The cell phone has some smallish text. Although there appears to be a setting to change the text size. There are also options to change the ringer settings. That is the only really small text I've seen so far, but I'm only an hour into it.

Ok, i'm leaving it for today, i have enjoyed it a lot, and online is really fun for mass destruction.

Hmm... I know I did this before with The Show, and that I had it solved back then too. I'll do another check and follow your advice. Thanks!

Yes, it was the same also for NBA2k8 and College hoops.

No Safe For Work!!

GTA4 pron video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O51l7S7Sx3g

I'll say it again: GPS/Routing system is a great addition to the series. I hated having to pause, look at the map, and remember the route. Was that in San Andreas? It's been a while since I played that game, and now I'm second guessing if it was in that game as well or is new to this one? Either way, I'm enjoying it as I get to know the early part of the city.

Agree, it has been criticized by hardcore fans but i love it, i hated to get lost in past games. N ow if i want to go somewhere, i just set a checkpoint in the map and the gps draws the path.

Can he swim?

Bad news for some users:


http://kotaku.com/385183/rockstar-su...e-fix-in-sight

I see in some Ps3 forums people saying that they have horrible framerate problems and 5 to 20 seconds freezes, but to my surprise the game plays perfectly for me and have zero framerate issues and no freezes in 5 hours of gaming. I have not checked 360 forums.

Yup and both the water and animations are incredible well done.

Well looky what just came in the mail. Of course, I'm supposed to be working some OT tonight. :(

Some of the TV Shows are absolutely hilarious - better than writing on real TV shows.

I'm having the same problem, I guess. I load the disc, and the Rockstar logos that come up are extremely blurry, then it won't load anything else. Very frustrating.

Which version?

I'm pretty sure Saint's Row was the first one to implement that GPS system, and it's wonderful.

I've put several hours in on it(PS3) and haven't had any freezes yet and the framerate has been ok. GTA has always had it's bad framerate moments but nothing that is bothering me yet.

Enjoying it so far. I've actually been doing almost solely missions so far. I usually fiddle around for hours and hours just doing odd stuff and end up never finishing the game so I'm going to try to spend a bit more time focused on the missions themselves.

I'm hating melee combat..something about it is just wonky. I haven't done enough shooting yet to decide on that but I think the cover element is a nice addition.

Soundtrack is not what I expected either. They seem to have went back to being a little more obscure, as I haven't ran across a song I've actually heard before yet apart from the Marley station.

15 people viewing this thread? Crazy.

I'm at around 5-6 hours of gametime. Pretty wild stuff. Hopefully I can get more into the multiplayer. The free mode is crazy.

Never really liked GTA before, but I can see why it's so popular. It's so polished.

And it's so hilarious too. The TV & radio have me laughing like crazy. I wish most TV shows were this funny :)

40 GB ps3. Most of the things I've read said its the 60 gb that has a problem. I updated the system, and still nothing. Maybe a bad disc?

Completely agreed, Calis. I'm not a fan of the melee combat. I died 2 times on the first mission that used it, and it is going to take some getting used to. However, the 3rd time through, I did string together some nice combos and didn't even get touched. I haven't gotten to shooting yet, since I also tend to do all kinds of side things.

I've been watching TV shows for an hour now. Hilarious stuff as I just posted. Kingneb, they were never this detailed before. The radio was always good, but the TV shows are on a whole new level. :)

During what I'm assuming is the install screen, all the words are extremely blurry - to the point I can barely read them - and it looks like that screen is "repeating" on the botton third of my television and flashing. I can see the background changing, but it is all blurred as well. I can also hear music. Then it gets to the cut scene intro, and it is only playing on the top half of my screen, and is still extremely blurred. The bottom half of my screen is pink and white static.

I think my system is fine, since The Show plays beautifully. Very angry, particulary since I'm not saavy as to how to make "easy fixes" that might work.

Just experienced my first freeze-up.

Other than that, game is going well, when do the bridge barracades come down? I am anxious to get to the next clothing shop, my guy still looks like a goof with track pants.

Don't lie .. You thought to yourself, "did they image my closet?" at the Russian store.

The official forums are full of threads complaining about the freezes on both consoles, probably 80% of the threads are about that, so i guess Rockstar will try to find a solution as this is not something rare but common it seems.

I hate freezing issues. I've dropped games because of annoying glitches and freezing, since I hate replaying parts of games. I like moving forward at all times, not having just wasted the last hour because I haven't saved in awhile.

This might be the greatest piece of swag I have ever recieved for a game release:

So what's special about the special edition?

I don't know, I liked the Castlevania DS package to name a recent release. I bought one of those things for a couple bucks in New York last year. Of course it didn't say GTA IV and had a prescription pill bottle or whatever that is...

I'm talking about the stuff game publishers send me as promos, not the stuff they give away at retail.

Most of the time the promo swag is pretty useless, although occasionally some cool stuff comes in. The Statue of Happiness will fit right in on my gaming bobbleheads shelf. :)

Dola,

That would be...a cup of "hot coffee." :D

I just saw a GTA 4 commercial, and it flashed at the end "download exclusive episodes on the XBOX 360 starting in the fall." Or something close to that.

I just picked up a copy for the 360, hoping to play a bit later tonight. I'm a little afraid to open it after hearing about all this freezing up and stuff though.

To elaborate, my freeze-up occured right before I entered a flashing icon, and I didn't lose anything because everytime you complete a mission it saves anyway... all I lost was a taxi ride.

BTW, taxis are mega convenient. I read that once the entire map is unlocked, from east-to-west it would take you 1 real-time hour to travel the entire length. The taxis are nice for not having to waste time driving to points on a map.

This game has been a blast. Been playing for a few hours now. My only complaint would be that the game seems a lot easier than previous versions. I've nailed almost every mission on the first try and the cops don't put up much of a fight, even when I've built up 4+ stars.

Michelle kicked my ass at bowling. I wanted to slap the bitch.

I have to add that the amount of detail that goes into these games is mesmerizing. Every turn there is something new whether it's a funny advertisement or actual full blown TV shows. I just can't get over how much time they spend on the details. This company always lives up to the hype, they are truly what gaming should be about.

I'm not so sure about this. I was playing Free Mode with some friends. You start in the NW most portion of the Western Island. Me and another guy got into a car and drove all the way over to the other side of the map to get a heli and it only took about 10 minutes.

Well it's just what I read. Has anyone gotten to the middle of the map yet?

I went down to Target and picked one up today. Played only about an hour and a half, but had a blast :).

This makes me really want a PS3. Hopefully getting Mario Kart Wii tomorrow will be able to keep me distracted for a while.

For some reason the game is too big for my screen. I have a 1080i TV that is big (53 inches). It's an older HDTV so I'm not sure if there is something to the older TVs. If I go into the settings and set it for 480p widescreen, it works, but not as crisp. My TV won't change aspect ratios when playing the game on 1080i either. It's not a huge deal, but cuts off half the dollar amount and part of the cell phone.

Anyone with any idea why this is happening?

I have a similar problem. Older HDTV as well. I have the 360 version. I haven't tried 480p widescreen.

Apparently others are having the issue as well, especially on CRTs:

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=336487

Need help already!

It has been the case for me with several games on the 360, with my 'older' HDTV that is 53" (I am wondering if you have a projection Panasonic?). I have had it on 1080i for a long time and there are just some games that seem to be a little stretched. Mess with your TVs picture position, which you should be able to adjust during a game. Try to get it balanced enough so that you can see enough, that is what I do with mine.

dola- didn't even post what I came here for.

My wife went out and bought another 360. We will use it until ours is fixed and return it. :D Not supposed to be a problem, even open, but it will barely look like it has been opened either. I still haven't heard if my old one can be fixed yet, so if it can't then we keep it.

Have had the game on for 5 hours now :D and no problems with any lock ups.

THis game is everything I hoped for so far, and more I think.

Btw, possible fix for those with the freezes, disconnect from the network as it fixes the freezes and framerate problems for a lot of users that had them.

I have forgotten how to do this or missed it when they showed it.

When you fail a mission, there is an icon that pops up over your mini map. What button(s) do you press to be able to repeat the mission right away?

Up to bring the phone, then go to messages to see the sms that asks about repeating the mission.

I played for about an hour just to get the feel last night - I definitely like it so far and enjoy the story. I'm sure I'll stick to the story quite a bit and I REALLY need to get used to the driving.

Get the strategy guide, this may help. ;)

My game doesn't arrive 'til 3pm today, I'll be getting a guide at lunch so I can read through.

Some initial impressions.............

-I think the reviewers for this game were suffering from 'Mario review score boosting syndrome'. Far too many people bought into the hype. There is no way that this game should get a 10 for graphics. COD4 is a 10. This game is not.

-The level of detail in regards to all the different things that you can do is well done. Can't say enough about that. TV, radio, entertainment locations.......all very nice.

-Some of the missions are VERY boring. The melee combat seems more like the fighting mini-games in the EA NHL series......just keep smashing buttons. The firing mechanism is a bit better.

-The people on the street have ridiculously stupid AI. Really disappointed in that, as Rockstar had promised lots of individual intelligence amongst the residents of the city.

-There's nothing more fun that running over a group of people. Carnage. Tell Jack Thompson I'm ready to do it in the real world now that I have some training.

-I couldn't play for more than an hour or two at a time without getting motion sick. I've seen that mentioned on other boards and someone mentioned it in this thread as well.


Overall, the game is a lot of fun. I'm positive that it should not be receiving the perfect scores that reviewers are giving it as there are some graphics issues, but it's very worthy of AAA status.

I should mention that I have a 60 GB launch PS3 and have had no freeze-up issues. I think that Rockstar is going to find that it's not just one model on either system that is causing the problem.

I sucked at bowling, too.

Interesting. I think Cringer is not connected to the internet, and my 360 has had issues staying connected so I have disconnected it unless I'm trying to play a MP game. I wonder if the freeze up is related to the online issues. Regardless, I played about 5 hours yesterday and it was smooth as butter with no freeze ups. :)

They mentioned taking a taxi when I was hammered at one point. I ended up just driving drunk (insanely fun). But for reference, how do you get into a taxi without carjacking it? Just kinda walk up to one and wait?

Hold down the button to get into the car instead of just tapping it like you usually do to get in a car you're stealing.

Cool thanks. Only 9 or so hours to go before I can get back to it.

The Mario games get high scores because they are really, really good. Sorry if that bothers you.

As far as the graphics go, I think it depends on your frame of reference. COD4 didn't try to do what GTA is doing so comparing the two on graphics alone isn't that fair. COD4 was a linear game. You have to go here to get to here. There may be two ways around a building on occasion, but you aren't going to wander around the city either. COD4 was also an extremely short game (under 10 hours to complete the full game)

GTA has a full city to render. It also has probably 50 or 60 hours of gameplay after the mini games are completed. (if not more) So Rockstar built a game with a city you can run around in along with 50 to 60 hours worth of gameplay.

Considering all of that, I think the graphics are pretty damned good. I'd have little hesitation giving the graphics a 9.5 to 10. YMMV I guess.

since the driving controls aren't real tight like in the Gran Turismo series or Forza, how horrible do you drive when you're drunk? i didn't go into any bars or anything, i split my time between playing single player and playing online. i shudder to think how sloppy one drives while drunk in the game cuz i drive really sloppy as-is.

the way the driving control is, its almost a given you're gonna smash into people or into things. one thing i kinda wished was for the police to be more strict. i shouldn't be able to run a red light passing right by a cop. and there's no need to stop at red lights. that's one of the gripes i've always had about GTA series - they make it so that you're this sole person who is running amok with no regard for getting in trouble. that should be the case in some type of Free Mode, but for a single player campaign mode they should really try to amp up the need to walk the line a bit.

really fun game, i wasn't expecting on playing the single player as long as i did.

I agree with MBBF (this doesn't happen often). I played for a couple hours last night, and while I had fun, this should not be a 10.0 game. I see it as a 9.0 or 9.5.

It's a decent argument. If anything, the graphics on GTA4 lend credence to the comment by the Metal Gear Solid creator. He stated that he wanted to do so much more with the game, but didn't have the horsepower on the console to do it. Judging from the results in this game, I'd say there's a lot of room for growth in regards to console horsepower.

I do disagree that an extended amount of gameplay should excuse the average graphics level. That is taken into consideration in the overall score of a review. Strictly judging the quality of the graphics, there's no question that they're not a 10. A reviewer that gives this game a 10 for graphics is being blinded by the hype.

FYI......GTA1 and GTA2 had cops that would pull you over for running a red light. GTA3 was the first one that switched up the AI of the cops to where you could run red lights in front of them. While I do agree with you, consider the alternative. A game which pulled you over every time you ran a red light in front of a cop or every time you hit someone would become very tedious.

Just a quick question. I assume if you ignore calls and missions they just wait for you? So far I have done everything I've been asked, but tonight I will probably drive around and explore.

Horrible.

If I had to drive 25 mph and not hit anything, I'd put the game down and wouldn't bother with it.

I understand what you are saying, but the alternative is far, far worse to me. I'll take the loss in realism or immersion for the ability to get to my missions quickly.

There is an option on your phone to go into "sleep mode" When you do this, the missions stop and you don't get bothered by phone calls.

well, that's not to say you can't run red light at all, or hit anyone. in real life the cops aren't everywhere. i'm just saying if i see a cop is at a corner, i shouldn't be able to gun it and scream "THUG LIFE" as i run the red light while they sip their coffee. the game should make you have to walk the tightrope between having to do what you need to do to complete a mission while also living within the framework of society. in real life if i was gonna do a hit on someone i would keep as low a profile as possible. if i wanted to beat someone up i'd do it in an alleyway. if i hit someone on the street and a cop is present i should have to run like hell to get away. how would that be tedious? it's tedious to obey the law but we do it.

this could all be excused in a sandbox, free type of mode. but for the storyline itself there should be some measure of order and structure and discipline.

Maybe that's what he's saying... the GTAIII series and GTAIV is getting high scores because they are really, really good ;).

For the folks who have gotten to the mission "Ivan the not so terrible"

Thanks.

I'd actually agree that the Mario games are really, really good and I'd also agree that the GTA games are really, really good. But the perfect scores are reserved for the best games. We're splitting hairs here. GTA4 is a AAA title, but it's definitely doesn't warrant a perfect score in any way.

i totally agree, i guess that's why i've never been able to finish a GTA game. after one day of running over people or smashing into every car that gets rather repetitive. they cease to be people and cars at that point, they're just things in my path. after a point you smash into a car and it doesn't even phase you anymore. hard to feel like you're in a breathing city when everytime you have to go somewhere the bodies start stacking up and its mass carnage and hysteria. it shouldn't be "oh, i'll go bowl with Michelle now, i guess there's gonna be some dead people in the streets."

i know its hard to do and i'm obviously in the minority, but they work so hard to make this city seem so real and then the gamer is just allowed to crap all over it. who cares about whether the graphics are worth a 9 or a 10, when you got to get somewhere quickly you're gonna fly down the streets running over everything in your path and not stop to enjoy the great graphics and detail of the city anyway.

This goes to the argument I was making earlier about them not making this "too realistic". If it was that realistic I (and many others I'm sure) would be bored out of my mind playing this game. If I had to stop at the red lights, let granny cross the street, park on the correct side, blah blah - booooooooooring.

I beat her at bowling. Maybe that's why she didn't sleep with me on our first date. I tried calling a few minutes after I dropped her off, but she said she was tired and had to get up early.

This is too realistic. :)

I always find it funny when I bust up a car on the way over to pick up the girlfriend. I got to her place and the hood was busted up along with a window and the quarter panels. She walked over, got in, and started chatting away like she didn't even notice it was in pieces. Granted, it's easier for them to not build in additional girlfriend AI where she notices those kind of things, but it amuses me to no end.

Similarly, she keeps telling me 'nice car' each time without noting that I have a new car every few days. But she always asks me if Roman is involved with bad people. Yeah, Roman's a bad guy and I just like buying cars...........

I must admit that I actually try my best not to hit any cars or people when I'm driving around the city. Hell, I've actually even stopped at a couple of red lights. What's wrong with me?

I beat her 52 to 21.

On our next date, I picked her up on a motorcycle. Driving to the Bowling Alley, I hit a car in the rear and she went flying down the street. She got scared and said she would find her way home.

I try not to either, but I still drive balls to the walls. Getting even a 1-star wanted level sucks because you have to run away.

I drive nicer when I have a lady in the car.

To me perfect encompasses a lot of things. It doesn't just include how polished the game is. Bugs, clipping, etc. can lower a score, but they don't HAVE to lower the score. There are a lot of factors involved:

1) Is the game fun? Very simple question here. Do you laugh while you play it? Do you have a lot of come out of your seat moments? Do you want to keep coming back for more?

2) How pretty does it look? How does it match up to other games in it's own genre. (comparing what GTA does to COD4 is a joke. Comparing GTA to THE SHOW isn't fair. It does a lot more) The comparison is a game like Crackdown or Saints Row.

3) The controls.

4) Overall scope of the game. How much is there to do? How detailed is it? How long will I spend playing the game?

5) Multiplayer - For some this is huge. Not so much for me, but it's mandatory for others.

6) Does it change the genre or add to it in any meaningful way?

GTA is a 20 o nthe fun scale. It looks pretty damned good compared to it's competition. It has decent, not great controls. It's ridiculously deep and detailed. I doubt more than 5% of all gamers will end up watching every tv clip, listen to every radio station or play every mission. It's a lot of fun in MP. It doesn't revolutionize the genre, but it adds to it quite a bit.

There is this attitude among a lot of gamers that a 10 should be absolute perfection. I don't buy into that. The problem with video game scoring isn't the times a 10 is given out. (95% of the people who play Bioshock, Resistence, GTAIV or the like are going to love the game)

The problem is when you get just a bit lower. It's the huge glut of scores in the 6-8 range that kill reviews. Reviewers seem to use the schoolastic gague of scoring. 70% is average. 50% is a fail. 90% is an A. Problem is they use a 1-10 or 1-10 scale which means 5 should be average. In actuality, if a game gets a ton of reviews in the 5 range, you should run, because the game is beyond horrible. If a game is a 7, you should be VERY concerned about it even being an average game.

As of now. . . I'd put GTAIV between a 9 and a 10. The real test comes as I get deeper into the game. Do I still want to keep playing it? Do I still try to scrape out an hour before dinner to play it or am I going "Meh?" My guess is I will want to continue playing it and that it'll deserve the 10 it's getting from teh review sites.

Strange, I do too. I also drive nice on the way to her house or apartment. Probably the only time a civilian in GTA shouldn't be concerned when they see me behind the wheel. :)

I haven't played this yet, but I would like the cops to go back to the original GTA AI. I didn't find it tedious to stop at red lights if the cops were there. I remember Driver having the same sort of AI.

i stopped at one red light, don't feel bad. actually two red lights, but only cuz the cop car was there. then again, as soon as it turned green i hit the gas and smoked him.

he didn't want none of this.


the absolute most fun i've had in the GTA happened last nite. i jacked some guys car, was slow to get away so he comes running up to the car and right as i hit the gas he grabs hold of the handle and hangs on as i drive. i was dragging him around for a good 20 seconds until i stopped short and he let go....and got run over by an oncoming car. that's why this game is a perfect 10. i was actually rooting for the guy to hold on as long as he could during the 20 seconds. by far one of the top 3 gaming experiences i've ever had.

I just kept driving and drove the car right next to a street light. Guy smacked head-first into the pole and, for some strange reason, was unable to hold on anymore.

I did the exact same thing. Except I made sure I stopped short perpendicular to a building. Thud.

That reminds me, I'm not sure if this was in other editions but wow is being ejected through the windshield of a car cool. Also, I was on foot being chased by cops, and had wandered to one of the overpasses. Since I was close to dying I tried hopping over...except just as I got to the ledge, the golden bullet got me...which sent me flying.

I got to the 6-star wanted level when I tried walking through the police barracade at one of the bridges. Damn those SWAT trucks are pesky.

I had an interesting moment yesterday when I jacked this car, and I guess I jacked a hood's car, because it seems that he jacked someone else's car and was coming after me and slamming into me and wouldn't get off of my bumper.

Pretty sweet.

that is seriously awesome LOL :D

Either that or you just had a date with M GO BLUE end...

Yeah, for a moment I was really confused. I was like, WTF is this guy doing?! I'm trying to turn around, why is he keep knocking into me. Then I realized, oh crap, that's the guy I just jacked, and he's trying to get his car back!

this was so friggin awesome - i want to know if this happened to anyone else or if this was something unique: in the mission where you need to chase one of the characters (this happens too early in the game for it to be a real spoiler but i'll keep it as vague as i can) and you finally catch up to him, you need to chase him up some steps. by the time i caught up to him he was waiting for me in a room pretty high up. we start fighting and ended up close to the window and right as i was gonna beat him we both crashed through the window and fell all the way to the ground. fortunately i was able to live.

him? not so much.


LOL, that was awesome - happen to anyone else or did it play out differently that was equally as cool?

I took the knife out of his hand (though got stabbed a few times in trying to pull it off), and then I kind of punch/pushed him out the window, and he ended up hitting a bit of the roof below me and then went into the water and then he was dead while I was still in the building (I saw the whole fall from above).

That's nothing on our 2nd date driving home from playing pool the car got smashed up and was starting to burn up, so I jumped out and lett eh car coast away with her in it. She tried to get out once the car stopped, and BOOM the car blew up with her next to it, she burned up and died....

Until 2 days later when she called me and asked me to pick her up from the hospital! :D

I'm the type that can't make it 10 minutes in a FPS, Bioshock made me sick in minutes. I'm trying to sit a bit further away from the TV, and I bought some Ginger capsules from Wal-Mart and am taking a couple a day as per the directions to see if that has any impact on me.

LOL! That's awesome!

I used a cop car to scrape him off... oddly enough the cop didn't like that and gave chase. :)

i laughed reading this, must've been even funnier watching it.


"SAVE YOURSELF"

That's the kind of girl you stick with!

Yeah it was hilarious, this is when you wish there was a replay and a save option, my friend that was over and my wife got a kick out of it.

Hey, I let my cousin get beat up while I was picking up the girl on the first date. You don't have to convince me ;).

Hos before Bros? Well, to be fair, the cousin was a lying piece of shit... mansion my ass!!!

when i was driving her to the carnival on the board walk by the ferris wheel was two ramps , and we all know why those were put there, they weren't there for the view. it took everything - i mean EVERYTHING - to not hit the gas and send the car flying. i decided to be a gentleman and resisted the urge.

it was our 1st date, afterall.

I also threw the guy out of the window but I was able to remain in the room to watch.