Jesus, not again.

Can't wait, hopefully it's awesome, haha.

There's something about that screenshot that piques my interest. Perhaps it's after reading two very interesting things about GTAIV:
1) There will be no big-breasted, loud-mouth bratty girls in the game (thank god).
2) Rockstar is striving to make "the best crime story" of the decade.

Hmmm. I'm gonna go tell my boss off... Maybe this will be done by the time I get back.

this count down is 1 hour longer than the one yahoo has.. hrm.

[grandtheftauto.yahoo.com]
(bottom right)

Not to steal anyone's thunder, but a certain search engine will have the trailer up an hour ahead of that time. Their gaming section is run by a bunch of idiots though, who have been screwing up all week.. so it might not be up then.

@AndrewMP: Well hopefully it can be the best crime story if drug trafficking isn't the main factor of the story. It's been done to death in the last GTA's.

I saw an add on Xbox Live for a new trailer "coming soon"

I'll just download it from there.

Just swapped it out.

Man I love the use of cell shading in that shot! Man it reminds me of snatchers... If they did the whole thing that way it would be sweet!

Looking forward to the reaction of this next trailer.

@Kantwon: Couldn't agree more. Leave out the "gangs" and exagerated racial profiles and I'll be a happy gamer.

@Runna: I know, it really caught my eye.

Noon can't come soon enough...

Here's to hoping they don't break the internet again.

What witchcraft is this?!

At least you have had the decency not to show us the timer until there are only a few hours to wait!

so.. it depends on what time your computers clock is set too.

so wouldnt peoples timers run out faster the further East they live?

@Kantwon:
@AndrewMP:

But isn't that the main purpse of playing a Grand Theft Auto game? It's meant to be gangs, drugs, dirty cops, prostitutes and guns. I don't really get what you guys want to see, haha.

The trailer is released at noon EST, so once that time passes, it should be available to everyone, regardless of the Yahoo! timer.

@Heliophage:

so.. this is in like.. 1 hour and 20 minutes?

@P-Sheddy: I'd like a maturer rendition of that than the previous game offered. It's a mature game, it deserves to be mature in every aspect. With the graphics vastly improving and losing that comic look, some of the comedy/outlandishness needs to be taken out of other aspects of the game as well.

any word on if this trailer will be using the 360 or PS3 build? i heard the last trailer used the 360's.

@JCtheMC:

i disagree.

the best part about gta is its ability to mock popular culture.

it DOES this with its unique silliness and its the perfect ying to the extreme violence and story's yang.

edit: okay, not the BEST part... but one of the best parts. :p

I cant wait for the internets to die.

I thought kotaku was firmly against countdowns? Now here it is a countdown actually on the front page of kotaku =O Scandal!

@P-Sheddy: Guns? Sure. Dirty cops? Definitly. Gangs, drugs and prostitutes? Hardly necessary. I'm waiting for the epic story about crime rings... heck, even competeing crime rings. I think that would be much more interesting then "The China Grove family wants to claim Westbrook Neighbourhood. Shoot your way to the top, and claim the neighbourhood that all the other gangs want".

Who cares about gangs and drugs?

Yes, we all know that Rockstar is sooo good at telling stories (note sarcasm). They should just admit that the only fun will be beating hookers, doing blow, and blowing stuff up. It's made them good money for a while now.

@P-Sheddy: Can't speak for the others, but I wouldn't mind if they "classed" it up a bit by putting more emphasis on heists (banks? municipal buildings?), burglary and that sort of thing rather than the petty gangland drug-running and score-settling of San Andreas, for instance.

@soulscreme: gta is critically acclaimed for its excellent voice acting, and storyline.

with improved graphics, and better hardware to run on, its definetly possible for them to blow our minds.

but.. its definetly a gamble. theres a chance they fuck it up.. but... they gave us gta 3 when no one was expecting it, so i say we give them the benefit of the doubt.

I hear it's the main guy pooping on the toilet. In GTA IV not only do you have to go around committing crimes, but you have to take care of your every day doings, like eating and pooping and bathing.

Am I doing something wrong? Where's the trailer? If that "Interview with people on the street" video at gta.yahoo was it I will very disappointed.

Did the countdown change to the official game countdown for everyone, or was that just because I fudged with my clock...

@P-Sheddy: No it's extremely repetitive and predictable. Like others have said we want something different, something more classier when it comes to crime that doesn't focus on mainly drugs or gangs.

I'm gonna respond to everyone rather than click reply a bunch of times.

I agree with all of you really, haha. It's just that I don't think we can hide the fact that in a game based on underground organizations and crime rings, there will almost for sure be something drug related. It's a big business, and a way many of those crime rings get money.

But I do agree that they could get rid of it for more of a Al Capone/Don Corleone feel to it, rather than a Bloods-Crip/Compton feel to it.. if thats a good analogy, haha.

Some of the things seem like they were just trown in there to raise controversy and sell more games, like the prostitute sex stuff.

For once - a benefit of being in the UK - will be available at 6pm after I get home from work - hopefully the US will still be sat at work meaning it won't take about 3 hours for the trailer to download.

Or alternatively - all you GTA fans are skiving off work meaning I'm going to be screwed anyway.

@P-Sheddy: Yup, that analogy works well. And yeah a little drugs here and there are fine, but not to the extent that they took it in San Andraes.

We all know exactly what's going to happen once that countdown reaches zero.
Absolutely nothing, since everyone will be trying to watch.

@Draconis: Yet still we wait. I could be playing actual games that are out now, but here I am...

@Draconis: If the trailer is in that crappy little box I won't even care. I want to know if there will be a link to an HD version...

@PhotoBoy:

Like this?

@AndrewMP:

guys... as long as the gameplay is fun.

original and exciting missions.

THATS way more important.

i am hoping theres more variety too.. there were too many "go get this, now the cops are on your tail, get here, lose the cops" type of missions.. well really there were just a lot of really similar missions..

..as for the storyline, i can ALREADY tell i like it better than san andreas's story.

There's a free GTAIV theme and picture pack on Marketplace. Looks pretty sweet for freebies.

Hopefully they'll be as quick with the trailer.

@Dielaughing: lmao, dear god no!!
wait anoth 14 minutes (as of posting) and it'll be there ;)

just for out of spite, it would be fun is ESRB had a countdown like this to GTA4 release saying -"AO rating pending..."

Well lets hope the trailer shows gameplay and a better working camera then previous game :)

Really, not that many of the GTA games were even about drug trafficking. GTA3 may have had some aspects of it; I don't quite remember, but it certainly was not a main aspect of it. Vice City definitely did, and in San Andreas, there was a lot about drugs, yes, but it was anti-drug, if anything. The main character was always yelling at his family to stop doing whatever it was they were doing (I forget).

Also, it was mentioned that this GTA should lose the comedy aspect of the game. I disagree. That is one of GTA's trademarks, essentially. If the next GTA takes itself too seriously, it just won't be as interesting. The goofy commercials, radio hosts and billboards are just one of the few things that adds to the GTA alternate universe. And judging by the 'Getalife' building shown in the first trailer, it's still going to be non-serious in that manner. I believe that the story itself will probably be the most mature of any GTA game thus far, though.

Some are saying that they hope this game doesn't go into prostitution, drugs, etc. To that, I say "the game takes place in New York." There should be drugs, and there should be prostitution. You can't portray a seedy city without having seedy things occurring.

All in all, I just can't wait for this game.

@PhotoBoy: Xbox Live Marketplace will probably have an HD version either tonight or tomorrow, like the did with the previous trailer.

@joelface: That was the problem the missions stopped being original and excited when there is less variety. I just hope there is no RC toy missions. San Andreas had killed it for me. I would like to know one person who enjoyed Zero's second RC plane mission.

@Irenicus: Yeah, I wonder how quickly Sony and MS would backpeddle on those "no AO games" policies then.

Less than ten minutes to go. I'm going to go make a sandwich.

5 minutes zomg.

aghh! i keep changing my clock to make the thing finish..

but when it finishes, the trailer is never there!

3 minutes!! holy shizz!!

i wish the countdown was universal, and didnt change depending on your own clock!

it doesnt work as well this way.

FYI trailer will also be going up on Marketplace when the countdown hits 0. Might as well watch it on there.

It's up at their website

I'm at work, and I swear, if I get a call in the next couple minutes, I'm gonna be pissed. Who do they think they are, expecting me to do my job when I've got a new GTA4 trailer to watch?