GTA IV Whacks The April Competition, Mario Kart Grabs Second

Will GTA IV Blend?

This Guy Is GTAIV's Roman, Rent Him

GTA IV's PS3 Problems To Be Fixed Via Firmware Update?

Owen's Facebook App Determines Which GTA Star You Are

Sony, MS Provide Fresh Spin On GTA IV Sales

First week sales figures provided by Microsoft, courtesy of unnamed retailers, put sales of Grand Theft Auto IV at 60% for the Xbox 360 version, 40% for the PlayStation 3 version. A win, undoubtedly, for Microsoft. N'Gai Croal of Level Up got his hands on some GameStop-only sales data, which puts the percentage more accurately at 64% on the Microsoft side, 36% on the Sony side.

Argh! Not accurate enough, for our tastes! Fortunately, we'll be able to more obsessively split hairs on the matter later this week, when NPD data is revealed, but for now we have some expertly sculpted spin to enjoy!

Late Late Show Rants Rationally On GTA IV

GTA IV has some problems. Some of them are yet be fixed, and are peeving a lot of people off. Not good. Then again, some of them are yet to be fixed, and are so broken they're bringing people nothing but joy.

Not even two weeks since its release and the ingrates at Kombo.com already have eight things they want to see in Grand Theft Auto from now on. Everyone has an ultimate GTA experience list, and I'm betting that GTA IV represents someone's wishful thinking from the Vice City days (the controls represent mine). But some of these have already been introduced.

Mr. Juandrful over at Kezins.com has pieced together a backstory on Niko Bellic, in a VH1 "Behind the Music" kind of biography. Counterintuitively, I should put up a spoiler alert here, because although it's all about stuff prior to his arrival in Liberty City, naturally it draws on dialogue and events in the game, which you may not have played yet. Mr. Juandrful also says some of this was built on "inside info" about Niko's past, given to him by Rockstar.

Anyway, spoiler warning, don't click the link if you want to get Niko's backstory through the game for yourself. Otherwise, if you want a quick read that humanizes the character, go for it.

Behind the Game: Niko Bellic Before GTA IV [kezins.com]

Niko and Vlad on Saturday Night Live

GTA on SNL? Well, if a movie did a $500 million opening week, bet your ass there'd be a skit on it the very next show. Here Niko Bellic and Vlad Glebov appear on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" to complain about the negative image the game gives to Liberty City.

Most of the gag appears to be the permanent karate-chop pose of motion-capped hands, overly expressive gesturing and out-of-place dialogue during non-cutscene encounters. The writers leave it up to the viewer to get it. So if that's mainstream enough to get laughs, holy hell, games have really come a long way.

[Thanks to Gawker's Richard Blakeley for the video.]

Update: Commenter Rotmm added this 360/PS3 comparison shot of SNL. I wonder if Gametrailers might be working on a video too.

So, Brian's 70-year-old dad took on GTA IV and took quite a liking to it. Others his age are not as enlightened or — shocker — willing to try new things, and so the series might require further explication.

Helpfully, here is a FAQ (a FAQ? an F-A-Q? how do I do this) from 23/6 to break down the choices and consequences and action and intrigue that make all the young folk shine shoes and save up their penny-candy money to buy it.

So this video game. Is it like pong?
No. It's called a "sandbox" game.

A who?
A sandbox game. That means it's not strictly linear and the player has some freedom of movement within the game.

Is this e-mail you're talking about?
No. E-mail is different.

I think Sen. Ted Stevens was a consultant on this outreach initiative.

Grand Theft Auto IV: FAQ for Old People [236.com]

Sociologist Finds GTA IV is "Less Sensational" Than Real Crime

Nothing shreds the mystique of a game like watching as it's played by someone who not only is not in awe of it, but also obliviously misses its point. It also makes for an hilarious write-up, as The Exploding Barrel demonstrates with author Jeremy's report on inviting his non-gamer wife to play.

Her gaming style clearly asks questions Rockstar never thought to answer. Like accidentally hitting an elderly pedestrian with a semi, jumping out to see if she's OK, then wondering how to put her in the truck and take her to the hospital. Uh, left bumper, hold Y, click right stick? His wife also loves swinging a baseball bat, but only at a dumpster, because hitting people with it would be mean. It's why she didn't finish off the hood who dropped the bat. "I think he learned his lesson."

"No, honey, Grand Theft Auto IV is like Seinfeld, the characters never learn from their mistakes." See, that's what he should have said.

Anyway, good thing he didn't take her into multiplayer. Or, come to think of it, the first dating mission with Michelle. Her head might have exploded from the intriguing dialogue and nonstop excitement. If Lifetime wrote a sandboxer, that mission would be the finale.

When Wives Meet GTA IV [The Exploding Barrel]

Conan Drills Deeper Into GTA IV's Kinder, Gentler Side... Again