A reminder that tomorrow night (April 1st) is the deadline for all entries in the Liberty Swingers Season Ticket Sweepstakes (No joke!). For more information, and to enter the contest, visit:
Source [Swingers Contest]
Monday, March 31, 2008
Last Chance to Enter Swingers Contest
Source [Swingers Contest]
Details On First Five GTAIV Missions
If you've wanted one of the most in-depth and detailed looks at Grand Theft Auto IV so far, you absolutely must check out the official site, which now offers previews of the first five missions!
To remind all of you what GTAIV is all about, the intro should interest you greatly-
"The mission structure of Grand Theft Auto IV is considerably different from previous games in the series. Rockstar North are aiming to give players more freedom, more choice, and a greater sense of control over their character's destiny. The game still follows a narrative path, but it's quite different in the sense that the story can be told in a number of different ways, depending on the player's actions.
Rockstar are trying to blur the line between on- and off-mission. In previous titles, once you started a mission, you were given an objective which had to be completed before you were able to do anything else. In GTA4, you can start a mission, then do another mission which is completely unrelated, before finishing the other mission some time later. We are used to the story progressing linearly, but in GTA 4 you have the ability to shape it yourself. It won't necessarily affect the outcomes of the story, but it will affect the way we arrive at those outcomes.
GTA IV also gives you the ability to arrange missions by yourself, instead of acting like a slave and taking orders from other people. To a certain degree, you call the shots now. In addition to being able to receive phone calls, Niko can actually make them. Yellow markers represent missions, and walking into these will trigger a cutscene."
We've heard a great deal about the added freedom in the game, which is clearly a major aspect of Rockstar's latest effort. But it goes well beyond simple player freedom; GTAIV also boasts a chance for you to expand on the game's structure itself. Think about it: not only can you approach missions any way you see fit - as you could in previous entries in the franchise - but you can also organize those very missions. As it says right here, shaping things yourself will be a key component. As for the rest...well, you can read, can't ya? Check it out!
Source[PSXExtreme]
Sunday, March 30, 2008
RUMOR: Complete Grand Theft Auto 4 Achievement List
Off the Boat 5G
Complete the first mission.
One Hundred and Eighty 10G
In a darts game score 180 with 3 darts.
Pool Shark 10G
Beat a friend at pool.
King of QUB3D 15G
Beat the High Score in QUB3D
Finish Him 15G
Complete 10 melee counters in 4 minutes
Genetically Superior 25G
Come first in 20 singleplayer street races.
Wheelie Rider 30G
Do a wheelie lasting at least 500 feet on a motorbike.
Gobble Gobble 10G
Score 3 strikes in a row, a turkey, in 10-pin bowling.
Driving Mr. Bellic 10G
Unlock the special ability of taxi.
Rolled Over 30G
Do 5 car rolls in a row from one crash.
Walk Free 50G
Lose a 4 star wanted rating by outrunning the cops.
Courier Service 10G
Complete all 10 package delivery jobs.
Retail Therapy 10G
Unlock the special ability of buying guns from a friend.
Chain Reaction 20G
You must blow up 10 vehicles in 10 seconds.
One Man Army 40G
Survive 5 minutes on 6 star wanted level.
Lowest Point 5G
Complete mission "Roman's Sorrow".
Over Fulfilled 10G
Complete all 10 Exotic Export orders.
Manhunt 15G
Complete the most wanted side missions from the police computer.
Cleaned the Mean Streets 20G
Capture 20 criminals through the police computer.
Fed The Fish 5G
Complete the mission "Uncle Vlad".
It'll Cost Ya 5G
Complete a taxi ride without skipping from one island to another.
Sightseer 5G
Fly on all helicopter tours of Liberty City.
Warm Coffee 5G
Successfully date a girl to be invited into her house.
That's How We Roll! 10G
Unlock the special ability of helicopter.
Half Million 55G
Reach a balance of $500,000.
Impossible Trinity 10G
Complete mission "Museum Piece".
Full Exploration 20G
Unlock all the islands.
You Got The Message 20G
Deliver all 30 cars ordered through text message.
Dare Devil 30G
Complete 100% of the unique stunt jumps.
Assassin's Greed 20G
Complete all 9 assassin missions.
Endangered Species 50G
Collect every hidden package in the game.
Under the Radar 40G
Fly underneath the main bridges in the game that cross water with a helicopter.
Dial B For Bomb 10G
Unlock the special ability of phoning for a bomb to be placed.
Gracefully Taken 10G
Complete mission "I'll Take Her".
Liberty City (5) 20G
After meeting all possible friends, the ones left alive all like you above 90%.
No More Strangers 5G
Meet all random characters.
That Special Someone 10G
Complete mission "That Special Someone".
You Won! 60G
Complete the final mission.
Liberty City Minute 30G
Complete the story missions in less than 30 hours.
Key To The City 100G
Achieve 100% in "Game progress" statistic.
Teamplayer 10G
Kill 5 players who are not in your team, in any ranked multiplayer team game.
Cut Your Teeth 5G
Earn a personal rank promotion in multiplayer
Join The Midnight Club 10G
Win a ranked multiplayer race without damaging your vehicle too much and with damaged enabled.
Fly The Co-op 15G
Beat our time in ranked versions of "Deal Breaker", "Hangman's NOOSE" and "Bomb da Base II".
Take It For The Team 10G
Be on the winning team in all ranked multiplayer team games.
Top Of The Food Chain 10G
Kill 20 players with a pistol in a ranked multiplayer deathmatch.
Top The Midnight Club 20G
Come first in 20 different ranked standard multiplayer races.
Wanted 20G
Achieve the highest personal rank in multiplayer.
Auf Wiedersehen Petrovic 30G
Win all ranked multiplayer variations, all races and "Cops 'n Crooks", as both sides.
Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie 10G
Kill a Rockstar developer in a ranked multiplayer match.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
PS3 to Get Thier Own Exclusive DLC
According to Playstation World Magazine, Rockstar will in a way aid Sony in launching Accomplishments for the system, Themed spaces for Home and provide exclusive content for the PS3(although not as large scale as the 360's exclusive content) after the release of the 360's episodes.
Source [PSW]
Friday, March 28, 2008
PS3/GTA IV Bundle Coming to Europe April 29th
Gaming Only got word from reliable sources about a Grand Theft Auto IV/PS3 Bundle. The bundle should be released on April 29th and contains a PS3 40Gb and GTA IV. The bundle will cost you €429,99.
Source [N4G]
Grand Theft Auto IV: Five Reasons You Want It
1. iTunes killer?
Ever hear a random song on the radio and wish you could somehow snag it right then and there? If you're cruising around Liberty City, you can. In a video game first, Rockstar has teamed up with Amazon to let users mark any song they hear playing over the game's radio simply by making an in-game phone call. A few button-presses later, and the song will be waiting in your Amazon MP3 account. There's a lot here, too, as the soundtrack features over 150 songs spanning over a dozen genres, including exclusive tracks written just for the game by artists like Nas and The Greenskeepers in addition to plenty of obscure, hard-to-find material. Get the full lowdown here.
2. If looks could kill...
GTA IV sports an upgraded version of Rockstar's proprietary RAGE Graphics Engine (also used to power Table Tennis), which finally replaces Renderware under the GTA hood. RAGE now features a heavily-customized version of Natural Motion's "Euphoria" physics engine, the same one powering LucasArts' Jedi battle royale, The Force Unleashed. Put the two technologies together and you get seriously cinematic movement, gunplay, climbing, and driving. And say goodbye to long, ponderous load times - despite the sheer size and amazing level of detail in Liberty City (every street has a name and every business has an actual address), the first load is the only one you'll see.
3. Live a Little
Let's face it: stealing cars and blowing stuff up gets, well, kinda boring. Luckily, there's way, way more to do in GTA IV than just be a troublesome criminal. Call up your buddies for a game of darts, or a few beers at the local pub, or even a nice wholesome game of bowling. Using the indispensable new cell phone, you can initiate plans with any of your good (and not so good) pals, effectively creating the action rather than having it come to you all the time. Be careful, though, because those relationships you build function like they should. Ignore too many calls and you might find that the price of guns from your handy arms dealer just went up. And in case you suddenly develop a conscience, you can even dial 911 to arrest a ne'er do well or request an ambulance for an injured citizen. How he got hurt in the first place, we don't wanna know.
4. One is the loneliest number.
Most accomplished criminals prefer to work alone, but in GTA IV you'll have a chance to test yourself against other players in over a dozen multiplayer modes. Though many of the details are still under wraps, we have it on good authority that the game will support up to 16 players and feature everything from typical Deathmatch variants to several racing games, and of course, it's all accessible through that trusty cell phone. Expect more multiplayer news in the coming weeks.
5. It aims to please.
One of the chief complaints in past GTA games was the wonky aiming system; trying to switch targets was like steering a boat through mud. That's all changed in GTA IV thanks to a slick new targeting scheme that lets you change targets just by flicking the analog stick. If you still find yourself outmatched, a new cover system lets you slide behind a wall and blind fire into the glut of enemies trying to ruin your day. If you can't pull over before you get into a shootout, have no fear -- any weapon in the game can be fired while behind the wheel. So don't drive angry!
Source [Yahoo]
GTA4 Pre-Orders "Ahead Of Expectations"
We all know GTA4 is going to sell well. The first in the series to enjoy the benefits of a simultaneous launch on both major formats, GTA4 is widely expected to surpass sales of even the mighty San Andreas, which currently stands at 21.5 million units.
Still it seems Take Two are predicting higher than expected sales with claims amidst a recent conference that "pre-orders are ahead of expectations".
Although the publisher has refused to put a figure on this claim, a quick trawl through Amazon reveals, a little surprisingly, that the game is currently the 2nd (PS3) and 3rd (Xbox 360) most pre-ordered game in the UK, but sits 4th (Xbox 360) and 5th (PS3) in the US sales rank - behind Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning!
Source [TotalVideogames]
Take Two pins its hopes on Grand Theft Auto
Amid the furore surrounding the violent content of video games, which may soon be forced to carry cigarette-style health warnings, a new release of one of the most controversial but successful franchises is set to play a crucial role in the grittiest takeover battle the sector has seen in years.
Grand Theft Auto IV, a dark adventure in the seedy underworld of Liberty City, promises to be the biggest computer games event of 2008.
The game's success is critical to the future of Take Two, its manufacturer, which is trying to stave off a $2 billion bid from Electronic Arts, its larger rival.
Despite its violent and amoral content, some believe the game could sell as many as fivemillion copies in its first week, generating more than $300 million (£149 million) at retail.
The Grand Theft Auto franchise is the best-selling console game devised by a company not tied to one of the major hardware manufacturers. More than 70 million games in the series have been sold this decade, according to Take Two. The last major release in 2004, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, sold 21.5 million copies.
With its gritty urban environment, Grand Theft Auto is particularly popular in North America and Europe. Ed Barton, a games analyst at researcher Screen Digest, said that the game “is one of the few AAA games that can actually persuade people to go out and buy a console”.
Despite worries about violence in computer games, Grand Theft Auto IV is not expected to make any politically correct compromises. The game is based on a series of open-ended missions - in one, the hero Niko Bellic has to assassinate somebody laid up in hospital. Visits to strip clubs are also part of the gameplay.
Electronic Arts has promised to respect Grand Theft Auto's edgy heritage to ensure that the game's key developers stay loyal if the company was to succeed with its bid.
Take Two is sensitive about making predictions about the next Grand Theft Auto but it does forecast that Rockstar, its publisher, will “represent 60 per cent of our publishing revenue in fiscal 2008” , with the game itself representing a significant portion of that. The company's turnover is expected to hit $1.4 billion in the year to October - a little over half of which will come from publishing its own games.
Despite this upbeat outlook, Take Two is finding that it must prove that it is the best owner and distributor of Grand Theft Auto. Some analysts believe that Electronic Arts's greater size and more sophisticated distribution operation means that it would be able to sell more copies.
Take Two does, however, have arguments in its favour. It claims that Electronic Arts is valuing it at only 18 times future profits, whereas Vivendi was willing to value Activision at 29 times in its recent takeover. That, though, will mean nothing if Grand Theft Auto's sales disappoint in the first week after its launch on April 29.
Source [Business.Timesonline]
Sony Downplays GTA IV Episodic Content
In an exclusive interview to be published in the next few days on GameDaily BIZ, Scott Steinberg, VP of Product Marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, has commented on Microsoft's exclusive episodic content for Rockstar's much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV.
The GTA franchise historically has always been associated with Sony's PlayStation, but this time not only is the latest GTA not exclusive, but Sony failed to secure a deal for any exclusive episodic content on PS3. If you ask Steinberg, however, none of that ultimately matters to the average consumer.
"[Microsoft] spent the GNP of several small Latin American countries to get that [content], and if you've ever played San Andreas...there's a lot of game to Grand Theft Auto and there's going to be a lot of game to Grand Theft Auto IV to the point where I think most people will have that Grand Theft Auto experience on the PS3, day and date, same core game shipping on the 360. Perhaps they'll be shipping some episodic content in the fall, but there is a whole lot of product shipping on the PS3 in April and I personally don't think there's going to be a huge percentage of folks who jump into downloadable content for another price when they're still playing through the core product," he told us.
"So while I do think having that brand on their system was a move for them which they felt they needed to make because they cut a big check for it, I think PlayStation fans know the Grand Theft Auto experience on the PS2 is how they grew up playing Grand Theft Auto," he continued, "and when you combine GTA IV with MGS 4 and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, all the exclusive content that we've got going forward, I think that goes from tipping point to shoving point for consumers who are on the fence, wondering what platform should I buy. I think the clear exclusive message that we have is that the PS3 is where, not only do you get Grand Theft Auto, but you'll get MGS, you'll get Gran Turismo and these are also brands that have moved hardware units. It's the elite of the elite products that actually enable hardware to be sold with software and we'll have three of them."
Stay tuned for the full interview in which Steinberg talks about the impact of Blu-ray, the SKU strategy for the PS3, the Wii, controller complexity and more.
Source [GameDaily]
GTA IV Could Sell Over 9M This Year, says Pachter
Janco Partners' Mike Hickey said that Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV would likely sell 5.8 million units in its first week. Now, in his latest research note on Take-Two, Wedbush Morgan Securites analyst Michael Pachter has issued a similar forecast, predicting that the game will ship six million in its first week and could sell more than nine million during Take-Two's fiscal year, which ends on October 31.
"We estimate that GTA IV is likely to sell over 9 million units during the fiscal year, and think that the company will likely ship 6 million units in its first week, and will sell 3/4 of that amount in a brief period of time. The performance of GTA IV will thus be responsible for more than 100% of Take-Two's earnings for the year, and the game is likely to mask the underperformance of the rest of Take-Two's portfolio," he said. "We think that GTA IV will generate around $450 million of the company's expected $1,073 million publishing revenue this year, and will generate an operating profit of around 30%, or $135 million. At the high end of company guidance, Take-Two will generate operating income of around $130 million, meaning that the game is responsible for 103% of overall company operating profit."
Pachter also questioned the profitability of the downloadable episodic content for the game: "[We think] Take-Two will have to generate over 2 million downloads (assuming a $15 per download price) on the Xbox 360 before it sees any more cash from this content. We expect around 6 million copies of GTA IV to be sold to Xbox 360 owners, and believe that around 65% of Xbox 360 owners are Xbox Live members, so the company has to sell a download to 50% of its addressable market in order to generate cash from the first download. This is possible, but not highly likely."
Elsewhere in the report Pachter noted his disappointment in Take-Two as a whole. GTA IV is the "one glaring exception," he said.
"We think that it is important to point out that U.S. industry software sales have grown by over 58% from the November 2005 – January 2006 period through the November 2007 – January 2008 period, while Take-Two's publishing revenues have declined by almost 23%. This is clearly a company that is losing market share, and as we review the lineup for the balance of 2008 and 2009, we see more of the same type of games we have seen over the last three years," he said. "The company's sports lineup continues to underperform, generating only $32 million of sales (26% of publishing revenues) for the key holiday period. This figure calls into question whether Take-Two can deliver sports revenues of $250 million for FY:08, as management implied in a prior earnings call."
Source [GameDaily]
Rumor: GTA Heads back to Vice City in 2009?
A Belgian provider of significant size has recently received a joint Take Two in which the 2009 line up of the firm. On the one-2009 a paragraph much interesting:
"Grand Theft Auto Sequel (Not Announced): Find Vice City, plagued by corruption and decadence. Your case is being undermined by the local police, your mission is to rebuild the bar and to reaffirm at the head of the city of one thousand colors.
We await news of Take-Two on the issue before jumping to the ceiling for joy. We remind you that just GTA Vice City was released less than a year after GTA 3"
Source [Play3-live]
Trailer 4 Contains 70% GamePlay Footage
The guys over at Game Videos and EGM posted up this walk-through analysis of the latest, and last, Grand Theft Auto IV trailer picking apart what they see and all the little hidden details that look to make this game shine. During my visit with the Rockstar folks yesterday they told me that about 70 percent of the video was actual gameplay footage. Yes, that chase scene is actual footage. It took one of their guys hours to perfect that high-speed 180. I also love, love the rocket contrails. I hope to get my single player hands on impressions up later today. Check back.
Source [Kotaku]
Exclusive Interview and Multiplayer Preview Coming Soon
IGN will be doing an exclusive one on one interview with Sam Houser. Part 1 will be going live tomorrow, Friday the 28th. Part 2 will be going live on Monday, the 31st.
Ontop of that a new GTA IV preview will be going live in two weeks(around April 10th), once the embargo is lifted. This should be the multiplayer preview.
Source [IGN]
Thursday, March 27, 2008
GTA IV Unveils New Music Download Model
When Elvis Costello penned the lyric "radio is a sound salvation" in his seminal 1978 hit "Radio, Radio," he was actually attacking the airwaves. Thirty years later, though, a video game radio might very well offer salvation to a music industry struggling to make ends meet.
In a partnership bound to shake, rattle and roll both the music biz and interactive entertainment, Rockstar Games and Amazon have teamed up to create an ambitious new model for digital music distribution. Built exclusively for the upcoming video game blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV, it allows players to buy real-world MP3s of tracks heard over the game's numerous radio stations in a very seamless manner. (Initially, this service will only be available in the U.S.)
Advertised throughout Liberty City, the cheekily-named "ZiT" technology is built into the game's mobile phone interface system. As players cruise around the world listening to the in-game radio, they can at any point 'mark' a song by opening their phone and dialing the number ZIT-555-0100. Gamers will then receive a text message with the song and artist names, and if they're registered at the forthcoming Rockstar Games Social Club community site, they'll find an e-mail waiting in their inbox with a direct link to a custom playlist on Amazon.com. All songs tagged "ZiT" will be stored here, available for preview and purchase at Amazon's going rate of $.89-$.99 per track. Best of all, those MP3s are free of the Digital Rights Management (DRM) limitations imposed on files downloaded through Apple's iTunes store and thus can be imported into any computer or digital device with no constraints.
Needless to say, record execs are thrilled at the prospect of using GTA IV's radio to reach millions of ears and, in turn, wallets.
"Music has long played an integral part of the game playing experience," said Ronn Werre, EVP, EMI Music's Sales, Licensing and Synchronization unit. "We think giving players the ability to identify and buy their favorite tracks from Grand Theft Auto IV's popular radio stations is a great new music discovery tool for fans and an innovative new revenue stream for artists."
The recent success of downloadable music in other games gives credence to ZiT's ambitious dreams. In a mere three months, owners of EA's hit music game Rock Band have downloaded over 6 million songs. At roughly $2 apiece, that's a hefty source of post-launch revenue.
None of those tracks, however, are accessible outside the game, and that's where GTA IV's model really takes off. Rockstar has boldly proclaimed that GTA IV's soundtrack is "the biggest in the history of entertainment," and with over 200 tracks, we're not prone to argue. In addition to high-profile tunes from popular artists, the developers are aiming for music geeks by handpicking rare, hard-to-find songs such as Electrick Funk's 12-inch treasure "On A Journey" and Elton John's "Street Kids" off his relatively unheralded Rock of the Westies. Some artists have even contributed brand new songs written exclusively for the game, including "Vagabond (Liberty City Mix)" by the Greenskeepers and "War is Necessary" from iconic rapper Nas.
As the April 29th street date approaches, look for more tracks to be revealed. In the meantime, be sure to check out the latest GTA IV trailers right here on Yahoo! Games.
Source [Yahoo]
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