Even Game-Hating Daily Mail Likes GTA IV

British tabloid Daily Mail isn't know for it's love of video games. In fact, most think that the paper totally hates them! So reviewing Grand Theft Auto IV is a primo opportunity to vilify gaming. Sure, it gets its digs in and calls the game a "sickening glorification of gangland savagery" and falsely says someone was stabbed at the midnight launch. Then the tone of the piece totally changes! Giving the game a five out of five, Daily Mail writes:

In fairness, though, the makers have for the first time utilised something that resembles a moral compass.

Killing is occasionally optional, dialogue and cut scenes are devoted to Nikos's inner turmoil and while criminality and violence are certainly glorified, its perpetrators are somehow not.

Perhaps The Stupidest Anti-GTA Vid You'll See Today

GameSpot's GTA IV Score-Change Down To A "Bug"

...there was a bug in our publishing system on Monday that caused the incorrect score for GTAIV, a 9.5, to appear for on some pages for a while. This happened hours before we posted the actual score with the review, a 10. This has all led to a lot of talk and speculation so I'm going to set things straight, short answer: it's not true.

Lars Ulrich Ponders Guitar Hero Signing Coolness

Rolling Stone magazine caught up with Metallica last week at their Record Store Day signing event in California, where they interviewed drummer Lars Ulrich, demonstrating the sort of hard-hitting interview questions that have made Rolling Stone a shining example of everything good about pop culture journalism.

You signed a lot of Guitar Hero controllers. Is that cool?

It's fucking way cool.

Our kids love playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It's awesome. There's something really positive coming out of video games. It's so cool to sit there and have your kids talk to you about Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and Soundgarden.

Game Magazine Cover Was For Sale... Literally

Reviews v Sales

Yes, Yes, The *First* Grand Theft Auto IV Print Review

• Amazingly realistic world
• Stunning action set pieces
• Genuinely engrossing storyline
• Hugely entertaining multiplayer
• Vast in every aspect

Dan "Shoe" Hsu Leaves EGM/1Up

I was shocked today to read that long-time EGMer and guiding force Dan "Shoe" Hsu is leaving Ziff Davis Media and the 1Up Network for personal reasons. His last day will be April 25.

Shu is quick to point out that the decision was his alone and not one forced on him or dealing with any sort of lay offs, or connected in anyway to the recent news about Games for Windows. He says on his personal blog that after 11 years at the company it's time to move on.

It's with a heavy (and relieved) heart that I write this: I've tendered my resignation here at Ziff Davis Media and the 1UP Network. My last day here will be Friday, April 25.

This is my own decision; I'm not being forced out or laid off or anything like that. And this is not related to the recent news about Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (and I hope I'm not stealing any thunder away from those guys — that's not my intention here). It's just time for me to move on. I've been here, mostly with EGM, since April of 1996. That's 11 years (taking off one year when I did a brief stint at Gamers.com)...quite a long time!

While Hsu doesn't say where he's headed he does that that we will hear from him again in the near future.

love the videogame business too much to stay away (plus, I'm too old to become a professional snowboarder). Besides, I will miss you guys too much. You all have been fantastic. I sincerely appreciate all the support you've thrown my way over the years — and that, I'll never forget, either.

Thanks and good bye...for now.

I just hope it's still as a writer. The game industry doesn't need Hsu as much as we do.

Hit the jump for the official release naming Sam Kennedy as his replacement as Editorial Director for 1Up Network.

Goodbye [1Up] [Image]

In line with the earlier post on race in video games, Newsweek journalist N'Gai Croal offers these insights about the Resident Evil 5 trailer:

I looked at the Resident Evil 5 trailer and I was like, "Wow, clearly no one black worked on this game." Because I wonder, and I haven't sort of really dug into it that much, but I wonder what sort of advice Capcom gave them. The point isn't that you can't have black zombies. There was a lot of imagery in that trailer that dovetailed with classic racist imagery. What was not funny, but sort of interesting, was that there were so many gamers who could not at all see it. Like literally couldn't see it. So how could you have a conversation with people who don't understand what you're talking about and think that you're sort of seeing race where nothing exists?

Mark Rein Still Has Gears of War 2 Stuff To Show You

Awesome... I've had a chance to read the Game Informer story now and I think when people get a chance to read it they'll see that [Gears 2 is] really good. And we told the Game Informer guys just a tidbit about the game. We showed them some stuff, obviously, but we're keeping a lot of information back that will make people go, 'It's even better than this.' As good as they say it is, and they really, really like it, there's still a lot of story to open up between now and when the game ships in November... I think people will really enjoy this game.

"I Hate Video Games"

No point in pussy footing around. Let's dive in. Writes Times guest contributor and book author Giles Whittell:

I hate video games, on or offline. I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them.

British Press Offering Cash For Lies About Gaming Crime

American Men Need To...Ooo, Gran Turismo!

Dave Gibson at the American Chronicle has posted an article today titled "It Is Time For American Men To Grow Up", which calls out lazy, irresponsible, video game-playing American men for causing the downfall of our society.

Divorce and illegitimate births have reached epidemic proportions. A society whose grown men seem to be more interested in the latest video game, rather than the survival of their nation or even of their own family—is doomed to failure.

The lazy and disconnected American man is much more of a threat to the survival of this nation, than are the Muslim terrorists seeking their 72 virgins in heaven.

It Is Time For American Men To Grow Up [American Chronicle]

Pokemones Are Not Oral Sexy Obsessed, Just Kissing Crazy

STOP STOP STOP STOP!!!!

Another GameSpot Editor Quits

Cop Called Out On Blaming Violent Games

It's pretty standard now to hear people close to law enforcement, be they lawyers or police officers, blame much of the violent crime committed by youth on violent video games. Apparently, gamers and game journalists aren't the only ones to notice this, as a reporter for the Naples Daily News questioned when one police officer attributed the reason for a violent crime to a game.

Captain Tim Guerrette of the Collier County, Florida Sheriff's Office, apparently referred extensively to video games and their influence during a conference, where Daily News reporter Victoria Macchi was in attendance. In her article, she refers to what Guerrette said, but also notes some of her own research:

GDC, DICE, E3 Could All Be Press Invite Only Next Year

When the Entertainment Software Association announced two years ago that they were downsizing E3, cutting attendees, and in particular the amount of journalists invited, down to a fraction of former head-counts, there was a lot of consternation among the working press.

What if, people wondered, favoritism and nepotism were the rules of the day. Would journalists be blocked from covering E3 if they didn't write positive stories or angered a publisher?

So far, that doesn't appear to be the case, but now both the Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (DICE) summit and the Game Developers Conference are moving toward an invite only system and the same concern is rearing its head.

But the heads of all three organizations say they're going to great lengths to make sure that doesn't happen.