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

We’ve gotten reports from several of you that the Rockstar Social Club, the company’s online hub for leaderboards and stat tracking, is down for the count. Though we haven’t been able to access it, Rockstar PR tells us that the site was up earlier in the day. Apparently a few people have been trying to log on. We can’t imagine why.

This sounds like we’re all gonna need persistence or patience if we want to join the club today. Luckily, we imagine that several of you have a certain new game filled with certain new hookers to beat and certain new innocents to indiscriminately kill to help you pass the time.

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

After enduring quite a few long lines in preparation for the midnight launch, we finally got home to check out Grand Theft Auto IV in its final retail form. Here’s our impressions of the first 90 minutes of playtime:

First carjacking: I enter through the passenger door and punch the male passenger in the forehead, and then toss him out. I slide into the car and immediately punch the male driver, and push him out. I pull a u-turn into the parallel lane as the passenger pursues me on foot, yelling — oops! I broadside a cop car, but the cop only readjusts his car back onto the road and pulls ahead, stopping at a red light. I’m concerned — my first doubts clashing against the anticipation. I pull in behind, as the light turns green. I turn right and drive on. I check the rear view. Dude’s stopped chasing me. (Playtime: 00:14:00)

Continue reading Grand Theft Auto IV impressions: A fistful of firsts (Xbox 360)

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Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

Microsoft has dropped the price of its Xbox 360 in four Asian markets: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan (via Bloomberg). According to Microsoft executive Jeff Bell, price reductions in Europe caused sales of the hardware there to almost double.

Here are the price drops reported by region:

• Hong Kong: An 11 percent drop
• Singapore: A 20 percent drop to S$499 (US $366)
• South Korea: A 5.1 percent to 369,000 won (US $369)
• Taiwan: A 17 percent drop to NT$10,360 (US $340)

According to a Microsoft spokesperson in Taipei, the Hong Kong and Taiwan price drops will come today. The Singapore and South Korea price drop confirmations came from separate emails with no confirmation as to the effective date.

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Well, as we all know by now, Grand Theft Auto IV, arguably the biggest release of the year and a truly cultural event, was released today. You can hardly move online for discussion about this notorious sequel, but Destructoid would be wrong to ignore that discussion and simply not provide its views on the current-gen revitalization of Rockstar’s flagship.

For me, it wasn’t the so much the violent content of the game that proved the most controversial, but the actual gameplay mechanics themselves. Rockstar seems to have gone to a lot of effort to makes this new installment of the GTA franchise a very different, very new experience. Some of the changes were for the better, others not so much.

Hit the jump for our take on some of the biggest changes in Grand Theft Auto IV.

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I’d guess so, especially after seeing this new video on IGN. They recieved this teaser trailer from Ubisoft. The silly scene involves a Rabbid (from Rayman Raving Rabbids) and the Balance Board that will come packed in with WiiFit when its released on May 19th. The company isn’t commenting on what this video means, but I think it’s fairly obvious: the next Rayman Raving Rabbids title will use the WiiFit Balance Board in some fashion.  

While I’m not necessarily that interested in WiiFit, I do enjoy some casual gaming with Raving Rabbids. It will be interesting to see how they work this device into their game. And, if nothing else, it gives everyone that picked up WiiFit something else to use the Balance Board on. 

Do you see yourself picking up WiiFit and/or this new Raving Rabbids title? 

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

Given the nearly unquantifiable level of anticipation building up to the midnight unveiling of Rockstar’s opus, it seemed prudent to roll up to the local Broken Arrow, OK Gamestop well in advance of the game’s release. All of the preparation went for naught, however, as the store kept its doors open all night as enthusiasts congregated inside, joked in the secret language that only we nerds can appreciate, and not-so-quietly chatted about the game they would very soon be playing.

Continue reading Grand Line Auto: A diverse gathering (Broken Arrow edition)

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

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I don’t have much luck with midnight launches. Turns out the midnight launch at the Best Buy in Dedham, Massachusetts, was no exception. Signs that something was wrong were quite evident when I was driving through the parking lot and noticed the considerable lack of vehicles present. Standing outside the store was the manager, Howard, who had some bad news.

Continue reading Grand Line Auto: Almost failure to launch (Boston edition)

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

The brave souls who soldiered through the vast queue at the Gamestop in downtown Huntington, W. Va. were put through a rigorous gauntlet of trials and tribulations before being rewarded with Rockstar’s blockbuster shoot em’ up — including, but not limited to a freak, unseasonal cold front; a somewhat humorous (but unfortunately brief and unphotographed) drive-by water balloon strike; and alarming in-line discussions of bomb recipes and Sedan-mounted automatic weaponry.

However, the most disturbing sight seen at the launch is pictured above — a tragic crime scene, just a few feet away from the store’s registers. These two poor fellows were just mere moments from claiming their respective copies of the much anticipated title, leaving behind a puzzling forensic tableau. Hastily driving from the event with copies of Grand Theft Auto IV in hand, we were left with these pertinent questions:

• What kind of altercation could have lead to this unfortunate double homicide?
• What modifications were made to the pictured Nerf guns that imbued them with lethal force?
• What sort of Crime Scene Investigation squad leaves behind the murder weapons in such a public place?
• Most importantly, why did Gamestop remain open following this horrible act of violence?

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Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

Believe it or not, the police car in that photo actually belongs to an off-duty Anne Arundel County police officer looking to pick up a copy of the anticipated crime simulator for himself. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t active law enforcement involved with the Grand Theft Auto 4 launch festivities at this Laurel, MD Gamestop. Keep reading for more pictures and a full account of the line-waiting experience as GTA4-eve finally bled into GTA4-day.

Continue reading Grand Line Auto: Waiting for GTA IV (Baltimore suburbs edition)

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

Heading out to a midnight launch? Grand Theft Auto IV is just hours away from launch (on the East Coast, at least); if you need to catch up on all things Liberty City, hit up our primer for a retrospective on the series, a collation of all the games’ reviews (protip: they range from “awesome” to “so awesome”), and a listing of all the midnight launch locations which might prove useful tonight. Check it out.

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