockstar announced today.

Pleasantly, that's just a few days after the PC version arrives in North America on 18th November.

Rockstar founder Sam Houser says it "looks and plays beautifully on PC and we can't wait for people to play it".

A PC version of the game has been rumoured since before the PS3 and 360 versions were even released, but Rockstar has never previously confirmed it.

The most telling sighting ..."

After over 5 hours of stop and go animation work, two guys have compiled, and created, brick by brick - Grand Theft Auto: Lego Edition.

I for one am still waiting on LEGO: GTA. I mean, if Star Wars and Indiana Jones can get their own, why not Liberty City?

Video at the source.

"The distribution of Grand Theft Auto IV in Thailand could be halted following the confession of a teenager who claimed he robbed and murdered a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the game. According to Reuters, Thai game distributor New Era Interactive Media has requested that shops pull the game from their shelves following the incident, with the company offering to replacement it with other games should they co-operate.

An 18-year-old high school student is in custody afte..."

"#24: skate
#23: Heavenly Sword
#22: MLB 08: The Show
#21: Battlefield: Bad Company
#20: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2
#19: Rock Band
#18: Burnout Paradise
#17: Ninja Gaiden Sigma
#16: PixelJunk Monsters
#15: Everyday Shooter
#14: Gran Turismo 5: Prologue
#13: Warhawk
#12: Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Online
#11: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition
#10: Super Stardust HD
#9: Assassin's Creed
#8: Resistance: Fall of Man
#7: MotorStorm
#6: The Orange Box
..."

"What.... the.... hell?

Orlando's Channel Six news is reporting that pedophiles are offering "game points" in exchange for nude images of children sent through video games.

Well reporting is a bit of an overstatement, they declare that in their headline and the first sentence of their "story" but never really explain what the hell they're going on about. In fact the entire story is a mess of quotes, misstatements and supposition that never gets around to actually explaining what the stor..."

"Good evening everyone here! The first thing to write about is “PC Gamer” magazine. Now all little dirty secrets are unmasked! We contacted them and now are waiting for official response. However, editor published such post on magazine’s official forum: “Rockstar didn’t announce official release date, but as a real Rockstar’s fan you should know when it always happens”.
Anyway, the official news is that GTA 4 definitely will be released on PC.
But even that’s not the only damn great ..."

"EA's Dynamic DNA is set to mimic the real-life action of both players and teams by updating the stats for players and teams daily. This wont be seen until the next lot of games though so dont expect to see it in this years FIFA.

EA have started work on a new mixed martail arts sports franchise.

Guitar Hero: Beatles could be on the horizon.

Left 4 Dead is rumoured to be coming to the PS3.

Sims 3 is rumoured to be coming PS3.

Infinty Ward are said to be working on a new futuristi..."

"Yeah we pretty much all knew that this was on the way at some point or another. Only thing I'm worried about is the minimum system requirements to run that monster."

Two friends were sitting down, playin' some GTA IV on their 360. The owner of the 360 kept taunting his buddy that a PC version of GTA IV isn't coming out, so he decided to pull a little prank on Rockstar. They sent an e-mail giving problems about trying to play GTA IV on the PC, using an all-in-one TV/Computer so Rockstar would pay some attention to it. They got an e-mail saying that "The PC version of GTA IV has not even been announced for release and is still in development so is not about...

"In May, both Activision and Vivendi Games also withdrew their membership of the Entertainment Software Association, which organises the show.

Bobby Kotick, chief executive of the new company, which describes itself as "the world's most profitable pure-play online and console game publisher", told Variety the company was now too big for its needs to be met by the ESA and suggested it would be appointing its own lobbyist in Washington in place of the association.

E3 was deliberately downs..."

"How dare anyone make fun of Thompson when he’s been going through so much lately. He was disbarred! He was humiliated with 27 misconduct charges! He has failed to bring people to his side over and over and over. He is not well right now. But all you can do is make fun of him. Don’t you guys have any *bleep**** human decency?

Judge Tunis has pretty much no idea what she’s talking about. Thompson totally calls her out in the 14-page letter he wrote after ditching that bogus disciplinary h..."

"First off, I have absolute proof that video games are not the cause of this epidemic of youth violence in America. No, really, I do. Ready?

There is no epidemic of youth violence in America.

The whole concept is a lie manufactured, distributed and perpetuated by the media. Kids are not killing each other more frequently than they used to. In fact, it turns out the opposite is true.

It doesn't take a genius to conclude that violent crime is at the lowest it has been in a good thirty y..."

"Real news from the virtual world:

_BEST OF 2008 (SO FAR): E3, the video-game industry's big trade show, is next week, and you'll be hearing a lot about all the new software coming between now and Christmas. But there's a bit of a lull until Aug. 12, when "Madden NFL 09" unofficially marks the beginning of the fall game season. July is a good time to catch up on some of the games you may have missed. Here are the best of the year so far:

1. "Grand Theft Auto IV" (Rockstar, for the Xbox 3..."

"Melodrama evokes a universe where a cosmic struggle between good and evil is being waged, a struggle that nevertheless remains hidden behind everyday appearances. Only at moments of heightened emotional intensity does evidence of this other world break through into our own. Melodrama tries to make this otherworldly struggle that structures our own existence visible through elaborate staging effects, a heightened delivery, and a reliance on gestural as opposed to verbal language.

That sound..."

"The average age of a video game customer now hovers around the late twenties to early thirties. The variation on either side of that average reveals a fascinating picture, too. Many of the first generation of child gamers now approaching their forties have children of their own. Whole families now gather around a game console, just as in previous generations the family gathered to watch a video or Morecambe & Wise on TV or to play Monopoly together.

If you don't play videogames, you may co..."

"During the making of our huge catalogue of GTA IV video guides, to add to the frustration of having to produce perfect insane jumps against a deadline and shoot every damn pigeon on the map in half a day, we also had to contend with the inconvenience of Niko's mortality.

The general rule is: the harder you try to do a task under pressure, the more likely Niko will find himeslf at the end of a spectacularly unlucky and painful demise. So we've dredged up our favourite snuff clips from the h..."

"Anyone who’s played GTA IV remembers that infamous rape scene in the game, which allowed to accumulate points and…what’s that? You…you don’t remember that? Oooooh, that’s right, because there wasn’t one. Well, try explaining that to Connecticut Senator, Gayle Slossberg (D). She’s apparently convinced that the rape scene is there, she just has to get far enough along in the game to access it. At a press conference last week, she stated a law requiring clearer warning labels was needed ..."

"So does media imitate society, or does society imitate media? Since both are extensions of human nature, the answer can only be both. But as a video game, GTA is just a simulation - a make-believe world where you have no consequences for shooting peoples' heads off or cutting up cops with chainsaws while stoned off your ass.

These troubled teens have learned the hard way that reality doesn't translate well from video games and that they can't get away with everything.

Interestingly, ..."

"I think it’s safe to say that the era of next-gen gaming as a driving force is over. Why? As of the week ending June 7th (the most recent tally available), just over 9 million copies of the highly touted Grand Theft Auto IV had been sold worldwide for the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 combined, according to VGChartz.

That may seem impressive, until you start looking closer — which Microsoft, Sony, and the many publishers who develop for their respective consoles are surely doing now. For one th..."

"1. Fixed an issue where players were unable to enter or exit vehicles in GTA Race.

2. Fixed an issue where scripted vehicles were causing games to unexpectedly crash.

3. Improved reliability and frequency of PS3 online leaderboard updates.

4. Fixed a rare hang some players encountered when moving from a Race or GTA Race lobby into gameplay.

5. Fixed a hang that would occur when players were switching teams during the countdown in the lobby."

"Here is an image I did for Official Playstation Magazine UK which is in their latest issue. I had a hard time getting it to look exactly like the game model because I started out with an illustration that I realized later was a bit different than the game. So after the fact, I started messing with it to try to get him closer to the game model.

This image involved a lot more illustration on my part than the other ones too since I was changing the lighting compared to my source image.

Any..."

""

"Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City is roughly based on New York. Lots of movies are filmed in New York. Here we try and recreate some of Hollywood's New York-based movie scenes using locations from GTA IV. Check out our handy work...

The Film: 1979 flick The Warriors depicts a Brooklyn street gang who find themselves in the Bronx being hunted by every other gang in New York. After fighting their way thorough the Bronx and Manhattan the Warriors return to Coney Island.

Real-life location..."

"It took just 10 days for video game maker Funcom Inc. to sell 400,000 copies of its newest title, Age of Conan, last month, making it one of the year's most successful debuts.

But for now, you can't play it on popular living-room consoles like Sony's PlayStation 3, Microsoft's Xbox 360, or Nintendo Wii. Age of Conan is available only on desktop computers that use Microsoft's Windows operating system. PC gamers say its success helps debunk a popular belief: That console games have crushed t..."

"On Monday, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, which already supplies the graphics power for the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox 360, showed the "SNL" skit at an event in San Francisco. Then AMD gave a taste of what it says a game maker can do with its new microprocessor: A 30-second clip of what appeared to be a real scorpion skittering around a terrarium, presumably hunted by another equally terrifying bug. The scorpion demo was made by the film director David Fincher (director of "Fight Club") on..."

"Nothing's perfect. Stare closely enough at anything - even a masterpiece - and you're bound to find flaws sooner or later. They might be small. They might be insignificant. They might not detract from the overall quality of the piece at all...

Except when they really, really do. With these seven games, in fact, you don't need to stare. Their flaws are so huge, so obvious, so frustrating and so effing obnoxious that you can't help but notice them, despise them and wonder how the damn things..."

"As expected Metal Gear Solid 4 has rocketed to the top of the All Formats All Prices video game chart, knocking Activision's LEGO Indiana Jones down to No.2 and GTA 4 down to No.3

1: METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS
2: LEGO INDIANA JONES: ORIGINAL ADVENTURES
3: GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
4: MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
5: DR KAWASHIMA'S BRAIN TRAINING"

With so many reviewers desperate to get their GTA IV review out as quickly as possible, many people have questioned the incredibly high scores it's been given. Directly after this came the wave of cynics giving the game a serious bashing.

But we've taken our time with this one, because it's important. And now that the hype and anger has faded away, we bring you our totally unbiased and carefully thought out review of GTA IV.

Don't believe the hype? Then see what you should believe.

"In notes to investors today, Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter said he was again surprised at GTAIV's inability to drive hardware sales. And without new Xbox 360s and PS3s finding their ways into consumers' hands, the game could lose its sales momentum in a hurry.

"Sales were once again led by GTAIV selling 1.3 million units compared with our estimate of 1.7 million units," Pachter said. "This implies a tie ratio of 28 percent, implying potential for tempering demand over the next..."

"Metal Gear Solid 4 will drive more PS3 hardware sales than the mighty GTA IV did, say industry analysts, despite GTA IV having been the biggest-selling entertainment launch in the history of the universe.

Sales of PS3 are up 150 percent over last year and, according to Eedar's Jesse Divnich, this storming success will continue, and even accelerate, with the release of Konami's blockbuster.

"Sony's PlayStation 3 can claim a relative small victory as its hardware unit sales were up 150% ..."

"HW
PlayStation 3 208.7K
PlayStation Portable 182.3K
Xbox 360 186.6K
Wii 675.1K
Nintendo DS 452.6K

SW Top 10
Top 10 SKU's May 2008 Rank # Units
(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc.)
360 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE (CORP) APR 2008 1 871.3K
WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL NINTENDO OF AMERICA APR 2008 2 787.4K
WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD NINTENDO OF AMERICA MAY 2008 3 687.7K
PS3 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE (CORP) APR 2008 4 442.9K
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AME..."

"Grand Theft Auto IV, if you haven't realized it by now, is a pretty staggeringly huge game. And as a huge game, it's also riddled with bugs and glitches that - while generally not capable of ruining the game - are still pretty silly and entertaining to watch. And after we reported on Liberty City's killer swingset earlier this week, we knew we had to find more.
After a few days of scouring the internet and attempting to replicate these bugs ourselves, we've compiled a long list of weird gli..."

Despite winning 2 Guinness Awards and help aiding the UK's economy for the month of April It didn't really boost Console sales. It did boost Software sales alot, but didn't exactly push meaningful increment of console sales for 360 and PS3 according to analyst Colin Sebastian.

Makes you wonder what was the cause of this, you would think getting these types of awards was going to move some meaningful sales.

"1: LEGO INDIANA JONES: ORIGINAL ADVENTURES
2: GRAND THEFT AUTO IV
3: RACE DRIVER: GRID
4: MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
5: WII PLAY
6: NINJA GAIDEN II
7: MARIO KART WII
8: PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2008
9: CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE
10: FIFA 08
11: DRAGON BALL Z: BURST LIMIT
12: DR KAWASHIMA'S BRAIN TRAINING
13: GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK
14: SPORTS ISLAND
15: HAZE
16: SEGA SUPERSTARS TENNIS
17: CARNIVAL: FUNFAIR GAMES
18: QUAKE WARS: ENEMY TERRITORY
19: UEFA EURO ..."

"Forget Niko, Liberty City itself is the true star of GTA IV. Rockstar has packed the city with enough tiny details to keep us playing and discovering for years. And man oh man were we thrilled to find this haunted playground near the first safe house. How is it haunted, you ask? The swing sets have chains hanging from them that, when properly nudged with a vehicle, will fling you violently up, down or sideways. Check the video for shocking proof. We’re not sure if this is a glitch or an eas..."

"We love silly humour, so it's no surprise that The Naked Gun (and Police Squad, the series it spawned from) is one of our favourite series. And, of course, we love the 'police car drives through sillier and sillier locations' opening sequence - lovingly lampooned by shows like Family Guy or the Red Rock Cider ads.

Which is why we decided to do our own videogame homage to the skit, using Grand Theft Auto IV. So here's our Naked Gun intro sequence, GTA IV style...

And for anyone who would..."

"Microsoft has informed CVG that the first DLC episodes for Xbox 360 are still on track for a "fall 2008" release, following earlier reports of a delay.

In a recent statement, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder said that the first of the DLC had been shifted to Q1 of the company's fiscal year 2009.

But that doesn't mean it's out in the calendar year 2009, says MS, who tells us the plan is still to release the first downloadable episode on Xbox in 2008.

"The first of the Xbox 360 exclusive "Grand..."

Getting 100% in any GTA game is usually a long tedious task. However the Stat Tracker at Rockstars Social Club shows that somebody named jiu-jitsu_4420 beat GTA4 100% with a time of 10:50:09.
2nd place has a time of 15:01:03 by a user called mr01italia which is over 5 hours more then jiu_jitsu.
3rd Place is jgtc22 with a time of 15:01:10. Just 7 seconds shy of 2nd place.

See the image attached to this story for the Top 10 100% Achievers on the PS3.
Under 11 hours to beat GTA4 100% wou...

"Those waiting for more Grand Theft Auto IV content will have to wait a little bit longer. According to Take-Two's Fiscal Q3 2008 report, the first batch of GTA IV downloadable content will be coming in Q1 of fiscal 2009, instead of the originally planned Q4 of fiscal 2008. In real calendar terms, that means the DLC, which is rumored to include whole new cities, is due between November 1, 2008, and January 31, 2009.

The reason behind the delay, according to Take-Two, was to "provide a bette..."

""

"GTA IV focuses its listless energy on exemplifying the world of organized crime. The entire purpose of Grand Theft Auto was basking in the hysterics of DISorganized crime!"

"Codemasters’ Race Diver: Grid debuts at No2 in the chart, while Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Wii Play both jump one place, to third and fourth respectively, following sales increases of 66 percent and 40 percent.

Soccer titles Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 and FIFA 08 both move up the rankings, the Konami title by two spots to No5 and the EA game by one place to No8.

Ubisoft’s PS3-exclusive Haze falls from No3 to No6, while Sega Superstars Tennis jumps from No15 to No7. Call of..."

"Did Sony make a mistake by not stocking store shelves with 80GB consoles during this crucial period in the console life cycle? They’re on the upswing after a poor launch, but could they have garnered even more sales during the first half of 2008? With the enormous launch of Grand Theft Auto IV in April, how many gamers chose the Xbox 360 version of the game because they couldn’t get backwards compatibility in a PS3 and didn’t want to wait? How many of those customers bought an Xbox 360 ins..."

"After being evaluated by several ratings organizations worldwide, the game was assigned a “mature” rating - this is 17+ in the United States and 18 in Europe and the United Kingdom. Moreover, the ESRB has repeatedly urged consumers to use the ratings as a guide, and that the word “mature” in the ratings is equally as important as the number.

In other words, this game is not intended to be played by curious youth about to get their first look at a pair of boobs, Samhita.

Ironically, ..."

"Target was having a deal where if you bought both an Xbox 360 Pro and a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV , you would receive a $50 Gift Card. Thinking it was a good deal, our noble protagonist goes down to his local Target and picks up the Xbox 360 Pro and GTA IV. He buys the console and game, goes home, unboxes the machine and… well, I’ll let him explain:

The X-Box was *bleep*ing gutted. All that’s in there? All the cables and whatnot, the case, and inside that, the book “A Series of Unfor..."

"If there's any game likely to remove GTA IV from the top of the German charts, it's a PC game, and Age of Conan has gone and done it.

Funcom's Hyborian Adventures went and nabbed the number one chart slot from Rockstar in both Germany and Sweden, sending GTA IV to number two in the territories.

In the UK, GTA IV still reigns supreme, with Conan sitting pretty in number two.

In Spain though, both Conan and GTA failed to reach the top spot; Wii Play took instead. Girls: stop buying it!..."

""

"Even though GTA the quatro has only been out a few weeks, you’d think we would’ve seen it all by now. But that kind of thinking is foolish! Like you, we’re discovering astounding new details every day, and we’re not talking major features like the new aiming system or the wacky shit the colorful locals have to say. We’re focusing on all the small touches that go into making Niko and Liberty City feel well-rounded and three dimensional. And while some of these things aren’t “new” per s..."

"
"

"When you got your special edition copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, did you ever think 'Hey, that would make an awesome case for a PC?' No? Well, Mark Harris did. So there.

During a quiet spot at work, Harris took a miniITX system and saw the potential in its size. "Normally I don't see the point in buying limited / special editions of computer games," he told us, "as they come with items that you will find yourself throwing away after a while."

"Voice actor Michael Hollick was paid £100,000 for his fifteen-month stint as Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Hollick, who was an unknown quantity before the game's blockbuster success, has mixed opinions on whether or not he was given a reasonable amount for his role in the biggest entertainment product of all time.

"Obviously I'm incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity," he said last week according to the..."

Don't have an opinion about Grand Theft Auto IV? Well that may be because you haven't played it because if you have you most likely DO have an opinion about it... however fear not... I have found just the thing... a video that will tell you exactly how to have an opinion about GTAIV.... And it's a good watch for those that have an opinion and those that don't.... (Video at the source)

"During a one-on-one interview with Itagaki in London last Friday, Team Ninja's main man offered his thoughts on Grand Theft Auto IV. "I think it's made extremely well and is a fun game," he said.

"People always use that as an example of violence in games. But I don't think there's anyone who takes their job as seriously as the guys who make that game. You only have to look at all the detail in there.""

"Grand Theft Auto IV is a true masterpiece, a towering achievement in gaming. From the minute you step off that boat as Niko Bellic you believe it all, you become wrapped up in a tragic tale that is as much his, as it is yours. Haunting, hilarious, touching, dynamic; the possibilities and experiences in Liberty City are endless."

"Take-Two rightly ignored the option of releasing for the Nintendo Wii even though the Wii is the best selling, so far, of the next generation systems. The Wii is carving out a niche market that offers it a larger sales base, but is not as popular with the demographic likely to love the new Grand Theft Auto IV. The Wii appeals to older gamers and women who appreciate its interactivity and the fitness promotion products that Nintendo is developing, but for the boys who love GTA the battle was a..."

"Sure, you can steal cars and beat up random people in Liberty City, but that's not enough. It's not EVIL. Join the Slobs in a feast of depravity and violence as they showcase the most inhuman things you can do in Grand Theft Auto 4..."

"Want to get ahead of your mates in the GTA multiplayer races? Sure, they can be chaotic and there's an element of luck involved, but you can maximise your chances of winning with our handy tips guide. You should find that most of these hints apply to most other online racing games too. So, ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.

1: The start

Want to emerge from the first corner at the front of the field every time? It's really rather simple. You see, no matter how many times you play,..."

"By 'them', of course, he is referring Sony. More specifically he's referring to David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

When Reeves was asked, "Is it damaging to Sony and PlayStation that there is no DLC for GTA IV on PS3?", he responded, "Well I think you probably will see it, it's just that a deal obviously was struck between Microsoft and Take 2 to do that. And if that's what they want to do, I think that's the last shot they have."

Probed further, Reeves becam..."

"U.S. Video Games Industry - April 2008

April 2007 April 2008 YTD Apr 07 YTD Apr 08
Video Games $839 million $1.23 billion 47.0% $4.18 billion $5.47 billion 31.0%
Video Games Hardware $339.2 million $426.2 million 26.0% $1.62 billion $1.84 billion 13.0%
Video Games Software $389.4 million $654.7 million 68.0% $1.97 billion $2.88 billion 46.0%
Video Game Accessories $110.4 million $154 million 39.0% $584.4 million $750.6 million 29.0%

Hardware
PlayStation 2 124.4K
PlayStation 3 1..."

"PlayStation 3 firmware update 2.35 is now available. According to the US PlayStation Blog, v2.35 is "a relatively minor update to improve stability of some PS3 titles." We're willing to wager a handful of stolen cars that "some PS3 titles" is a better way of saying Grand Theft Auto IV

Update: As noted in the comments of the blog by Sony's Al de Leon, this upgrade does not fix GTA IV. Said de Leon, "I just want to clarify that this upcoming firmware update isn't related to GTA IV. For those..."

"Mr. Houser denies using those words, but says he has often felt the sentiment they imply. "That's an area I've grown up in, definitely," he says."

"The level of hype surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV is something we haven’t seen since the childhood memory-killing Episode I. As such, we wanted to wait a while before we reviewed this game, just to make sure we could give our readers an honest review to the game. And now, several weeks after the game’s release we can safely say that it really is as amazing as everyone says. Even before playing Grand Theft Auto IV, the intro song for the loading screen is eerily amazing. It gives you chills as..."

""Grand Theft Auto would be super interesting for me, and I think I would actually be the right guy to do it, because my movies are all bloody and violent and I don't have a problem with action scenes," said Boll. "But look, they will go, in the end, with a Michael Bay or a Brett Ratner, and it will be a PG-13 movie made for $150 million. I think it would be better to make a $30 million, very hard, brutal movie without compromising, but I'm not optimistic.""

"But just how many of these consoles flying off the shelves are bought with the sole reason of playing Grand Theft Auto 4 in mind? Well, it seems in the Xbox 360 side, 40% of the green machines being sold have the game going with them.

This comes directly from Major Nelson podcast co-host e, who cited the statistics in the latest talk session with some of the industry's big celebrities. Here's his quote, verbatim: "Roughly 40 percent of consoles going out the door had a copy of GTA going wi..."

"Now on its second week out, Grand Theft Auto 4 still dominates the charts in the UK. Not only that, but it's managed to keep its place on top despite a massive 77% drop in sales.

The latest update also seems to give weight to Microsoft's claim that the Xbox 360 version is more popular than the PlayStation 3 one. According to Chart Track, the 360 version accounted for 62% of sales last week, compared to its 55% margin the previous week."

"To me, a political science college major and a gamer, both sides need to learn to get along–the sooner, the better. Somewhere along the line it became commonplace to ignore Washington if you had a controller in your hands, and somehow that has to change.

The political apathy of many gamers today is getting ridiculous. Many gamers rarely vote and most of them don’t know any of the current candidates’ stances on video games (especially Clinton’s wonderful dreams of censorship). This apat..."

"So to test out exactly how free the experience is, we decided to see how far we could get through the game's story without committing a single illegal act, documenting it every step of the way, (For the purposes of our own sanity, though, we're discounting things like speeding, trespassing, running red lights, public intoxication, reckless driving and accidental damage to property as "crimes." If doing it in front of a cop doesn't get you in trouble, it's not technically illegal.)"

"With Grand Theft Auto IV breaking records and taking names, Rockstar has decided that before EA commits it’s hostile take over, they had better get started on GTA V. I’m sure they believe, as we all do, that if Rockstar doesn’t get going on GTA V, they could find GTA IV being re-released without an I. Nobody wants that.

The first order of business is to find a city. They’ve already done New York, LA, Vegas, San Fransisco and Miami, so it’s time to think about a change of scenery. This..."

"With Mother’s Day comes the time to exalt all things Mammy. But you’ll forgive us if we don’t honor their sacrifice in a Hallmark kitty-cat, "I wuv you thiiiis much" kind of way. Take it from the Lotharios at GamesRadar: The highest compliment you can pay any woman is one pertaining to her physical attractiveness. Whoops, hollers and catcalls - ladies just can't get enough of it."

"The biggest game of the year deserves the most in-depth face-off piece yet produced by anyone, anywhere, so we've massively upgraded the scope of our coverage and the amount of 'assets' you can view. There's still the same 720p and 1080p 24-bit RGB screengrabs taken from both versions of the game of course, this time using the new Digital Foundry TrueHD capture station, so why not take a look with the first of our galleries, featuring general gameplay shots?

Comparison videos appear to be ..."

"Thank you for your patience while we continue to work to resolve this hardware-related issue. We have provided your information to Sony, and they will be contacting you directly to assist in the repair and/or replacement of your PLAYSTATION 3 console.

Once again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Please provide us with your mailing address and shirt size at your earliest convenience, as we would like to send you something as a token of our appreciation for yo..."

"There is a pandemic going around in the world and it’s called the GTA IV bug. I don't want to be misunderstood, I really liked this latest title from Rockstar but I feel that all the editors in the world, with very few exceptions, are attending group therapy in a brothel. I also don't want to imply there's a black contract between the publishers and all the major gaming sites (maybe that's a good idea for another time) because the purpose of this article is entirely different."

"I was messing about with the Story Gang thing on the Social Club website. I noticed you could click and drag the things about that are under the story book. I found a plane ticket. Have a wee look and see for yourselves..."

"We are extending the 100% Club Contest for an extra two weeks to ensure that everyone has a chance to get in on the action. Stay tuned for further details and keep going for 100%!"

"Rockstar Games has released a GTA IV patch for Playstation 3 today that prevents Gamespy’s servers from being overloaded and therefore reduces the impact on those servers that were causing the game to stutter and lock up. We continue to monitor the performance of the game both on and offline and will provide further updates as necessary. We want to assure everyone that, together with our hardware partners, we continue to strive to give our fans the best possible interactive entertainment exp..."

"Rockstar parent Take-Two has splurged the news that GTA IV has topped a massive $500 million in sales in its first week of release.

It's additionally confirmed that GTA IV's sold around six million units to date, approximately 3.6 million of which went on opening day.

That means GTA IV has broken all entertainment records for day one and week one sales by dollar value, according to the publisher. Should you want some kind of comparison, Halo 3 did $300 million in its first week (althoug..."

"I know most gamers don't give a shit about ethics and the videogame press, but if you can't appreciate what's going on here then something is seriously wrong with you. Now I can't officially say what caused this change, but given Gamespot's record of pandering to videogame publishers and firing their own employees for not giving high enough scores what do you think is going on here? It's insane!

Now I love the GTA franchise. I'd go as far as saying that it's my favorite franchise ever. How..."

"Speaking to Eurogamer, a Sony source explained that the patch would help by "reducing the loads on the servers at GameSpy and hopefully the completely random hangs that some users have seen"."

""We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player's experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas. Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well. Grand Theft Auto IV's first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date. We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on cr..."

"As of late, much of my time has been spent in the friendly confines of Liberty City, and my wife has been extremely tolerant of my gaming time. Last weekend we were about to go out to eat, so I began shutting the game down when the thought popped in my head, “After watching me play for hours, I wonder if my wife wants a turn?” She was sitting on the couch next to me, so I extended the controller to her and asked, “You wanna drive around for a bit?” She replied, “Sure, why not.” During h..."

"It's all related to realism or their attempt at it. All the fun of the old GTAs has been severely reduced because you cant do stuff any more. The driving; you used to be able to fling the cars around at almost max speed - it was really fun. Now they are forcing you to drive slow at corners or you skid off. When you roll out of a car, you take tons of damage - it used to be much less. The driving isn't even realistic, ask anyone who drives. Someone on a forum joked that their Vauxhall Corsa ca..."

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - The publisher of the controversial "Grand Theft Auto 4" video game sued the Chicago Transit Authority on Monday, accusing it of pulling ads promoting the blockbuster without explanation.

The video game's publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. sued the transit authority in Manhattan federal court for violating its free speech and contractual rights, saying it pulled its posters within days of the ads first appearing on April 22.

Take Two accused the authority a..."

""

"Microsoft didn’t see GTAIII on the Xbox until 2003. It was bigger, better and had more features on the Xbox. It sold very well considering the lower install base of the Xbox. By this time however, it was too late. The PS2 was already dominating the console world. GTAIII was a household name and it was the game that sent the PS2 into celebrity hardware status. Even after the game finally arrived for the Xbox, it continued to sell well on the PS2. Those single console owners that had Xboxes st..."

The idea of a female gamer as a commodity, I think, is horribly outdated now. Since women have entered the video game world, though, even more stereotypes have developed, many regarding the type of games we prefer. Also very misleading.

But I’m not going to argue with your preconceptions of female gamers. Instead, I bring you yet another GTA IV related editorial. “But RCG, you’ve never posted anything on GameGrep!” That’s because I write for Neoseeker, so normally everything I wr...

""What we've heard anecdotally from our retail partners is that the Xbox 360 version of the game is outselling the PS3 version by a margin of two-to-one," said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live during an interview Thursday.

"That mirrors what we saw with pre-orders, but it continues to hold true at retail, at least for the first couple of days. It's a great sign."

In day-one sales in the UK, the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV outsold the PS3 version: ..."

"How many gaming consoles do you need? Could Grand Theft Auto IV put a chink in the Wii's armor? Or will the Nintendo Wii continue to stomp the Playstation 3 and XBox 360? Share your thoughts in our Reader Comments section below.

Early on, some industry analysts predicted trouble for Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY.PK - news - people ): The Wii had a relatively pokey processor, it lacked a hard drive, its controls were unusual. Two years ago, developer Chris Hecker took those whispers into the o..."

"Given the apparent simplicity of the problem, I'm hoping Rockstar will come up with a quick and dirty patch next week, but we'll have to wait and see. For the moment, disconnecting the PS3's online capabilities seems to work just fine.

Other readers have also suggested disabling your PS3's wallpaper or, in desperate cases, deleting the game's save files and stored game content from your PS3's hard drive. Which obviously means you'll have to re-start your progress with a fresh install."

"One of the things that Rockstar has always managed to do with spin-offs, (feigned) sequels and new IP, is convince the industry that it’s something worth noticing because it’s something worth playing. The revolutionary step from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to Grand Theft Auto IV is almost staggering, if you neglect the missing airplanes and a slightly smaller play-area. But all of what is absent in this newer GTA from San Andreas is made up for in generationally satiated content (a.k.a ne..."

"Until then, we have a German website presenting the Grand Theft Auto IV PC version DVD case, together with a price and, what matters most for all of us: the release date. According to the website, the PC version of Rockstar's title will be made available starting the 30th of November this year. What should normally be a further proof that the date is correct (or, at least, that a PC version is in the works) is the fact that pre-order is available. It remains to see how and if Rockstar respond..."

"We all feared that if EA took over Take 2 they would destroy GTA forever just like they have done with takeovers in the past. I think that EA would have completely destroyed GTA by trying to make it ’their’ game and just lose that GTA touch altogether. It wouldn’t be GTA at all. No one can do it as good as Rockstar.

We no longer need to worry because it hasn’t happened and Take 2 has rejected all of EA’s offers.

What’s your view on this? Do you think EA had the potential to destro..."

"A number of GTA4 fans, apparently exploiting a consumer loophole, have bought copies at the Dubai airport duty free shops. All 40 copies of the title at Dubai Duty Free sold on the April 29 release date, a salesman said yesterday. Another shipment of the game, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox360 consoles, has been ordered and is expected to be available in two or three months, he said.
This was treated as great news by Kris Karacinski, a PS3 owner and GTA fanatic who believed he would be forced to..."

"Those clever hackers have done it again! Hacker group VladsBoys’ analysis of the pirated copy of GTA IV for the 360 (leaked days before retail release) has reeled in a big one. The cyber-sleuths knew they were on the trail of something big and yes, you guessed it, they found another never-intended-for-retail-consumption chunk of code in a GTA game.
What the hackers found seems to be an abandoned mission that Rockstar at some point intended on including in the game. We have no idea how far i..."

""

The Late Show host Conan O'Brien could not resist making fun of GTA. With so many news stories about this game being evil, its good to see a change of news stories. Conan O'Brien shows off the softer, friendlier side of Grand Theft Auto.

Part 1

Part2

"The Family Gamer and Grand Theft Auto IV don't necessarily go together. But as many of you have told me on my Twitter feed, this is just the sort of thorny subject you want to hear about. So here I reflect on my first two hours spent in Liberty City and find I am surprised by just how much health and life there is in the place."

"Many people love the GTA series for its rich narrative and compelling characters. But if you’re at all like us you revel in pure, unadulterated carnage. We put a crack team of daredevils to work squeezing every ounce of madness out of GTA IV’s wide-open sandbox. We turned helicopters into people-blenders, stared down speeding trains and pulled off some of the sickest automotive stunts you’ll ever witness. Want to see the screaming good results? Then sit back and enjoy while we work over yo..."

"And so it begins: CNN reporter Glenn Beck has gone proper off on one, warning parents on television of the new 'murder celebrator' Grand Theft Auto IV, which he says is "training our kids to be killers". Ban this sick filth!

"Whatever happened to Pong?!" asks a furious Beck, going into a frenzied rant we thought only existed in GTA's own media-mocking radio shows.

"Here's what you need to know tonight; in Grand Theft Auto your son, husband or boyfriend can hire a prostitute, have sex wi..."

"Vice President of Rockstar Games and co-writer of GTA IV, Dan Houser, has given a revealing interview to the New York Magazine.

The first question was about how much the industry has changed since the last GTA was release a few years ago. "Yeah, *bleep* all this stuff about casual gaming. I think people still want games that are groundbreaking. The Wii is doing something totally different, which is fantastic. We're hopefully going to prove that there's also a very big audience for people w..."

"Roberson feels it can have an affect on those besides children.
"Yes, they are for mature audiences but why would adults even be playing them. I have no idea."
Robertson says the games reward bad behavior, which is how you win the game.
"You get rewarded for going to the prostitute. You get more health benefits, and then if you steal her money, beat her up and steal her money, you get more."
The doctor feels it becomes more detrimental the more someone plays such games.
"Just going to ch..."

"Nelson was born and raised in the South Bronx. His life dream was to play video games in his living room for profit. Though that never panned out, he built achievementjunkie.com, a podcast and blog about the Xbox 360, with his partner Natalie Sousa. He now works as an Online Community Manager for Xbox and Games for Windows."

"When did a videogame release become such a big deal?

Well, the U.S. videogame industry is worth a whopping $18.8 billion a year--that's less than McDonald's makes selling burgers and fries but 2.5 times as much as all the music CDs sold last year. It's also enough money to turn even the most conservative of entertainment executives' heads. Scott Steinberg, vice president of product marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, predicts we're about to see the "GTA Effect"--box office sa..."

"Yes, we are aware of what the message boards and a few of the industry blogs are saying about a 'freezing' issue with GTA IV on a limited number of PS3s. Although we have seen an extremely low volume of contacts to our customer service department regarding such an issue, we want to ensure that every consumer has a great experience on our console and with GTA IV. All parties involved are working to isolate the problem for those few units and identify a solution."

"We noticed that Gawker posted a picture of the beating heart of the Statue of Happiness in Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City, so Crecente and I saddled up to show you exactly how to make it there...and if you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere. Read on for instructions, as well as a clip of Crecente and I embarking on a great adventure, in which he dies. Twice."

"Looks like someone was hitting the local GameStop midnight launch in his best cabana wear, as that puffiness and scruffiness is clearly indicative that the self-promoting attorney was pulling an all-nighter. Jack sent the above pic into tips, I presume, to fanboy out with us. We don't know your Gamertag, Jack, but would love to Bomb Da Base with you. PM me!"

"ChartTrack data shows game is now UK’s fastest-selling title in 24 hour period

Data obtained by MCV from official UK industry monitor ChartTrack shows that Rockstar’s GTA IV has become the fastest selling game ever in a 24 hour period.

The figures – based on EPoS sales data and estimated retail transactions – show that total online and High Street sales for the game hit 609,000 in one day.

That beats the previous record of 501,000 set by another Rockstar title, GTA: San Andreas, on F..."

19 reviews for the latest Grand Theft Auto title thus far, and all carry a score of 98 or 100 (most carry the latter). 277 user reviews average out to 8.3. Considering the freezing errors we've seen, the online troubles, and the suspicious activity at IGN, is it fair to be suspicious, or at least critical?

"These are pretty tame elements, and nothing we haven't seen before in previous GTA games. The real issue comes from the game's obvious attempted humor in regards to the touchy subject of pedophilia. If players visit a particular website described as a site for child beauty pageants (www.Littlelacysurprisepageant.com) using the game's in built fantasy Internet, they instantly become wanted by the in game police for viewing questionable material."

"The video was a collection of “GTA IV” gameplay scenes. It starts with a montage of pole-dancing and lap-dancing. That’s followed by the drive-by shooting of a woman, then a visit to a strip club.

Footage of an acrobatic lap-dance is immediately followed by a scene of the game’s protagonist, Niko Bellic, gunning down a scantily-clad woman in the middle of the street.

Etcetera.

Why would IGN make a video like that?"

"It seems the PS3 version of GTA IV is having a few online issues as hoards of PS3 gamers hit the internet to complain.

According to their rants, dialing up the multiplayer mode on Niko's usually trusty mobile phone keeps them waiting as the game attempts to connect, before giving them a text message that reads: "Cannot connect to game provider, please try again later."

Of all the games to break, it should really not be this one.

Rockstar was unavailable for comment at the time of wri..."

"Rockstar has said "no comment" in response to reports that a PC version of GTA IV will release toward the end of the year.

In January we reported that French retailers had been cited as the source for an October 2008 release for the sequel on PC, and yesterday German e-tailer City Disc had a PC version down for November.

City Disc has now amended its listing to give an October 30, 2008 release, and translated accompanying text now apparently reads: "The release date for GTA 4 for PC has..."

"Rockstar has announced that the Social Club for Grand Theft Auto IV (Sony PlayStation 3, Sony Xbox 360) has officially launched, and with the passing of Day 1, they're tempting all GTA die-hards to accept their hardcore challenge.

Some of you are no strangers to the mechanics, we know, and if the title "Grand Theft Auto IV 100% Club Competition" wasn't obvious enough, the developers dare you to finish the game in as little as seven days.


If you haven't been concentrating on Niko Belli..."

"The man told me that the problem is apparently only effecting the 60 GB version of the Playstation 3. He said the problem is not across the board for the 60GB PS3s but rather only impacts some, so their tech folks are working around the clock to try and figure out what is causing the issue.

He ended the call by saying that they really have no idea when a fix will be coming because they can't figure out what is exactly causing the problem and then once more apologized.

"I feel terrible a..."

"The solution: Rockstar needs to release a patch that limits the strain on the RAM right out of the gate. Can they even do this? Who knows? They haven’t managed to make a game that doesn’t freeze in two years. Unless you count the mega epic “Table Tennis”."

"Me (well dressed upstanding citizen): Good day sir, I will take your finest copy of GTA IV for the 360.
Ass Clerk (yes I am almost positive this was his name): Do you have your copy reserved?
Me: Of course not.
AC: Sorry I can’t sell you a copy then.
Me: Are you kidding me?
AC: No. Try Babbages down the street.
Me: This is why this store sucks."

"The resolution itself is unsurprising since the game was ported from the Xbox 360, but the side by side comparisons carried out by numerous websites tell a more complex story. For example, in IGN’s head to head, the PS3’s Anti-Aliasing is cited as being the better of the two versions, even though the Xbox 360 has 2xAA. This could be due to the upscaling and post-processing effects smoothing the edges on the PS3."

"Yeah, you’ve probably seen people showing off their cellophaned GTA IV boxes, holding them aloft like they were proud parents or Olympic medal recipients. But this is for realz! Bonafide, even. A few of you have already gotten your sticky little fingers all over the Special Edition, so you already know the excitement currently radiating through the GR offices on this momentous day of days. Please, won’t you join us in celebrating Christmas in late-April by partaking in this visual fangasm."

"According to the news service, a 23-year-old man was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant as he passed a line outside the Gamestation. The victim was treated for several stab wounds and has since been released. The attacker, who police said appeared to be waiting in the line of about 50 to 100 people, was not apprehended.

In the mugging, an 18-year-old was robbed of his copy of the game and beaten as he walked home from the store with a friend. The victim was taken to the hospital with a..."

""Most of the young people who play these games know they’re only games," [said Smith]. "They’re smart enough to know they’re only games. It’s that small percentage that don’t realize, or that start thinking the wrong way, and end up getting themselves in trouble by thinking, ‘you know, this is cool, I can do this in real life.’

"This is all fun and games when you’re playing these games, but turn them off and forget about it, and know that that’s not real life. Because in real life..."

"small number of PlayStation owners have reported problems with running Grand Theft Auto IV on their consoles, claiming the game keeps freezing.

"I got home from the midnight release with my copy of GTA IV Collectors Edition unpacked it live on the feed installed and guess what, it froze!" said Matt Griffin on his blog PlayStation Network Home. "I tried a couple more times and it even have reinstalled 3 times, it still keeps freezing.""

"The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants has expressed its concern over the depiction of Niko in GTA IV, worrying the game could make life hard for Eastern Europeans.

"The figures show that East European immigrants are not proportionately responsible for any increase in crime," a spokesperson said to The Times. "This plays on untrue stereotypes."

The Grand Theft Auto series is no stranger to allegations of racism and stereotyping.

In November 2003, Cuban and Haitian groups in ..."

"What's that you say? GTA IV's only been out for a few hours, and already the internet's decided that both the PS3 and 360 versions are broken? That's what many forums - as well as many of our readers - would have you believe, with reports of the game locking up during/following the game's first cutscene, an error so severe you apparently have to unplug your console at the wall. Shades of Bully on 360, perhaps?"

"Finally Grand Theft Auto IV is in the shops, and the race is on to achieve Niko's American dream and get the key to Liberty City.
We know GTA IV's missions can get very tough at times, so here's our day one, no-nonsense guide to every mission in the game. Good luck.
...
Ivan's a pretty ropey driver, so the tough bit of this mission's chasing him across the rooftops. Chase him in car, across rooftops, stamp on his hands or let him go. This might affect what happens later, though..."

"Stepping off a boat in the shoes of illegal immigrant Niko Bellic as he arrives in Liberty City at the start of Grand Theft Auto IV, you can tell immediately that Rockstar North's latest offering is something quite special. Yes, this is another GTA game in which you'll likely spend the bulk of your time stealing cars and gunning down cops and criminals, but it's also much more than that. GTAIV is a game with a compelling and nonlinear storyline, a game with a great protagonist who you can't h..."

"I spoke to an employee of UPS over the weekend, and he told me that a surprising amount of workers were getting busted stealing the game from the shipment boxes. In one 24-hour period, three workers were fired, and more interviews were scheduled for today that would likely end in termination.

I asked if this was common when big-name games were released, and he told me no; the situation was novel, or he wouldn't have brought it up at all. The game was enticing enough for many workers to ris..."

"We know you can't wait to get your hands on this sandbox, action-adventure game; even the Guinness World Records has announced that it is keeping an eye on GTA IV to see if it will gain more gaming milestones upon its release.

Taking around US$ 100 million to make, Grand Theft Auto 4 is easily one of the most anticipated games of today, spurring controversies here and there. This is why Guinness World Records is wise to take notice. Besides, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been a proven..."

"When Niko Bellic steps into a New York cityscape next week, he does so with the potential to become a defining figure of our times.

This grim-faced ex-soldier will visit prostitutes and casually run down pedestrians, helping to redefine the generational divide between outraged parents and their teenagers who cannot wait to spend hours exploring Bellic’s seedy world of drugs and gangsters.

Even before his arrival there is consternation at the ethnicity of the source of the mayhem — t..."

"LOS ANGELES — There's no Burger King tie-in or special flavor of Mountain Dew. No commercial directed by Peter Jackson, or even an action figure.

The run-up to "Grand Theft Auto IV" has been considerably less ballyhooed than last year's over-the-top "Halo 3" debut.

Yet when "GTA IV" parks on store shelves on April 29, the latest entry in the controversial video game franchise could be the most lucrative launch in entertainment history — and one that many people may not even know about."

"Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games referring to itself as "the purveyors of video gaming pleasure," has done it again, releasing another video game that contains extreme sexual and violent content. Take-Two, is anticipating $400 million in sales in just one week with its anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto IV tomorrow, April 29th. The Entertainment Software Rating Board ("ESRB") rates this game an "M" for "Mature," appropriate for ages 17 and up. Retailers are not ..."

"IGN.com just came out with its review of "Grand Theft Auto IV" and it's a perfect 10 rave.

I want to note up front that I haven't played much of "GTA IV" yet, so I have absolutely no basis to claim it's not a 10. The bits of it I have seen in previews are really good. So I'm not at all accusing IGN of being dishonest in this particular case.

HOWEVER... what the hell is with the concept of an "exclusive review?" Is anyone else as troubled by this entire concept as I am?

I just got an ..."

Four new videos of the highly anticapted game by Rockstar, GTA IV. Here is one of the videos:


The other videos are located in the source.

Firstly please for forgive me for yet ANOTHER article about GTAIV but with only a day left, it seems obvious why there's such an influx of these...

This time I'm bringing two pieces of news. Firstly that you can actually activate cheats via your Mobile Phone by phoning certain numbers... and secondly that phoning these numbers can block Achievements stopping you from getting the full Gamerscore...

Could the same be true for the Playstation 3 Entitlements?

Oh and I've added a screens...

Head on down to your nearest tw@t cafe, and type in www.whattheydonotwantyoutoknow.com and you'll find a plethora of maps... what do the maps show? Well they show locations of three items Pigeons, Armours, Weapons, Unique Stunts, Health Pick ups, Entertainment Areas, AND MORE... images of some of the maps follow...

With only a couple hours till it's released, it's not suprising that GTAIV is being featured on BBC News with the ever present, over-mention of the violence in the game...

It was bound to be made sooner or later, and well... here it is. IGN Insider have put up a video comparing the XBOX360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV to the PS3 of the game, and comments are made along the way...

To summarise those comments in short, the PS3 version has faster loading time, whilst the XBOX360 has more vibrant colours. But take a look at the video yourself and judge it yourself...

Note: Due to some mix-up at GameTrailers, you'll have to go to the source to view the video...

"The most eagerly awaited videogame since CJ rolled through the streets of Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Ventura, is finally upon us with the worldwide release of GTA4. Marking the series' first appearance on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, after an agonising delay, Rockstar North's latest opus arrives to an unparalleled level of fanboy hysteria, boardroom expectations, and mainstream controversy - surely, it's going to be bigger than anything that's come before?

Taking the centre role th..."

"A video game in which players can buy cocaine, visit strip clubs, shoot police and set people on fire has been censored for New Zealand - but thousands are still expected to queue up when the game goes on sale at midnight tomorrow.
The censorship of Grand Theft Auto IV has forced the country's largest online retailer of games to cancel $50,000 worth of advance orders.
Gameplanet Store's website was inundated with orders from Australia this month for the violent gangster epic after it was re..."

"Game-industry critics object to any overt or implied elements of sex or racism that crop up in the course of play. Often, the gaming community's knee-jerk defense against these critics is to contend that they don't know what they're talking about. In many cases, this is true. But in their haste to polish their pet medium's reputation, gamers ignore the other side of the coin — namely that, in some instances, the bluenoses have a point.
The truth is that some games are irresponsible in rega..."

"Enter one of the following codes during game play. A small box will appear to confirm correct code entry. Note: The following codes should be considered unconfirmed until the retail version of the game is available.

Weapons tier 1 Press R1, L2, R2, L1, Up, Down, Left, Right, Up.

Weapons tier 2 Press R1, L2, R2, L1, Right, Down, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left, Up.

Weapon tier 3 Press R1, L2, R2, L1, Right, Down, Left, Up, Right, Down, Left, Up, Right(2).

Run quickly Press R1(2), Left,..."

"We already expect Rockstar North to hit it big with Grand Theft Auto 4 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3), but it's not a well known fact how much money it cost developing the behemoth of open-world games across three and a half years. Interesting enough, GTA 4 could very well be the most expensive video game to make in history.

Leslie Benzies, Rockstar North president and producer of Grand Theft Auto 4, reportedly made a wild guess saying it took around US$ 100 million to build the ..."

So the results are in, and to no one's surprise GTA IV is being touted as an incredible game, with an immersive story, impressive graphics, a fairly good multiplayer mode, and a whole lot more.

GameTrailers reinforces this with their review of the game, leading to a 9.8/10 score, and very few complaints.

"Here are the best Grand Theft Auto IV Xbox 360 screenshots you'll find anywhere. They are sorted by latest first, and grouped by the date they were uploaded, so you can easily see what's fresh."

Theres nothing much to say but 18 new videos! The first one shows a good old shootout which looks pretty good. The next one showing us a threesome with two strippers. Then the third one shows us a tour of the helicopter.

The game is almost out and your just itching to get the game and more news could only help that anticipation right? Well, the newest video is out and it gives us a real taste of the amazing physics that are in the game, with these stellar car crashes.

"PC
Baseball Mogul 2009, Iron Man

PS2
Iron Man, SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1

PS3
Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition, Grand Theft Auto IV, Iron Man

Xbox 360
Grand Theft Auto IV Special Edition, Grand Theft Auto IV, Iron Man

Wii
Iron Man, Mario Kart Wii

DS
Brain Voyage, Iron Man, Toy Shop

PSP
Iron Man, SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1"

"Even if you haven't been in a Blockbuster store in a while, you probably remember the importance of that "new release" outer wall. I know when I was a kid, before Netflix and before Xbox Live video downloads (the two ways I rent movies today), going to Blockbuster on a Friday and scanning the outer walls for anything new and exciting to bring home and watch that weekend was always a big and exciting event (surmise what you will of my social life as a child).

That's why it's a pretty big de..."

"If you're one of the excited folks who managed to pre-order Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto 4 (Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360) from GameStop, then there's something that you might like to know about. According to some gamers, GameStop informed customers during the pre-order call to go to the score 6 hours before the game's launch on Monday night.

Here is part the supposed automated voice message from GameStop confirming the pre-order:

...We invite you join us early at 6:00pm to particip..."

"Thompson may be confusing the ESRB ad guidelines with a 2002 report on the marketing of media violence by the Federal Trade Commission which addressed limiting the advertising of M-rated games in media where children constitute a specific percentage of the potential audience. The FTC report notes that the video game industry has a self-regulatory standard prohibiting print ads when children comprise more than 45% of the likely audience."

"Video game sales prognosticators predict that Grand Theft Auto IV will sell some 9 to 12 million copies this year, lining the pockets of Take-Two execs and Rockstar Games employees. It may also help the PlayStation 3, at least more so than the Xbox 360, says Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. It's not just him, either, as BMO Capital Markets' Edward Williams thinks GTA's PlayStation heritage may inspire some to drop the cash on a new PS3.

Sony probably doesn't have much to worry about..."

"Grand Theft Auto III was a revolutionary title, one that inspired a whole new generation of 3D action games. Grand Theft Auto IV is just as big a leap forward, though perhaps in subtler ways, and sets a new benchmark for open-world games. Everything in GTA IV works in harmony. The story would be nothing without the city; the city gains realism from the physics engine; the physics compliment the improved AI; the AI would make no sense without the new cover system. And on and on. There is no on..."

"Get a glimpse of the man you're going to be spending a lot of time with."

"Grand Theft Auto IV baby! It’s the game of the year no matter how you spin it. Seriously, what else are you looking forward to (Metal Gear Solid 4)? Although, this M rated masterpiece begs the question: how do the youngins get their play on? Surely they’ll get carded at the gates of GameStop, leaving them with no way to experience Niko’s hustle through the newly revamped streets of Liberty City. Why waste that expensive marketing campaign and all that street hype on just the big kids? Well, T..."

"Well, OK, yes. As a series, Grand Theft Auto has always been heaped with accolades from critics and fans - and for the most part, it's deserved them. But take a step back from the open-world approach and rampant criminality for a second, and ask yourself: deep down, is the series really as smart as it's given credit for? Or has the freedom to get into firefights with Florida retirees blinded us to its shortcomings?

With Grand Theft Auto IV set to redefine the series' tone and sense of smar..."

"Multiple comments and rumors are circulating around the internet that involve people arguing about which console will have the better version of Grand Theft Auto IV. Comments made by Adriaan on the website yesterday were blown way out of proportion. Both versions of the game offer an unparalleled experience. Both versions offer superior graphics. Both versions will have excellent online capabilities. After playing both versions for hours myself, I can attest to this."

For those who can't wait until next Tuesday, another gameplay video of Grand Theft Auto IV has been posted online. The footage again comes from the leaked Xbox 360 version of the game, but is of decidedly higher quality than previous efforts.

Included is a capture of the initial loading process, shown for just under a minute upon game boot. The name of what appears to be the last completed mission is shown in the bottom right corner. There are no other load screens in the game.

Grand Th...

"Heroes, cities and decades change, but in the world of Grand Theft Auto, the hard-working hooker will forever remain. No matter what the year or console, we can always count on her to patrol our virtual streets.

Isn't it time, then, that this beloved gaming icon received the spotlight she deserves? And more importantly, isn't it fun to laugh at really cruddy last-gen graphics? We think so - which is why we've rounded up every prostitute we could find and pitted them against each other in a..."

"A few days ago a couple of our forum regulars received “order dispatched” emails from the e-tailers in which they had bought GTA IV. We thought this sounded a little worrying: while we are sure e-tailers such as dstore.com.au and dvdcrave.com.au informed Australia Post’s finest not to deliver anything before April 29, our experience with those lads and their little mopeds is anything but stellar. Late, very late and often marked with a tyre tread or footprint is how we get most of our parc..."

"GTA IV isn’t even out yet and Rockstar are talking about the future and what’s next for their games. Sam Houser, co-founder of Rockstar, has been speaking on the trials and tribulations on working with both consoles and how that’s going to impact future development.

Speaking to 1up.com Houser commented, “One of the problems with the 360, and it affects games like Grand Theft Auto if you think about how much content we put in the actual machine, is the fact that they don’t have a significan..."

Someone has posted a video of GTAIV's gameplay (360) containing footage of Niko running around, stealing a couple cars and fighting some unlucky peds. Not the best quality, but check it out. :)

"Video game retailers don't often take explicit sides in the console wars, and why should they? A retailer makes largely the same money selling a copy of a PS3 game as selling the same game on the Xbox 360. So it struck us as a little odd that Amazon is currently promoting the questionable proposition that Grand Theft Auto IV is "meant to be played on the PS3" on the front page of its Video Games section."

"At approximately 1:45AM EST the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV was leaked onto the internet. According to our X3F tipsters, who better plan on actually buying the game, thousands of users are leeching the 6.36 GB potential game of the year candidate. The release is a rip of the PAL version, specifically from the Asian market, and comes a mere six days before retailers place the game on store shelves.

We don't want to get on our soapbox here but we hope our readers would shy away f..."

"When Microsoft announced its multimillion deal with Rockstar for exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV, many predicted that this would provide a significant incentive for gamers to choose the Xbox 360 version of the game over the PlayStation 3 version. But Australian presale figures seem to be telling a different story, with major retailers contacted by GameSpot AU today saying that the PS3 version was currently in the lead."

"Washington (eCanadaNow) - According to Rockstar cofounder Dan Houser, the company has no plans or interest to make a feature film based on the Grand Theft Auto series. This comes as rumors continue that a movie will be made based around the upcoming release of GTA IV on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Rockstar cofounder Houser spoke to Variety in an interview, stating that they have no interestin a GTA movie adaptation.

He stated that "We try and protect" the intellectual property.

He stated ..."

"Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.) today confirmed the release of an official Grand Theft Auto IV bundle exclusively for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™).The bundle, available on May 1, 2008, will consist of a PLAYSTATION®3 40GB model, a SIXAXIS™ wireless controller and a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest title in the genre-defining Grand Theft Auto franchise, all for just $749.95 (RRP).
"We are delighted to offer the millions of PS3 and GTA fans the ultimate gaming package," sai..."

"Boston (dbTechno) - According to Rockstar founder Sam Houser, the graphics of Grand Theft Auto IV will be different on the PS3 and Xbox 360. It seems that GTA IV will have a different look to it whether you play it on the Xbox 360 or PS3. There is no word yet as to which version will be superior though in terms of visuals.

Houser stated to 1UP.com that “The 360 games have a certain look to them, PS3 games have a certain look to them.”

He stated that in his mind, they are “neck and ne..."

As previously speculated by Swedish retailer, Webhalen that a Playstation 3 Grand Theft Auto 4 Bundle was on the way. Well Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today have come out and confirmed that there will be one and it is going to be priced at 439 (£353, $700). The bundle is going to consist of a Playstation 3 40GB model, a SIXAXIS wireless controller and a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV and is said to save consumers a small but better then nothing 25 (£20, $40).

This however as it has...

"Dear Mrs. Zelnick:

Your son, as you may know (or maybe you don’t know), is Chairman of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., whose most popular video games are the Grand Theft Auto murder simulator games banned in some countries but sold to children here.

Your son last week was reported to have said the following about Grand Theft Auto IV, due to be released Tuesday, April 29: “We’ve already received numerous [GTA IV] reviews, and to a one, they are perfect scores. My mom couldn’t wr..."

"You might have noticed that a little game going by the title GTA 4 is due out in just over a week. Even if you haven't been caught up in the euphoric hype across every gaming forum on the internet, chances are you've seen the trailer on TV, seen a 10/10 review in a magazine or heard people talking about it at work. To say Grand Theft Auto 4 is hyped is quite possibly the understatement of the year, with people expecting the game to be what dreams are made of. The problem is, can it, or any hi..."

"On Attack of the Show! tonight, Kevin announced that G4 will be showcasing the first ever gameplay footage of Grand Theft Auto IV this Sunday at 12pm EST. This will be the first time real gameplay of the title has ever been shown to the public (as in someone actually playing it, not a video featuring crazy camera angles and carefully edited cutscenes), so if you wanna see how it looks before you pick it up, be sure to tune in. I am struggling to decide, as I will be picking up my limited edit..."

"But we all know that won’t prevent everyone under 17 from getting their hands on the game.
I recently talked to three teenagers who have owned and played “GTA” since well before the age of 17 — with and without their parents’ permission — about their past experiences with “GTA” games.
One 15 year-old told me his parents don’t allow him to play M-rated games without their approval, and “GTA” is strictly off-limits. However, he acquired “San Andreas” though a game-trading website, and they do..."

"While Microsoft UK said last week that it was supporting the launch of GTA IV like it was Halo 3, it has also sent out a mail taking the piss out of the reported mandatory five-minute install time on the PlayStation 3 version.



“I’m sure you’ve all seen the chatter… on the PS3 install time… just a few thoughts on what you could do in this time if you were actually playing the 360 version from the moment you insert the disc....



• Steal your first dozen or so cars and test ..."

"Rockstar has been spending big bucks on GTA IV advertisements lately, and with the release date just a week away, a brand new mural has appeared in Downtown Los Angeles. Possibly the largest GTA IV mural to date, the massive paintings are located on the side of the Hotel Figueroa at the corner of Figueroa St. and Olympic Blvd."

"Can you think of anything bigger than the launch of GTA 4 on April 29? We sure can't and we're already putting together our plan for how to best play the game while also getting some work done. We want you guys to get the most out of the game too though, so we've put together our Top 10: Ways To Survive GTA 4. Our simple to follow 10 steps will get you prepared for the big day and get you through it without incident. So panic no more, GTA 4 wonderment is just around the corner and we've got y..."

"Both these deals are selling at a huge discount to the recommended retail prices of their constituent parts – Microsoft is basically giving away Halo 3 for free.

This is further proof that Microsoft is taking the release of GTA IV very, very, seriously, and views its launch as a make-or-break moment for the Xbox 360."

"Sure, PlayStation 3 has free online play, but Microsoft's Xbox Live is a premium service that allows for user-friendly match making and features a robust online community. Besides, it's much easier to locate friends and communicate with them. Considering that most of our closest buddies have Xbox 360s, it just makes sense to stick with that platform instead of playing lone ranger with Sony's black monolith."

""Ok, thats great news but when are you guys gonna ship?"
As predicted by myself and many others months ago, Take2 sent us a street date agreement that we have had to sign which means we cannot ship until Monday next week, this also includes an embargo on staff getting copies either paid for or free so alot of us are in same position.

When will we be charged for the game?
We are going to charge customers accounts over the weekend.

How will you guys ship the game?
As normal we will shi..."

"Regardless of where you sit in the console war, the dreaded Red Ring of Death (or RRoD) is an undeniable thorn in Microsoft’s side. We’ll probably never know just how nasty this gaming plague has been but local retailers have been claiming a return rate as high as 30% on the Xbox 360s they’ve sold. Certainly our office, and forums, are filled with victims cursing their luck: with a disturbingly high number of individuals enduring the sudden bricking of their machine on more than one occasion."

"And, just like that, CTA president Ron Huberman folded on the issue, telling Fox News through a representative that the ads would be removed.

It’s not the first time that Chicago’s buses have provided the setting for a GTA controversy. In 2004 Gov. Rod Blagojevich railed against transit ads for GTA San Andreas.

Over the years, GTA transit ads have come under fire in other cities as well. In 2006 Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and others forced the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) ..."

"You thought you could walk around listening to your own music on GTAIV? Not anymore.

One of the main features of the new Grand Theft Auto IV was going to be the ability to listen to music on your "Cellphone" while walking the streets. Rockstar has announced that they have removed this capability from the game. So it looks like it's back to stealing cars if you want to have any control over the music you will hear while playing Grand Theft Auto IV. All I can say is bummer."

"Grand Theft Auto IV's 29th April arrival on PS3 and 360 has been widely, not to mention voluminously heralded as the defining moment of this generation of consoles. Cruising around Liberty City in high definition on the biggest LCD television in the world, you can easily tell why: where Vice City and San Andreas were only able to extrapolate from the GTA III base - albeit to record-breaking effect - getting to know GTA IV is a steady sequence of pleasant surprises and sensible reconfiguration..."

"What is art? It’s a fairly straightforward question, yet it encompasses a limitless amount of correct answers. Art is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as the conscious use of skill and creative imagination, especially in the production of aesthetic objects. What happens then, when the physical aspect is removed?

The other day, I asked my friend’s father, one of the most level-headed people I know, if he considered film to be a form of art. I was hit with a rapid response confirming that ye..."

"Take Two Interactive just confirmed at the company's annual general meeting that Grand Theft Auto IV has gone gold. "Trucks are rolling next week and there will be a lot of them", the executive said, confirming that the game discs will be making their way to stores next week ahead of the game's release on April 29th."

"Riches, who's incarcerated for wire fraud, wrote in his filing that he seeks a temporary restraining order against the "newest Grand Theft Auto games."

The inmate stated, "Defendants contributed to Plaintiff committing identity theft. Defendant's games show sex, drugs and violence which offends me."

Riches continued, "Defendants put me in prison. I face imminent danger from violent inmates who played Grand Theft Auto who will knock me out and take my gold Jesus cross."

FCI Williamsbu..."

"Packs

Lair Deadly Dragons Pack SCEE (FREE)
Warhawk Operation: Broken Mirror Pack SCEE (£3.99)
Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta Konami Digital Ent (FREE)

Video

GTA IV: Trailer 4 ‘Everyone’s A Rat’ Rockstar (FREE)"

"Boston (dbTechno) - According to reports from the Future Publishing’s CVG GTA IV magazine, the new Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable content on the Xbox 360 could greatly expand the game. The rumors running rampant right now are that the exclusive Xbox 360 DLC for GTA IV will include a brand new city for the game.

Future Publishing put out their CVG GTA IV special, with the magazine focusing in on the biggest gaming release of the year on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

CVG states that the downlo..."

"The one thing I'll clarify is that my original preview text didn't specify a controller/system -- not sure why that got added in editing. we reviewed primarily on the 360, with spending some brief time with the PS3 version to compare. the rockstar guys told us they think that the PS3 looks slightly better , but it really was hard to tell.

we were too busy having fun trying to run tanker trucks into gas stations."