| Grand Theft Auto 4 Info English |
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Grand Theft Auto 4 Grand Theft Auto IV (also known as GTA IV or GTA 4) will be the eleventh game, and first in the fourth generation, of the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, announced for release by Rockstar Games within February–April of 2008 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[1] The game is set in a redesigned Liberty City, based heavily on New York City. GTA IV runs on the RAGE game engine, which also powered Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis.[2] The game is being written by Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser. It will include online play, but will not be an MMOG. Development According to Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey, a financial consultant for Take-Two Interactive Software, around 150 game developers are working on Grand Theft Auto IV. He also remarked that Rockstar Games is "fully capable of ushering in an entertainment experience categorically superior to the prior cycle’s GTA product".[3] Rockstar Games initially appeared to be committed to the 16 October 2007 release date. However, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter suggested that Take-Two may choose to delay the release of GTA IV in order to boost its financial results for 2008 and to avoid competing with the release of another highly anticipated title, Halo 3.[4] Rockstar responded by saying that GTA IV was still on track for release in "late October".[5] On 2 August 2007, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would miss its original release date of 16 October 2007 after all, and would be pushed back to their fiscal second quarter (February - April) of 2008. Their stated reason for the date change was "...due to additional development time required to complete the title."[1] In a later conference call with investors, Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick attributed the delay to "almost strictly technological problems... not problems, but challenges."[6] According to a Rockstar spokesperson, development originally began on the Xbox 360 because earlier development access was available, but it has also been stressed that "there is no target console" and both versions will be technically very similar. Promotion The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV was released on 29 March 2007 at 22:00 UTC. At the time the trailer was released, Rockstar's servers for the trailer's official website became almost immediately overloaded.[8] The trailer is 1:03 in length and features the main protagonist Niko Bellic, who has a brief monologue: "Life is complicated; I killed people, smuggled people, sold people. Perhaps here, things will be different." The trailer features several New York City landmarks, including locations and structures resembling the Coney Island Cyclone, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the MetLife Building (branded as "GetaLife"). The trailer uses a similar cinematic style to Godfrey Reggio's 1982 documentary film Koyaanisqatsi and used Philip Glass's original music from the film (the opening and closing stanzas of the track "Pruit-Igoe") as well as emulated time-lapsed filming from "The Grid".[9] Rockstar has stated that all the trailer's footage is in high-definition 720p, generated real-time by the game's RAGE engine, running on "a next-gen gaming console". Microsoft stated this console was an Xbox 360.[10][11] Trailer 2: "Looking For That Special Someone" Trailer 3 WKTT Talk Radio Titles in the GTA series have traditionally been heavily mission based (fixed missions must be completed to progress through each game), but the freedom to explore and play outside of the set missions in GTA IV will now be more relevant to progress through the game, according to comments by a Rockstar spokesperson: "We're really trying to blur the line between on-[mission] and off-mission. So storyline, and what you do outside [it], and how those two things influence each other."[7] An Xbox 360 demo of Grand Theft Auto IV published in the May 2007 issue of Game Informer reveals that the storyline begins with Bellic standing inside the taxi depot (which Roman operates in the borough of Broker in a converted industrial garage), working at a cluttered desk in a shabby environment. Bellic walks to a brownstone house in Broker, where he pushes open the door and pulls out his pistol—the living room, however, is not occupied. He pushes his way through the back door and smashes the window of a red four-door car using his elbow. The broken glass falls onto the street and the seat of the car, as Bellic unlocks it from the inside. He hot-wires the car and sets off to his next destination. The camera angle behind the car is closer to the vehicle than in previous GTA titles, which enables more detail on the car to be seen. After selecting a radio station, Bellic navigates to a section of the BOABO arriving at a dockside. Pigeons can be heard in the sky, and waves can be heard. Bellic then pulls out his phone, which has options for phone book, messages, organiser and camera on its LCD screen. He selects phone book, and he is then presented with another set of options: City Contact, Docks Friend, and Cab Contact. After a brief conversation, he informs the receiver to meet him at the docks. The Liberty City in GTA IV is based on New York, though there's no version of Staten Island in the game. The borough of Broker is based on Brooklyn, Dukes is based on Queens, Bohan is based on the Bronx, Algonquin is based on Manhattan, and Alderney is based on New Jersey.[14] Synopsis GTA IV takes place in a redesigned Liberty City. Comprised of five boroughs based on four of the boroughs of New York City (Staten Island is not included), as well as parts of New Jersey. Broker is the GTA IV equivalent of Brooklyn, Manhattan is now called Algonquin (a play on the fact that 'Manhattan' was also the name of a Native American tribe), Queens is now Dukes, the Bronx is Bohan, and New Jersey is Alderney (after the Channel Island of the same name). The total area of the map is smaller than Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but the new rendition of Liberty City will be more detailed, and larger than any previous individual city in the GTA series. Additionally, according to the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine (UK edition), "to get from one side of the new and improved Liberty City to the other will take you at least an hour." Rockstar has stated that it's the biggest single city in a GTA game yet, and although smaller than San Andreas, it is comparable to it in terms of scope when "the level of verticality of the city, the number of buildings you can go into, and the level of detail in those buildings" are taken into account.[7] Furthermore, developers are still deciding whether bridges will be used to cordon off certain areas, by way of blocking access to cross them.[1] However, eventually the player will be able to lead Niko Bellic to explore Roosevelt Island and cross the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges. The GTA IV equivalent of the Statue of Liberty is called the "Statue of Happiness", Times Square is called "Star Junction" and DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is known as "BOABO" (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass). Another building called "Twitchins", the GTA version of Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Factory, is in the game. Dan Houser has also confirmed that an area resembling Central Park will be in the game. A Staten Island-esque area will not be featured in the game for the reason that Rockstar believes it would not be fun to play there; Dan Houser also states that there would not be any "dead spots" or "irrelevant space" within Liberty City such as the wide open deserts in San Andreas. Pedestrians are much more intelligent, realistic and diverse, using mobile phones, cash machines, eating snacks, drinking soda, reading newspapers, scratching their nose, coughing and interacting with each other through laughter and threatening remarks. Homeless people will be seen in alleyways rubbing their hands over a flaming barrel, sitting against walls, asking for spare change and other expected actions.[citation needed] Pedestrians and traffic flow will also be different depending on the time of day. It has been announced that some meetings in the game will take place high in the office buildings of skyscrapers which will subsequently allow Niko to throw people off the buildings. However, Niko will not be able to access all the buildings in the game. Characters Plot Niko Bellic is Eastern European, in his mid-thirties and has come to Liberty City to pursue the "American Dream". Niko was persuaded to move to Liberty City by his cousin Roman, who claimed in multiple e-mails to Niko that he was living a fabulous life, with two women, four hot tubs and fifteen sports cars; but he was in fact telling lies to hide his own failures, and in fact, has set up a small taxi business, for which he has plans of a job for Niko. Roman is the only person Niko knows in Liberty City to begin with, and is one of his major connections in the first part of the game. Niko is a tough character, whereas Roman is friendly. Roman is heavily in debt and a lot of people are after him. He desperately needs Niko's support, hence the reason he deceived Niko into travelling to Liberty City. They are constantly bickering. It is later revealed that Niko has also been avoiding other, as yet undisclosed, problems at home. According to Dan Houser, "virtually none of the characters from the previous games are returning, as a lot of them are dead anyway".[16] Differences from previous Grand Theft Auto games
Multiplayer Episodic content During Microsoft's 2006 E3 press conference on 9 May, it was announced that Grand Theft Auto IV would be available for the Xbox 360 and that Rockstar Games will offer exclusive episodic content via Xbox Live for the Xbox 360 version. This had been confirmed by Rockstar, announcing two extra, exclusive, episodes.[26] On 28 February 2007 it was announced that exclusive episodic content will be introduced starting in 2008.[27] Peter Moore, the then head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division announced that Rockstar Games is working on two GTA IV downloadable packs exclusively for the Xbox 360, which will be released after the full game. Moore described downloadable content as "epic episode packs", and not just extra cars or characters. A press release during the conference said that the packs would add "hours of entirely new gameplay" to the game.[28] The official Xbox website states that these episodes will last a minimum of 10 hours.[29] Details on the pricing of these downloads have not yet been revealed, though it would almost certainly not be released for free, as Take-Two Interactive's former CEO, Paul Eibeler, have said numerous times that these downloads would provide "additional revenue streams" to the company. As part of a conference call following the release of Take-Two Interactive's Second Quarter Fiscal 2007 financial results, the company's Chief Financial Officer, Lainie Goldstein revealed that Microsoft was paying a total of US$50 Million for exclusivity of this content split equally between the two packs.[30] The payments can be found referenced in the company's Second Quarter Fiscal 2007 financial results as "Deferred revenue". Soundtrack Philip Glass, the composer of the music used in the original trailer, is rumoured to be involved in the production of GTA IV's soundtrack. The soundtrack was described as "modern and suits the mood perfectly". Glass' "Pruit-Igoe" theme from Koyaanisqatsi was used for the teaser trailer. Dan Houser has said that Rockstar is "certainly evolving the way the radio works". According to Official Xbox Magazine, one of the radio stations includes an "Eastern European-sounding" dancing theme. Other music announced as a placeholder for the press includes Russian and East Coast hip hop.[31] The range of music in GTA IV will span different decades and genres, the first confirmed track shown to the media was "Sorrow Tears and Blood" by Fela Kuti.[7] Ruslana, a Ukrainian singer, will also provide some songs for the soundtrack.[32] Various media outlets have reported on the quality of GTA IV's advanced sound engine. One describes the realism of the traffic noise on the streets, noting the "varying volume and intensity of car horns and the constant hum of traffic", as well as "the frequent deafening rattle of trains hurtling through the subway."[7] As part of GTA IV's new physics, the player will be able to hear and feel the bass of vehicles passing by with their radio turned on. GTA IV Special Edition GTA IV: Special Edition was announced[33] on 21 May 2007 for both PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. It features a customised metal safe deposit box that will contain the following:
Limited pre-orders for the special edition of GTA IV were available from 21 May and will retail for the price of USD $89.99 in North America, €89,99 in Europe, AUS $149.95 in Australia,[34] £69.99 for the UK.[35]and €75 in the Republic of Ireland Controversy Florida lawyer Jack Thompson (who has repeatedly spoken out against violence in video games) stated he would take various measures to prevent the sale of the game by Rockstar to minors.[36] On 16 March 2007, Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, filed a lawsuit[37] against Thompson in Florida in attempt to block him from trying to declare its games a public nuisance. It would be a crime to sell games declared to be a public nuisance, effectively banning such games, which they believe would be a violation of First Amendment rights.[38] Thompson responded by filing a countersuit[39], accusing Take-Two of violating federal RICO statutes (the charge was later dropped), committing perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiring against him with third parties to deprive him of his civil rights.[40][41] On 20 April 2007, both parties reached a settlement[42] and agreed to drop their respective lawsuits. Under the terms of the settlement Thompson is barred from suing to block the sale or distribution of any future games published by Take-Two or any of its subsidiaries. He will be restricted to communicating through Take-Two's attorneys on any future matters. Thompson will still be able to maintain his outspoken stance against the publisher's titles, as well as still being allowed to act as counsel in lawsuits brought against Take-Two by other parties. For their part, Take-Two agreed to drop its contempt of court lawsuit against Thompson regarding alleged improper conduct during the Bully court hearings in Florida,[43][44] which, if found to be in contempt, would have resulted in Thompson seeing jail time.[45][46][47] On 18 September 2007, Jack Thompson filed a document[48] with a federal court in Florida that claims that the assassination target of a mission in GTA IV is a lawyer character based upon himself. When the main protagonist enters his office and pulls a gun on him, the lawyer yells "Guns don't kill people! Video games do!" . Thompson has threatened that unless the similarities to himself are removed from the game he will "take necessary and proper means to stop release of the game."[49] New York City officials External Links
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