GAME, Europe's largest videogame retailer, are offering a Vice City Stories themed PSP skin free with all preorders of the game. Contrary to other freebies given away with previous GTA games by the company, GAME are only offering this one to UK residents. For those of you in the UK who haven't already preordered, now might be the time to do so.

Preorder and see details of the skin at GAME.co.uk

Microsoft have published a press release about the X06 event currently taking place in Barcelona, Spain. In it they talked about episodic content available on Xbox Live for various games, including Grand Theft Auto IV. Interestingly, the GTA IV episodes seem to be Xbox 360 exclusive. Sony have not yet released any details as to whether we'll be able to download content via PlayStation 3's download service, but even if they do, it seems it won't be the same as what will be on offer at Xbox Live.

Rockstar and Take-Two will provide Xbox 360 gamers with exclusive access to two epic downloadable episodes of Grand Theft Auto IV via Xbox Live, each with hours of new gameplay content, and available only on Xbox 360 just months after the release of the title.

Discuss

Eurogamer have published an interview they had with Rockstar Leeds president Gordon Hall. The interview mainly focuses on the improvements that have been made over Liberty City Stories, and how the team have managed to compress so much data. Hall also reiterates the fact that there are currently no plans to bring Vice City Stories to PlayStation 2.

As well as this interview, Eurogamer also posted an article on the possibilty of San Andreas Stories. The article basically pulls some quotes from the aforementioned interview and puts them into perspective. Again they emphasise Rockstar Leeds' semmingly unprecedented skill at compressing data, and the advances in technology making it possible.

They've been able to "double the city size capable of fitting on a UMD," apparently. "At that rate we'll be able to go bigger the more we know and the more the technology moves on." In other words, don't rule it out.

What do you think about the possibility of San Andreas Stories on the PSP? Bear in mind the game will likely be cut down from San Andreas anyway, but with these compression capabilities, maybe it might not be so cut down as we think? Discuss in our forums.

Rockstar Games have updated the official Vice City Stories website. There's a load more stuff on there, including many more screenshots and the brand new trailer. I've uploaded the 17 new screenshots to the VCS screenshots gallery.

Check it out at the Official Vice City Stories Website

News on the GTA front is rather scarce at the moment, so it seems a good time for Rockstar to announce another new game of theirs, L.A. Noire, a crime thriller set in 1940's Los Angeles. While it's not GTA, the game has a vaguely similar premise.

We've just launched a mini site stemming from The GTA Place, and should the game live up to its full potential, we'll be developing it into a fully fledged fan site, for now though, it's just a splash page, but be sure to bookmark it for further news updates on the game...

To view the teaser, head over to LANoire.net, where you can also download higher quality versions of it.

Rockstar Games is pleased to announce a partnership with Team Bondi Pty Ltd to publish the ground-breaking next generation crime thriller L.A. Noire. Developed by Team Bondi, a new Australian based studio founded by Brendan McNamara, of The Getaway, L.A Noire is an interactive detective story set in the classic noir period of the late 1940's. L.A. Noire blends action, detection and complex storytelling and draws players into an open-ended challenge to solve a series of gruesome murders. Set in a perfectly recreated Los Angeles before freeways, with a post-war backdrop of corruption, drugs and jazz, L.A. Noire will truly blend cinema and gaming.

Sam Houser of Rockstar Games serves as Executive Producer and Brendan McNamara as Director of Development for L.A. Noire.

"Brendan and I have known each other for a long time, and to finally have the opportunity to work together on a game is exciting," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "The longstanding mutual respect and the combined experience between the two of us make this a great partnership," added Brendan McNamara, CEO of Team Bondi.

L.A. Noire is a next-generation title and will be published by Rockstar Games. The official trailer will be released October 5th at www.rockstargames.com/lanoire.

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Take Two Press Release

Sounds quite good doesn't it? Tell us what you think in our forums and reply to this post.

Go>Play Magazine has a six-page preview of Vice City Stories, it includes some new screenshots, as well as further details on the empire building feature.

A car is parked outside of each building that you can obtain, destroying it initiates an attack on the gang currently running it. To successfully acquire the building Go>Play say you must kill everyone outside and inside the building, furthermore it will not go up for sale until you "wreck the place."

After you choose what type of business to set up, and its size, the actual building takes around 2 game days to complete. After this you can save the game there and "make changes" to the business via the notice board.

You will have to work for the business as well, as it won't run entirely by itself, additionally you get a "pimped out" car (what type depends on the business) permanently sat outside the place.

Go>Play also suggest the soundtrack is just as good as Vice City's, which is great since Vice City still has probably the best game soundtrack in the world.

You can see scans of the mag over at the GTAForums topic thanks to Rockyfella.

Looks like R* are giving out screenshots and videos willy-nilly now, and good on them for doing that, we seem to be seeing a lot of Vice City Stories lately.

GameTrailers were first with their video showing off some of the insane stunts you will be performing in the game, the video is about 30 seconds long.

Link: Insane stunts video

IGN were next with two new videos. The first is called Running From the Law and shows Vic doing exactly what the title suggests, the other is called Jet Skis Can Fly!, and likewise, has a self explanitory title and shows jet skis jumping Leaf Links golf course. They were also kind enough to release a new screenshot (see below).

Link: IGN videos

GameVideos followed suit and posted a video mainly focusing on the addition of helicopters to the game. The video is also around 30 seconds long.

Link: Helicopters video

Finally, 1UP have posted a new screenshot showing Vic donning a USMC shirt.

Yesterday, MTV and Gamedaily both posted their previews of Vice City Stories. Nothing new in either of them, though.

Links: GameDaily, MTV

The latest issue of PSW Magazine (UK) has a feature on Vice City Stories, they also included several new screenshots which you can check out on page 1 and page 2 of the magazine.

Thanks to ja750 for the scans.

Two brand new screenshots have appeared at Italian website Multiplayer.it. Check them out below, and all the other screenshots we've recently uploaded on our VCS Screenshots page.

Thanks to GTA-Series for the info.

After the influx of previews cropping up over the last couple of days, this wealth of new info from PSM comes as an unexpected but pleasant suprise. It seems Vice City Stories will be a lot more advanced than many of us originally imagined, and with more in game specifics being user driven, in particular the "empire building" feature.

• A brand new golfing mini game will be playable at Leaf Links. Controls are simple and only require one button, tapping it starts the power meter, pressing again to stop it when you reach the amount of power you require, and then once more to set the accuracy of your shot. Revisiting Leaf Links will enable you to retry the minigame and beat your previous score. One mission requires you to beat Gonzalez at the game.
  
• Empire Building: This is actually quite an advanced feature in the game. After taking over a site, the gang that previously occupied it becomes your rival. There will be six different business types that Vic can run, the article mentions three - protection, extortion and prostitution. The three others are currently unknown.
  
• You are able to choose what type of business to set up at the site you acquire. Your choice will have an impact on the business' level of success. A smuggling business will perform better near an airport or docks for instance.
  
• Businesses are split into three categories - low, middle and high. Each of these will require a larger amount of money to acquire staff and resources. Similar to your gang control in San Andreas, your businesses will be prone to attacks from rival gangs.
  
• Notification about attacks on your businesses comes through on your pager. The more staff you have the better their chance of defending it for you if it comes under attack.
  
• You'll have the option to save the game at any of your businesses, this means there will be more than 30 possible safe houses across the city.
  
• The employees of your businesses can be recruited San Andreas style to provide protection and support to you on the streets.
  
• Pedestrians on the street may comment on your success - Rockstar say it's all about having the people of Vice City recognise your power and control.
  

If you're able to get a copy of this magazine then I suggest you go out and buy it, there's also a few new screens included.

Thanks to gamerzworld for posting the info and Neil for the heads up.

There have been many previews and screenshots of Vice City Stories appearing on the web today. As there is such a large number of them I've consolidated everything into this one post.

For those of you who are just interested in the screens, I've uploaded all of the new screenshots to our VCS Screenshots page.

UPDATE 1:

IGN have posted their Preview and a couple of brand new Screenshots

Eurogamer have followed suit and also posted a preview of their own with one new screen.

UPDATE 2:

Gamesradar have posted a Preview along with some Screenshots, all of which are seen in other previews today.

UPDATE 3:

SPOnG have a preview of VCS on their site, there are no new screens in this one though. As well as this, ComputerAndVideogames have 2 new screenshots for your viewing pleasure/

UPDATE 4:

German gaming site 4Players.de have a whopping 8 new screens, 2 of them being exclusives.

GameSpy have also posted 2 new screenshots, in addition to some old ones with a weird blue effect on them.

UPDATE 5:

GameSpot have posted some new screens, as well as some of the older ones now without their watermarks.

UPDATE 6:

TotalVideogames have posted a preview but with no new screens.

Finally, what seems to be the last preview comes from 1UP, they also have a few new screens with their article.

Enjoy reading through all those articles! I myself couldn't really find any new information. However, one screenshot shows an air ambulance. Whether we'll be able to carry out the Ambulance missions in this is unclear, but it seems pointless putting in an air ambulance if we can't use it.

Official Playstation Magazine USA have a new one page preview of Vice City Stories in their latest issue. There's no new information in the article, however, there are two new screenshots for you to look at.

LINK: Magazine Scan

Electronic Gaming Monthly have published a couple of new screenshots along with their one page preview of Vice City Stories. There's no new info in the mag but you may like to read it over anyway. We'll have the digital shots soon.

EGM Scan, Gamespot Topic

Thanks to HappyKhicken for the scan.

German fansite GTAReactor are reporting that Play the Playstation, a German magazine, have published a preview about the demonstration they saw at the Leipzig Games Convention.

The magazine explains a new "Empire Building" mode which will be in Vice City Stories. This sub plot will give Victor the role of forcibly conquering the criminal organisations and other gangs that own the buildings and businesses throughout Vice City (approximately 30 of them). After you have acquired these businesses, you can then invest your own cash in them and run them profitably, or at least try to.

Think of it as a vastly improved safehouse buying feature we first saw in the original Vice City.

Much like the GTAIV "preview" that appeared on Weebls Stuff we posted about 2 months ago, Something Awful have written an equally amusing 'preview' of the game.

For those of you who haven't been on the Internet before, Something Awful is a comedy website with articles consisting of irreverent rants, usually with a satirical tone to them. Their GTA4 preview is no different, so have a sense of humour and laugh along. Some people complained about Weebls Stuff for posting inaccurate information, completely missing the point...

Link: GTA4 Preview @ Something Awful

Thanks to GTA-SanAndreas.com for the link.

IGN have recently interviewed Rockstar Leeds president Gordon Hall. The interview brings up a few more details we didn't know about, and IGN have also included 6 new screenshots.

• Graphical improvements over Liberty City Stories include higher poly-count models such as buildings, animated textures and more...
  
• A new system has been introduced for drawing objects in the distance.
  
• Jet ski racing will feature in both single and multiplayer modes.
  
• More than 100 songs will be featuring on the soundtrack
  
• The targeting system has been improved, especially when you're unarmed, "you can now perform grappling moves and throws, you can get on top of an opponent on the ground for ground domination, and more."
  

Links: IGN Interview, New Screens

UPDATE: UK retailers Play and Gameplay have now updated their product pages with the later release date of November 3rd. While GAME and Amazon.co.uk still say October 20th.

UPDATE 2: The official Spanish VCS site has been updated with the new release date for Spain, also, there's even worse news for Australians, as I've been looking at a few Aussie retailers and they're all stating November 10th as the release date.

Amazon.com have also updated, they're now listing the US release date as October 30th.

The delay is looking to be in effect worldwide now, as opposed to just Europe. Remember that since PSP's are region free, if you do want the game early then importing from America would be your best option.

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News is spreading that Vice City Stories has been delayed in some European countries. Firstly, German gaming site Gamefront.de are reporting that they have an updated release list provided by Take 2 which confirms the game will ship on November 3rd in Germany.

In addition to this, Take 2's Benelux department (for non-Europeans; Benelux comprises of three countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) has also posted news on it's Dutch and Belgian mirrors supposedly last week on August 30th, confirming a delayed release date of November 3rd for those 3 countries as well.

It is unclear whether any other European regions will be affected by delays. One possible reason that the games are always released later in Europe is because of all the extra language translations that are required.

R* have just launched the official website for Vice City Stories. It contains new info, screenshots, the first official trailer, wallpapers, new artwork, as well as some small video clips and audio in some of the pages.

Check out the Official Vice City Stories Website!

Jorge Pupo has been rumoured to be providing the voice of Alberto Robina in Vice City Stories. Alberto Robina was the father of Cuban gang leader Umberto Robina. Pupo is alleged to have this role after the IMDb updated their cast listing for the game. Another noteworthy point is that he did motion capture work for Vice City, and actually provided the voice for Gonzalez.

IMDb is certainly a very reliable source, though. Some sites portray IMDb as a wiki-style user editable website, however, any user submissions have to first be approved by a team of administrators at IMDb, so it's unlikely this would be a 'guess'. Although it could be a mistake, and he could be reprising his role of voice acting for Gonzalez again. We'll have to wait for some official confirmation on this before we speculate any further.

Source: IMDb

Thanks to Dmac_91 and Barnaby for the update.

UK retailer Play.com have updated their product listing for Vice City Stories with a new synopsis, a brief outline of the story leading up to the game's beginning.

Vice City, 1984. Opportunity abounds in a city emerging from the swamps, its growth fueled by the violent power struggle in a lucrative drugs trade. Construction is everywhere as a shining metropolis rises from foundations of crime and betrayal.

As a soldier, Vic Vance has always protected his dysfunctional family, his country, himself. One bad decision later and that job is about to get much harder. Kicked out onto the streets of a city torn between glamour and gluttony, Vic is faced with a stark choice - build an empire or be crushed.

In addition to this piece of news, Gamespot made a hugely embarrasing mistake by changing the release date of Vice City Stories to 2007. This was just on the US version of their site, but it still caused a lot of confusion. Rockstar would never push back a release date by an entire year, the thought of that is just absurd.

Of course the release date is still October 2006, there is no reason to worry about this changing. If it does then a week of two at the most, not a whole year.

The reason this came about was due to a statement in a press release by Take2 yesterday.

The Company's fourth quarter results will also be impacted by these factors, as well as the movement of a Rockstar PSP title based on a premier brand out of the fourth quarter.

As Vice City Stories is talked about previously in the statement, it is obvious that here they are talking a completely different title.

Thanks to Neil for the synopsis info