This particular Lola looks to only have five fingers, so the fantasy may be blown for some of you. But for anyone looking for a NSFW thrill, carry on. Membership is obviously required, as we all know the internet doesn't give away its smut for free.

GTA A Tribute to Lola [Suicide Girls]

You know, I actually live in a sketchy neighborhood, Rockstar bat-givers. If I'm assaulted by a local vagrant, you'll have my blood on your hands. Just a thought.

GTA IV Baseball Bat Moves Gaming Violence From Couch to the Streets [Popular Mechanics]

Dìaz examines the art value of GTA IV, prompted by exultant commentary from the games press that calls the game on par with or exceeding film triumphs like Scarface and The Godfather - and, in an editorial well-supported by factual comparisons, he finds it comes up short:

What else is the new GTA not? Well, despite all the critical adulation over GTA IV's characters and purported subtlety, this isn't a game that is nuanced or subtle. Like the pulps that are part of its narrative DNA, GTA IV operates in broad strokes, crude characterization and over-the-top stereotypes — this is a game where a shotgun to the head is the height of discretion. The GTA series made its name by being "hard-core" (or, if you prefer, tasteless) but the latest game certainly ain't half as hard-core as even Steven Seagal's "Out for Justice." (Check out the final corkscrew-to-the-head death match.) Hell, GTA IV ain't even half as hard-core as some of its predecessors.

Dìaz says he is actually a longtime fan of the series, and that it was GTA III that truly broke ground with its gameplay, and he seems to suggest that other installments since then have largely been more of the same. I'm a fan of GTA IV as much as anyone else, but I find Dìaz's criticisms hard to disagree with, particularly this one:

Compared with Tommy and CJ, GTA IV's protagonist Niko Bellic is somewhat of a milquetoast. He's more of a reluctant hero in the classic tradition. I mean he ain't exactly a boy scout, having been a human trafficker in the immediate past, and his descent into hits for hire is pretty swift but overall he's a moral improvement over earlier GTA leads. Perhaps this is why the critics call him more nuanced, but in my estimation Niko isn't nuanced; he's just boring. You don't play GTA because you want to roll with a Niko. You play GTA because, for a couple of hours, you want to be a Tommy Vercetti. So before you start measuring a game to "The Brothers Karamazov" maybe you should measure it up to its earlier iterations. You might actually see something.

Maybe the attempt to add film-style nuance to GTA IV didn't especially serve the format, especially as it brought the character story into conflict with the gameplay.

'Grand,' but No 'Godfather' [WSJ via Level Up]

Yeah, of course, there's no rape scene in GTA IV. But Slossberg appears to be pretty convinced she'd see it, if she could only play well enough to reach that point in the game. Or so she said during a Capitol press conference, according to the Advocate.

The article says she'd like "confirmation" that there is no rape scene in the game. I suppose this is another "write your representative" situation where she could use some (polite) information?

Connecticut State Senator Alarmed Over (non-existent) Rape Scene in GTA IV [New Haven Advocate via GamePolitics]

Expect to see games made for lower budgets, targeted at wider audiences (ones that aren’t fixated on high-end 3D graphics) and delivered over broadband with a micropayment program in place. Don’t expect a follow-up to the 360 or PS3 anytime soon, either. In other words, the days when so-called “next-gen” gaming reigned supreme are coming to end — instead, the industry’s future will be shaped by games like Rock Band.

Au cites VGChartz data, which can be problematic for several reasons recently highlighted in an excellent Simon Carless column at GameSetWatch, but aside from that minor note, I think the future Au foresees is definitely a likely one - to an extent.

GTA IV, of course, netted $500 million in its first week. Hardware manufacturers may need to become more agile, but I highly doubt that the giants of game development will be so easily shifted to lower-budget, microtransactions-driven titles when there's money like that to be made from a hit.

Web entrepreneurs have also been forecasting, with strange virulence, the death of the "core" game industry as we know it for some years now, and they predict its recession in favor of viral, social, casual browser-based stuff. This sector is currently the darling of the venture capitalists, and many of their products have garnered the attention of millions of mainstream users, but such products have yet to prove they can hang in beyond the bubble, and remain primarily of major interest to those who invest in and cover the space. Meanwhile, the console-cycle industry model has persisted for decades.

Most likely, the crystal ball will feature a blend of both business models - a continuation of the traditional one, plus some more risk-resistant, smaller-scale products.

What do you think? Will we see a day when the console megatitle is a thing of the past?

Why GTA IV Was the Beginning of the End [GigaOM via GameSetWatch]

The latest debate concluded this morning. It's all about Grand Theft Auto IV. We talked about bringing our A game for this one. Or at least we would have if we spoke in sports metaphors. It's full of spoilers... about the game's moral quandaries, its ending and other stuff. So beware.

But if you're looking to see him have a go at me for preferring San Andreas to GTA IV and if you're interested in stuff like this...

N'Gai: I'm wondering whether the fault lies not with inconsistencies in the work of Rockstar's writing team, but with the credulity of all of us. Liberty City is filled with self-deluded characters like Playboy X, Manny and Brucie, who present themselves one way only to be exposed by their behavior. Why do we take Niko at face value? Is it just because he's our avatar? ... Maybe Niko is deceiving himself as much as do the rest of the lowlifes he runs with. Maybe as much as he believes he's fatigued with death and killing, he's actually drawn to it? Maybe we have all misunderstood Niko Bellic.

...then head to either of our sites and read the loooong debate. I'm linking to his version, because I'm classy.

Round One
Round Two
Final Round

Niko Bellic of Grand Theft Auto IV [Pixeloo, via GayGamer]

“Some people on the team didn’t like the music/mobile phone idea for various reasons, but they went back and forth on the idea until the very end,” Rockstar spokesperson Darlan Monterisi explained in an e-mail on Tuesday. “This is VERY common. We do it in every game we make. We still prefer the balance of music in car and the ambient world’s noise on foot, but we are constantly reviewing this stuff.”

I wonder how much having a mini-stereo with you at all times would have changed the experience? It must have been something that the Rockstar folks thought would have had quite an impact to remove it. Why else would they cut the thing entirely instead of allowing gamers to go out and buy a phone with the feature in game?

Actually, I'm still surprised at the limit of phone tech in the game. I was expecting that the phone, because it plays such an important role in the game's interface, would come in a lot more flavors and that at least one of the was going to support video capture. Maybe next time.

GTA IV Cutting Room Floor [MTV Multiplayer]

Time to go interactive. That's right, me the movie critic is actually telling you to switch to video games until Hollywood makes more exciting movies... [Grand Theft Auto IV is] a hell of a game (maybe not the Citizen Kane of the form, like many game reviews claim), and in terms of action, thrills, imagination and innovation, GTA IV has it all over the pablum currently passing for ingenuity at the multiplex... And let's keep my game skills out of this as well. This is a review of Grand Theft Auto IV the M-O-V-I-E. And I have to say, it's better than anything I've seen at the multiplex so far this summer, except maybe Iron Man. There's plot development, character depth and moral ambiguity, stuff you don't find in Speed Racer... It's a rare video game that enters territory marked by Scorsese and Tarantino. But writers Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries have created the vid version of film noir with dialogue that crackles even in the film's darkest shadows. And they take every shot they can at social satire.

That's some big time movie critic praise! Nice to see that Travers is open to other (more interactive) forms of story telling.

Is Grand Theft Auto IV Actually the Best Popcorn Movie of the Summer? [Rolling Stone via The Chaos Fold]

UK newspaper The Sun is trying their best to drum up some British outrage over Grand Theft Auto IV's inclusion of a child pageant site on the game's faux internet.

In GTA IV a little exploration at the game's cyber cafe yields LacySurprisePageant.com, when you visit the site a message pops up that it has been shut down by the game's police and that your IP address has been "cataloged" for possible future investigation. A visit also instantly maxes out your wanted level.

When I first noticed this, while playing through the game, I had a pretty good laugh, but at least one South Wales man was offended. And you know what they say: One person pissed off equals a story in The Sun.

Jason Deschoolmeester, 23, of South Wales, said: “I was looking on the internet for cheats and the name of this caught my eye as my daughter is called Lacey. This crosses the line. The makers have obviously sat around and discussed putting this in, and it’s not on. What will they do next?

“It’s disgusting. It could lead people to indulge in things like that. It is totally sick. I won’t play it again.”

While The Sun does go out of its way to point out that the game doesn't allow you to act out the role of a pedophile, they never explain how a single complaint by a gamer morphed into a story with the headline: A HIT computer game has sparked outrage by featuring a spoof paedophile website.

A HIT computer game has sparked outrage by featuring a spoof paedophile website. [The Sun]

The theory is fleshed out by evidence that things explode in GTA IV. Compelling stuff. You've given us a lot to think about this day, random internet moron.

Was Grand Theft Auto IV Inspired by Al-Qaida? [Spiegel via GamePolitics]

The list is full of familiar hits like Wii Play and Guitar Hero III, with some of May's more hyped new releases, like Boom Blox and Haze, failing to crack the top ten.

01. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 871,300
02. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 787,400
03. Wii Fit (Wii) - 687,700
04. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 442,900
05. Wii Play (Wii) - 294,600
06. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 171,100
07. Iron Man (PS2) - 130,600
08. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 116,800
09. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 107,000
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) - 102,000

Total video game software spending was $536.9 million, up 41% year over year.

Comments from NPD analyst Anita Frazier reveal that the other game to take advantage of the Wii Fit balance board, We Ski, landed at number 12. She also points out that GTA IV has racked up 4.2 million in sales in the States and has a score update on the rhythm game genre.

"A lot of folks are interested in the battle of the bands," Frazier added. "Year-to-date, Guitar Hero III has sold 2.5 million units compared to Rock Band's 1.3 million which lands them both in the top 10 titles for the year so far."

Thanks one more time to the folks at NPD for the info.

Today, Ernst upped his estimate to 15 million on word from Take-Two that the publisher had already sold through 8.5 million copies of GTA IV, with 11 million shipped to retailers. Ernst noted that "We expect GTA IV sales to re-accelerate in the latter part of year in conjunction with the seasonal holiday period."

As for Final Fantasy XIII shipping 7 million in 2008?

Ernst said that "Initially we had hoped it would make it in for the end of the year" but that FFXIII "definitely appears off the table" according to Square Enix guidance. Frankly, we'll be thrilled (and maybe even a bit flabbergasted) if it hits North America before 2010.

The Hudson Square Research analyst updated us on a handful of other key figures, noting that Gran Turismo 5 is also expected to be a "no show" this year and that next week's release of Metal Gear Solid 4 "won't be enough to materially accelerate the PS3 this year."

"For the PS3, that’s definitely a set back," Ernst told us about titles that the firm expects to hit next year, "And I think is why their 10M unit guidance for the [fiscal year] was lower than most had expected."

"I was buying a hot dog from a street vendor in Hove Beach yesterday when I saw someone run a red light, barrel down the sidewalk, careen into a garbage truck, exit his vehicle, steal a nearby convertible, and drive away," one Broker resident reported. "A nearby police car didn't even react. But when the car behind him nicked his fender, the officer shot the driver through the windshield and walked away."

"That is not the kind of law enforcement we want for our community," he added.

Speaking as a recent immigrant to Liberty City, I have to disagree. This is exactly the type of law enforcement we need. Someone go run over that resident for me.

Liberty City Police Face Allegations Of Incompetence, Brutality [The Onion - Thanks Daria!]

Welcome to Grand Stunt Auto Show IV [Topless Robot]

She screams muffled protests through the rag between her lips, the image on the camera phone screen reflecting her tormented, terrified eyes. As the player centers her face in the frame, she offers a desperate moan, a wracked sob.

“Smile for daddy,” the player tells her.

Click.

Is Grand Theft Auto IV an expression of hate towards women? Are those who enjoy it misogynists?

Feminist interest blog Feministing certainly thinks so – though not because of this mission scene from later in the game. At the time of GTA IV’s launch, Feministing poster Samhita came across a video called “Ladies of Liberty City: Very Bad Things,” created by IGN. The video featured sequences of the game edited together by IGN, and all of these sequences depicted violence, with sexual overtones, toward the prostitutes and strippers in the game – such as soliciting a prostitute and then running her over with your car to get your money back.

Feministing’s Samhita was offended, and excoriated the game for what she called its “blatant violence and misogyny displayed towards women.”

Before we address an argument to her statement, it’s necessary first to pick out a few serious flaws in her opinion of the game.

Thanks, IGN

First, she referred to IGN’s video as a “trailer” for the game, which it was not, of course, being that it was neither produced, publicized or sanctioned by the title’s developer, Rockstar, and was not intended to be used as advertisement nor representation of the game. The development of that video was entirely the doing of IGN, who when questioned by MTV Multiplayer’s Stephen Totilo, admitted it “messed up,” and removed the video, whose caption had read: “Grab a cup of hot coffee and enjoy the working girls of the city.”

If Samhita of Feministing was unaware enough of the game industry to know the difference between a game’s trailer and its official promotion, one could certainly argue that she was unqualified to criticize the game. Unfortunately, though, only a very small percentage of the world is especially educated on video games, and the majority of attacks on the medium come from the outside looking in. With that in mind, a hearty portion of the blame for this misunderstanding is squarely on the shoulders of IGN, who should have known better, to say the very least.

Who's Raising Our Kids?

Beginning with this misconception, Samhita, who hadn’t played the game, expressed concern that young men might be having their first sexual experiences with women in GTA IV’s prostitute-populated, violent city streets and strip clubs.

Because the modern school system encourages memorizing information to regurgitate it, discouraging creative analysis, Samhita argued that young boys playing GTA IV would not only be introduced to negative stereotypes of female sexuality through the game, but would also lack the critical thinking skills to understand that they were not being “trained” in a value system.

She wrote:

"It can be argued that they are being force fed heavily marketed violent images (that often reflect the violence in the media, movies, government policy and in their own communities) that become normalized. And not only normalized, but given the popular nature of GTA, it is cool to be violent and kill prostitutes."

It’s a common position, and even a viable one, that media today and the ready access to information may desensitize not only young people, but adults of all ages and creeds to heavy violence and sexual themes. But are children really “force-fed” any sort of entertainment, implying that there is no choice? If media really is the sole determiner of children’s values, I’m afraid we’ve got a bigger problem than a violent video game.

Does Samhita suggest that parents have no power to create what’s “normalized” for their children? Assuming such a lack of influence on the part of mothers is at least as misogynistic as any entertainment medium.

And even so – let’s pretend a moment that it’s possible for media to single-handedly ruin our youth. Even then, how can Samhita place blame on a title that, at the time she leveled her critique, had been on store shelves for a single day? One that she never even played?

Of course, Samhita is neglecting the most essential point of all - Grand Theft Auto IV is not a game for children, period.

Those Virgin Eyes

After being evaluated by several ratings organizations worldwide, the game was assigned a “mature” rating - this is 17+ in the United States and 18 in Europe and the United Kingdom. Moreover, the ESRB has repeatedly urged consumers to use the ratings as a guide, and that the word “mature” in the ratings is equally as important as the number.

In other words, this game is not intended to be played by curious youth about to get their first look at a pair of boobs, Samhita.

Ironically, by the way, Feministing used the Australian box shot of that region’s heavily-edited version of GTA IV - with the “15+” rating sticker clear in the image.

Technicalities aside, Samhita’s post went on to wonder why “a game that depicts such violence towards women [is] so popular,” and asked, “How is that acceptable?”

Guilt Issue

To be fair, this is a more challenging question. In its eagerness to defend gaming, the game community has repeatedly stressed that GTA IV neither forces nor explicitly rewards you for engaging in prostitution, violence towards women, or random acts of brutality. But it would be untruthful on our part to say that anyone plays GTA IV primarily for its engrossing story, its flawless driving mechanics or its watertight gameplay.

We play it to wreak mayhem, so let’s just admit it. Maybe then, we can finally stop feeling guilty.

GTA IV, at its core, is not a violence simulator, nor a gripping television drama, nor a camp comedy – rather, it’s all of these, presented as an essay on freedom of behavior, a fantasy world where morality is suspended, subjective or selective. What we do in that fantasy world says something about us as a society, about the state of the real world, rather than being a blatant advertisement for the innate immorality of entertainment.

Rockstar’s Dan Houser recently told Playboy in an interview:

"We're trying to give gamers freedom. It boils down to critics not liking the fact that people can choose to do 'bad' things in a fantasy world - which to me is silly."

Even Samhita admits that violent media is merely a reflection of a violent world. In that respect, GTA IV is merely truthful, an unwillingness to avoid the ugliest aspects of society. Instead of avoiding them, it embraces them, a poignant satire of those truths. Why is Samhita so incensed that players in the game can visit seedy, low-lit and vaguely gross strip clubs, when those things are actually plentiful in reality?

And in real world strip clubs, the women choose to put their flesh on display. You can assume, then, that the digital women have elected to be there, also. Although not everyone always makes ideal choices for their lives, and many women become sex workers out of desperate economic circumstances, still more appreciate burlesque as an art and embrace the work they do.

And to Samhita’s quintessential argument – that a game that makes this behavior possible is “misogynistic”?

Freedom And Equality For All

As a mirror of society at its worst, no one is spared the harsh lens in the game. Rarely are any of the game’s characters portrayed in a favorable light, and it presents in fact a level playing field – the men are as mad for their addictions and bloodlust as the women are. And if any of the characters are likeable, it’s because of empathy – or pity – for the nature of their human failings.

In fact, one of the game’s more powerful drug barons is the full-figured, fierce and feared Elizabeta, whose treatment is no more or less gentle than her male counterparts. Equality abounds. Yes, GTA IV is hostile to women. It’s hostile to everyone.

To call misogyny here is divisive, actually, implying that the treatment of women needs to be elevated above the treatment of any other group – as if “woman” were a separate, special "race" with a unified mind. We aren’t, thank you.

In fact, with all due respect for the feminist community, demand for that sort of favoritism seems to breed resentment – perhaps even the very resentment that GTA IV provides the framework to explore. Just who are those large-breasted logo silhouettes on Feministing's website supposed to be giving the middle finger to, anyway?

The imagery of the blond mafia princess held hostage is disturbing – but no more so than the scenes from film, television and novels with which humankind has been fascinated for centuries, dating even further back than the dramatic works of the ancient Greeks. These things don’t begin with GTA IV, not by a long shot. And to argue that mankind (and not merely “men”) have no right to the dark fantasies the game allows us to examine is painfully naïve.

And GTA IV earns praise above all for delivering that playground in which to explore and reflect on our baser ideas, even those we don’t necessarily embrace in our real lives. It does appeal to misogynists, who would have espoused those philosophies with or without a video game, and to those who choose to focus only on the grossest elements. In IGN's "citizenmike"'s flippant defense of the IGN "Ladies of Liberty City" video, he wrote:

"GTA games, ultimately, want players to shoot innocent people. It’s one of the core tenants of the game design. In fact, GTA games fail in entirety if you try to play them without some degree of moral depravity."

I think Rockstar's core tenet, actually, is to force people to consider moral depravity, not to beg them to embrace it. And that's why GTA IV appeals to the socially curious and the civil-minded, too – all of whom tire of having their intentions assumed, and of being told they’ve no right to their entertainment by those who haven’t even bothered to try it.

"My son Peter was never really aggressive, but once he got into video games, 'GTA' being one of them, he started to push, hit, talk back, and just become a different person," said Stockton parent Greg Within, 46.

Stockton's Mark Wellis, 19, said he was involved in an altercation a week after he purchased "Grand Theft Auto IV." At the time he noticed that he had become less sensitive to violence.

Wellis doesn't completely blame the game for his violence, but it did affect him.

This is the stuff of Pulitzers.
GTAIV Criticized [Recordnet via GamePolitics]

360 outselling PS3 since GTA IV launch [Eurogamer]

If you listen to the brayings of uninformed crisis-mongers like CNN's Glenn Beck, you'd get the idea that Grand Theft Auto IV not only requires drunk driving in the game, but also is training people to do it in real life, and convincing them they can get away with it. Seems plausible. After all, Guitar Hero has also convinced millions they too can play a guitar and get away with it in real life.

This NSFW long-awaited (and teased) Kotaku original video, conceived with a lot of suffering (and you'll see it in the end) explores how easy, and hard, it is to do things drunk in GTA IV. And yes, we're carrying it to a logical — and inappropriate — extreme. There's more discussion (and spoilers? I feel stupid typing that) after the jump. So watch it on the front page — probably not around polite company either — and then go looking for more.

While the game's drunk driving engine is no party, it is nothing like playing the game totally hammered. Both are of course, a stupid waste of time (and liquor). But a lot of what you saw was me actually trying to drive carefully, while I was sober and Niko drunk, and then just saying fuck it as I got drunk and progressively drunker.

You can also see me completely mistaking the controls (laying on the X button to powerslide and turning on the headlights instead; changing the radio station during the rollover, and firing the gun instead of hitting the brake.) Big newsflash: Being drunk slows your reaction time and makes you prone to errors.

But in all honesty, anyone who says this game trains you to drive drunk is an imbecile, and anyone who believes such a statement also is an imbecile. With the two-stick, above-the-car perspective, maybe it could train you to drive an RC car drunk. But that isn't a felony. The first-person drunken cab ride sequence is a more realistic approximation of alcohol and cars, and you are in the backseat, a danger to no one.

Some other details:

• We had a segment about hailing a cab that was cut for space. But Rockstar does not make it easy on you, at least in the 360. I was laying on the left bumper to hail a taxi, never got any indication one was, unless I saw its turn signal come on, and half the time I ended up carjacking it.
• Also, if you stumble out of the bar trashed and can't find a cab, you can set your controller down and make a sandwich. Niko sobers up completely in three minutes; the controller stops vibrating after 2:30.

• If you don't get my toast, I was being a little esoteric (read: hammered) at that point. It was a tribute to commenter Bakeroo's +1 win comment on May 18, in the Lego Boulder post.

• Yes, I am impersonating David Hasselhoff in the introduction sequence. Major kudos to Adam Barenblat for learning how to do the 3D relative zoom effect just for this video.

• This was culled from more than 20 minutes of gameplay footage. I tried to keep a crash and body count but, as you can tell, I'm not that detail-oriented after about six shots of Early Times bourbon. Early Times did not actually sponsor this, but I am in general grateful to that company.

• I actually ended up doing nine shots. What you don't see is, after shot eight, I got up (camera still on) and stumbled around to take a break. Then I realized I had to finish this, thought I hadn't done my eighth, pounded that and played out the last drive.

• The ending was in fact staged.

• I slept from 8:30 pm to 8 am the next day following this. The hangover I had is deterrent enough for me, and it should be for you.

Does she have six fingers (is thumb a finger?) or am I crazy? [zoukka @ NeoGAF]

This interview sounds like it's taken from the Big O & Dukes radio show on WJFK-FM in Washington. It's a long and in depth talk with Michael Hollick, the voice actor for Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV.

There's a little too much hero-worship from the hosts, but hey, Hollick is not a controversial guest, I suppose. He gives a really good look at the development of the game, and how the actors match their lines to the motion capture, which sounds almost impossibly hard to manage and remain in character. Newfound respect for this kind of work.

Other highlights: He auditioned originally for motion-capture; the game he was told he was auditioning for was called "Frozen." And he had days where he came in to work to find a script that was "50 pages of just screaming. In these you're jumping off of something, in these you're shooting someone, in these you're being burned alive."

GTA 4 Niko Voice Actor Interview [GameTrailers user Grave, thanks reader Raivis R.]

GTA IV Papercraft [tubbypaws]

2002 BMW M3 Coupe [AutoTrader, thanks dlindenb!]

I think it [Grand Theft Auto IV] is made extremely well and is a fun game... People always use that as an example of violence in games. But I don't think there's anyone who takes their job as seriously as the guys who make that game. You only have to look at all the detail in there.

That's a pretty high compliment right there, Rockstar!

Itagaki Talks GTAIV [CVG]

Nintendo didn't just have a good month on the hardware side, as Wii games Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Wii Play and Guitar Hero III all landed in the top ten. New Pokemon action helped two DS titles grab pre-break billing.

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 1,850,000
2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 1,120,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 1,000,000
4. Wii Play (Wii) - 360,000
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 326,000
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PS3) - 224,000
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS) - 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) - 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 141,000

Total software sales reached $654.7 million for April '08. That's a 68% boost over the previous year, which saw just $389.4 million in software spending. Yeah, just.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier notes that GTA IV saw an attach rate equal to 20% of the total Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 install base. She also reiterated that next month we may see far more impressive sales of Rockstar's crime epic, but that its April sales were nothing to sneeze at, writing "With only 5 days at retail during the reporting month, GTA IV is one of the fastest-selling titles in video games history."

Dobson laments "the new video that's out, supposedly for kids" that features "every form of evil and violence, from killing to raping to drugs to foul language to political corruption and racism." Kids exposed to this sort of thing, Dobson says, "some of them, especially those that come from dysfunctional families, go out and do things that are reprehensible." Beck, who has previously called us "losers" (no u are, lol), points out that Dobson is talking about GTA IV, adding "they say it isn't being sold for kids, but it is, kids are buying it."

We're emailing both Beck and Dobson, begging for the rape codes. We simply must try these heretofore unknown feature and readjust our moral compass accordingly.

Wither the American family? [CNN - thanks, Jeremy!]

Sightseeing in Liberty City [Matthew Johnston @ Flickr]

Re: Phone SOny and R* Give them Your info!!! [ intimidtr3 @ PlayStation.com, thanks everyone!]

Which Grand Theft Auto Character Are You? [Facebook]

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!

First up, the clear winner, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg. He says, in part, "These sales results add GTA IV to a long list of franchises that have switched over from Playstation to find a new home on Xbox 360 similar to what happened last year with titles like Madden and Guitar Hero." Greenberg, who seems pleased, tells Level Up that it's a trend he expects to continue.

Peter Dille, senior VP of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment, responds in kind. "If I had an installed base advantage of 3-1," he says "I wouldn't be crowing too much about a 60-40 sales advantage." Touche! Dille says that 60-40 split isn't such a big deal. Actually, it's a testament to PlayStation brand loyalty, Peter says, in a roundabout way! Regardless of the hard numbers, Dille manages to seem pleased too.

Mr. Croal breaks it down further, with some pre-April console install base numbers, for those interested. We expect better sales insight due Thursday, at which point there will be much slap fighting done across message boards and commenting threads. Don't miss it!

Scoop: GameStop Reveals That When It Comes to Grand Theft Auto IV, Xbox 360 Has a 2-1 Advantage Over Playstation 3 In First Week Sales [Level Up]

The host of the Late Late Show does more than just make out of touch Pac-Man jokes. He riffs on recent political pandering, the dangers of letting our children get their hands on violent games and tosses in some googly-eyed looks that are just hilarious. Bonus GTA mention after the jump.

Yeah, the second bit takes home the bronze, but we can't fault Craig for trying.

Belated thanks to Evil Tortie's Mom for the heads up! Sorry 'bout that!

Co-op play was kindasorta in San Andreas (albeit offline) and everyone shrugged. To fully integrate that into the main game experience seriously disrupts the at-your-own-pace narrative of what is basically a cinematic video game. Multiple cities: also San Andreas — including (technically) Liberty City. Robberies: Vice City, although I agree, I wish they had them in San Andreas and here, too.

How about a Godfather-style intimidation engine? The first two missions for Vlad were laughable — throw a brick through a window? Bump into a van? (I did it with a Blista Compact, too). God damn, those clowns would pay protection money for their seat at the Yankees game if you breathed on them hard.

One thing I do not want to see, or wouldn't use anyway, is an in-car view. I am constantly reliant on the elevated perspective of third-person driving, and always thumbing the right stick to peek before taking a corner or passing to the left on a hill. Lowering the POV and holding it inside the car would have you stuck in traffic half of the game.

8 Things We Want to See in GTA [Kombo.com]