Ut oh.

Rockstar's going to be pissed.

Whoa whut?

Oh hellz nos.

I refuse to even hunt for the clips anyways, spoiling that for myself would suck arse considering, as was noted, we're only a mere 6 days away.

I can wait six days.

How does this happen?

The one I sent in as a tip hasn't been taken down. Yet. I hope. Either way, it only proves what you and the others have been saying... It really is that good. Buckle up people.

Christmas has come early this year.

All the files in that pic is fake though, since they are too small to be real.

Owned

Oops...had a typo in there...

Meant to say *Oh hellz noes*

There, that's much better. I am available for weddings and birthday parties as well! This kind of correct english will be well appreciated at your next big get together.

@exolstice:

All major retailers have received the game already.

Some store chains, like Meijer for instance, are well known for selling crap early.

I got Mass Effect a week early this way, for instance.

aw, that's lame. i mean, i know this shit gets done for the lulz or for the internet fame, but cmon. this is like peaking at your christmas presents. no fun.

You forgot to mention that you have to have a Modded Xbox and that the online functionality goes belly-up when you mod you're system to play burnt games.

HOLY SHIT. I hadn't checked my roster of release-sites today (I do keep up with scene releases simply to know when what is leaked and to get early impressions, I don't have any modded consoles). I did as I read that headline and boom, like a punch in the face.

The NFO says the game isn't region free, so NTSC is definitely no-go for it.

Judging by responses to the release, I'm inclined to say this is as real as it gets.

somebody put their dick in the mash potatoes.

@3inst3in: That's what I'm saying, doesn't it just ruin all the (purportedly) splendid surprises??

@exolstice: People get the copy early because they work in "the industry", bring it home, play it a bit, then rip it, and distribute it like crack to Lindsey Lohan.

Easy, really.

I don't know much about Xbox piracy, but I imagine anyone with GTA4 on their gamertag before the street date will be dealt with by Microsoft, no?

Well if the PS3 version sells better then the X360 the fanboy's can now use piracy as an excuse...

Because we really know the game is 234-995 MB. A game said to be almost to big for a DVD is really THAT small.

These are all happy viruses, or just a large unworking file packed with a Trojan. Happy downloading.

If I had known it was gonna be this kind of party...

This is useless. These days games get updated, are connected to online functions.Rockstar knows that all games get pirated but GTAIV will sell very well.

@AndrewDB: My money is on a warehouse worker with sticky fingers, or a retailer. They have a tight leash on copies going to industry folks.

Great... now I have to avoid the internet like a plague for 6 days

@SanjiX: Those up there in the picture are ALL fake. The talk is about this one: [www.nomorepasting.com] (taken from the NFO). It's one DVD9 in size.

Piracy is for losers! Do not accept it!

I have 2 things to say.

1: not suprised this happened

2: its not like those are the kind of people who are going to be customers when the game comes out anyways.

Anyone surprised by this?
Ultimately, it has little chance of harming retail sales for the game, and no one is going to be forced to watch any clips released, just excercise your discretion.

I will be deliberately avoiding spoilers for the next week or so, until I get the game myself.

You aren't doing the gaming industry/community any service by publicizing how easy it is to pirate unreleased games.

Um... who cares? I mean, R* is probably upset because it might eat into sales and make some of the game's info public before release date, but the small number of modded consoles that can play this thing and the fact that leaks were going to happen anyway (through stupid stores selling the game early) should've been taken into account.

So we are left with general users. The only reason they should care is the R* Social Club statistics, but I heard R* is wiping the stats on all GTA IV stuff at, basically, 11:59PM 4/28, so that only statistics that are accrued from 4/29 on will count.

So, in the end, who cares?

Aint going to lie, I'm going to see if I can hitup Gamestop and get them to just gimme the damned game early too. They can hit the pickup button at midnight or something.

@Brian Crecente: Yea dock workers at walmart are known for their sticky fingers. The funny thing is, I wonder how many tried to trade in their GTA copies for cash at a gamestop already.

@Brian Crecente: Ca'mon we all know is was Tristan, took
GTA4 from daddy's console then ripped it, and put it on all the torrent sites.

Crecente give up your son man, he did this to himself :P

I just checked around.

Seems legit...in a completely illegal sort of way.

Too bad I have a PS3. Errr...I mean, DARNED PIRATES!

Just switched out the pic to show the ICON torrent.

Nice advertisement for them pirates...

@SanjiX:

The image is just a sample image I believe, the official NFO from iCON lists it at 6.8GB compressed

[www.nforce.nl]

@Schoolimangooli: We had to fly to a hotel and play it there, under Rockstar's eye. As did all reviewers. So I suspect it's not an industry thing.

Not surprising, my local Gametraders has their copies in and they have been known for breaking the street date. I've picked up both Vegas 2 and Assassin's Creed a week in advance from them, but despite my smooth talking... they won't sell me GTA IV. I'll try my luck tomorrow when the other workers are on.

@Candlejack:
OH....OHHHH....OHHHHHHHHH

Well, they can have fun with that. Any clue how big that file is? I was just curious how much GB the game was. And no, I'm not gonna pirate it, I already have the game on reserve for the 360. =)

@Brian Crecente: Crecente does your review hit before the game comes out? Just wondering.

@androctonvs: @Baff: Calm down. It's not like you're encouraged to pirate games. Also, it's not like you can just download, burn and play it. This is just a very heated topic and a hyped title, so the "boom" in the media is unsurprising.

And if anything, the people who download or release "warez" do not want to be advertised and out in the open. It makes them known, thus more vulnerable as they become a higher rated target for the feds. So the coverage is hurting them more than you think ;)

Dear God, please let any fool that tries to put his play stats online now be banned from Xbox live or have his 360 bricked or something...

Arseholes, how dare they play the game before us :P

Meh, its bare bones without the ability to multiplay.

I won't even touch the single player till I am all able and ready. Like Gears of War; I've had it for over a year but never went past the third stage.

I'm willing to bet this is genuine. Most games, high profile or not, are leaked onto torrent trackers a few days before release, usually copies that have "fallen off" the production line. Buisness as usual, nothing to see here, etc.

Piracy isn't going to damage this game any more than any other.

I'm not surprised either. With a game as big and popular as GTAIV, an early pirated version is more rule than exception.

Sadly, this is not a surprise

ps. downloading :O

oh how sad. damn pirates.

@iamcool388: Sunday, more details to come.

@iamcool388: I doubt it will, because it might contain little spoilers, but he did do a nice hands on preview awhile back.

[kotaku.com]
Check it out.

@SanjiX: Apparently it's just about 6.5GB. However, these releases tend to be "zipped" into split archives, so I have no clue how big the actual image files are once extracted. They ought to be larger.

This was, of course, inevitable. It's a shame, because if any game is worth your hard-earned money, it's Grand Theft Auto IV.