Lame kerfuffles about copy protection schemes just seem a bit off-message, somehow. C'mon chaps, you'll not get many tabloid headlines with this nonsense! Get back to the prostitute murder and leave the customer-punishing DRM nonsense to your competitors.

Yes, another high profile PC release - GTA IV this time - will be shipping with SecuROM. The usual arguments are being trotted out - on the one hand it is the publisher's best defence against piracy (the copyright infringement kind, not the Somali kidnappy variety) while on the other it is a horrible mess of code that will taint the PCs of legitimate consumers like digital scar tissue.

C'est la vie.

GTA IV jumps on SecuROM bandwagon

Hit the jump for more details on what sounds like one of the easiest-to-use video editors ever, and stay tuned for new video examples of the editor at work.

GTA IV PC Video Editor

The all new Video Editor feature allows you to capture in-game footage, make real time edits and render those clips out as WMV movie files. The clips can also be spliced together into a video complete with post effects like music, text and transitions, and other features typically found in video editing suites. You can then share your video(s) with others to view and rate in Rockstar Games Social Club TV.

Clip Capture

At any time during the game (single or multiplayer), press the F2 key to dump a chunk of footage to your hard drive. Depending on how data intensive things are in the world at that time, the clip should be about 30 to 40 seconds long. Captured footage will be the action that occurs PRIOR to pressing F2. Note that if you have a slower machine, you also have the option to turn off this feature altogether.

Launching the Video Editor

To launch the Video Editor, call it up using your in-game mobile phone. A prompt will let you know that any unsaved data will be lost, after which you jump into a separate menu to view and edit your clips. You arrive at this screen with the following choices:

• Clips

• Editor

• Gallery

• Upload

• Online

Clips

All the raw footage you've captured in-game can be viewed quickly in the Clips section. There are standard DVD style controls for video playback. In addition, you can hold down the right mouse button to move the camera and view your clip from alternate angles and then update your clip thumbnail making it easy to organize your clips.

Editor

Selecting Editor allows you to create a video from your raw clips. Here you can name your video, string multiple clips together, add music, titles, and transitions.

Your raw footage clips appear on the left side of the screen. The upper right portion of the screen is the storyboard editing space. Drag and drop your clip footage into the storyboard to create a video. Double click a thumbnail on the storyboard to edit it. You can add markers within your clips which allow you to place cameras and filters, and adjust audio and speed settings.

To quickly create a video for upload, make sure you have at least one clip in the storyboard editing space and then hit the Web option in Export To Gallery.

Gallery

The section labeled Gallery contains all of the complete, exported videos. By default, the last exported video is displayed in the preview window. The thumbnails on the right side of the screen are arranged with the most recent ones appearing at the top.

Upload

In the section labeled Upload, players can submit their exported web videos to the Social Club. The left side of the screen shows local videos that you have created. The right side is a web portal displaying all the videos that you have uploaded.

Online

The Online section will minimize Grand Theft Auto IV and will take you directly to the Rockstar Games Social Club TV website using your default web browser. There you can view clips others have uploaded as well as rate clips and comment on them.

The Video Editor is a full featured tool. For more details visit: www.rockstargames.com/iv/pc/videoeditor

You might not think much of the video editor that Rockstar Games is including in the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV, but this video, titled "Gutterballs," might just change your mind. It's just one of many that the developer has released to promote the Windows only feature and its groin-heavy focus may just make it the best. Kudos for keeping it highbrow, Rockstar.

Take-Two had invested some $300,000 in advertising for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 game prior to its release. With the holiday season upon us and the release of the PC version imminent, now's not such a bad time to get Niko Bellic's face out there.

According to the report from Chicago Breaking News, the CTA voted to ban M-rated video game ads on its buses and stations, ensuring that this sort of marketing nightmare never happens again.

'Grand Theft Auto' ads return to CTA [Chicago Breaking News] [Image]

The first, top-left, shows the Metacritic review average of the major publishers in the US market - excluding (disappointingly) the platform holders first-party efforts - for the past year. Take-Two is sitting pretty at the top, but how bad were the rest of their games when GTA IV got near-perfect scores and their average was only 76%?

The second, top-right, is a little more selective with its statistics. It shows the various publisher's US market share, but for 2002-2007, not the past year. Again, without first-party stuff, which is why the total number is so low.

The third, at the bottom, is perhaps the most interesting. It shows the attach rate for the entire modern GTA series. For GTAIII to San Andreas, the figures are just for the PS2 version, while for GTA IV it's for both 360 and PS3. It's not often we see stats like this, but surely 32% of PS3 owners having a copy of GTA IV in their possession is some kind of record, at least for the PS3 (you have to assume games like Halo and Wii Play are a little higher).

"Some of your are interested in our release schedule," he said. "To update that, our PC title will be released early next month. Downloadable content is a big undertaking. It's important that it be really special, really something unexpected by consumers. We're setting incredibly high standards for it. We have it planned for the end of the first quarter. It's close to be completed. That said, it may move into the second quarter depending on its completion date."

"Chinatown Wars we've decided to move out of the first quarter in order to fill out a better launch and marketing window. The title will ship in the first half of our fiscal year and we will provide more information on release dates by the time we report our earnings next month."

The comments came following a presentation by Zelnick that both highlighted the company's successes and stressed the concerns he and other developers have about the seemingly worsening economy.

"On the horizon we see a number of strategic growth opportunities including new channels of distribution, new markets, new products and new business models," he told the gathering. "We have a very strong publishing platform and an unrivaled development team."

But minutes later he described the current retail conditions as "extraordinarily challenging" and said that there has been a "softening of retail" that has had a negative impact on the industry.

So Take-Two's strategy is to "release a limited number of top tier titles" in the hope it will cushion the publisher in the short run.

Thanks to MTV Multiplayer for the heads-up.

The debut of LittleBigPlanet in Japan was less spectacular, nabbing the third place spot. Perhaps consumers opted to pick up those new 80GB PS3 bundles, with either LBP or Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III included.

With seven new releases snatching top ten spots, best sellers like Wii Fit and Wii Music get bumped from the top ten. Will the latter recover?

01. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 133,000 / NEW
02. Valkyrie Profile: Toga o Seoumono (DS) - 80,000 / NEW
03. LittleBigPlanet (PS3) - 52,000 / NEW
04. Pokémon Platinum (DS) - 47,000 / 1,854,000
05. Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (DS) - 40,000 / 116,000
06. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS) - 39,000 / 1,089,000
07. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (PS3) - 35,000 / NEW
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (X360) - 34,000 / NEW
09. Aruite Wakaru: Seikatsu Rhythm DS (DS) - 26,000 / NEW
10. Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu + (DS) - 26,000 / NEW

11. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (PSP)
12. Wii Music (Wii)
13. Avalon Code (DS)
14. Shape Boxing: Wii de Enjoy! Diet (Wii)
15. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 2 (PSP)
16. Wii Fit (Wii)
17. Bokujou Monogatari: Waku Waku Animal March (Wii)
18. Yes! Precure 5 Go Go Zenin Shu Go! Dream Festival (DS)
19. SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation (PS3)
20. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
21. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Special (PS2)
22. Vitamin Y (DS)
23. Thunder Force VI (PS2)
24. Inazuma Eleven (DS)
25. Bleach: Soul Carnival (PSP)
26. Wii Sports (Wii)
27. Macross Ace Frontier (PSP)
28. Dragonball DS (DS)
29. Dr. Slump & Arale-Chan (DS)
30. Culdcept DS (DS)

Media Create Weekly Software Sales [Gpara]

According to IGN, the official minimum and recommended PC system requirements have also been revealed. The recommended requirements closely match what was posted on the official Games For Windows site — then pulled — last month. The full specs are after this.

Minimum System Requirements
* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
* Memory: 1.5GB, 16GB Free Hard Drive Space
* Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Recommended System Requirements
* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
* Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)
* 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space
* Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

GTA IV PC Delayed to December [IGN]

The official Games For Windows site still lists the PC version's original release date, as does Rockstar's own GTA IV PC listing.

We've reached out to Rockstar to get confirmation on the potential slip and will update when we hear something official.

He has a point. We've watched exclusivity deals dissolve more than once during this generation (BioShock, Final Fantasy XIII).

Maguire, who's been chatty lately, explains to the less big business strategically inclined, "Things get wrapped up for a period of time for a large amount of money and if it's a strategic decision by competition to do that then we have to live with that."

Sony, Mr. Maguire says, has better things to do with its money.

"I would much rather that we were investing money into making sure that we've got great R&D and we start producing games like LittleBigPlanet," he adds, "rather than paying other people a huge amount of money to stop people playing their product."

We're glad that Sony is investing internally, even if it means things like EyePet get greenlighted, but we'd bet some PS3 owners certainly wouldn't mind a well-secured exclusive or two of their own. For the record, we're 99.44% sure this doesn't apply to Metal Gear Solid 4, give or take a few percentage points. Haze, maybe. Definitely maybe.

Sony UK boss on DLC: 'Nothing is ever exclusive' [VideoGamer]

Don't expect, however, to see retroactive Trophies support in GTA IV. The official word from Rockstar notes that we should "make sure to download and install the update before playing in order to start attaining Trophies." What's another 40 hours or so in Liberty City?

Rockstar warns, via the official Social Club that "The infected DON'T necessarily have to be wearing the Zombie skin, some show NO SYMPTOMS!" If you'd rather not partake in the fun, we'd advise steering clear of anyone with the zombie "skin," anyone with a "Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie" achievement and, well, staying offline altogether.

The Rockstar Social Club has handy charts and graphs about the status of the GTA IV zombie plague, should this sort of thing tickle your undead fancy.

Rockstar Social Club [Rockstar]

The magazine reviewed Grand Theft Auto (PS3/Xbox 360) for its localized October 30th Japan release, giving it a 39/40. To put that in perspective, only sixteen other titles have ever been given that score. Famitsu had positive things to saw about the game, completing how fun the game's sprawling world is and even telling readers to play the game. One gripe, though, is that using the SIXAXIS controls for the helicopter might be too difficult. Ain't that the truth!

[2ch]

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 22, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. celebrates its second anniversary of the Games for Windows initiative this month with the news that the year’s biggest blockbuster, “Grand Theft Auto IV” (Rockstar Games), will debut on the PC this November exclusively as a Games for Windows-branded title, joining a growing list of more than 85 top PC games from today’s hottest publishers. Liberty City comes to life through a revitalized Games for Windows – LIVE experience, including expanded online matches, cutting-edge DirectX 10 graphics, and new LIVE features such as a redesigned game interface, out-of-game client and marketplace.

“We’re incredibly proud of the deep, customizable multiplayer experience that Grand Theft Auto IV offers players, “ said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “As we work toward the release of the PC version, Games for Windows – LIVE affords us the opportunity to seamlessly translate the multiplayer console experience for PC gamers. The service is a natural fit for the platform and we strongly believe it will help in building a strong online community around GTA IV PC.”

In addition to “Grand Theft Auto IV,” some of the year’s most-anticipated titles will take advantage of Games for Windows – LIVE, including “Fallout 3” (Bethesda Softworks LLC), “Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II” (THQ Inc.) and “James Bond: Quantum of Solace” (Activision Publishing Inc.).

Games for Windows – LIVE delivers a truly connected experience for PC gamers, letting users enjoy a common Gamertag, Gamerscore, and unified friends list that carries across both supported PC games and the Xbox 360 console, as well as single and multiplayer Achievements, voice chat, text messaging and TruSkill online matchmaking.

“Great Windows-based games like ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’ ‘Fallout 3’ and ‘Dawn of War II’ are proof that Microsoft is delivering on its promise to provide the best possible PC gaming experience on Windows,” said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Windows gaming at Microsoft. “We are engaged with our community and listen attentively to their needs and concerns. With their input our platform has continued to evolve, and we’re proud of the marked improvement the Games for Windows program has brought to PC gaming in its first two years.”

The game awards points (for) creating as much as crime and destruction as possible in a city.

That's right, Mail Online. You forgot to mention the cheat code you can only acquire by eating a live baby. I had to do it twice, because I forgot to write it down the first time. Man those babies are filling. I'm getting rather tired of seeing these stories. We need to call for a global ban on stupid children. They're a menace.

Teenager torches cars after watching Grand Theft Auto video game [Mail Online]

GTA IV' Sales Slow, Complicating Take-Two/EA Merger [CNN]

Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
RAM: 2GB
Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

18 gigabytes, eh? In the age of the terabyte home storage solution, Grand Theft Auto IV spreading out across that much platter isn't shocking, just a tad hard to absorb. (Ask me about my 80GB drive some time!)

We're checking in with Rockstar to make sure these figures are on the up and up, but until someone says otherwise, we'd think it's safe to start trolling NewEgg for whatever your needs may be.

Thanks to Mikko for the pointer.

GTA IV [Games for Windows]

With the PC release and the localized Japanese version still to come, it's looking more and more likely that GTA IV can hit that 15 million mark in 2008, as Hudson Square Research analyst Daniel Ernst predicted.

A cheaper Xbox 360 and forthcoming episodic content sure won't hurt GTA IV's chances this holiday season.

GTA IV DLC on track for November [Eurogamer]

Preview of New XBox Experience [RPG-TV]

What we saw, a Rockstar controlled run through of the memorable "Three Leaf Clover" mission, looked exactly how we remember it, just much, much sharper. Higher resolution textures, crisp anti-aliasing, better streaming and higher draw distances will certainly appeal to the graphics whore in you.

If not, GTA IV for PC's higher multiplayer cap and game searching filters might. The PC port's other big bullet point, the replay recorder and editor, wasn't on display, but will definitely make for memorable machinima.

In short, it looked damn good, if more than familiar, on a 50" plasma screen at one notch below max resolution.

Finally, Microsoft has announced that the first dollop of episodic GTA action will appear on Xbox Live in the fall.

At the Leipzig Games Convention, a nice chap from Microsoft announced,

"In autumn there will be news from Liberty City; the first episodes of GTA IV will be available for download exclusively on Xbox Live"

(and then there was some guff about "underlining Xbox 360's leadership role in the field of digital entertainment." but, whatever)

So, what do we know? Well, it's nice to get confirmation that it will be several such episodes — whether that means actual episodic gameplay in a Half Life 2 style, who can say?. Mention of Liberty City seems to throw cold water on those 'whole new city' rumors, which is a shame, but still - GTA IV DLC! Yay!

LGC: Autumn update for GTA IV DLC [CVG via Slashgamer]

Now, Josep Maria Goñi, secretary general of the Catalan Taxi Federation, is asking the Spanish government to do the same, citing the Thai murder case.

We're going to make an ass out of ourselves and assume that Mr. Goñi knows as much as the Grand Theft Auto series as just about everyone else in his position and hope that cabbie murder hysteria blows over before it gives the series a bad rap. We can't have our games being scapegoated for society's ills, now. What a horrible precedent that would set.

Spanish Cabbies Want GTA Banned in Wake of Thai Taxi Murder [Game Politics]

"We are very excited to be releasing the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The whole team is dedicated to bringing an amazing gaming experience to the PC. The game looks and plays beautifully on PC and we can't wait for people to play it."

It looks like the PC version will be ported by Rockstar North, though I've pinged Rockstar to be sure. I've also asked them about pricing, DLC and system requirements for the PC version.

Rockstar Games Announces Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC

New York, NY – August 6, 2008 – Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto IV will be arriving on the PC on November 18th and 21st in North America and Europe, respectively.

"We are very excited to be releasing the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The whole team is dedicated to bringing an amazing gaming experience to the PC. The game looks and plays beautifully on PC and we can't wait for people to play it."

Developed by series creator Rockstar North and set in Liberty City, the latest installment in the enormously successful Grand Theft Auto series features a painstakingly detailed and life-like city for players to explore; a rich, immersive narrative experience; an original soundtrack highlighting the cultural eclecticism of Liberty City; and newly expanded multiplayer just for the PC.

For more information please visit: http://www.rockstargames.com/IV

Medved points to GTA IV's release on the cusp of an economic recession and its sixty dollar price tag as seemingly puzzling in light of its "stunning" success, selling 6 million copies in its first week. Apparently Medved doesn't quite get that the game is not such a bad deal, as far as entertainment dollars go — this is a 40 hour game experience for many, not including morals erasing multiplayer.

Frankly, we're not sure where he's going with this whole "GTA IV is the devil and people aren't gambling because gas prices are so high and babies are being born out of wedlock," but we like his brand of rambling crazy. The posts write themselves!

War on Middle Class Values, Not on Middle Class [Townhall]

PC Version of GTA IV Confirmed (Updated Again) [IGN]

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]

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]

When I was a kid, I ate all my beans before I ate my carrots, all my fish before I ate all my corn. These days, I eat all my fries before I eat my burger and I finish any console game I'm enjoying before I start the next one.

So if you are enjoying GTAIV and are as close to the end as you say you are, then forge on ahead and complete it. Remember, the next game you're going to play is a Metal Gear game, and, in order to understand one of those epics, you need to give it your full attention. One game at a time.

By the way, I think one of the hamsters that powers the Kotaku engine sprained a leg today or something. If you have a replacement rodent, you might want to send him scurrying in.

What you missed:
My Brief Surprise Visit To Sony's PS3 Home Beta
Skate It Wii May Get Skateboard Frame for Balance Board
ESA Responds To Crave Departure
Sporepedia A Million Strong And Growing

'Metal Gear Solid 4' And The Lack Of Sad Games

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

Other than that, a few quick fixes to address hangs and such. Hit the link for the full skinny on the newly polished GTA IV experience.

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV PATCH [Rockstar Games Social Club]

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

"For clarity’s sake, I think you’ve got a slight mis-remembering of what we said," Riccitiello told an audience member who asked about capitalizing on GTA IV's release value. "We were extremely explicit that there was no possibility whatsoever that we would be able to acquire the company or close the transaction prior to the release of GTA IV."

"What we said is we wanted to close the transaction in time to affect holiday sales for some of the games like Midnight Club, catalog for GTA and others. And so the reason we’re continuing to extend it, that was our plan all along and that was the way we described it at the time."

The questioner was probably prompted to the question by EA's recurring comments about the time sensitivity of their offer, but Riccitiello said that "the depreciating nature of the asset was not necessarily about GTA."

"It is that one more holiday period where we can sell more puts money onto the bottom line."

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]

Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey said that going toe-to-toe with GTA IV on content is "an unusually pompous position... considering GTA IV is estimated to be the highest grossing 1st week entertainment release of all time."

Hickey also nodded to GTA IV's Metacritic-leading score, and maintained his "conservative" estimate for Saints Row 2 sales, "in light of mediocre game previews and a delayed release in-part from quality concerns."

In general, it seems a bit of a risky strategy for any title to compare itself, even jokingly, to a sales record-smasher like GTA IV. When I spoke to THQ during their preview event, though, a rep told me the aim was to show what was different about Saints Row, not necessarily to make superiority claims.

Hickey: Saint's Row 2 'Pompous' To Attack GTA IV [Gamasutra]