GTA 4 details galore and scans from Game Informer |
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Barely a week ago, we mentioned that the magazine GameInformer will soon be putting out some new information about the much-awaited installment to the Grand Theft Auto series of games from Rockstar. Well, true to their word, they did put out a hefty amount of details about the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 4, and through the glory of the internet (and axxelkill_U of the GameSwank forums who put these images up), scans of the said report are now circulating and have finally made it to us.The report basically involved GI's take on the demo of GTA 4 that was provided to them by Dan Houser, the vice president of creative for this video game (the demo was played on an Xbox 360 debug unit, by the way). On top of that, Houser also provided his own input and views on certain aspects of the game, and most importantly, he also confirmed details and answered some questions that many fans have been asking for the longest time.
So, on with the show!
On release dates and other game details
According to Houser, GTA 4 will be released by October 16 this year for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. He mentioned that both versions will be identical, except for one glaring thing: downloadable "episodic" content will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 version. One other thing that he mentioned was that even though the game is meant to be a single-player experience, it WILL have multiplayer support. He gave no further details about this last bit... except maybe that it will NOT be similar to an MMORPG (sorry, folks).
As for the physics of the game, GameInformer seems pretty impressed by it, while Houser promises that "the physics are going to be pretty amazing". After all, the title makes use of RAGE, or the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, which we last saw in action in another Rockstar title, Table Tennis. In fact, all vehicles in the game will also feature new physics - even the camera angle of the car has changed - to allow players to "see more of the verticality of the city".
No details are released about the game's targeting system though, so we'll have to wait for that.
The (Anti)Hero
The star of GTA 4 is now officially known as Niko Bellic, an Eastern European immigrant who traveled to Liberty City in search of greener pastures and the American Dream. Well, that and the fact that his cousin Roman promised him a life in luxury. Imagine Niko's plight when he found out that his cousin has lied to him and was actually heavily in debt. So what do you do when you've crossed the continent, landed in a huge city, missed out on the luxury you were promised, and the only person you know in a strange, new country is your buffoon of a cousin who got you in trouble in the first place?
The Storytelling Aspect
As all GTA players know, GTA changed the face of gaming by introducing the non-linear and free-roaming mode of play. According to Houser though, they're aiming to take this to even loftier heights as they intend to give players a full experience of the city and environment that they created. Of course, the story remains a huge focus despite the level of freedom that is granted to the player. But besides being given an even bigger city for players to explore and interact with, the players will also have choices on how the story will unravel itself. According to Houser,
The story is told in a number of different ways. But we've tried to replicate as many ways as possible that you engage with people ... we tried to provide certain choices about the missions. we've tried to give branches that maybe give you a critical choice, new ways of interacting with characters and new ways of interacting with the world. It's a different kind of experience.
Why New York?
GTA 4 has already received a lot of flak for supposedly depicting New York City as a hive of crime and violence, but according to Houser, they modeled the new Liberty City after New York for a completely different reason. As he told GameInformer, they were actually "trying to capture that Capital of the World aspect of New York. There are many non-American characters in the game". Also, even though the new Liberty City is completely lifted from NYC, Houser goes on to explain that,
It isn't Grand Theft Auto merging with the real world. New York City doesn't exist in this universe, and it likely never will. The Big Apple is simply being used as an inspirational blueprint for the re-creation of Liberty City ... while the original Liberty City took many visual cues from New York City, this dramatic reinvention of the fictional metropolis seeks to capture the feel of the world's greatest city like never before.
Among those "visual cues" that he mentioned would be the likes of several New York landmarks such as the MetLife building which in Liberty City is known as GetaLife. Then there's the Statue of Liberty which has been transformed to the Statue of Happiness. On top of the metropolis itself, they have also included 4 of the 5 boroughs around New York, and even a section of New Jersey.
Legacy of violence, no more?
Lastly, for those who feel that the GTA series merely gives the impression to the, well, impressionable that stealing, running people over, beating people in the street, and hanging out with the mafiosi is cool, then think again, as Houser makes it clear that they are not out to do that. He states,
From conversations we had with a lot of crime experts and ex-policemen, we learned that it's very hard to be a criminal nowadays. The glory days of that stuff is over. That was something that we definitely tried to capture in the story and the experience of the game. People are constantly getting arrested. The police are a heavy presence.
So, will that be enough to satisfy the anti-GTA protesters out there? I guess we'll see once October comes.
16 Jumps Heavy Rain US box art revealed
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Comments [refresh]
1st post wooo!
this is too old, qj is always late
the maincharacter looks like a big piece of *****, lawl.
Why does the xbox 360 get the better deal. The game should take advantage of the PS3. The PS3 can do much mopre than the Xbox 360.
The graphics in those scans look better than what i saw in the teaser trailer. Sweet.
legacy of violence, no more?
Lastly, for those who feel that the GTA series merely gives the impression to the, well, impressionable that stealing, running people over, beating people in the street, and hanging out with the mafiosi is cool, then think again, as Houser makes it clear that they are not out to do that. He states
Well maybe he means that you will get arrested more for doing small stuff like in the real world.
but who said the PS3 version wouldn't already have it on the disc?
I cannot believe that yet another game developer is showing his weakness be not taking the time nor effort to optimize for PS3. And what is this about no episodic content for PS3? Is Microsoft bribing these game companies? I mean come on, every single game that has been on both 360 and PS3 has either had identical, or worse graphics on the PS3. But, through tech demos and through games like Resistance, and a few others, we know that the PS3 is capable of so much more.
As long as Epic Games does take advantage of the PS3 as they say they are, I will be happy with my purchase, but seriously, a few superior games wouldn't hurt.
(It really does seem like Microsoft is bribing multi-console game developers to make it better on the 360.)
it bothers me that 360 gets DLC (downloadable content) and PS3 doesnt. the ps3 is capable of DLC why be *****s and only give it to 360. i dont even own a ps3 and i think this is unfair.
We'll obviously it cant.SELF OWNED!
oh man i wanted way way way more
i wanted to blow up a building or sumthing man that mad wack
in the future, so do not panic! Rockstar is waiting to see how Home is shaping up!
I heard somewhere that GTA IV will have a huge amount of destructability another reason that they had to make the game in one city only = quality over quantity, I think this is a better the direction for rockstar to go in because having huge worlds will eventually get boaring.
why would 180 get exclusive content for this game anyway grand theft auto was carried by sonys playstations for years and now decide to give 180 special treatment, and now thanks to this breakup into multiplatform the game will never looked how it couldve looked real smart rockstar, I mean imagine GTA with killzone or Final Fantasy 13 graphics in realtime thanks to this DMC or GTA will never have that experience that it couldve but to bad there are many more games that will never see the light of day on the 180 because ps3 is to powerful DMC is probably the last as a matter o fact it is
Learn some grammar then we'll consider taking your comments seriously
shut your dumb ass up. you dont know what you talking about
TIME TO START A PETITION!!!!!
Seems to be the fad nowadays.
You're a bit of a dumb bastard. Use periods. The PS3 version will look no better than the 360, for one reason: They are roughly the same graphically. And no, GTA was not carried by Sony for four years. If you'll kindly take notice, it was multiplatform ever since 3. Not immediately, mind, but it sold on xbox and PC as well. Also, don't boast Killzone's (or FFXIII for that matter) graphics. No one has seen a gameplay video of it yet (unless you were at GDC a few months back), everything we've seen is pre rendered CGI. And stop calling it the 180. Is that supposed to be funny? That's fanboyism at its worst. And by the way, I bet you thought DMC was the sh*t and the best looking game evar(!!1!) before it was announced as multiplatform. Don't get pissed just because developers actually want their game to SELL, and being exclusive to the worst selling console this gen is not the way to sell a game.
I know you're pissed off because you wasted 600 dollars on a brick with two notable games, but that doesn't give you the right to talk out of your ass and spout nontruths.
I wonder what that racist piece of sh*t who kept going on and on about how the main character is Mexican has to say now.
I thought posting scans of magazines still on newsstands is illegal?
What are you, the magazine erm?............Police!!............Eh!
the cell is faster but really hard to code for
the ps3 has a slower gpu and less memory.
+ the 360 has a faster cd drive for better streaming performance
I am tyerd of you guys, My pc will ***** slap your ps3.
Calm down ladies... All the xbox trolls need to remember that 360 sucked for its first year too. So before you keep talking about no games, wait for PS3s one year anniversary and then revisit the subject
Very true. I got my 360 on launch with one game. PGR. (Im not counting my copy of perfect dark, that was a load of *****). And there wasnt another good game till the end of March. Ghost Recon. People just dont remember it being as bad because they were just happy that a next-gen console was out.
The same is happening with the PS3. It is taking a little longer than the 360. we have to wait till September it seems, but it will get back on its feet then.
*and just a side note, I really dont care to pay $10 for a couple extra levels every month, it should just be put in the game in the first place rather than milking money from consumers
how about burnout (even if it was a glorified port, the online mode is awesome), DOA4, fight night, and oblivion? i enjoyed all those much more than i did GRAW.. just my opinion tho.
I remember that guy you are talking about. Thats funny *****. Hopefully he will post here and we can all laugh at him together. Good memory QW.
So they have coded this game on the 360 then ported it to the ps3 OMG sucks to be a ps3 owner.
But the cell on ps3 has so much more power.
thats all good if they have 2 years to wasted on code lol
and what's the bet the ps3 gta4 gets push back 3 4 5 mths
If you think i,m just another fan boy NO.
face it you know this is the way it could play out :>
"you wasted 600 dollars on a brick with two notable games"
now thats "That's fanboyism at its worst"
Microsoft does just that by releasing DLC for them, so they don't have to do the work. They think that in the long run it will make their balls larger to release some exclusive DLC. Also it makes the 360 look superior even though a simple examination of the processors will show that the ps3 has far more might. M$ buys out bungie for example that way Halo can be an exclusive. It's ridiculous to think that they can buy their way to a better lineup of games. But to be fair, $ony really does need to get on the ball with more aggressive tactics. It would've made more sense for $ony to also release some DLC for the ps3 that way their balls too can be larger and they can make their console look superior.
They do need to put A LOT more attention on coding for the ps3 to optimize the power. The ps3 has the potential for graphics that FAR exceed the 360, like FF XIII, but most companies, as in all but square-enix, don't really care and just want to do what's easier by throwing together a shiny game using OLD technology, because it's good enough. I am a graphics whore, but still, I think everyone, minus the 360 fanboys (looking at you Mister Common Sense and Shatterdome), would like some decent dev love for the ps3.
Yea, I played on a 360 back in January 2006, when the only game he had for it was dead rising, and it was kind of fun to play a little bit, but eventually we tired of it because it just wasn't all that interesting. Later better games came out, and really just recently Gears of War took hold as the number one to beat, but the ps3 will have similar games in due time.
yummy yummy yummy i want cum in my tummy.
maybe you're always early
The only reason I give PS3 a hard time is for the one you mentioned....their games are no better, and often worse then 360....when PS3 is supposed to be "Twice as powerful"....
I'd love to see some crazy ass games that are twice as good as 360, fact is, Sony lied and the PS3 is no better, if not a worse gaming machine then 360.....sure, cell is a great number cruncher, but that is only 1/4 or less of the entire equation that is a games console....
Saying MS is bribing companies is just a far stretch for an excuse, as even Sony's 1st party games don't compare with anything on 360...and if it really was "twice as powerful" then they should be destroying 360 games...but they aren't...explain that to me please ?
Speaking of FFXIII. Most beautiful game I've ever seen.
i love this! it's funny how you people argue about videogame consoles,things that were made to entertain,heheh eheh.anyway...yall need to chill,be cool,processing power and disc speed count for jack,it's what comes up on your TV that matters yeah? what's the big deal,cant we all just get along?
me and my friend own different consoles,it doesnt bother us because we can both play rainbow six and oblivion,so uhh..it shouldnt really bother everyone that much
your comments are pretty correct. I much prefer the idea of quality over quanity, do we really want a huge arealike san andreas with nothing in it. No we do not.
I have the PS3 and Xbox 360, so I'm not a MS fanboy by this comment but I can tell you that the 360 is far superior in graphics. It is far superior in online play, and others.
The main thing I disagree with you on, is that the Playstation aint got any special treatment, infact my dumbass friend The xbox was offered exclusive access to GTA3 and above, infact sony was not even in the lineup. The reason Sony got GTA was because MS turned it down originally because they must have thought the violence, etc of GTA was not what they wanted. Now that the next gen is here, GTA can be coded simultaneously for both systems. MS is getting the exclusive content because they were always Rockstar's favourite, and because they are paying for it.
So before you and all the other retard Sony fanboys dish out their opinions, consult the facts. As for me I'll get GTA on 360, the content for download is thge obvious choice.
And i'll also enjoy RFOM and many ps3 titles aswell.
if you realise that the PS3 was only released in November last year, and the Dev kits were released early 2006. And remember that GTA has been worked on for 3 years now, you'll realise because Sony (and im a ps3 owner) was sorta silly holding up their release, youd work out that they could only code for a 360.
As for the 360 it is gonna be a much better system to code a game on, and it also is graphically superior.
There is too many retards that read the Sony factsheet,
"Cell is the most powerful..."
That is utter bull*****, why dont you take a look at IBM's comments and facts, you'll realise that the PowerPC three core processor for the 360 is mnore powerful.
And yea I'm not biased to either you *****er, so get your facts right.
so what if they are late because they have to go and get the information from other places.. whereas other places information comes to them. QJ i find are very reliable, apart from the odd dead link but thats okay they fix them.
PC's will always be better than Consoles.. Ive got an 8800 GTX (BEST GFX CARD IN THE WORLD) dual core the lot PC WILL always be better than Consoles..
Yes, I did forget about Fight Night. That came out a little bit before GRAW. Sorry. That was a good game. Burnout wasnt that impressive for me, but I guess it depends on how much you love burnout.
Oblivion came after GRAW. That was a great game, I eventually got it for PC though because it had better graphics and load times on the PC version.
I just think people are being more harsh to the PS3 because there is something to compare it to. Unlike the 360 launch were there was nothing else to compare it with. So it didnt seem as bad.
I love both consoles and thats why I got both. I just cant wait for games that were actually made for the PS3 to come out. Lair, MGS4, FF13, Heavenly Sword.
Those will finally kick the PS3 into gear after its rough start. People still have to remember how hard it is to catch up from a year behind. Just like an F1 race, it takes time to catch up with the leader from the back of the pack. But eventually you get that opportunity to surpass him, that will be the moment that Sony has to think and figure out how to do it.
Honestly though, Im sick of arguing which is better. I believe they will be the same this entire generation. If you want a bunch of technical stuff get a PS3, if you want online games, get a 360
Or the best thing to do....get both, that way you can enjoy every great game that comes out in the next 5 years. MGS and Gears! thats the way to go
Forgetting about Oblivion? That came out in March 06 too
I own a Ps2 Ps2 Ps3 and a Xbox 360,
I now regret buying a ps3 at this time because there is nothing good on it and when the good games do start rearing there shiny head ps3 will be cheaper then the initial 1000Bux Australian i paid for it, anyway fact is fact we all no ps3 is more powerfully then 360, the cell blows the 360 3core architecture and the RSX GPU is better at everything except memory management that don't mean its usefull tho i could have the worlds most powerful PC but its ***** if the only thing that works on it is extreme pong, until they start utilizing the ps3 potential , well ,360 is by far a better console, its already been established for a long time there past the over heating and the disc scratching, the ring of death has been resolved .they are on the tidal wave at the moment and until ps3 is all matured im quite happy to ride that wave. all in all 360 is king,......for now.
First off Your the dumbass. IBM made both the Cell and the PowerPC Processor! and even the wii's processor.
IBM gave each processor its own power. Sony wanted a certain architecture and Microsoft wanted a certain thing as well.
It all comes down to the memory. Both consoles have 512mb of total ram. But there are differences in how it is used. On the 360, the ram is completely free to be used for either graphics or geometry processing. So you can use lets say 412 mb for graphics and 100mb for geometry and physics if you wanted to. But the 360 processor cannot do as many calculations per sec (every computer geek knows more cores equal more calculations).
The PS3's memory is divided to 256mb for geometry/physics and 256mb for graphics. So devs are limited if they want to concentrate on graphics more than physics. But the PS3 processor can do more calculations per second due to more cores.
So either console there is a trade-off on graphics.
360+more ram for graphics but less physics and geometry
PS3+More physics but less ram for graphics
Thats why 360 ports to the PS3 are having a hard time. If you noticed, 360 games havent had any spectacular physics in them because the Devs were using the ram for pretty graphics. So developers have been having a heck of a time getting 360 games that used alot of ram for graphics to run on less ram with the PS3. Thats why all the 360 ports look horrible.
But its Much easier to port PS3 games to the 360 since the 360 can be divided 256mb and 256mb if the devs wanted. as Long as there are not huge amounts of physics.
So in the end the processor power of the consoles doesnt matter for ***** because its all about the memory. All they do is spit out Polygons in a timely fashion and if you noticed, the framerate on PS3 games tend to be smoother. Oblivion, Gran Turismo HD, because the extra cores in the cell allow for much more calculations at a time, thus the polygons get pushed out much faster, which equals faster frame rates. (remember polygons are not related to graphics entirely) But to the physical things shown on the screen.
Sorry guy's i meant to say i own a ps1 ps1 ps3 and a xbox 360
**Sorry BOut that Mr.QJ**
BaaaaaZinggg
I still want to know why at my work (gamecrazy) there are currently 5 360s in the back waiting to be returned to microsoft and 0 PS3s. In fact the entire time since PS3 came out, I have only seen about 3 or 4 PS3s returned to us. yet I see a broken 360 every other day? and I see the ring of death about every hour from parents and their kids haha
I myself am on my 3rd 360. I have no clue why they constantly break. I have them on the middle of hardwood flooring. I have never smacked them or anything, yet they keep breaking on me. But my PS3 is still going strong and my launch PS2. Maybe I just get lucky with sony products, but there is a heck of alot of problems with broken 360s.
I guess thats what we get from a company who's Operating systems break constantly as well.
ppl u gotta check this thing out...itz to SIKK....http://z4.invisionfree.com/LankanCore/index.php?showtopic+47
except no one programs games for your specific computer, so they have to dull them down so they run on everyon elses
I love reading through all the comments that involve anything about any system because everyone's like "ps3 fanboy" "no your a 360 fanboy" I personally think anyone who posts about 360's better or PS3's better is a fanboy themselves I do agree with DH wait a year or to untill game developers aren't rushing games out for Ps3 and start taking their time to make games to full capability for example compare the GTA3 to GTA:SA took them a while to unlocks the consoles real full power
PS:Fanboys say Fanboy
"twice as powerful" then they should be destroying 360 games...but they aren't...explain that to me please ?"
Theory 1: Lazy developers
Theory 2: Too early to judge - 360 got a 1 yr head start. To think that PS3 1st gen games are comparable to 360 2nd gen games should be admired rather than mocked.
I believe in theory 2 more than theory 1. Developers need more time to get used to the PS3's structure.
i remember when there was kameo and perfect dark and that was it for a long while it seemed to me so yes lets give ps3 some time lol can anyone rember how steller ps2 launch titles were and that system turned out ok:)
XBOX360 WAS REALEASED WITH A BUNCH OF GOOD GAMES. BUT PS3 WASN'T......HMMM
Is there anybody here that would like one?