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

Also, the thing is coming out for the 360, and it shouldn't be to hard to find used two year old consoles

I'd be wary of buying a used, two year old 360, considering their failure rate (speaking as somebody whose 360 is "in the shop.").

kingfish nails the point I was making. None of the games that use a GTA3-style engine ever seem to get close to the feel of the games. They lack charm, in short.

I'm already worrying about which machine I don't want I'm going to have to buy to play this.

Again. OTM.

Also, the thing is coming out for the 360, and it shouldn't be to hard to find used two year old consoles

That's what I'll be doing I'd say! That talk of failures though is scary. Maybe buy one first hand. Actually that's probably best after failure of second hand PS2 a while ago!

360 kind of looks like the cheapest option at the moment. But Sony has always been good for youngish families like ours - Xbox doesn't really do SingStar/EyeToy type fun does it? I don't like that whole teenage-boy-FPS-dweebs culture that seems to cling to XBox. 360 + Wii seems horrendously decadent to a tightwad working class boy like me. I'm almost hoping that GTA4 is disappointing, so I don't feel bad about not getting it and can wait til we get a new computer, which might be next year anyway cos we seem to do about a 3-yearly cycle.

If this was any other game at all I wouldn't give a toss.

I know what you mean about the FPS thing. I'd just worry that I'd have to use XBox L1ve and be shouted at by 7 year old twunts!

Maybe just a new PC. This won't be out for a year at least so I can probably scrape together cash for a proper system. The next one will be self-built (using nerdtechnologically gifted friends!) I'd hope.

I was just taking in some old games to Gamestop and got talked into trading three old games in in exchange for a note that guarantees me, paid in full, a preorder for GTAIV. So I just preordered a game six months in advance. I'm a little ashamed of myself. And strangely satisfied.

Is it terrible that I'm considering doing the same thing, even though I don't have an x360 or PS3 yet?

No Will M, you are not alone...

Scans of the big new Game Informer article on GTA4 here: http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=273801 , if anyone feels like muddling through them. There's a lot of mostly technical info and lots more ingame shots-- Some exciting stuff, some disappointing (no planes!).

In general it seems the game is going to become a whole lot more realistic, not just physically realistic but logically so as well, which when you think about it does seem like a really big jump from the previous generation of sandbox games. But is that going to make it less fun?

e exciting stuff, some disappointing (no planes!)

9/11!

</neocon>

No planes?! Sucks. There had better be: a) swimming b) climbing and c) bicylces!

It's really disappointing, the thought that there are all those big buildings you've been looking at and wanting to be able to play around on your whole life, and in a GTA game you might not be able to! Even if there are helicopters, the greatly increased and more intelligent police presence suggests you probably won't be able to steal one, fly it to the top of the Chrysler Building, and jump out of it and onto a gargoyle, letting it fall onto the street below. Without there being serious consequences.

So much for that corey lidle patch I'd been hacking on.

Hoy-oh!

From gta4.net:

* The main character, Niko Bellic, is in his mid-thirties "on the run from a dark past". He's not customizable as it was possible in GTA: San Andreas, but you'll be able to style him with different outfits. The reason for this is that after they got Niko's physics and look "dead right", it was difficult implementing features that will allow the customization of his body.
* The borough, Staten Island, was not added to the game because the team decided that it would not be a fun location to play in.
* Missions are more realistic, longer, varied, and will have multiple possible outcomes.
* R* is still deciding whether bridges will be used to cordon off certain areas. Dan states that it's not a block for block recreation.
* This time round they're trying to make Liberty City feel more fluid, and there not being any "dead spots" or "irrelevant space" as you drive through it.
* There's no more loading screens when crossing islands or entering interiors; certain interiors are see-thru and you can move through them seamlessly.
* The mob will be featured in GTA IV, just not as lead characters.
* "Virtually none" of the characters from the previous games are returning, and a lot of them are dead anyway according to Dan.
* More side-activities are promised, and pedestrians and traffic flow is different depending on the time of day.
* Pedestrians are a lot more intelligent, realistic and diverse, using mobile phones, cash machines, eating snacks, reading news papers and interacting with each other through laughter, threatening remarks etc.
* Your mobile phone can be used to set up deals or arranging ambushes - you can call the shots. More on this promised later.
* Driving and shooting is more organic, fluid, and precise.
* Despite earlier rumors, the game isn't trying to be photorealistic, but things such as artificial intelligence and the behaviors of pedestrians reacting to things such as a weapon being pulled out in front of them has been worked on a lot.
* As stated before, there isn't any planes, but players will be able to pilot helicopters. The reason being that there is not enough room for flying, and crossing the map will be too fast this way. One airport is confirmed to be in the game.
* The goal of GTA IV is to make the city look more populated than anything else people have seen before in a game like this.
* Houser states that no-one has attempted to recreate a location of this size, and with so much detail, ever before.
* The use of Sony's SIXAXIS controller for the PlayStation 3 has not yet been decided on.
* As expected, there's no more pop-ups of buildings and trees as we've seen in the past.
* Work on the game started right after the release of GTA: San Andreas in November 2004.

Aw yeah... At least we have choppers! Small map though? I don't care how detailed, that sounds a bit boring really...

Work on the game started right after the release of GTA: San Andreas in November 2004

wow, but i guess that was going to be obvious.

i prefer the choppers anyway, flying too low in a plane just resulted in death. Tho the planes did look great in San Andreas and flying through the clouds was fun for a while, but i guess they have to cut some of the less important stuff out for now.
I'm sure they'll be back in future games.

WHEN WILL WE HAVE THEE MULTIPLAYER GTA PLEEZ???

WHEN WILL WE HAVE THEE MULTIPLAYER GTA PLEEZ???


what, you mean as an "official" version?

HOT COFFEE DEATHMATCH YEAH

I guess if GTA4 = GTA3 then in a couple of years time we'll get the next gen San Andreas and everything will be perfect again.

i mean a multiplayer thingy so my brother and i can shoot each other on the streets of vice city like in goldeneye... wouldn't that be boss?

* Despite earlier rumors, the game isn't trying to be photorealistic, but things such as artificial intelligence and the behaviors of pedestrians reacting to things such as a weapon being pulled out in front of them has been worked on a lot.

* The goal of GTA IV is to make the city look more populated than anything else people have seen before in a game like this.

droool

Ya, what gff drooled. O_O

the behaviors of pedestrians reacting to things such as a weapon being pulled out in front of them has been worked on a lot.


SCUSE ME WHILE I WHIP THIS OUT

Wiki updates state that there's multiplayer in the game, that Philip Glass has a hand in the soundtrack, and 4 out of the 5 buroughs(no Staten Island).

Oh, and cell phone cameras.

I guess the whole Staten Island thing has been done already?

http://img11.imagepile.net/img11/6671029017.jpg

SUCH an awful game, but i got to interview some wu-bangers when it came out, about gaming.