GTA IV Runs At 630P on PlayStation 3, So What's That Mean?

Rockstar Games and the UPS corporation—sorry for calling you Fed Ex yesterday!—came through in a major way this morning, dropping off a hot (but legit) copy of Grand Theft Auto IV at Kotaku Towers West. Naturally, I took an appropriate amount of time playing the game before posting that it had arrived. But this isn't one of those disgusting bragging posts, where some schmuck editor taunts you with an early release; it's a reminder.

Our GTA IV review is going live tomorrow morning, 9 AM Pacific/12 PM Eastern in the easy-to-read Kotaku style. After that, expect a handy platform comparison, in which we talk about how GTA IV performs on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Yes, I've played both quite a bit, so I hope you'll find my nitpicking informative. See you tomorrow!

Our coverage is live:
Grand Theft Auto IV Review: Life, Liberty City And The Pursuit Of Happiness
Which Version Of GTA IV Should You Buy? We Compare The PS3 and 360 Versions
SIXAXIS Brings Nothing to GTA IV (But Frustration And Burning Helicopter Chassis)

Man, I am on a mission to get Jack Thompson to spam my inbox. I figured anything pairing "Grand Theft Auto" and "hookers" might trigger his impotent, wasted bot-army of letter writers which is, of course, himself alone.

GamesRadar has an amusing tribute to one of the most indispensable classes in the GTA franchise, the hooker. I'll have you know — this is written with as serious a face I can muster — I've never killed one. Ever. I consider it a point of pride that I never, even to see the outcome, lowered myself to the top-of-mind stereotype everyone has of a GTA gamer. Nor do I kill the cops. Unless I have 3 stars and have been separated from a burning vehicle. But I digress.

GTA 4 The Niko Video

With less than five days until their game hits, Rockstar couldn't help but tease one more time with this vid of Niko getting all touchy, shooty in the rain.

As Mike McWhertor and I alluded to earlier this week, we both spent five days last week holed up in a room in a swank San Francisco hotel playing through Grand Theft Auto IV. Yes, all of the way through.

The embargo for our official review and other hands-ons, impressions, comparisons, stories and whatnots doesn't lift until Sunday (10 a.m. Crecentral), but the package of stories I wrote for the Rocky Mountain News ran this morning. The story for the paper is geared for a much more mainstream audience, so I'm not sure how much you all will get out of it, but here's how it wraps up.

In Grand Theft Auto IV the story isn't just an amalgam of cut scenes and cleverly written dialogue, it's the experiences I create, too. It's now, watching Niko stand, his shoulders slumped, that the depth of this game finally hits me.

Niko's journey, the one crafted by Rockstar, may have ended, but Niko's adventures in the story I am creating have just begun.

If you're looking for something to pass your time that is, I believe, free of any major story spoilers, than hit up the link.

I was happy to see that the story not only took over the entire front page of the feature's section, but even got a mention on the front page of the paper. Too bad they went with a headline that sorta highlights the violence of the game. I suppose they would have done the same thing for blow-out coverage of a movie like Once Upon a Time in America.

Grand Theft Auto: A Brutal New World and What the developer of Grand Theft Auto IV champions [Rocky Mountain News]

The Grand Theft Auto IV Activity Book For Kids

Any mouth breathing simpleton with the power to procreate must know that Grand Theft Auto IV isn't for kids. Right? Right! Therefore, Rockstar has (read: hasn't) cooked up an alternative to the violent, raunchy open world crime fest that's for mature audiences only in the Grand Theft Auto IV Activity Book For Kids. Find the hot coffee, son! Good job!

It's filled with fun, imaginative activities like word searches, coloring and a quick primer on gang signs. The Minus World, you had us at the Mouth sticker. Good times.

Grand Theft Auto IV Activity Book For Kids [The Minus World]

No surprises here. Today, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe confirmed the long rumored (with pictures!) Grand Theft Auto IV bundle. Going on sale April 29th, it's packed with a 40GB PS3, a SIXAXIS and copy of Grand Theft Auto IV. Says David Reeves, SCEE president:

We are delighted to offer the millions of PS3 and GTA fans the ultimate gaming package.

GTA IV Multiplayer: Just the Facts Please

I posted a rather lengthy (too lengthy) write-up of my impressions of Grand Theft Auto IV's multiplayer gaming earlier today. If you're not up for reading through the whole thing, and getting some samples of what the play was like and whether I liked it, you can just hit the jump and read the fact sheet for the modes I played through. Think of it as a GTA multiplayer crib sheet.

If you are up for long reads check out all of our impressions of GTA IV so far:

Hands on With GTA Multiplayer: City of Chaos
GTA4 Hands-On: The World is Yours
Rockstar Experimenting with Episodic Content
GTA IV: Reinventing a World
Grand Theft Auto IV

Hands on With GTA Multiplayer: City of Chaos

A couple of months ago, before I had a chance to play GTA IV, I got into a discussion with an industry insider about Rockstar, and in particular, the Grand Theft Auto franchise. We were talking about whether the polarizing series, much beloved by gamers and reviled by non-gamers, had jumped the shark.

Would this be the last GTA, I wondered. The insider was quick to say no, even after I pointed out that I had watched a chunk of the single-player campaign, which impressed me, but didn't seem to include any giant leaps forward for the franchise.

"Did you see multiplayer?"

"No."

"Just wait."

PlayStation 3 Getting Grand Theft Auto IV Bundle?

According to Swedish retailer Webhalen who is boasting some pretty legit-looking box art, it looks like Sony will be offering a Grand Theft Auto IV PlayStation 3 bundle—a standard 40GB PS3 along with a copy of GTA IV for roughly $750. As of right now, the news is still unconfirmed and could be a regional offering only.

Playstation 3 Basenhet - Black 40GB - Grand Theft Auto IV (4) Bundle [Webhallen] Thanks Alex!

Rob Taylor, deputy editor of Xbox World 360 magazine, is the first games writer to finish Grand Theft Auto IV (Crecente is ... well, he's hurt by this. You probably shouldn't mention it when he gets back on Monday.) He was among a group of writers who got to play at Rockstar's offices in Chelsea, London, and was the first to get through it. GamesRadar UK has a talk with Rob about what he saw and learned — helpfully edited to remove spoilers (right down to asterisking a mission title).

Tidbits after the jump:

Australia Gets A Toned Down Grand Theft Auto IV

Good news, Australian gaming citizens. You're getting a very special edition of Grand Theft Auto IV, one bereft of content that the Office of Film and Literature Classification considers beyond what would be acceptable as an MA15+rated game. What's changed? Rockstar isn't saying, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. It's still packed with "strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references", but it's clear something has been cut.

Hopefully, our brothers and sisters south of the equator will be able to import from regions far and wide to enjoy all of the original naughtiness. For a quick history lesson on the content edited history of Grand Theft Auto in Australia, hit up the source.

GTA IV edited for Australia [Sydney Morning Herald's Screen Play - thanks, Matt!]

I'm sitting in the back of a Yellow Cab cutting through Manhattan at a crawl. The cabbie lets loose with a torrent of vulgarities directed at the truck in front of us.

"Yeah, just stay there, because you're not going anywhere and now I'm not fucking going anywhere. Park right there."

He lays on the horn.

A map pops up on the video screen showing our exact location, easy to pinpoint because now we're not moving at all.

Outside the passenger window people walk by, each, seemingly, in their own world. The level of detail is amazing, the buildings, piled almost on top of one another, are all alive with activity. Wind whips down the street tossing scraps of paper in the air, it almost looks like the real thing, like Grand Theft Auto IV.

But it's just Manhattan on a crisp weekday morning, me trapped in a cab, staring at the taxi's video screen built into the seat in front of me, headed to see and play around with Rockstar's latest.

Grand Theft Auto IV Rated By ESRB

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has weighed in on the potentially objectionable content in Grand Theft Auto IV, giving it an "M" rating, citing the game as having "Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Blood, and Intense Violence." One might suspect that, given the "AO" controversy surrounding Rockstar Games' Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' "Hot Coffee" mod, the ESRB did its due diligence and more when reviewing the contents of GTA IV.

One might also suspect that, when the game is finally release, opportunistic, fear mongering elected officials, clueless mainstream media and glory seeking attorneys may find extra content not listed, including Virtual Rape, Cop Killing, Overt Racism, Gerbil Abuse, Being On Someone's Lawn and Buggery. We're looking forward to a fun ride.

This evening's Take-Two Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2007 Results Conference Call wasn't exactly a Queens of the Stone Age concert, I know shocking right? There were some marginally interesting tidbits that floated out of the stream of fiscal data.

Here's a break-down of highlights and fun quotes, including one confirming the non-existence of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Wii:
*BioShock has shipped more than 2 million copies
*Carnival Games shipped more than 500,000 units since its debut in late August. 2K Play plans to bring the game to the DS in fiscal 08 and other platforms down the line.
*Take-Two doesn't expect missing the October release date for GTA4 will hurt sales, just spread them out more.
*GTA 4 has been rated in Australia, after the company sent the board there a reel showing off a "substantial part of the game."
*GTA 4 is still not coming to the Wii: "Right now I think, no disrespect meant for the platform, but there are other titles better suited for the Wii."

That's kinda weird, if you ask me. They didn't have any problem bringing Manhunt to the Wii, so why not Grand Theft Auto. I know Manhunt was a PS2 game, but I can't imagine that they can't rework GTA4 for the Wii somehow. I suspect they didn't expect the platform to be as popular as it has been. Come on Rockstar, I want to use my Remote to beat hookers.

Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer III: "Move up, Ladies."

Here it is: two minutes of GTA IV bliss known as "Move up, Ladies." I especially appreciated that Rockstar opened with a shot of the Statue of Liberty some random, giant statue in no way affiliated with New York that most definitely did not make an appearance in Ghostbusters II. For those interested in seeing this trailer on the big screen, it should be available on Xbox LIVE now. And you probably wish that we'd told you that before you clicked play. Sorry, we were lonely.

Grand Theft Auto IV [microsoft]