Yesterday, Rockstar’s magnum opus Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 finally hit store shelves. Perhaps you’ve heard a thing or two about it.

It’s been the darling of critics, receiving more than a number of "perfect" scores almost across the board. Given that the game is supposed to be good or something, we figured "What the hell?", and decided to try the game for ourselves. With the taste of the Grand Theft Auto IV hype still in our mouths, we’ve been spending more than a little time with the game. 

Out of the ashes of a heated internal Destructoid email thread comes "The Morning After," a round-up of our first impressions with what appears to already be a shoo-in for 2008 "Game of the Year." What do we love? What do we hate? What could we possibly warm up to?

Hit the jump to find out.

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Following MTV Multiplayer’s exclusive, KOEI has officially announced today that it will be bringing Fatal Inertia EX to the PlayStation 3 next month. A revamp of the retail title Fatal Inertia that was released on the Xbox 360 last year, the title will be available exclusively on the PlayStation Network and will cost $29.99. 

New to the PS3 title will be a new environment, the "Fatal Inertia Proving Grounds," which acts as the game’s training environment and will house eight new tracks. Additionally, KOEI have tweaked the flight model for improved handling and even faster speeds than seen on the Xbox 360. The DualShock 3 along with SIXAXIS support has also been added as an optional control method.

The Xbox 360 title received average to abysmal reviews, garnering a truly fatal "1.9" user rating on Metacritic out of 10 reviews. Fatal Inertia EX’s lead designer, Mike Bond thinks they’ve made enough substantial improvements to the game to make it worth PS3 gamer’s while.

"Gamers will be amazed by all the improvements we’ve made," he says, "Fatal Inertia EX is a faster, more visually-captivating experience packed with new content not found in the original."

Well I certainly hope so. I’ve never played the game myself, but a "1.9" user rating?

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Grand Theft Auto IV is many things, but one thing it is not is THQ’s Saints Row. But maybe someone should tell Canadian retailer Future Shop (owned by Best Buy Corporation), who clearly doesn’t seem to know the difference. 

Destructoid community member Zero Iscariot sends us this photo of a poster used to promote a GTA IV midnight launch at a Future Shop in Hamilton, Ontario. So what’s wrong with this picture? While it was clearly designed to mirror the style of the classic GTA cover art, all of the images are art and screenshots from Saints Row. Whoops!

Surely the folks at Rockstar — who I’m sure would care to distance themselves as far away from THQ’s game as possible — must have goons on speed dial to take care of problems like these.

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Sony has revealed the first details on the forthcoming expansion, PixelJunk Monsters Encore, and as far as I’m concerned, it might as well be an entirely new game.

The expansion adds one new island to the game, Toki Island, which will offer up 15 new levels, and five new musical tracks by Canadian musician, Otograph. Additionally, a few tweaks have been made that will only make sense to those who have played the original; the Ice Tower is now a stock item, and the cost of the Tesla Tower has been reduced.

The expansion is set for a May release, but no pricing has been announced. Deb Mars has nice interview with Q Games’ Dylan Cuthbert which you can read on the PlayStation Blog, which I have to say is better than the interview I conducted a few months ago. She a Senior Producer at SCEA, and I’m just the dude who plays PixelJunk Monsters in his underwear. What do you want from me?

I’ve been pretty much head over heels for PixelJunk Monsters since its release earlier this year, but I have to admit it’s been awhile since I’ve played. I’m thinking Encore is going to reinvigorate my interest. Who’s with me?

 

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Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

The collection of folks waiting hungrily for their copies of Grand Theft Auto IV in Huntington, W.Va.’s lovely Pullman Square was … unique, to put it kindly. Here are a few of our favorite tidbits from the line.

“Well, you know Jack Thompson or whatever the f*** his name is, he’s already on the warpath. He said that everyone who sells the game should go to jail and that it’s the biggest threat to kids since polio. … Back, you know, when polio was a problem.”
-Some really loud dude in line

“Spish.”
-A water balloon cast from a passing truck, which landed just inches from our feet

“It’s really too cold for shorts out here, but it’s OK because I have a really nice drunk going.”
-Justin McElroy

“What are you guys all in line for?”
-A cute girl in a passing car
*utter silence*
-The line

But enough of our recollections! Did any of you have any midnight adventures?

Continue reading Overheard @ the line for Grand Theft Auto IV

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Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure

Instead of trying to do separate posts on all the mainstream media talk surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV’s launch — some good, some not — we’ve decided to compile a list of the articles we found on the interwebs (with help from Game Politics):

• Rockstar North President Leslie Benzies said critics of the game are “the same kind of people who complained about Elvis.” (Scotsman.com)
• The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) said the portrayal of protagonist Niko as a thug “plays on untrue stereotypes.” (MCVUK)
• Grand Theft Childhood co-author Lawrence Kutner: “For most kids and most parents, the bottom-line results of our research can be summed up in a single word: Relax.” (Seattle P-I)
• Youth-gang crime exper Michael Chettleburgh called the controversy overhyped by the media. Video games are “just not a primary driver of why kids join gangs.” (Metro)
• Lawton, OK Police Chief Ronnie Smith: “Most of the young people who play these games … they’re smart enough to know they’re only games.” (KWSO)
• Timothy Plan, a “morally responsible” mutual fund, sent out a press release explaining why it won’t invest in publisher Take-Two. (Hint: It has to do with violence and boy-kissing.)
• You-Know-Who is doing his thing.

Feel free to include mainstream media chatter you’ve found, positive or negative, in the comments below.

Continue reading Mainstream media chatter about Grand Theft Auto IV

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Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

Just to quiet the fanboys (or rile them up), GameVideos has put together a comparison video between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Grand Theft Auto IV. You can find it after the break. To be honest, we really don’t see a difference, but we’re sure that won’t stop someone from mentioning how multi-bump aliasing is totally missing from one version of the game. Normally, we’d have a witty closer here, but we’re working on a severe sleep deficit at the moment. Now, back to Liberty City!

Continue reading GTA IV comparison video between Xbox 360, PS3

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

Numerous reports of a game-freezing bug in the PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV have been appearing on websites and forum threads today. (Anecdotal evidence suggests that only 60GB units have been affected.) While Rockstar has yet to release an official statement addressing the potential defect, at least one PlayStation.com Forums poster has reported a successful fix:

“I had this same [lockup] problem so I called Rockstar. The lady on the phone told me to erase the game data (the original install and the game saves) and then start over. I did what she told me to do and the freezing problem went away.”

Anyone reading experience this problem? Any luck fixing it?

Update: There are also reports that the Xbox 360 version is locking up, though we have yet to find a conclusive source (e.g., forum thread) — or any suggestions for a fix (no game data to delete!). Any leads?

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Continue reading GTA IV freezing up; PS3 fix suggests deleting data, starting over [update]

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: Nintendo DS, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure

Though it’s been officially announced for a Holiday 2008 release, Ubisoft’s next and “next-gen” Prince of Persia hasn’t been glimpsed outside of some leaked concept art (seen above). Of course, that’s not a situation the internet can tolerate for very long, with alleged magazine scans of the royal wall runner already popping up on several sites. New information and images, reportedly emerging from the pages of French mag, Joypad, reveal the cel-shaded prince leaping through several stunning environments.

A loose (and unconfirmed) French translation from the NeoGAF forum indicate that our acrobatic pal has gone and done something regrettable again — this time he’s let an evil god out of its box and needs to restore the corrupted world (a la Okami) bit by bit. Quick, rewind the time! Oh, wait, that’s supposedly not in the game anymore. Instead, it seems the Ubisoft Montreal team has started anew, with more open levels (”multiple paths can be taken”), a greater reliance on the environment (”Prince can slide along any walls using his glove”) and fewer, more memorable bosses “inspired by” Metal Gear Solid. It’s not specified whether you’ll have to change wireless controller channels to defeat any of them.

Read — NeoGAF translation (the forum is currently down)
Read — Prince of Persia screens

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: Features, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure

The PlayStation 3 has forced us to become accustomed to having to endure lengthy installations prior to being able to sit down and play a game, a fact made all the more aggravating for Grand Theft Auto IV, both because of the already overflowing anticipation as well as the aftertaste of having been up for multiple hours elbow to elbow with fellow players waiting for the opportunity to play the game.

But there’s little use in complaining at this point, so I took the opportunity to make me some tea and a sandwich as I prepared for what was to be a memorable evening that would mark my first visit to Liberty City … ever.
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Continue reading Grand Theft Auto IV impressions: A stranger in Liberty City

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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