Grand Theft Auto IV
 

Yeah, it's almost here. Release date is three weeks from today on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Microsoft has already paid $50M for exclusive downloadable content which is due later this year. Sony is responding with heavy marketing, including PS3-targeted advertising of GTA4 in Europe and North America. Also, GTA4 bundles are now starting to pop up in Europe........

http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=85742

I was a bit confused for a moment. :)

I considered Vice City as GTA IV, and San Andreas as GTA V. As it turns out, they're neither.

Stupid naming conventions.

Vice City is '3A' and San Andreas is '3B'. :)

Here's an interview of a reviewer who has already finished the game............

http://www.gamesradar.com/f/hes-fini...40412432960029

Screenshots of multiplayer mode in GTA4.............

The 29th can't get here quick enough.

wait, so how does MP work? is it a free for all? just mass frenzy and chaos?

From the previously linked article........

i just made pee pee in my underoos. YAY!

The latest issue of Official XBOX Mag has an article about GTAIV multiplayer. It sounds promising.

Does anyone know if the multiplayer is only available on-line? Can you use system link? Can you do it split-screen on one machine?

Whoa whoa. This multiplayer sounds kick ass. Can someone tell me if you can play on one console? Is this for 360 or PS3?

PS3/360.

Not sure about the system link part, but you can play online with 2 player split-screen. I believe you can also play a 4 player split-screen local game amongst friends.

Thanks! That would be pretty sweet.

i swear to God, the creator of the skies and the oceans - i'm going feral in this game. i am going to unleash the force and fury of godlessness in this game. pagans, piss, doom, explosions. i swear it.


i swear it.

*Waits until everyone in MP simply presses auto-aim and fires*

i'm sniping people. i don't even care about missions. i'm just going to shoot randomly and throw bombs around. missions are for soldiers. anarchy and pandamonium is for GTA.

i don't see how this game is gonna work online. there's gotta be some type of order or restrictions or its gonna be just people throwing their hands in the air and going buck buck like they just don't care.

FYI......today is the first day that sites can do previews of the multiplayer mode in GTA4, so there will likely be several previews published today. Here's one of the first ones.........

http://www.gametap.com/read/article/5481

I wasn't going to buy, but then I found out about MP

There are going to be a lot of people calling in sick when this game comes out.

Given the open ended awesomeness that is Grand Theft Auto, I'm not sure that'd be a bad thing really :D

Man, I just don't know what to do. The whole family loves this game, and we have been waiting. :D

I have it pre-ordered at Target, for the 360, which is broken. We were going to get a PS3 at sometime so we need to get the Target people to switch our 360 order to PS3, something they found to be confusing when we asked them the other day about doing it. Plus the 360 deluxe package is better then the PS3 pack.

Man, once GTA4 comes out the wait for the Metal Gear Solid bundle is going to be a bitch. Six long weeks...

Still haven't gotten my PS3, and I preordered GTA IV. Gonna be a long wait.

Whatever you do, do not freeze yourself. You end up waking up 500 years in the future and have to deal with logical science people and beavers.

hxxp://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103800/

I've never been a GTA fan, but I think I may have to get this one. The multiplayer stuff sounds pretty sweet. Still haven't heard any "official" confirmation of a straight-up sandbox mode that you can play co-op. That's one of the main things I'm looking for.

Plus the Cops & Robbers mode sounds pretty neat. 20 days away for those who are counting down :)

Early sell-through estimates to retailers indicate that Grand Theft Auto 4 should shatter Halo 3's opening week record. Over $400M in revenue is expected in the first week alone, which would surpass the $300M record of Halo 3.

http://www.thisis50.com/profiles/blo...Post%3A2762153

i concur with the info. I have really tightened the belt but saved a giftcard for this and pre-ordered already.

There arent many games Ill be buying this year but this is definitely one of them.

I've seen two reviews thus far, both of which gave perfect scores. Here's an online link to one.....

http://www.gtagaming.com/news/comments.php?i=1290

The other review was a print review in Xbox UK magazine. Here are the scans from that review...........

i may not even play the single player mode, i just want to run amok vs. other people. i still haven't finished COD4's single player mode, i normally play that when XBox Live is down.

Makes sense that this game will shatter Halo 3's record. More 360 users are available now and it is multiplatform so they have a larger user base. Not to mention, I think this game has a broader appeal period - some just like killing like HA, some just want to drive around and listen to the radio, some people like collecting the cars, etc. I'm pre-ordering it tomorrow after seeing the reviews and realizing that they appear to have fixed some of my biggest complaints from previous versions which I still enjoyed immensely.

I'll get the game, but I'm probably the only person in the world who's even more excited about Saints Row 2 (which is still a few months away).

I am excited for that as well, after all it has 'Limitless Customization,' and may be better then Maximum Football. ;) You can even make your character into a she-male from what I read.

I am excited about it, not for those reasons really though. I just saw those words on their site and laughed.

I like the open world genre, so I'm down with both games.

That and it's multi-platform vs Halo 3 which is Xbox 360 only.

Interesting rumor that 360's exclusive downloadable content will be entire additional cities. It seems unlikely, but it would help justify that hefty price tag that Microsoft paid:

http://kotaku.com/380938/grand-theft...g-whole-cities

Like you mentioned, that just doesn't seem very likely. To build additional content at that level (full cities) would require a large amount of overhead. Generally, developers prefer smaller investment so they can rake in a large amount of profit on DLC. The other concern is the time it would take to build that level of additional content. Releasing the content sooner rather than later is in the best interest of Microsoft.

I would be surprised if there are entirely new cities on the downloaded content. It would be cool though, and I would definetly make my first ever move to sign up to XBox Live for it after having a 360 for over two years and never giving a crap about it. If they are going to have as many buildings to enter in this one as I think, maybe that is the new places to explore that could be added to the game in downloads. They could add some new open buildings or something like that in Liberty City, I would love that.


BTW, my GTA IV problem may be over. We are sending off the 360 to be fixed hopefully, if not too much money. We both want to wait until June to get the 80 GB PS3, and since we already have the pre-order for the deluxe 360 GTA IV it is the easiest and best thing I think. Hopefully the 360 won't cost too much.

Ouch. Sorry to hear. That sucks.

It went 2 years with no problems, so I guess I was one of the lucky ones for that whole time. Not a huge deal, just bad timing. If I could get a PS3 80 GB right now, new, then I would just go that way. At the same time, getting the 360 fixed isn't the worst thing since there will be 360 games I want, the daughter loves Viva Pinata still, and it sounds like the wife is down with still getting a PS3 in June anyways. :D

I preordered at gamestop tonight, they're doing a midnight opening that I may or may not go to depending on my sleep schedule when the game comes out. :D

I have preordered it too, always enjoyed the series a lot (even when i never finished any of them).

If I were to pre-order this game, which console should I get, Xbox or PS3?

I've read the reviews of both consoles, and both have pros and cons.

Which would give a better gaming experience?

If I had both consoles, the 360 would be the easy choice. The gameplay is going to be very similar on the 2 with very slight graphical differences being possible, but nothing of any real significance. However, the 360 version will have exclusive downloadable content that might significantly add to the gameplay experience. Microsoft paid a large sum of money (I've read reports of 50 million or more) so even if it isn't additional cities, it will very likely be substantial.

I've also read about Xbox systems failing, whereas PS3 is more reliable.

The price of PS3 is considerably higher than Xbox.

These 2 factors are also considered between the 2.

There are more PS3's failing now too with this new error code that I posted about. You should read the growing threads on OS about that. With either system, I'd get an extended warranty from wherever you buy it as Sony is only giving a 1 year warranty and some people who have had their PS3 die have had to pay over 200 dollars to get it fixed.

If you want a Blu-Ray Player to start collecting Blu-Ray movies, get a PS3. If you want the version of GTA IV with the exclusive content and the system with more quality games, I'd get a 360.

Of course, I'm a fan of the 360. Synovia and MBBF are strong fans of the PS3, so I'm sure they'll tell you differently. :)

I'm leaning towards Xbox(pricing), as PS3 is out of my price range.
I will get and extended warranty, just in case.

The exclusive content is interesting for the Xbox version.

One other side benefit of the 360 is that there are many more of us on FOFC with one which is good for sports online play if you are interested.

This is good to know, although I've never multiplayed games online(honest truth).

Nothing to be ashamed about, neither have I. Although if I get into GTA IV enough I just night do it for the first time later this year.

I hope you do, Cringer, I think you'd be fun to team up with in GTA IV.

You are planted here by Xbox Live aren't you? :mad: :p

Yep, all of my posts have been just an elaborate ruse just to get you to sign up :D

I'm on xbox live, I don't MP a lot but playing some of the GTA4 games w/ FOFC'ers sounds like it should be awesome.

The PS3 doesn't have anywhere near the number of issues that the 360 has. It has a failure rate somewhere between 12-35%, depending on where you look. It would be easy to find out the actual failure rate if Microsoft every admitted the problem, but of course, the system sales would likely go into the toilet if the truth ever came out. There's no question that the PS3 is by far the more reliable console.

I'll let the inherent bias in the rest of your post stand on its own merit.

:D :D No one else finds this hilarious?

MBBF ignored the issue of the point of my post that he addressed. I wasn't saying the PS3 isn't more reliable than the 360. I was saying that either way an extended warranty is a good idea. No one knew the RROD was going to be a major issue until it became one. This error for the PS3 might be minor or it might become something serious. An extended warranty is a good idea for either system at this point.

If I've stated something factually incorrect, feel free to point it out. If anything was hilarious, it was the recommendation by EF27 that the 360 was the better choice, but oh, don't forget to buy the extended warranty because it breaks down pretty often. A ringing endorsement to be sure.

He then proceeded to insinuate that since the 360 has had major reliability problems, you can be sure that a minor firmware problem on the PS3 is likely to explode into a major problem. Sound analysis. I actually like EF27 quite a bit and think he's a good guy, but he's making any bias I have look minor in comparison with his posts of late.

Shame on you EF27...I didn't know you were a shill for Micro$oft! Why can't you be unbiased like MBBF? For shame...

A minor firmware update that is costing people hundreds of dollars to get their PS3 fixed if it is over a year old and out of warranty? A minor firmware update that has had thousands of people with broken PS3's that have had to be sent back, including plenty who are known to people other than me on this board.

I think we all know who wins the bias battle in this case, pot. You really are hilarious.

Your posts on this situation contain nothing but assumptions and innuendo off message boards and blogs. Provide some numbers for the issue and then we'll talk. I'd love to see them. I'm BEGGING you to provide them. Prove me wrong.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has a $1B tab on their statements which is expected by several analysts to be increased over this coming year, yet the still haven't officially said that they have a hardware problem. Now that's a fact.

They paid $50 million. There is no way that they paid $50 million for some extra cars and outfits. Whatever this downloadable content is will be big.

And was the $50 million for the rights to own the content and profit from it, or was it simply the rights to only have it appear on XBOX Live? If Take-Two is still making some money off downloadable content, I can't see why they wouldn't go big. They've insinuated in interviews that this will revolutionize how downloadable content is done and have called them "episodes".

I have two theories:

1) It's a new city. This would be a big expense for Take Two, but if they are making a cut off each download, I can't see why they wouldn't be able to package this for $10-$15 and make a mint on it. They'll probably end up selling around 12 million copies on the 360, and it's not unfathomable to believe they can get 10% of those people to download extra content. That's a lot of money, on top of the $50 for exclusive rights from Microsoft. Cities wouldn't be that hard considering the AI and other player data is already in place. It's just putting some new paint and art on some building models.

2) This is my most likely theory. The ability to play as other characters. Same city, but you will play out an entire storyline under a minor character. It would just require some new cutscenes and tweaks to AI for missions. You can tell a unique and different story for each character. You could essentially build "new games" within each character. Being able to play the game from a cop's perspective would be awesome. Even a SWAT guy. I would definitely pay some money to download something like this and freshen up a game.

Any way it turns out, the downloadable content is going to be something big. There is no way Microsoft puts that kind of money on the line for something minor.

I'm going to pre-order this tomorrow btw. Are there any sites offering some kind of special on shipping or something else? I have an Amazon Prime account so was planning on just Next Day Airing the game. If another site is doing it for free, I'll do that.

Those would both be nice. Hopefully that's the case.

Those were the exact same complaints when you were posting about the MS situation with the RROD. If Sony would make a statement and release numbers, they could clear this up, but they have gone quiet on this issue. Hmm.. sounds familiar.

Yeah, must be the exact same situation. :rolleyes:

Sony has already issued a statement saying that there have been no widespread issues. Microsoft remained silent and gave 'no comment' when pressed on the RROD.

That's assuming, of course, that Sony is telling the truth in their press release. Their numbers are just starting to take off. IF they are afraid of this becoming widespread, I'm sure they would announce it to the world. Because it's that kind of honesty in PR that moves systems...

An interesting thread that shows actual building pictures next to their virtual duplicates in GTA4...........

http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=320033

Also, for those that haven't pre-ordered this game, Circuit City will be offering a $10 gift card for each purchase of the regular or special edition versions of GTA4.

hxxp://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=178498

Full list of the deals available. You have to be a member to view it...but they have the best deals listed all the time, so it's a site I highly recommend.

IGN has a really good preview of the MP modes. Once word gets out, there will be a lot of people buying the game just for MP. I don't think there's any other games out that that provide the same shit.

This game is going to be HUGE. It was already going to be huge, but now I think it will be HUGE.

i'm only going to play MP. i've never finished a GTA game solo.

Just noticed on Neogaf that the cut-scenes on GTA4 are expected to run over 8 hours. For comparison, the cut-scenes in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 game run about 9 1/2 hours. That's a lot of movie watching in both cases.

IGN is blocked at my job, can anyone post the IGM article about MP mode?

part 1

part 2

part 3

GTA4 demand likely to exceed supply in Europe..........

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/30297/Sony...r-GTA-IV-sales

Apparently the most recent information indicates that a multiplayer split-screen option is not available.

That's too bad.

Hrm. I may have to get Xbox Live again. Which means I have to either get a long Cat5 cord or buy the wireless adapter.

Pfft, that's nothing. Xenosaga Episode 1 had at least 370 hours of cut-scenes.

If you happen to have a wireless laptop/network already, this has worked well for me:

http://www.ofzenandcomputing.com/zanswers/61

Fixed. Seriously?

The computer is 20 feet away (probably less) from the 360. I think I'll just get a long cord and plug it in whenever I need it.

There goes me playing the game multiplayer.

A six dollar 50-foot cord from Amazon and a preorder for the 360, and I'm in business. :)

Saw they also cut radio-while-you-walk from the final copy.

thank you for posting the IGN article!

I gather this means you can't team up on the same console and go online either? Bummer.

Someone can correct me, but I think that's what it's trying to say steve...I think when they say "multiplayer" they mean XBox Live multiplayer, not necessarily a two person game. Am I wrong?

From everything I have read, all MP is over XBOX Live, no local MP.

when it says MP parties/groups, does that mean like people on your friends list or just random groups that are formed? like in COD4 you just wait until the room gets enough people and then everyone is broken up into 2 groups. i'm sure the answer is obvious.

for some reason without putting too much thought into it i always assumed the MP woud be MMO, just everyone running around. but i guess that would be too chaotic after a while.

This is Free Mode, just with 16 players.

Which FOFC poster is this?

Mr. Loser?

Pumpy, stop buying shit!


unless of coures it isn't pumpy and in that case whoever it is must drive a miata

I liked the 'he must drive a miata' post better.

blimey

Ok, I've decided on the Xbox360 platform of GTA IV(already pre-ordered).
I'm going to up my price range and go with the
Xbox360 Elite(120gb hard drive) for $449+ change.

PS3 and its features+ reviews, didn't impress me.
Blu-Ray is nice, but not a feature I really need.

Elite is definitely the best option if you're going to get a 360. Just be sure to save the receipts and purchase the 3 year extended warranty as EF27 mentioned.

So apparently IGN liked the game.