Chris

Some luckly subscribers have already received their copy of GameInformer, the one with the world exclusive 10 page preview of GTA 4. The following is a summary of what we've learned from the magazine. More in depth details will be posted later, with further analysis. The Facts The main character's name is Niko Bellic - he is an Eastern European immigrant Bellic arrives in Liberty City as he has been receiving emails from his cousin, Roman. At the start of the game, he is the only person you know. Roman lies to get Niko to come to Liberty City, by telling him he has women, cars and money...he is actually in huge debt. Niko thinks he will live the "American Dream". The Statue of Liberty is now called the Statue of Happiness, while DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is known as BOABO (Beneath the Offramp of the Algoquin Bridge Overpass). Liberty City's similarities to New York are as follows, with 4 of the 5 boroughs being recreated: Brooklyn = Broker; Manhattan = Algonquin; Queens = Dukes; Bronx = Bohan; New Jersey = Alderney The scale of Liberty City is slightly smaller than San Andreas, except now there are no wasted parts (with countryside for example), it is a lot more detailed. Multiplayer modes in GTA 4 are still to be announced, however, Rockstar have said it won't be a massively multiplayer online game. They are making something interesting, fun and progressive, and which ties in with single player gameplay. Since it's only New York, there will be no planes in the game which you can pilot. Rockstar want the game to seem realistic, i.e. you won't be needing planes. Pedestrians are a lot more realistic, and do things such as smoke, sit on benches, read, go shopping, eat, and more... Rockstar have been working very hard on the targeting system - expect it to be a big improvement from previous games. After the initial loading sequence, there will be no more loading screens to sit through, not even when transitioning between interior and exterior environments While making the game, Rockstar consulted crime experts and ex-policemen and found that being a criminal is much more difficult now than it was during previous decades, so they have tried to reflect this in the game. Expect to see people getting arrested as the police are a heavy presence. As Rockstar North are approaching the recruitment of voice actors in a different way. We probably won't hear and recognisable voices in GTA 4 because they are looking for voices that suit the attitude of the characters - This approach is also being carried over to the soundtrack, where R* are looking for music which works well with the modern day Liberty City. You will use a cell phone to call contacts The visual effects of the game will be massively enhanced - the rising and setting sun will reflect off glass and light up details on buildings; the streets will have potholes and rubble. Variations in terrain are reflected in the way people walk over it. A big part of the game is delivering story in new ways and allowing the player to plot their own destiny GameInformer played the Xbox 360 version, and say the graphics are not representative of the final version. The final version will look better than these shots suggest Huge thanks to demologik at GTAForums for getting the mag so quickly, and providing the pictures of it. You can discuss how you feel about GTA 4 as we learn new details in our forum.

Yeah I loved the Max Payne games by Remedy, of course published by Rockstar. They were some brilliant games, I hope Alan Wake is going to meet my expectations.

This one doesn't seem to be official in any way, rather belonging to a very enthusiastic car owner, and seemingly a GTA fan judging by the 'classic' style GTAIV logos and Rockstar decals. Apparently this nice machine was spotted at the New York Auto Show. I'm not a great lover of cars with black paintjobs, but this is something a little more decorated than usual. via Kotaku

I don't know how many of you guys are interested in Alan Wake, but if you are, Check out these new screens I've posted on AlanWake.co.uk. They're really nice high res ones, and a couple of never before seen ones.

I've been using SU since soon after it started. Such an awesome tool to find some pretty nifty websites. And also great to use when you're bored. Remember to vote thumbs up on our homepage http://www.thegtaplace.com Oh and my profile is at http://chrisjp88.stumbleupon.com if you wanna add to your friends.

I think he was talking to me based on the quote... but I think in general, what he meant was, the offer to everyone is "can you all post pics of your sisters". hehe.

LOL. Nobody noticed the panda about to get run over by that vehicle...

Haha. No, funnily enough I'm not, hence my finding of the link via Kotaku

Once again some more posters advertising Grand Theft Auto IV have been spotted in New York City, you may remember last month gaming blog Kotaku posted about some posters plastered around the city. Today, we have more of the same, except this time the posters are absolutely massive. Click the picture to the right to see the scale of this thing, which is painted on a building in SoHo street. Strangely enough, the general public won't have a clue what this is even advertising unless they visit the website address shown in comparitively small print at the bottom of the ad. Though perhaps that's a good thing considering what certain politicians are like these days. Thanks to GayGamer for the pic. (via Kotaku)

Everyone here is ugly. There are no hot people on the Internet, those that are, are female, and they are rare. Post your pic.

That seems to be true - when you were still in your interview there wasn't one guy that walked past without glancing (several times) at your sister. I can't remember exactly, but I think your mum cracked a joke about she bets it wouldn't be the same if you were sat there (or something)... Haha... yeah well, good, was mostly males there anyway, if everyone walked past and looked at me I'd be worried. However if it were girls...

That and, finally, proper HDMI output.

Haha... sorry, but everyone tells me I have a hot sister, it annoys me too when they go on about it. It's made me make these sort of comments about anyone who also has a sister who isn't ugly, and looks like they're gonna be hot... So yeah moving swiftly on... shit... nothing to move on to, let's see if we can get kokane to post MOAR pics. Actually wait, I'll post another pic of myself. Seriously we need older people here, there's too many kids! Here's me using my magical glow ability:

... so yeah, make sure to stick around for a few years, then take another pic like that... move camera a little more to the left... Meanwhile, I just took a pic of myself just playing with the iSight in PhotoBooth, I added black and white effect, dunno why, but here:

Ok great, well the quicker we get the info the quicker we can get it out to more fans. @ps3 player: I've emailed the chief editor at GameInformer, I'll let you know when he replies with the release date of their mag.

I don't know, around mid-April was what I've been told. I'll drop the editor an email to see if I can get a more precise date.

This topic needs less Woozie, and MOAR kokane

Excellent, you're awesome. Rep points for you if you do

That's Italian. Use http://babelfish.altavista.com

Ah yes thanks that was actually a typo on my part. So are you a subscriber to the mag or will you be buying it when it's out?

The relatively new UK publication Official PlayStation Magazine is to have a large article on Grand Theft Auto IV in next month's issue (#6), which is on sale from May 2nd. Our friends at GTA4.net were able to get confirmation from the magazine's editor Tim Clark that the feature will have brand new exclusive GTA 4 screenshots and info. We're hoping this means truly "exclusive", and that it won't be the same info and screens we will get from GameInformer the week before (related news post). Since it's a UK publication I should be able to pick up a copy of the magazine myself, however if there are any subscribers out there who will get the mag early, or if you're planning on buying it anyway, let me know in the comments.

Topics like this can usually be kept under entertainment for now. There isn't a large enough interest or amount of already made topics regarding phones and other tech at the moment to warrant a dedicated subforum.

Moved to correct forum. Please learn to read next time.

Yeah I know, lol, remember when I found the LCS font, Aachen Bold, that's actually commericial according to that site. But then I managed to find a freeware version which I promptly uploaded here, so that's what I'm looking for right now. I hate commercial fonts though, especially when we're not even using them for profit, just on are own fan art or whatever. I can understand if someone needed to use it on a corporate website or something... meh. I'll see what I can find. BTW I just found out the designer of the font was born in New York City... hmmm EDIT: Couldn't find a freeware version anywhere.

OK it's called GarageGothic Bold. I'll see if I can get hold of it and I'll upload it here.