That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real. - Kotaku Comments

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Darthvinder — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:48:59 MDT

That letter isn't even well written.

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Veit — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:44:55 MDT

@Creasy: Nah, man, I pirate plenty, but I treat my pirated stuff like a demo. If I like, I buy. If not, I delete it. Games, TV, movies, the whole deal; if I find something worth owning in what I pirate, I take the extra step to support the makers. And it's not that uncommon, either.

Veit

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Mr.SithNinja — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:53:03 MDT

@mentalboy11: You are right. the problem is someone signed it by hand. Most corporate memos use digital signatures that are pasted into the document before printed for mailing or sent via email. They do that to keep form having to have someone type it out, get it to the exec for signature, then scan it to PDF and then email it out.

I noticed it was fake as soon as I saw the signature overlaping the Signature Block text.

Mr.SithNinja

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

JamesJohnMalcolm — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:30:31 MDT

Doesn't anybody stop to think that a letter to a Dutch toyshop may..
a) Not come from Take2 directly.
b) Take almost a week to arrive from the US anyway,
and most importantly...
c) be in Dutch!

JamesJohnMalcolm

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

SNDK — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:46:35 MDT

Ahh.. so that explained why I got a mail from the store I pre-ordered it saying that my order had been shipped. I was like ZOMG WTF !!
Probably they fell for it. A couple of hours later they mailed me again saying it all was a misunderstanding and that they will ship it as planned on the 28th. (Yea.. I live in the Netherlands)

SNDK

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Creasy — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:11:17 MDT

@Mikazukinoyaiba: Sorry, but that was a good one... Most people pirating will be the game... ahahaaha. Thanks for the laugh man!
I mean, sure, there will be people who do that (the intelligent ones), but most? nah, not really.

Creasy

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

KK — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:42:27 MDT

Such dark little pricks. This is where they cross the line.

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Skaffa — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:14:32 MDT

does anyone even stop and think that a worker at a DUTCH toy store would even notice the bad grammar?

you wouldn't believe how many people here in the Netherlands cant even write in Dutch without making grammar mistakes, let alone in a language they are not used to write in.

Skaffa

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

kretinite — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:39:34 MDT

haha.. there is no way this would be real. Its too much in the style of a fake school sick note. The grammar is pretty appalling and misses the tone of a letter from a game company suit by a fairly wide mark. I'm guessing whoever wrote it got the Rockstar paper from some job application rejection letter :-/

kretinite

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

StolenName — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 03:18:44 MDT

Don't know about the rest of you but I've got my copy and am safely holed up dropping too many hours into it.

StolenName

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Wa-Keen — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:54:16 MDT

LMAO, thanks for the great laugh.....

Wa-Keen

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Dijkie1337 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:07:28 MDT

Haha, I saw this at a Dutch forum yesterday. Some people actually printed and took it to the shops to see if they could score the game early.

So far, no-one has had any luck. But you gotta give us Dutch credit for trying =)

Dijkie1337

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Eclectified — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:05:31 MDT

@Dunny0: I used to see corporate letters all the time when I worked for this major government contractor. (Hint: They make jets and missile guidance systems, among other things). Compared, this letter is garbage.

Eclectified

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Eclectified — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:02:19 MDT

Someone on GAF posted a comment saying that the release date was lifted and that was followed with this letter. After reading the first line, I knew it was a hoax. This letter is so horribly written... I'd guess the kid was still in middle school. I would think they'd lift the street date anyways to stop some of the impatient people, at least, from pirating.

Next week is gonna suck for me. I'm never 'full time' until the week GTAIV comes out. What a poop.

Eclectified

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Dunny0, Team T/A — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:15:14 MDT

I'm starting to wonder if the majority of those who claim that the grammar gives it away have every received an email or letter from an executive level manager.

This fake is high literature compared to the majority of company missives sent out from the higher up at my place of employment.

Dunny0, Team T/A

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Nside — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:59:54 MDT

@Maximus9:
Have you ever seen Bill Gates' Signature? He has the penmanship of a 10 year old writing a book report.

Nside

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

RaepGoblin — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:36:11 MDT

Bad grammar gives is away right off. Also, no details on restrictions or rules, nothing. Just "it leaked, you can sell it now".

RaepGoblin

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Sigma-D — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:04:17 MDT

@armchairnixon: wishes he had Xbox Live...: It was the same as Halo 3, but I would assume this is worse.

Also, it seems more people are seriously anxious to quench their violent fetishes and kill people and politicians are anxious enough to blame Rockstar again.

Like Snake Plisskin once said, 'The more things change, the more they stay the same.'

Sigma-D

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Enyx — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:43:58 MDT

@rochec:
We will get fired if we sell before the release date. I've been offered money to hold items before but I assume, like other Gamestop employees, we don't want to get fired. The same applies with checking ID except that has a bigger punishment.

But concerning the fake letter, ehh it seems like it was decently done for a fake but the wording felt off. And really can people not handle till Monday night at 12:01?

Enyx

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

armchairnixon — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:33:02 MDT

It's only 5 days away. Can people seriously not wait that long?

armchairnixon

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

crapsh00t — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:32:07 MDT

@KillerBee:

The phrase "standing order" always smacks of field executions to me. Perhaps they should wait until Tuesday.

crapsh00t

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

JohAE86 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:55:10 MDT

sig looks like dude had a seizure when he got to "Feder". real classy.

JohAE86

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Wasted_Paper_Cow — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:50:55 MDT

wow, and I thought the year of the broken street date would have died by now... i'm sure it's god's way of laughing at us.

Wasted_Paper_Cow

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Kusakup — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:46:20 MDT

@MCWHAMMER
Let's hope so. People shouldn't be a douchebag and do this stuff.

Kusakup

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Owen Good — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:45:23 MDT

"separate" misspelled.

Also, it's to a retailer in Holland, and not written in Dutch. (Holland-ese? Hollandaise?)

Signature is shitty too. Looks like a note I forged to get out of class in high school.

Weak.

Owen Good

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

MCWHAMMER — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:41:16 MDT

@BeImont: Signature forgery = $100,000 lawsuit? Hopefully.

MCWHAMMER

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

BeImont — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:36:14 MDT

That signature = epic fail

BeImont

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

UFO — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:34:39 MDT

@collinc: ok, well my apologies if so.Its just how it sounded to me.

UFO

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Kamizzle — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:22:48 MDT

Besides, there's no reason whatsoever for it to be in English, T2 has a Dutch division, so it would have gone through them instead.

Kamizzle

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

faabshaam — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:19:36 MDT

The dead give away, aside from the grammar, is that there is no phone number in which to contact ANYONE at Rockstar Games.

faabshaam

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Kamizzle — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:19:34 MDT

Wow, that's an instant classic, that shit would have worked on my old boss (as I would play into it as well; SELLL SEELLLLL!!)

Almost every big release gets dumped early here in the Netherlands, Bart Smit (Intertoys main competitor) is notorious for it.

Which of course would create a domino effect and by noon the same day the FRS would have joined in (combined that makes about 350 stores)

And sometimes we would just say fuck it and be the ones to do so, which could get us into huge trouble since we were just one little (big) store..

I couldn't care less, it always meant that I had the game I wanted by the end of the day XD

Big release time is one of the things I miss the most out of working in retail ;__;

Kamizzle

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Jackel2072 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:14:10 MDT

It be great start faxing that to game stops around the world and see if any buddy bites!

Jackel2072

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Poison — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:13:27 MDT

Although this is insane, I cannot help but laugh about it. A part of me finds it funny that Rockstar, makers of the GTA "be a gangsta" games, have to fight hyped teenage crimes. Kind of a poetic justice.

Poison

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

infi — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:03:02 MDT

@-MoarPlz-:
it's the game that made me buy a PS3 though (finally)

just ordered both.

infi

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Lockenator — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:57:47 MDT

This is getting out of hand... It's only a game.

Lockenator

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

NES8bt — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:48:17 MDT

a CEO would know to tell his secretary to use spell checker. Would probably also be familiar with basic english Grammar

NES8bt

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

badasscat — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:45:37 MDT

This is one of the most hilarious fakes I've ever seen. How could *anybody* be fooled by this?

Let's see - an obviously cut and pasted set of logos. The wrong company name. (It's not "Take-Two Interactive Games", it's "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc."). An address that doesn't exist. Rockstar's not on East 13th St., they're at 622 Broadway like the rest of Take 2. Incorrect letter formatting - somebody needs to bone up on their business letter format. Misuse of a TM symbol - Rockstar does not trademark "Grand Theft Auto IV" in text - only as a logo. Poor and unprofessional grammar. A signature like a child... or like somebody forging a signature they're otherwise not used to writing.

It is a pretty laughable attempt, and you'd really have to be pretty desperate to believe it.

In fact this just got funnier. I googled the West 13th St. address and it's actually a company called Rockstar Bearings. They sell wheels for skateboards. No relation whatsoever to Rockstar Games.

badasscat

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

someone666 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:34:38 MDT

This game is driving people nuts. I can't believe what people are doing to get that game early

someone666

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

fusilero — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:30:41 MDT

NOOOOOO! Why!?

fusilero

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

thebigsmoke — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:24:50 MDT

@minusX:

Copy cheifs from many respectable news and media outlets (including "Wired") mandate "internet" over "Internet", although you're correct that APA preference is for the capitalization.

thebigsmoke

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Derigor — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:22:42 MDT

@KillerBee: Duder, Marcus already gave me my copy of the game, all he has to do is press F8 for pickup when it hits 12:01. Duh.

Just kidding, but not really. I mean I have it but not form Marcus.

Derigor

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

collinc — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:22:01 MDT

@UFO: I don't think anyone pointed out the spelling and grammar to be dickwads. More of the fact that no official letter would contain so many errors.

collinc

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

chip5541 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:21:59 MDT

You would have better luck taking the letter to your local Wal-Mart or K-Mart. There stupid!

chip5541

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

VicViper — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:10:51 MDT

The letter's got the right idea though. They should just release the game Friday or Saturday and be done with it.

Besides, what better way to fuel consumer mania than making everyone who didn't reserve it and who planned to pick it up 4/29, scramble to the store?

VicViper

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

infi — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:03:13 MDT

fake, look at the date of the letter that's today, from new york to the netherlands? come on.

infi

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

ManjiKengo — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:01:50 MDT

@Silverwolf:

Yeah, no. It could work considering some employees are dumb as fuck.

ManjiKengo

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

coffeehair — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:56:18 MDT

Not sure if its the scan/ image compression, but I quite like how aliased that watermark is XD

coffeehair

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Silverwolf — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:52:43 MDT

Can I print this and take it to gamestop? Maybe them fools would let me get my copy early.

Silverwolf

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

UFO — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:52:06 MDT

Forgive my honesty but reading half of these posts about how bad the grammar,spelling, etc is just makes you sound like a bunch of whiney assholes wanting to show just how clever you are.
The letter looks like it was a bit of fun that could possibly push the release date of gta forward.I thought it was a kinda funny.
So what if one word is spelt wrong.Seriously, Who gives a fuck?
And no it wasnt me who wrote it, or anyone i know either!

UFO

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

chenry — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:51:34 MDT

Drat!

chenry

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

pimpsc00by — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:51:07 MDT

Kinda funny how the letter is signed below the name that is typed, isn't it usually above the typed name?

Rockstar should concern just releasing earlier, but retailers already have shipments available?

pimpsc00by

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

LorddG — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:50:25 MDT

3inst3in: Of course it's fake, the guy's name is spelled Ben Feder in the print and signed as "Ben Feiler" Look at the dotted 'i' in the signature...

LorddG

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Nitemare1 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:48:26 MDT

"... has been leaked onto the internet yesterday."

Fake? Really? you don't say!
Something tells me Ben Feder has a better grasp of the English language than that!

Nitemare1

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

lonecow12 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:44:58 MDT

@Mikazukinoyaiba:

That doesn't sound very pirate like!

LeChuck would be sorely disappointed.

lonecow12

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Seanchaen — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:38:51 MDT

I won't point out the obvious problems here, but I do have a question. Perhaps this is just something done elsewhere that I am unaware of, but who signs their name UNDER the printed name and title?

Seanchaen

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

DevoL — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:36:57 MDT

its real trust me

DevoL

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Deaf Mute — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:32:05 MDT

@Throtex:

What I have a problem with is the way they enforce anti-piracy laws.

Not everyone who burns a disc is stealing, some people simply want backups and companies tend to ignore this.

I don't have a chart or any source to back it up, but I don't believe pirates are hurting sales. This is because I know pirates that do go out of their way to purchase the actual game if they deem it good enough and want to support the company.

Deaf Mute

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Slash3 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:31:29 MDT

Link-o-tron

I claim no credit for the image, but it seems appropriate given the circumstances.

Slash3

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Livid — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:29:49 MDT

It's just cruel.

Livid

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Throtex — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:25:36 MDT

@Mikazukinoyaiba: It puts enough of a dent in sales that copyright holders are willing to engage in expensive litigation to enforce their rights. That's just basic economics -- why would they pay their lawyers more than they can recover from stopping piracy?

Throtex

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Gray665 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:25:12 MDT

There are only two things I can't stand in this world: People who are intolerant of other peoples cultures, and the Dutch.

On topic, has anyone tried bringing this letter into a store to get the game early yet?

Gray665

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Eschguy — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:19:31 MDT

The game comes out in five days...just wait a little while longer.

Eschguy

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Deaf Mute — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:18:19 MDT

*sees all the replies condemning anyone who didn't notice the errors*

I'm tired and skimmed the letter, it seemed believable as I didn't really bother to scrutinize it. Especially seeing how I already knew it was fake.

Deaf Mute

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

KillerBee — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:16:43 MDT

@ZeroBlitz: Have you seen some of the people that work in retail?

KillerBee

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

sonos — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:16:03 MDT

Thanks for addressing my tip. As I thought though, tis but a joke.

sonos

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

ZeroBlitz — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:15:24 MDT

Who'd be fooled by this? It's something I could have photoshopped together at 14 years old - with more professional grammar.

ZeroBlitz

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

KillerBee — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:15:10 MDT

Also, I have a very good friend that works at EB and they have a standing order from the company president that any employee caught selling the game before 12:01am on Tuesday will be immediately fired and "may face further disciplinary action"

KillerBee

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Americo — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:13:47 MDT

But will it blend?

Americo

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Cchrist — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:13:45 MDT

@3inst3in:

*Looks in his mailbox*

Nope.

Cchrist

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Isaac VanDuyn — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:13:12 MDT

The bad grammar and spelling didn't clue anyone in?

Isaac VanDuyn

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

KillerBee — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:12:29 MDT

I guarantee that someone will take this into a retailer and get the game out of them. It may only happen once, but it will fool someone.

KillerBee

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

PapaBear434 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:12:15 MDT

The creator probably figured this would work as a form of a viral attack. If some GM at a Gamestop saw this, started selling, and then another GM heard about it and started selling as well...

Well, the hoaxer probably figured he would be able to snag a copy before Rockstar put the kibosh on the situation. A win for him.

It's like how people hear an urban legend on the internet, and believe it to be real. There are still people citing all sorts of obvious fakes as fact out there, and it's not hard to do.

Good effort on his part, I suppose, though he could probably get in trouble for forging a signature here in the States.

PapaBear434

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

AntiHiro — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:11:08 MDT

The grammar in that letter was so bad you'd be an idiot to believe it.

AntiHiro

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

mva5580 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:09:51 MDT

Anyone who looked at that letter and even considered that it could be real is dumber than the person who created it.

Common Sense: The most endangered specie on Earth.

mva5580

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Deaf Mute — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:09:03 MDT

@Mikazukinoyaiba:

Everyone else pointed out the grammatical errors in the letter.

I take back what I previously said.

Deaf Mute

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

ChocolateRAIN — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:05:33 MDT

Hmmmmm....CHOCOLATE RAIN!!!

ChocolateRAIN

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Kotaku - The Happy Clique for Hypocrites! — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:04:20 MDT

The double salutations (To: and Dear,) really tickled my inner English teacher's funny bone.

Kotaku - The Happy Clique for Hypocrites!

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

djhworld — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:04:13 MDT

The quality of writing is so poor I'm surprised anyone even thought about believing it.

djhworld

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

minusX — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:03:18 MDT

I like how they typoed "Internet."

minusX

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

God Hand BrynnFlynn — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:02:52 MDT

The grammar and spelling is atrocious... It screams "I R TEH FAKE!"

God Hand BrynnFlynn

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Gouki146 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:02:38 MDT

It has to be more of a ploy to get GTA IV early from stupid, pock-faced cabana boys at retail chains, not enrage the fans.

Gouki146

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

J. Kyle — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:00:58 MDT

"Right after this," "seperate," and the overuse of "decided to" should've been a tip-off. This reads like junior high writing.

J. Kyle

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

shikaningen — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:00:27 MDT

How about the fact that "separate" is misspelled?

The thing just does not have the air of legalese that one would expect. It reads like something some idiotic gamer forumite might have written.

shikaningen

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

boots555 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:59:48 MDT

lol, just forwarded it to my EB games....Hope they fall for it.

boots555

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Dreadfish — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:59:07 MDT

@rochec: Yeah what an idiot. I'd have sold it to you, if you paid my wages until I got a new job, and paid off my fine.

Dreadfish

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

DaveKap — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:59:01 MDT

I don't think it was made to give buyers hope, but rather to confuse managers into selling the game. In which case, it's pretty hilarious if it worked on anyone.

DaveKap

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Deaf Mute — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:58:52 MDT

@Maximus9:

I agree with the letterhead... but as for no executive writing like that?

I'd have to disagree.

Deaf Mute

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Gregumm — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:58:48 MDT

My heart. Not that it was realistic to believe it in the first place. But still, it's like painful shards of glass. Dissapointment glass.

Gregumm

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

rochec — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:58:46 MDT

@NateN:

Details my friend.

Ones I'm not interested in.

rochec

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

IndustrialJones — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:58:22 MDT

Oh the huge manatee!

I'm going to come home after work Monday, take a nap, pick my Collector's Edition up at midnight and play until 2 or 3 in the morning then go back to sleep and go to work the next day.

IndustrialJones

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Al Bino — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:58:18 MDT

@mentalboy11: You're right, you can actually make out letters, most signatures seem to be statements of modern art - but not readable.

Al Bino

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

AndrewG009 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:57:31 MDT

@NateN: Agreed. But, dreaming never hurt anyone, unless it means you fall off whatever your sleeping on.

AndrewG009

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Maximus9 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:57:09 MDT

no executive writes like that, and that 'letterhead' is just garish...

Maximus9

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

NateN — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:56:04 MDT

@rochec: I don't think they can even scan it to sell it to you, the machine will reject it. So he'd have to be accepting $50 to let you steal the game, which is probably a bad move for continued employment :-P.

NateN

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Alexander-The-Great — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:55:43 MDT

If only I lived in Holland....Just present this and then give the manager the whole
"You didn't get the memo?"

Alexander-The-Great

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

unicronband — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:54:16 MDT

I saw this on Digg and was gonna submit it as a tip, until I looked at it and thought, "what am I, retarded?"

unicronband

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

MOP88 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:54:12 MDT

Right down to the watermark. Why do they insist with such elaborate methods?
Well... we will have to play the waiting game, regardles of our wish not to.

MOP88

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Candlejack — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:53:46 MDT

@3inst3in: That's what I wondered. Worth a shot walking in a store with, heh.

Candlejack

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

mentalboy11 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:53:29 MDT

i think its the signature that put me off of this being real, it just looks, odd.

mentalboy11

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

Deaf Mute — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:53:15 MDT

Really I don't even think these pirated games would even put a tiny dimple in sales.

From what I know, most pirates will buy the actual game if they like it enough.

Deaf Mute

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

rochec — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:53:13 MDT

I offered the guy at Gamestop $50 to let me come pick mine up.

He said no. What an idiot!

rochec

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

SpootCaz — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:52:24 MDT

Hopes and dreams: SMASHED

SpootCaz

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

3inst3in — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:52:19 MDT

lol, but did it work?

3inst3in

That "Release GTA IV Early" Letter? It's Not Real.

MSUSteve — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:52:10 MDT

Damnit! Like I said before, the only good thing that can come out of piracy is that Rockstar just lets everyone start selling the game early.

MSUSteve