MishoM

Tomorrow's game is going to be so good (Portugal v. Germany). I can't wait, Ronaldo v. Ballack! I'd rather have Germany win, but if Ronaldo can score some goals, it doesn't matter to me. Should be an epic game regardless of the winner.

Russia advances!

Germany is just going to dominate tomorrow. I believe they need just a tie to advance? Can't wait!

Huge mistake by Greece's goalkeeper, there was absolutely no reason to go out like that. That said, I'm glad Russia won. I'm hoping they can top Sweden and advance with Spain! What's everyone think about tomorrow's matches? Portugal v. Switzerland and Czech v. Turkey. I'm guessing Portugal and Czech will be the winners. These next set of matches should be quite interesting, what with all the teams fighting to survive!

Romania has to play the Netherlands, I don't get how it helps them. Even if they do rest their players, I still think they're going to beat Romania. Which (to me), means that the France v. Italy game will be extremely interesting. I'm guessing France will win. They had a bunch of good chances today against the Netherlands (especially the one with Henry when he basically just had to tap it in but ended up kicking it way over the net). Italy definitely should have won today though, their goal in the 45th clearly wasn't off-sides. Can't wait until tomorrow's matches. Really want to watch Russia v. Greece!

Did anyone watch? I did. Really didn't care for any of the teams playing today though. Tomorrow is going to be exciting however, France v Romania and Italy v Netherlands! I'll be at school during the France game, which is really the one I want to watch out of the two. :/ Game starts for me at 11.50am so I definitely won't be at home. It'd be awesome if we got to watch it in French class! :]

As it turns out, the only reason New Zealand also received the “watered-down” version of GTA IV was because it was simply easier for Take-Two to ship copies of one version of the game to all of Australia’s neighboring countries. Stan Calif, founder and director of First Games, was upset at that however. So upset that he went to the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and submitted the original version of the game (while paying NZD$1400, or USD$1080) to have it reviewed for an R18 rating. After weeks of waiting, his efforts paid off and the uncut version of GTA IV will now be sold at First Games! Calif told Geekpulp: It’s good to hear more people will now be able to enjoy and have the same experience as everyone else has with GTA IV! You can buy the game at their website, it should also be available at First Games stores. In related news, we now know what exactly was taken out of the Australian version of GTA IV. PALGN.au reports: Be sure to voice your opinion and tell us what you think of the entire ordeal in our forums!

I thought it was a really cool read as well.

GameSpy has put together a great guide to the radio stations in Liberty City, detailing what you may know on the station, and what to check out if you’ve come to like a certain specific station. They’ve even listed the similar radio stations from past Grand Theft Auto games, high and low points for the station, and its notable artists! You can check it out here.

Rockstar has announced that they’ll be extending the “100% Club” contest on the Rockstar Social Club another two weeks. They’ve done so to “ensure that everyone has a chance to get in on the action.” Getting 100% in the game earns you the “Key to the City” prize. You now have until May 19, 2008, to hit 100%! Click here to read the rules, and remember to be registered at the Social Club (or else you aren’t eligible)!

Xbox Live’s Major Nelson revealed Tuesday that GTA IV stole the top spot on the list of activity on Xbox Live the first week it was released. Obviously this was expected (by me at least), nearly half of my friends list is constantly playing the game so it really is no surprise. Below’s the full list: Lets see how long GTA IV can remain king on the Xbox Live activity list!

Well I mean, I guess we could have both. But if it messed up the big clans schedule, well then that's lame. Because I mean, its pretty rare that we're ALL online, and when we are I think we should have clan matches, not a bunch of small little ones. Just my opinion though. I guess small clans would work though, I don't think the TGTAP staff should have to organize anything regarding them though, if we were to end up with both the staff here I think should organize the big matches and the members should just do as they please with the smaller ones and hopefully they won't end up planning a match when there's a big one also going on. :/

I like the idea of a big gang playing a bunch of other big gangs from other sites. I mean, the way I see it, we should have one big gang for TheGTAPlace which is looked over by the staff here. I mean, sure little gangs could work too, but that's just to much of a hassle. There isn't even really enough people for a bunch of small gangs either to be honest. I like the idea of one big TGTAP gang best.

I thought you weren't getting it until June... Anyway, I'll be getting it after school tomorrow, I'm shitting myself with anticipation!

Have you been worrying about your chances being squashed in being one of the first to hit 100% in GTA IV, (to achieve the goal on the Rockstar Social Club) or for any other goal on the Social Club due to people receiving the game early? In a reply to an email sent to TheGTAPlace.com, Rockstar has told us that they are “taking care of it” regarding the leaderboards in the Rockstar Social Club (and with all the people who already have the game). Just letting everyone know there is no need to worry, and the playing field for getting your name on the leaderboards should still be fair even if those lucky few did get their copy early!

Just don't open the case up and void your warranty. Also, this topic was moved to the General Gaming section.

GameInformer, GameSpy.com, and GameVideos.com all posted their reviews of the game today as well. All three gave the game a perfect score! GameInformer gave the game a 10/10 (their “second opinion” was also a 10), GameSpy gave it a 5/5, and lastly GameVideos scored it an A+! Follow the links below to the three reviews: GameInformer (10/10) GameSpy.com (5/5) GameVideos.com (A+) On top of the reviews, a number of sites also added more videos of the game as well. Check them out at the links below: GamesRadar.com (18 gameplay videos) GameSpy.com (10 gameplay videos) GameTrailers.com (5 gameplay videos) Finally, WikiCheats.com has updated their page for GTA IV, adding a walkthrough (obviously this would contain spoilers), a few cheats (for weapons, etc.), secrets, city maps, and “quick strategies.” You can find that here. Be sure to check out the ton of other news and reviews posted earlier today!

1UP.com, ComputerAndVideoGames.com (CVG), EuroGamer.net, Kotaku.com, and TeamXbox.com have all posted their reviews of GTA IV today, all of which gave the game a near-perfect score. EuroGamer and TeamXbox gave the game a 10/10, ComputerAndVideoGames (CVG) gave the game a 9.5/10, and lastly 1UP scored it an A+ (Kotaku doesn’t give out letter or number scores, however their review was also positive). You can check out the reviews by following the links below: 1UP.com (A+) ComputerAndVideoGames.com/CVG (9.5/10) EuroGamer.net (10/10) Kotaku.com TeamXbox.com (10/10)

GameSpot.com today have added a fifth official trailer for GTA IV, despite us all being told “Good Lord, What Are You Doing? AKA Everyone’s a Rat” would be the last trailer before launch. It features some scenes we’ve definitely already seen, and also quite a few new ones. It’s worth the watch, and to me personally gives off the “launch trailer” type feeling, almost like something you would see on a commercial for the game (as in the “Welcome To The Jungle” trailer for San Andreas). You can see it below: Edit: For some bizarre reason, the video below refuses to work. The trailer is still up and plays fine on GameSpot.com, and you can view it here. A working version can now be seen below. Edit (2): Multiple members are reporting seeing said trailer on TV channels across the U.S. It seems this is the U.S. commercial for the game, much like how we were treated to new footage for the European commercial for the game. A YouTube version of the trailer can also be found .

IGN.com has today posted their review of the much anticipated next game in the series, GTA IV. IGN has given the game a 10/10, giving it 10s in every single category. Here’s their breakdown: 10 - Presentation - The story is Oscar quality. The use of the phone as a gaming portal is genius. There’s really nothing more that could be asked for from GTA IV. 10 - Graphics - The level of detail is astounding. Liberty City feels alive and lived in. While there are some technical issues, the artistic merits push the score to the max. A true marvel. 10 - Sound - The dialogue makes the story. Without the excellent writing and the stellar voice acting, the story would fail. And the soundtrack kills -- more than 200 songs and almost all are great choices. 10 - Gameplay - The cover and targeting system work great. Blind firing with an RPG is a thing of beauty. Everything works in harmony and not a single one of the missions is bad. The most fun I’ve had in years. 10 - Lasting Appeal - The story will take anywhere from 25-45 hours to complete, depending on your skill level and attention span. There’s plenty more to do once you finish the story, such as excellent multiplayer. 10 - OVERALL 10/10, Masterful This makes the game one of IGN’s highest scored games, as they rarely hand out the perfect review. You can read the review here. Or, watch their video review below: Also, be sure to check out Chris’s post on his visit to NY to play GTA IV early!