Grand Theft Auto IV -- It might feature crime and prostitutes.

yeah you get some kind of points for riding in proper formation and everything, if you like that sort of thing.

Not too into the Lost & the Damned missions. So far there has been nothing tricky, just follow me over here and shoot 40-60 guys and then drive away. One, it's easy. Two, it's boring. I'm still impressed riding around Liberty City though.

Self-Actualization is a trancey techno station

Autechre is not trance!!!!!!!!!!!

so... how is it, ste?

Gay Tony is pretty fun so far. Hated the opening cutscene though.

Battered this at the weekend, as you could imagine, played it for near 12 hours straight on Friday after work. That was a good day. Finished the main mission in Bogt, although still have all the base jumps and drug wars to do.

Enjoyed the final mission, but the mission before it was an utter fuck and almost made me quit. And then on the last mission, as I'd done all the hard work and was just making my way to the final marker, I managed to get myself run over and killed. AArgh.

Lots of new vehicles in this one, compared to Lost which didn't have many (although the tow truck is pretty funky looking). miffed that I can't drive the sky crane though.

I wish they'd have given us more night clubs to knock about in. Dancing is completely dumb though and I'm not even sure I'm doing it right. so I can move either of the thumb pads in any direction i want? what am i 'holding' when it flashes HOLD?

On the seagull hunt now, with twenty left to get. At least I can hear these now compared to the pigeons too quiet cooing.

Mission wise it's okay, it started off quite promising but ended up as being just more shoot every guy in the place type stuff.

Almost finished Lost now as well, on last mission. Missions pretty so so in that one. And I despise the main character's voice, pretty weak for a so called biker brother.

And on the story front, bogt, love it. The dialogue is well done and just love all the characters.

Lots of Vice city references i noticed, which might suggest something.

and ffs the animations are so sluggish sometimes, on the main player. GET IN THE FUCKING BOAT QUICKER!!

And I despise the main character's voice, pretty weak for a so called biker brother.

Huh, I liked him! But I also like Luis and Niko. Pretty cool dudes across the board.

i think it's because i've heard the voice before, in some cartoons. it ruined the illusion.

okay, how do i replay a mission i've successfully completed, in BOGT?

you have to finish the story first. and then... i don't know? it's off the phone maybe?

oh seriously? bummer

damn nobody plays these games multi do they. i suppose with MW2 nobody is playing anything multi...

oh i play multi every now and again - spent 20 minutes on it earlier and got 2nd place in a deathmatch, which blew my mind cos i'm pretty crappy at video games. my xbox360 name is stevietonychick

So is the PC version of this any good then? I just got a new pc.

pc version supposed to be very good.

stevie, yeah you got to finish the game first. and then choose missions in the phone.

enjoyed doing half the drug wars tonight, finished the base jumping stuff also fun.
i even got into dancing a bit more, winning some sort of gay dance off and then completing the bus stop. not used to the xbox controls so was a bit of a struggle at first remembering the colours.

also, i've noticed that no longer do i see the vibrant blue shadows when the sun is shining, that were in the ps3 version, but is this an xbox change or something unique to bogt?

Don't remember vibrant blue shadows. Dancing is a bit easy, thought it might be a fun sub game but I completed the bus stop first time. Where is air hockey?

air hockey tables in both the bowling alleys

yeah compared to the old san andreas dancing game its a bit stupidly easy, i thought it was going to get faster. although at least i did find myself bobbing to the beat.

and again, races (triathlons) pose no challenge whatsoever.

quite surprised that even after the kagillion amount of hours i put in on the original, that i'm still enjoying just cruising around liberty city in new cars for a whole evening. i guess i have nothing better to do.

eager to restart IV as i never did get the 'good' ending.

are there different endings for gtaiv?

There are two. They're pretty similar, honestly.

good things about TBOGT, the Buzzard and the APC, and the explosive round-shotgun. Lots of fun.

Something satisfying about the machine gun on the buzzard, and watching the debris splinter about from a good strafing session.

TBoGT is so many different kinds of wonderful.

The first couple missions of 'gay' were really good. Now I'm back to the same old shit-chase down this guy or shoot his crew. Snooze...

Will RStar ever create a new mold? I guess people will have to stop buying this shit over and over to force them to innovate again.

Is there a conclusive answer as to whether the download or the disc of Gay Tony is better? Aside from the fact that I'll feel like a sucker if I pay twice for TLAD.

Also, can I carry on my game saves from my downloaded TLAD on the disc one?

Is there a conclusive answer as to whether the download or the disc of Gay Tony is better?

I think the download is supposed to be better from what I've heard.

There you go (March 20th) ps3 owners...
http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/2010/01/29/2861/grand_theft_auto_episodes_from_liberty_city_coming_to_playstation_3_and_pc

oops, March 30th

huh, what was with all the microsoft trumpeting "these two dlc games will only ever be available on the 360" a year or two back. was it a short term contract? they sure seemed to make out that statement applied to FOREVER

i fucking knew it

Really? I just always assumed they'd be coming to PS3 and PC within a year or two at the most.

If anyone feels like pwning a n00b in a PS3 deathmatch, I am nothingelseon - in NZ tho so time zones may screw everything up

Having just completed The Lost & Damned's story missions, I'm taking another swing at the final mission of the main game, but it's frustrating as hell. Don't really enjoy having to kill off all The Bad Guy's hentchmen again to replay the final chase where I've been scuppered thus far - I think I've figured out where I was going wrong, but its such a drag to play all the way through to the fuck-up point that I'm remembering why I ditched this and moved on to the DLC missions without completing it.

Still stunned by the game overall, however, especially the DLC missions - the way the creators developed three storylines that differed so much in tone and subject within the same city/engine/game is impressive, though I have to admit, Johnny Klebitz and Luis Lopez were more compelling leads than Niko. Still though, while their tales were all a dash hackneyed to some extent, the storylines to all three games were strong and their worlds (and supporting cast) mostly entertaining and believable. Completing the DLC missions and then watching the full credits - especially, on Lost And Damned, when scored by 'Every Picture Tells A Story' - was as satisfying as any such moment in an action movie (and the music for these games were perfectly chosen, and light years beyond any other game I've played).

Also, I'm not a dude who often completes video games (and indeed have still not finished GTA:SA), so finishing all the story arcs (save one final Niko mission) gives a sense of accomplishment I don't often draw from my Xbox360.

I suck at this game. I played it again last night for the first time in, er, probably 20 months, and had the usual headache of a time. I enjoyed Bully a lot, so I'm not sure I can articulate why I find GTA4 so impossible to enjoy. I get motion sick when I play fast-ish first- or third-person shooters, especially with driving: that's a big factor. & I've never cultivated the eye for shooting that these games take. So I finally put the game up for sale today.

Playing this now. I like what they're doing with the characters but I still hold that San Andreas is the apex of the series.

have you played ballad of gay tony yet? i unreservedly love that iteration...

Not yet.

it hammers out any glitches that GTA4 had imho.

agreed. Things I personally like that they improved upon -

high performance cars now spawn, previously unavailable unless stole from races.
missions replayable, and each mission has stats that you can try and improve upon, very nice addition hope they keep this in V
some more varied gun types
some cool vehicles available by ringing up friends, including a tank.
hidden packages, seagulls, more audible and easier to locate
air hockey game in the bowling alley was pretty good.
better armed chopper
missions in general were more interesting

but the airport was still restricted access, which was a huge fail move imho

yeah, the gay tony characters are better written

i'm going on my 5th attempt of "3 leaf clover", that sort of mock-Heat mission involving the bank robbery, gunfight thru chinatown and later through the subways

first time: i died
2nd time: grenade killed me
3rd time: train hit me
4th time: one of the brothers died

jesus... replaying a mission ad infinitum is truly a hallmark of the gta series.

i remember getting killed by a passing car in that mission, had next to no health and just slightly rubbed against the car. dead.

here's hoping GTA5 will take a cue from RDR and allow you to carry around portable bags of trail-mix

you know, for health

would also like to be able to set up a tent on the sidewalk instead of having to run to a safe house.

Occupy Liberty City

I played the three leaf clover mission and with the smallest scrap of health, jacked a car and 180ed it to drive into oncoming traffic to lose the cops.

At that exact moment Stevie Nicks-Edge of Seventeen came on the car stereo.

it was totally perfect.

Best gaming moment and I kinda stopped playing after that, knowing that it wasn't going to get better.