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MarkD1990

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  1. Weather in GTA IV Day and Night will be far more integral part of the game this time around. Although we have a sneaking suspicion that when the Sun is setting you'll probably just stop what you're doing and gawp at it. And while the weather is calm, activities such has down your enemies in a speedboat are well and good. But we've been promised that during storms the surf will rise up and give you some serious problems. And when the clouds burst, you can expect to see its shiny wetness affecting pretty much everything from the stained colour of your clothes to pedestrian Al and the handling of vehilces. The Version they tested The version XBOX Magazine tested was 80% complete. Cars Surface Tension: The streets of L iberty City are no longer simple, flat surfaces, Instead each is peppered with three dimensional detail that has an effect on the vehicles handling physics. You'll be simply amazed at how your car reacts. We were Break and Enter So long as you didn't break into the car while parked, which means you'll have already smashed up window, you'll have to hit the left bumber button (LB) to tell Niko to smash it with the butt of his pistol, thereby allowing him to lean out and shoot. Damaging Information. Notice how the wheel here seems to be acting indepenently of the car? Theres no pic on here, but I will upload it after. Sorry Thats because it is. When we played, we managed to knock wheels off entirely, shoot tyres and even buckle them to the point of rendering the car un-driveable. And quoting a picture: Danger Whatever is in the trunk of that car should probably best be avoided if its glowing like that, unless ETs in there. Fact Niko's surname is Bellic. Which, appropriatley enough is actually a word, meaning 'of or pertaining to war, warlike or martial'. Stick that up your fact pipe. I will scan them later on. and reply or edit this post. Coming Next Month: We check out GTA IV's multiplayer, can it just keep getting better?
  2. According to Mike Hickey - an analyst at Janco Partners - quoted by the Associated Press last month, "...5 million copies of GTA IV will sell the first week of release, on par with last year’s record-breaking $300 million first-week sales of Bungie Studios’ Halo 3. "Hickey said Rockstar’s hush-hush promotional effort – more viral, less in-your-face than the Halo 3 campaign – could give GTA IV an edge". So, big stakes to be played for. GTA IV, however, differs in one huge element from Halo 3 - it is not a platform exclusive game. Rockstar and Take-Two's promotional activity (hush-hush or loud-loud) will be aimed at selling its game - to anybody who will buy it (or to anybody whose big brother will buy it for them). It has to be. Retail will be in the same situation. The fact that, come April 29th, the game is also going to be offered on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, Sony and Microsoft will be pushing Sony's response, you might recall, came from Jack Tretton (President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA)), who on looking at the GTA IV as a hardware seller, told The Street: So, if Jack doesn't think it's important, is it? It's a long held belief business meme that getting hold of a new customer is much, much more of an effort than retaining existing ones. Business managers the world over sit in seminars trying to work out just what the 'cost of customer acquisition' and how to minimise it. Right now, in terms of customer retention, Microsoft holds the strongest hand. The Xbox is long forgotten (admit it), the 360 is the centre of its gaming attention in Arcade, Elite and Premium format. Its 'installed base' is settled. GTA IV is coming out for its format. Sony, on the other hand sees GTA IV launching on PlayStation 3 only. Its current hardware brand leader, the PlayStation 2, will see users leaving - in order to buy the game. They will be leaving to either the more expensive PS3... or they could jump brand entirely to the 360. So far then, Microsoft stands to benefit more - and appears to be doing more. The news today that it is to introduce price cuts across all Xbox 360 stock keeping units (SKUs) is a strong indicator that the company is revving up for the battle. Its Xbox Live competition, 'GTA IV Sweepstakes', which offers the chance for gamers to win a trip to New York is also a strong indicator that it see Rockstar's game as major driver (sic). The only way you can enter is to have an Xbox Live gamertag - and if you've got one of those, hell, you might as well have a 360. In the UK, major High Street retailers Game and GameStation are offering 500 Xbox Live points if you pre-order for the Xbox 360. It's doubtful that either retailer stumped up the cash to cover this. Game is also offering £3.50 worth of Game reward points for both PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. One final point to note, however, could be that for the gamer who doesn't - gasp - like enjoy GTA, Sony's recent Blu-ray win would have far more impact as a platform seller than any non-exclusive game, no matter how big. Having taken this time to look back over the build-up to the GTA IV four things come to the fore: 1) Microsoft appears to be expending more time and energy - even if only by words and a few (free Xbox Live points etc) actions. It seems to see more benefit. 2) Sony either doesn't see GTA IV as a hardware seller or doesn't care. 3) There is still more than a month to go and no one wants to blow budget. 4) GTA is no no longer a hardware seller. We've contacted Microsoft, Sony and Rockstar today to see what marketing activities are in the offing, so far.... so no response from any of them. In the meantime would GTA IV make you switch gaming brand? Would you move from 360 to PS3? Or would you abandon PlayStation entirely for the Xbox 360? Tell us in the Forum. Source: Spong
  3. Rockstar has contacted CVG to confirm that the forum poster in question is indeed a big smelly fake. GTA IV on Xbox 360 is "superior" to the PlayStation 3 version, Rockstar employee Neil Corbett has seemingly stated on games forum rllmuk. "As it stands the Xbox 360 version has the smoother framerate and far faster loading times (without any installing) but the PS3 version does have that warm feeling with bleached out sunsets and the like," says the post by Corbett. The supposed Rockstar employee also went on to say that the exclusive Xbox 360 download content isn't as big as has been speculated: "The extra content of the 360 version is significant but nothing like an 'extra Island' at all- as the lead platform it is currently the superior version however. Just you wait until your first windscreen-flying experience." A quick check with out mate Google reveals that Neil Corbett does actually work in the QA department of GTA Towers, but obviously there's no way of checking if this bloke on the forum is who he says he is. If he IS legit, he's soon going to get a visit from Rockstar's black helicopter. We've left a message with the company, but we're not holding our breath. Source: CVG
  4. Sorry these have all been posted weeks ago and some a week ago.
  5. dunno mayb they are on strike! lol or in bed sleeping
  6. This may have been said already sorry! After a year of hype dissecting every morsel of information Rockstar teasingly flung at our feet, we've finally played Grand Theft Auto IV - and you can read our full, detailed hands-on impressions right here. "First thing's first; despite our concerns the framerate is absolutely rock solid. We're on a fairly busy street corner in Broker with cars, pedestrians and the massive cityscape looming on the horizon. It's all good. "Rockstar North hasn't been stingy with the effects either. Immediately we notice lovely motion and depth of field effects when locking on to targets (with the left trigger). There's also some bizarre but pleasant field-of-view "fisheye" mischief going on when you move the camera at an angle underneath or above Niko (making the distance between characters and the background look further - sounds strange but works)." Grams Theft Auto Controller in hand and game un-paused, the very brown-clothed Niko appears on screen, in our control for the first time. We're still knocked back by how fantastic everything looks - only this time there are no smoke and mirrors clouding our vision, and no handcuffs preventing us from peeking around the corner. First thing's first; despite our concerns the framerate is absolutely rock solid. We're on a fairly busy street corner in Broker with cars, pedestrians and the massive cityscape looming on the horizon. It's all good. Rockstar North hasn't been stingy with the effects either. Immediately we notice lovely motion and depth of field effects when locking on to targets (with the left trigger). There's also some bizarre but pleasant field-of-view "fisheye" mischief going on when you move the camera at an angle underneath or above Niko (making the distance between characters and the background look further - sounds strange but works). The lighting system in particular looks fantastic. Some of the game's scenery and textures can look a bit rough around the edges in screens. But, in motion, the scale and detail of Liberty City is impressive. It feels just like a GTA city; pedestrians scatter and the sound of gun fire, the odd hidden ramp lurks behind low walls and comedy ad signs are never far away. The mission we're on (Jamaican Heat) is early in the game and tasks Niko to pick up drug-dealing Jamaican gunman Little Jacob from his pad. Stealing cars with the Y button is as simple as ever. The most noticeable difference from San Andreas is a strong feeling of weight behind the world, as demonstrated by the poor fellow flailing and rolling on the floor as Niko ejects him from his vehicle. Euphoria Physics - the stuff powering LucasAarts' Force Unleashed game - is the tech to be thanked for this. It might not sound like a big deal, but because of how massively un-interactive and well, rigid the environments were in the PS2 instalments, it's incredibly liberating to see pedestrians fall over, cars bump in the road and scenery roll and collide realistically when hit. The biggest impact of GTA's new-found physics is probably in the vehicle handling, which now feels far more realistic and affected by the world around it. By luck, we found the best car to test this out right on the street where we started; a completely rusted, half-burnt out old banger. After happily evicting its previous owner (who was probably pleased to get some fresh air) we sped off down the road only to slam into the pavement, as the handling of the car was being skewed towards the dodgy wheel on our left hand side. As with the walk and run animations of each character, vehicles can be seen bouncing and bopping with every bump in the road. This sense of gravity helps the world feel a lot more alive than previous Grand Theft Autos. In this botched-up motor we had to battle with the analogue stick to keep it in a straight line, and the burst tyre on our side had a massive effect in how the vehicle handled. It's obvious that car damage is hugely more important in this GTA than in San Andreas. Realism is a strong theme in IV's driving. It's much more difficult to simply right-angle around a corner at speed. You can't rely on the handbrake to spin you around a turn, and if you don't want to be sent into the side of a building by a bump in the road, you have to slow down. It's still fun - perhaps even more so when you bugger up and do a barrel-roll into a hotdog stand - but as our extended play taught us, the gap between low and high-end cars is much bigger in the control department. Watch those corners! OK Computer Back to our first point; GTA IV is still very much a Grand Theft Auto experience. But it's impressive how Rockstar has built up and over San Andreas' design. Driving to Little Jacob's place is a painless and far smoother experience than it would've been in GTA III. Analogue acceleration on the triggers makes cruising around the streets a breeze. The new GPS waypoint system, which draws a line through the map to your destination, is executed perfectly. Even little Jacob himself, who comes scuttling out of his pad smoking a funny cigarette, is a far less sterile character than the blocky blokes of old. We stop mid-run on our way to the next destination, a meeting point where Jacbo's about to make a dodgy deal, realising that like old GTA's we'd better get into a car and take the Jamaican along. But much to our surprise there he is running behind us, still puffing away mind. Once in the car Jacob carries on talking for minutes (there's shed loads of non-plot-centric dialogue) and even his "cigarette" smoke drifts realistically out of the window. It's still far from genius AI, but little bits like this are certainly far ahead of III, which had slightly dim-witted friendly and enemy AI to say the least. Eventually we make it to our destination; a dodgy back alley where Jacob wants us to keep watch over his shady deal. A hovering halo, similar to that in previous games, indicates where we should go; a ledge overlooking the alley. Clicking the left analogue stick has Niko crouch, and the three arriving dealers are completely unaware of his presence - which means we can get the first shot off when the deal inevitably goes sour. Immediately the scene explodes into something far more frantic than any of San Andreas' simple lock-on blasting. All parties dive into cover, taking blind pot shots over dumpsters. Aiming and shooting has been handled in quite a unique manor from your average third-person shooter. Holding down the left trigger locks on to a target, and you can cycle through targets using the right stick. From here you can shoot at an enemy's arms, legs, chest or head - but it's not totally automatic. The cursor is locked on to the centre of a target's chest, and from there you can move your aim with the right stick inside a small circle radius around the target. This way a headshot actually requires some skill; simply holding up with the right stick shoots over the bad guy's head, so you have to hover slightly to nail him in the face. The genius of this system is that proper free-aiming is also instantly accessible by holding the trigger half-way in, allowing you to aim your gun freely where ever you like. This proves useful when a hitman bursts from the rooftop above us. This is also (yet another) example of Euphoria physics at work, we nail him and watch him tumble across the rooftop before grabbing and swinging from the ledge in a last ditch effort to stay alive. The much-welcomed cover system works (and looks) great. Once we'd dealt with the psycho dealers, it was off to find their shotgun-wielding mates, with the purpose of putting and end to it. Taking cover underneath window ledges and at the side of doors is painless and intuitive. Tapping the right bumper slams Niko into cover (Gears of War style). If you're a bit far off he'll dive or floor-slide. Jumping between cover is just as simple as in Epic's shooter. Niko was never stuck in a place we didn't want him to be. Shooting feels slightly different from what we're used, but at the same time delivers a new dynamic. One trigger performs simple blindfire shooting, while the other pops Niko out of cover for full-on gun pointing. The difference here is that the aiming reticule is on screen even when you're behind cover, and to fire consecutive shots you have to hold the right trigger down, as letting go sends you right back in to cover. This way you're never out of cover when you're not shooting, and the hop 'n bop blasting gameplay is even more simplified. Thankfully, as is emerged in this impressively detailed living room (complete with couch, telly, cockroaches), Niko can shoot through scenery and blast cover to bits. Plasterboard falls apart with every shot and enemy gangbangers are accessible to your ammunition behind most objects. This new combat adds greater depth to the bullet ballet of GTA IV, which is bound to supply some absolute standout action sequences when the final game arrives. Lights, camera, ACTION! The third and final most important layer we discovered is GTA IV's remarkable knack for a bit of cinematic flair. Our next mission takes Niko to meet some Russian mafia types in a shady Broker nightclub, where he's been called in for a chat. The Russian head honcho is slouched in a smoky corner with female company, which he soon dismisses upon Niko's arrival. Character animation is top-notch. It's alomst like the rigid robots with square hands of San Andreas never happened. So Russian's having trouble with the police, after the feds somehow discovered the shady deals they've been doing in Liberty City. Despite pleas from his subordinate, Dimitri, the boss is convinced the squealer is his right-hand-man's brother-in-law, and Niko's been hired to shut him up. The target has been tracked down to a train platform not too far away from our meeting place. Thanks to the in-car GPS system we find the station with little problem (but we did run over a few pedestrians on the way) and there's our man sitting pretty on the platform, marked by a trademark yellow GTA halo. A snappy cut-scene alerts the target to Niko's presence, and he legs it across the train tracks to set up one of the most intense chase sequences we've ever had in a GTA game. We're hot on his tail but instantly blocked by a train shooting right in front of our faces. By the time it's gone the target's already racing down the staircase on the other side of the track, climbing inside a parked motor and speeding down the road. We're straight after him with a quick tap of Y next to the nearest car. The combination of radar and a big floaty red arrow above our target had us hot on his tail in no time. Tapping LB made Niko smash the driver-side window so we could get a chance to try out the new in-car shooting. It's miles ahead of San Andreas' drive-by right-angle shooting, letting you aim weapons using the right stick with an on-screen cursor. This makes for far more hectic vehicle battles than in any GTA before. But because you can only really aim your cursor while continuously shooting it's a lot messier than on-foot combat, and spray tactics become top priority. You can also drop grenades behind you vehicle, but as we discovered later this can just as easily blow up your own car as other people's... Even though we're still getting used to the new car handling, the pursuit doesn't last long. Lamp posts still have cardboard physics but crash satisfyingly and spark violently on the ground. We knock more than a few down as we unleash an Uzi rainstorm into the back of the target's petrol tank, sending his ride into space above an impressive display of smoke effects and flinging debris. We even take out a fire hydrant, which sprays a gorgeous water spurt high into the air. The game autosaves, mission complete, and we're left to explore Liberty City on our own. Can you guess what's the next thing we do is? Reach for the stars Cop shootouts are of a much bigger scale than in previous GTAs and on higher star levels you actually feel like you're being hunted down by the law. Thanks to some cheeky cheats on behalf of Rockstar, we're completely tooled up with guns, ammunition and a chunk of armour (which shows up as an extra half of a circular health meter) - and it's time to see how much carnage we can cause before the SWAT team inevitably runs us into a wall. It all starts off with a hijack. We spot a police car at the traffic lights across the street and liberate it - immediately giving us one star. The cops are quickly on the tail of our siren-screaming motor but it's easy to escape their radar with a few sharp turns. Obviously we need to rack up the wanted level, so we direct the police car down the nearest busy street for a game of pedestrian Frogger. As we're sure will be much to displeasure of Daily Mail readers, the vehicle-meets-old lady carnage is a lot more realistic this time around. Euphoria physics has pedestrians fold and flail like rag dolls while blood splatters liberally on street. If you smash head on in a collision Niko will even go flying through the windshield. It's visceral, violent and not for kids. The killing has earned us a further two stars (that's three - the highest we managed in our hands-on time) and the familiar coppa choppa quickly appears above our heads - the perfect excuse to park up and play with the rocket launcher. Explosions in GTA IV are stupidly destructive and absolutely massive - on the same scale as Crackdown's multi-car-flinging booms. Smoke trails realistically as car doors and debris are flung through the air. Even pedestrians who escape the initial blast are usually left on fire, running around like big, fiery Guy Fawkes. There's also a slight heat-seeking function to the rocket launcher. When we fired it at a near-by cop for example, it swerved up and behind him, favouring the police car instead as a more worthy target. This made nailing the chopper even easier, which comes smoking and exploding down to the street in a twisted mass of metal and flame. Although our star level is the same, the resulting chaos kicks off a massive game of hide and seek, with cops, minus their eye in the sky, frantically searching for us. In GTA IV when you're out of sight from the law your stars will 'grey out', indicating that you're hidden. Unfortunately this doesn't work like the big game of peek-a-boo we expected, and even when you're hidden the cops are slowly drawn to your general location. Eventually the law tracks us down to the dark alley we're parked in. Locking on to cover and whipping out the AK, we frantically take out as many as possible, but they've called in a second police helicopter and it's time to leg it or be shot to pieces by the new chopper's on-board mini-gun. Eventually we make it to a small canal, where most of the on-foot bobbies seem to have lost our scent. It's just us and the helicopter now, but with no ammunition left for the RPG we pull out the next best thing; the sniper rifle. The rifle works in pretty much the same fashion as before, but what impressed us most was the amount of detail you can pick out down its scope. Lining up with the chopper above us - which is now spraying bullets liberally in our direction - we can make out the gunner actually sitting inside. We take him out and smile as he plummets to the ground in a single shot. Now that its defenceless we're free to aim up and take out the pilot as well. Shooting right through the glass we perform yet another one shot kill, and the helicopter bucks violently downwards, exploding in the canal. GTA has always been about the randomness, the wide-open battles and sheer chaos you can cause. We're delighted to see that GTA IV hasn't forgotten it routes. At the very least the fourth game will provide a bigger playground, louder explosions and probably the most epic and engaging shootouts we've ever had in a game. Underneath the litres of polish and great combat additions, IV controls and feels just like a GTA game. But as we've said, that's no bad thing at all. Multiplayer details next, please Rockstar. Source: CVG
  7. Well guess what, R* took those out because they "weren't realistic", which I think is absolute bulls**t. Ye most properbly they have replaced the side missions of Parametic, Firefighter etc, to more releastic stuff like robbing places like the burglary mission in SA
  8. Actually if you read some magazine previews they do say that there are planes flying over head in the sky and that there is an airport, but as we know, you can't fly planes, I left the magazine in work but i will bring it home tomorrow and have a go at scanning it. Ye there are planes in the game but they are not flyable by you the player!
  9. Great Work Brotha that is excellent! Keep up the great work!
  10. GamesRadar was given a chance to play GTA IV for the very first time on PlayStation 3. According to their latest preview, which was published earlier today, the PS3 version is still running about a week behind the 360 edition but it won’t effect the release date, so don’t worry. Source: Games Radar
  11. Actually I was going to by the 360 mag today, but I choose not to but I think this might actually be true!
  12. Nice find mate! and ye he does look abit cartoony so could possibly be a artwork
  13. The Image says it all: Limited offer while stocks last. Xbox Live account required. Access details will be emailed to you on release. Please ensure your order email address is correct. Customers who have already pre-ordered this game will also receive the bonus offer. Link to the Game Page with the details: GTA IV Special Offer And your welcome for the info!
  14. Gamers can order online now for delivery on the April 29th Consumers can now pre-order Grand Theft Auto IV online for £37.99 on both PS3 and 360 from PC World. Customers can also reserve their copy in store for £5, with midnight openings planned for the game’s release. "The team here at PC World are hugely excited about the forthcoming release,” said René Wright, senior category manager - console and games at DSGi. Source: MCV And iv'e emailed the UK leading Gaming Outlets to see if they are planning a midnight opening for GTA IV
  15. I have no Idea because I had problems playing some missions like Ceaser Vialpando, Beach Party and the last one, because the graphics were too powerfull for my PC, but I changed the settings and can play now but back on topic, I got a feeling it will be more than 100 hours because 7 Missions is equal to 4 hours play or 4 Missions is equal to 7 Hours.
  16. Ye I am plus, if you are getting it for the 360, you will get 2 downloadable missions has extra.
  17. 100 Hours im always up for a challenge! Plus the 100 Hours seems good
  18. Rockstar: "We would have to give away half the game for free. People would think Liberty City is a tiny city. You run into problems." There won’t be a GTA 4 demo, Rockstar has told VideoGamer.com. Speaking during our hands-on with what will surely be 2008’s biggest game, a Rockstar rep told us that a demo "isn’t worth the time and effort". When asked if there will be a demo Rockstar replied: "I’m sure there won’t be. If there was we would have talked about it. With a game like this the guys at Rockstar North will want to spend every minute making the game look great. Most people know the concept of GTA anyway. I don’t know that the demo is worth the time and effort." He added: "Also much of GTA 4 is the driving around and we wouldn’t be able to give out the whole city. We would have to give away half the game for free. People would think Liberty City is a tiny city. You run into problems." Source: Video Gamer
  19. Ye surely they are hiding some things..... But the PS3 has got crap graphics lol. In the radio stations I hope they play Special D songs on the dance station!
  20. Ye its a good article, and the screenshots are mental, if you look at 1 with Niko and some other guy firing guns at each other you will notice alot of blood on Nikos arm (well Jacket lol)
  21. Ye if you preorder from Play.com or Amazon you will get it a day or 2 early according to Chris because it has happened to him, and a 'Game' rep told me over the phone 'If you preorder the regular or Special Edition versions they will dispatch it out 2 days before release in 1st class postage'. But around here the postman don't come till around late morning so I will pick up in store!
  22. It might have been posted but go ahead, but I will look now to save you getting in trouble Edit: Nope nothing has been posted so go ahead!
  23. Actually click here because Take2 have rejected the offer!
  24. Chris I am so jealous of your items sent from rockstar, I want them
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