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PlanetGTA Mailbag The latest mailbag discusses the GTA IV delay, music, gangs, PR tactics, HDTV buying and more!
GTA IV Trailer Two Breakdown Find out absolutely positively everything about the second GTA IV trailer. The GTA IV Trailer Two Breakdown is undoubtedly the most comprehensive shot-by-shot analysis of the trailer on the entire internet.
Friday, 21 September, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
The original GTA III poster with all of the characters from the game is one of my favorites. Go and buy one or more today!
Tuesday, 18 September, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
A Place In The Sun[ 5 Comments ] 11:32 PST | Jordan | Print NewsDue to the fact that the PR campaign for Grand Theft Auto IV has come to a halt due to the delay, I've decided to do a few side items, whether they be video, news or articles. So yeah, I am "creating news"...if you want to call it that. It's something or nothing, and I am opting to go with something. The first side item has to do with a discovery I made.
The actor was named Montgomery Clift. Go here for a good look at the real Claude. You could make something really cool for a forum signature with those two pictures above. Oh, and the movie is great too!
Monday, 17 September, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
From the Archives: Audio Interview with Sam Houser[ 3 Comments ] 11:38 PST | Adriaan | Print NewsIt might be nearly six years old (incidentally, conducted on my birthday) but this interview between the BBC and the founder of Rockstar Games from November 7, 2001 still is interesting to listen to. He responds to the criticism that their games, most importantly Grand Theft Auto, were getting even back then among other things.
"[The events of September 11th] certainly made me more conscious, absolutely. We edited various things out of the game (GTA III). For example, our cop cars were a similar color to NYPD - because we live here and we're proud of New York City. Suddenly that felt very inappropriate. Totally inappropriate. So we sort of changed some of the colors.
There's loads and loads of bits of audio that you haven't heard that got chopped out, because it was startlingly sort of poignant - given what had happened. Suddenly some of those jokes seemed a little less funny."
-Sam Houser
More interesting stuff are discussed as well, that I'd rather leave you to listen to yourself on the BBC's new audio and video service.
Jordan's Comments: Adriaan showed me this a few days ago and it was very interesting to say the least. An audio interview with Rockstar just doesn't happen anymore. PR strategies are drastically different for the company than they were in 2001. This is a phenomenal piece of history for Rockstar fans. Enjoy it.
Sunday, 16 September, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
GTA News Slow[ 3 Comments ] 22:24 PST | Jordan | Print NewsOver the past week or two, news on the GTA series has been scarce. As you can see on other fan sites, there has been nothing to report on. However, my staff and I are always searching for the latest news, so rest assured that you can stay here and find the latest and most in-depth GTA news coverage. Stay tuned over the coming weeks for several cool little features for this site only, too!
Saturday, 8 September, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
GTA IV For PlayStation 2?[ 18 Comments ] 7:33 PST | Jordan | Print NewsI receive at least one e-mail per day from people asking me if Grand Theft Auto IV will be released for the PlayStation 2 console. The clear answer is NO! It will never be released for lower quality previous generation consoles. If not for the hundreds of e-mails I have received, I would not be posting this. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are the only consoles that the game will be released for. A PC version has never been confirmed, though it might still happen. Nothing is definite when it comes to the possibility of a version for Windows.
Friday, 7 September, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
New GTA IV Details Emerge from GamePro[ 3 Comments ] 10:37 PST | Adriaan | Print NewsIt's been a while since any new credible GTA IV details. Today was the first day in a while to provide us with something to keep the excitement level up. The US edition of GamePro, containing a new artwork of Niko on the cover, provided a few minor details...
Billboards spotted included "Shark Credit Cards," "Pirate Music," and another advertising the mobile phone Niko uses in a recent demo, "The Whiz".
The HUD is described as "minimalist to its core"; there is a mini-map and a "low-key" cash counter. Previously we've read that the mini map on the bottom of the screen has a health meter as a ring around it.
Once again it's reported that Ammu-Nation is non-existent in GTA IV, however, this does not rule out stores from where you can buy weapons and ammunition just yet.
A woman was spotted yelling "This s*** is bananas" from her car. Mm... where did we hear that before...
A fare meter pops up when entering a cab, of course, measuring your millage and what you owe the driver.
The magazine confirms that the Sanchez and PCJ motorcycles are both returning.
Clothing in the game is described as "customizable and realistic".
The cover system borrows elements of Gears of War and Rainbow Six: Las Vegas. The aiming is similar to that of Resident Evil 4, over the shoulder style. (As someone who played both GOW and RS:Las Vegas, I presume that you can "stick" your body against walls, vehicles and all sorts of objects, and shoot from behind your cover, with the possibility of only sticking out your weapon.)
In other news, Gameindustry.biz is reporting that a Melbourne-based band called "Airbourne" is to have their songs featured in the upcoming Tony Hawk game and Grand Theft Auto IV. Take-Two also announced today that they have sold off their Joytech video game accessories subsidiary as part of their 100-day plan.
Monday, 3 September, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
Upcoming Features[ Comment ] 23:48 PST | Jordan | Print NewsI am lining up a few features for this month, and one of them will be another mailbag. To submit your questions, send an e-mail over to jordan@planetgrandtheftauto.com and make sure to put "Mailbag" in the subject line. Ask about the GTA IV delay, past GTA titles, my personal life, whatever!
If you have other ideas for features, let me know.
Tuesday, 28 August, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
Hot Coffee Outcry Starter Returns[ 2 Comments ] 10:10 PST | Jordan | Print NewsThe man that started the whining about the "hot coffee" mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Senator Leland Yee, is back. This time, he is going after Rockstar Games once again and is wanting to know what changes were made to Manhunt 2 to warrant its recent change of ESRB rating from AO to M. The game was delayed a few months back when the AO rating was passed down and when both Sony and Nintendo refused to sell the game.
"Yee pointed out that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was originally rated M, was found to have 'graphic scenes featuring oral sex, nudity and simulated intercourse' hidden in its code, and that nearly half of all children aged 13 to 16 years 'can successfully purchase M-rated games."
First off, one of the things that he said was "hidden" was actually visible in the mission "Cleaning The Hood." Someone needs to have Lee pick up a game controller for the first time in his life. Also, if "nearly half of all children aged 13 to 16 years can 'successfully purchase M-rated games," then their parents are doing one of two things:
1. Not doing their job and instead being bad parents
or
2. Knowing what games that their kids are buying and not really caring...you know...since they are video games...and not real...
Leland Yee is just trying to get his image and his quotes in the news in such a manner so that he looks like someone that cares about this sort of an issue, but it's all bogus. However, the soccer moms will eat this story up, driving around with their political bumper stickers placed firmly on the back of their oversized mammoth vehicles.
Sunday, 26 August, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
Mailbag Nine Released[ 6 Comments ] 12:22 PST | Jordan | Print NewsIn the new mailbag, I answer questions regarding GTA IV as well as other games in the series. Topics discussed include music, the delay, memorable missions, high definition televisions, gangs and much more. I even got an e-mail from a foreign dignitary!
Thursday, 23 August, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
New GTA IV Contest: Subtitle Old Indian Films[ 15 Comments ] 15:20 PST | Jordan | Print NewsWe need some true comedy on this website. With news trickling in slow after the delay of GTA IV, everyone is in a down mood. Due to this, I have decided to start a contest. Your objective is to add English language subtitles to the clips that you can find on this website. Refresh the site multiple times for new clips to choose from.
Rules:
1. Bad grammar ruins good jokes. Capitalization, spelling & punctuation are absolutely critical to making your clip funny.
2. Enter jordan@planetgrandtheftauto.com under "Send your movies to your friends" unless you don't want me to know you made a film.
3. Put your name in the space provided so that, if you win, I will have a unique name to call you by.
4. Comedy is key. It must be funny.
5. Most important, it must have something to do with Grand Theft Auto IV!
Here is my sample movie:
You can act like the characters are Rockstar Games developers, in-game characters...whatever! Be creative. This contest doesn't have a deadline date yet. There is no prize other than having your name in the news.
Feel free to post a link to your movie in the comments of this forum post here.
Tuesday, 21 August, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
Mafia 2 Announced[ 15 Comments ] 8:22 PST | Adriaan | Print NewsWithin the past few minutes as of writing this article, Take-Two announced the sequel to the original Mafia title, Mafia 2. Why is this being posted on a Grand Theft Auto website? The game is like GTA in many ways, and I'm sure this will interest a lot of fans of sandbox-style / city-type games that read this website.
"Like the original Mafia title, Mafia 2 immerses players in the mob underworld of a fictitious late 1940's-early 1950's scenario. Players will easily become engaged in the game's cinematic Hollywood movie experience with strong, believable characters in a living, breathing city. By fusing high octane gunplay with white knuckle driving and an engaging narrative, Mafia 2 looks to be the industry's most compelling Mafia title to date."
Take-Two now has three "city games" launching within the next year or so: Grand Theft Auto IV, Mafia 2 and L.A. Noire - a game almost similar to the title announced today. Midnight Club: Los Angeles also takes place in a large city, but will most likely not be a "get-out-of-car" game.
Saturday, 18 August, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
Rockstar's Presence At Leipzig GC[ Comment ] 7:10 PST | Adriaan | Print NewsLate yesterday, Rockstar Games sent out a press release to various members of the media, including Kotaku, announcing their presence at this years GC Developers Conference (GCDC) in Leipzig, Germany - that takes place next week between August 20th to August 22nd (trade show 23rd to 26th). They'll be unveiling the latest installment of the Midnight Club series, Midnight Club: Los Angeles - as well as hands-on demonstrations of the Wii version of Table Tennis.
"Rockstar Games is happy to announce its attendance at the GC in Leipzig, Germany this August. Two upcoming titles will be on display at the conference, including the world-wide unveiling of Rockstar's newest installment of the Midnight Club franchise, Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Be among the very first in the world to see the game as live demonstrations happen throughout the day on the show floor. Also appearing at the show is the Wii version of Rockstar's award-winning title, Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, which will be available to the public in hands-on form."
While the release contains no information on Grand Theft Auto IV, the photo shown below hints to at least some sort of presence of the title. Last year, Rockstar Games handed out press packs with Vice City Stories screenshots, so chances are good we might see some well deserved new screens for GTA IV, in addition to upcoming magazine previews, that likely - as last year - will be demoed to the publications behind closed doors at the convention.
And what's that sign showing behind that wooden plank, GTA: Vice City 2? Nah, probably Midnight Club: Los Angeles as the palm trees suggest. The photo is from the official blog of the convention.
Jordan's Thoughts: I'm really excited to see Rockstar's next-gen vision of the city of Los Angeles. To me, it will be like seeing San Andreas, except with tons of graphical upgrades. DUB Edition was always a great game, and I know that this game will deliver the adrenaline rush we are used to with that series.
Wednesday, 15 August, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
Eight New Digital GTA IV Screenshots[ Comment ] 19:32 PST | Adriaan | Print NewsEight new digital screenshots for GTA IV came in today, which were found on a disk that accompanied Play Magazine. While all of them were seen prior in print, that were then scanned in and uploaded to the web, this is the first time we're seeing them in their digital form - at a resolution of 1024 x 576 - and is probably the best they're available yet.
We've uploaded them to our gallery as we received them, they do have a "Play" watermark and some of them have some sort of glitch across the image. We'll be updating our gallery once and if someone encoded the screens properly from the disk, or once Rockstar releases them in their original state.
We know it's been quiet lately as far as official news go, but you have to understand that the marketing team at Rockstar NYC essentially received news about the delay the same time we did, so it takes some time to adapt their campaign and release schedule of assets to the new release date, which currently still remains to be somewhere between February, March and April of next year.
Visit our official screenshots page for the latest batch of screenshots, or click here to start at the latest screen and work your way through via the "Next" button.
"The big surprise came when Sam [Houser] (President of Rockstar Games) said he wanted us to do GTA. The game had never been done outside of Rockstar North, and I remember a pause in the meeting when, for a second he thought we weren’t interested – we were so stunned he thought the silence meant we didn’t care. Of course: we did care!"
"GTA never did multiplayer on a console, and our team lives and dies on the calibre of our guys, and we realised that if we could get a prototype of multiple players in three months, then we could offer something fresh to the series. We really pushed that hard – and it didn’t work for some time, it was a struggle – but the minute we had a breakthrough, and half the studio is sat there playing the game’s ‘defend the base’ mode, enjoying the new idea we have brought to this amazing series, we knew we’d made it."
"We’re going to be branching out further into next-gen – we’ve done original work on an existing franchise, but now we want to work on new IPs, and are looking at what we can do on Xbox 360 and PS3 for original products. But to succeed on those formats you’ve got to put everything into it or step away – we’re already lucky to have a really committed team, so I think from that we will step up to become an established Rockstar studio known for original projects."
"One idea we are talking about that I can’t talk too much about is something we’ve discussed with Sam Houser a lot, and when we talk about the concept – which is just a postage stamp sized idea at the moment, it’s not in production yet – just makes us crack up laughing. It’s an idea that the New York team came up with and which then evolved as we discussed it with them; it’s a short development cycle, just 18 months, and it really excites me. But you know what we’re like – we don’t say anything concrete about a game until a few months before release, so that’s all I can say."
"[Rockstar North are] amazing guys - they got the code from GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas up and running on the PSP in just weeks. It’s phenomenal."
So let's go down the list of stuff to take away from those quotes:
1. Rockstar Leeds will be creating brand new and original games for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the future.
2. Some sort of wacky game idea is floating around in the heads at Rockstar Games that they are excited about, and we should learn more about it what it is within the next 18 months.
3. While it could be that Gordon Hall just decided to list San Andreas in his sentence for the heck of it, he apparently stated that Rockstar North got, at the very least, the San Andreas code up and running on the PlayStation Portable. However, they did not say they got the map up and running or anything like that.
Tuesday, 7 August, 2007 – Planet Grand Theft Auto News
$350 for PS3 or Xbox 360[ 4 Comments ] 16:15 PST | Jordan | Print NewsA big factor in the purchase of electronics is price, and you'll need to spend some cash to be able to play Grand Theft Auto IV when it releases for the PS3 and Xbox 360 early next year. Not only will the Microsoft drop its Xbox 360 price within the next few hours, but you also have the opportunity to get a brand new PlayStation 3 for $349.99. To get this price, you must order the PlayStation 3 at Sony.com and buy it with a Sony card that you must apply and be approved for. Once approved, you get a $150 credit to your Sony card account within 8-12 weeks, thus dropping the current 60GB PS3 price from the already, yet only temporary, dropped $500 price tag down to $350. For a full explanation of this, go here.
Also, as you may have heard, the Xbox 360 premium bundle will now be dropped to $350 beginning tomorrow, August 8. The elite bundle will now be $450. I do not recommend the core bundle. I own a premium system, and all has worked correctly with it for the past few months. There are hardware problems with many of the Xbox 360's that are currently out in homes across the world, but I'm confident in my warranty that Microsoft recently extended to three years.
Just as a note, I plan on buying a PlayStation 3 if Blu-ray ends up "winning" over HD DVD. Also, I have received many e-mails about what kind of HDTV would be good to buy. People seem to be unsure of what to look for. A lot of different aspects and specifications need to be looked at when buying a HDTV, and trusting in-store employees to get your information is usually not wise. I might do an article on HDTV buying tips in the future, but for now I will tell you that I bought this Samsung television for GTA IV and other entertainment purposes. Look for an article soon...maybe.
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