Kotaku: liberty city

Liberty City vs New York City (In Photos)

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:40:00 MDT

Liberty City is New York City. Pretty much. You already know that. Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, you've no doubt seen them all in the game by now. But just how deep does the real-world-referencing rabbit hole run? You might recognise Broadway, but do you recognise Rockstar's version of the Paramount Theatre? Or their rendition of the Hearst Building? Maybe not. But they're in there. Those and a ton more have been noted, catalogued and photographed by designer Matthew Johnston, with the full gallery available at the Flickr link below.

Sightseeing in Liberty City [Matthew Johnston @ Flickr]

Where Are The Bagels? 8 Things GTA IV Gets Wrong About New York City

Leigh Alexander — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:40:00 MDT

A lot of New Yorkers, myself included, are getting a little extra kick out of the vibe of Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City, which recalls our home boroughs with just enough accuracy to be disorienting.

The farmacias and bodegas in East Holland, the Starbucks-esque cup in every hand, the prevalence of "Craplist" social interaction, even the thriving Russian community beside the boardwalk in Hove Beach where the story begins all capture that tickly feeling of home. But MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo notes that from Bohan to Schottler, there are a few things about New York that GTA IV gets wrong, and he's compiled a tongue-in-cheek list of eight key items that are, as he says, "grossly misrepresented."

1. We are not a car town: No sensible New Yorker uses a car as their primary means of transportation in the city, unless — maybe — they commute from the suburbs. Car ownership doesn't make much sense. There are never any parking spots. Parking garages are prohibitively expensive. And, most importantly, the subway is a faster, cheaper and more efficient means of transportation. We don't drive here. Niko, to be a real New Yorker, should rely on the subway. But what would he be left to grandly thieve?

True enough. Certainly, in New York, only rich commuters who live in swanky penthouses or in the outlying boroughs have cars. Rent here for the average denizen is pricey enough without the cost of gas and parking — and, that aside, I'd never even think of owning a car here just due to the crushing traffic and inconvenience.

But there are a lot of cars here nonetheless, and having been many times a pedestrian nearly clipped by some crazy speeder cornering badly, it's a fun turnabout to be behind the wheel this time. If you do happen to be in a car, people always seem to be wandering into the crosswalk at the worst of times — that, at least, is accurate.

Totilo picks more hangups: There are no dinosaurs at the Met! Times Square — er, Star Junction — should be much more congested with pedestrians, it's true. And bagels are a quintessential part of our diet, unobtainable in Liberty City.

8. We eat bagels: Have I missed something or is it not possible to eat a bagel in "Grand Theft Auto IV"'s Liberty City? Niko can eat burgers, hot dogs and go to diners. But bagels? The most famous New York City food? Never fear, visitors to our town, we have bagels that can be eaten and enjoyed, whether Liberty City acknowledges it or not. Burgers? Waste of time. You can eat them in any town.

Two more that he missed: First, why do Liberty City's pedestrians walk so slowly? You can always spot a tourist as the one who's ambling casually down the sidewalk, neck craned upward to eyeball the skyscrapers. But real New Yorkers, everyone knows, walk at a breakneck pace, head down, heedless of who they shoulder aside, as we are all on the way to someplace very important and you'd better get out of the way.

And finally, where are Manhat— um, Algonquin's legions of tiny, tiny little doggies? It's the must-have accessory for Upper East Siders. We don't mean to quibble with such a fantastic game world, but, you know.

8 Things 'Grand Theft Auto IV' Gets Wrong About New York City, Including Bagels [MTV Multiplayer]

Grand Theft Auto IV Media Blitz

fdemarco — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:00:00 MST

Looks like the Grand Theft Auto IV machine is starting to kick into gear with this collection of videos. Rockstar has provided GameTrailers with five clips from the highly anticipated game that introduce us to some of the seedy denizens and businesses that make up the fictional Liberty City. The Steinway Beer Gardens commercial is may favorite. "This is male bonding the old fashioned way!"

Make the jump for all five clips.

GTA IV Google Mapped

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:40:49 MDT

GamesRadar has pored over the recently released Grand Theft Auto IV trailer, picking apart each frame for identifiable locations in New York City... err Liberty City. They've mapped out each spot, from the Chrysler Building to Coney Island, to give gamers a perspective on how far and wide the next GTA will span with its settings. Using Google's new My Maps technology, they've also outlined Liberty City's fictional boroughs to give us a possible look at the game's unlockable locations.

I just hope the Liberty City equivalent of SoHo has some good shopping. I totally just yelled "Shopping!!" in my head in the most sing-songy way possible. Help me. Michael McWhertor

Liberty City will be a lot bigger than you think: here's proof! [GamesRadar]

GTA: Liberty City Stories First Look

Brian Crecente — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 10:30:59 MDT

PSM has an in-depth look at GTA: Liberty City Stories for the Playstation Portable and of course someone out there decided to transcribe the whole thing for the net, because God forbid we spend a couple of bucks to read it.

And now to be a hypocrite here's a few excerpts from the article:

Guns? Check. Carjacking? Check. A fully realized 3D world in which you are free to do pretty much anything you want, including meeting with shady characters who send you on missions of questionable legality? Check, check and check. Yep, this is GTA all right.

This GTA takes place in the Liberty City of GTA 3, but this time around you play as Tony Cipriani, the guy who handed out missions in 3.

Taking place three years before the events of GTA3, that's about 1998 or so, for those who dont want to do the math- Liberty City Stories follows Toni Cipriani as he moves up in the criminal world. While it may not seem like it, three years is alot of time, and there are bound to be some changes. For example, three years before Sex Club 7 became the place where Luigi (Joe Pantoliano) gave work to the mute GTA 3 protagonist, the strip club was called Paulie's Revue Bar.

The game sounds like it's packed with almost everything that we love about Rockstar games, no, that doesn't mean it's just really, really violent. Liberty City will be a truly open-ended game, feature tons of customization and lots of vehicles to jack.

According to the article, the game will support downloadable content, but Rockstar is still being tight lipped about whether it will offer up WiFi multiplayer.

GTA: LCS Unplugged [GTA Central]