Earlier today, Rockstar confirmed that the much-talked-about downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV would be released on February 17, 2009, exclusively for the Xbox 360. The DLC will be titled ‘The Lost and Damned’, and it won’t star Niko Bellic. Details follow.

The DLC will feature a new character named Johnny Klebitz, a member of the gang you’ll likely recognize called ‘The Lost’. Rockstar’s vice president of creative development, Dan Houser, had the following to say:

“Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background. I can’t go into too much detail on the story, because we try not to give away too much plot before the game is released. But I can say that the story will show you a different side of Liberty City.”

“The story is not directly impacted by decisions you took in the main game, but tons of details and mysteries from the main story get explained, so it will add a lot of color to the main story. We feel like we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of the depth and detail.”

As previously stated, the DLC is expected to hit Live on February 17th of next year. Analysts predict it will end up in the $15-$20 price range. I personally predict that I won’t buy it.

Source: USA Today

When I saw the headline “Grand Theft Auto Sex Beast is Caged,” I knew I had to report it. I mean, not only is it more sensationalist anti-video game bullshit, but there was a sex beast on the loose! Thank God he was caged!

Ryan Chinnery of Kent, England, was arrested in September for sexually assaulting four women. Yesterday, he was convicted for two of the attacks and sentenced to at least four years in youth custody.

So here’s the deal: this kid went out cruising for ladies of the night and, in a two month span, attacked four women in a sexual manner (that weren’t hookers at all). In the worst case, he grabbed a 42-year-old woman by the throat and they toppled down an embankment into a river, and she broke her arm in the process.

The kid was finally caught when police matched DNA found on one of the women to him. At first he claimed to be at home playing on his computer when the attacks happened, but he eventually broke down in tears and admitted.

The kid claimed to have played a lot of Grand Theft Auto, but nowhere in the article does he allude to mimicking the game or the game influencing his actions in any way. Still, the prosecutor was quoted as saying that GTA “may go some way to explaining his attitude towards women.”

Admittedly, you can do some pretty nasty things in the Grand Theft Auto games, including beating and killing hookers. This is obviously the connection that the prosecution is trying to draw, but I have another theory.

While it is true that you can abuse hookers in Grand Theft Auto, it’s a very small portion of the game. Now, the article doesn’t say which Grand Theft Auto Chinnery was a fan of, so I can’t say whether or not the feature was entirely optional. I can’t remember what – if any – mandatory missions included interactions with prostitutes. Still, from a gamer’s standpoint, hookers are far from the main draw of the Grand Theft Auto games. So why would Chinnery choose to emulate this aspect of the game?

Grand Theft Auto didn’t invent the concept of paying women for sex. In fact, prostitution has been called “the world’s oldest profession.” Nor did the video game series invent the concept of molestation. Molestation is a very real problem that happens on a daily basis.

What if Chinnery was a sexual predator before he even fired up a Grand Theft Auto game for the first time? If we’re to believe that his actions were indeed caused by GTA, wouldn’t he be shooting people and running over pedestrians with his car, two acts which are much more prevalent in the game than beating hookers? Or perhaps he was drawn to that aspect due to a pre-existing problem?

The Grand Theft Auto games are rated Mature for a reason. Immature, impressionable idiots like Ryan Chinnery shouldn’t have access to the games, especially if they aren’t mentally stable to begin with. I’m not claiming that Grand Theft Auto played no part in Chinnery’s decision – I’m saying that if it did, that part was simply pushing him over the edge, the same way a violent movie or maybe a porn flick would have. Yet you don’t see the film industry or the adult industry causing the same ruckus that the videogame industry has. In the end, this kid’s actions are a result of his sick and twisted mind and I am truly glad that he got what was coming to him.

The Sun: Arrested, Convicted

Oh, that idiot Soulja Boy is up to his shenanigans again.  After eloquently describing the brilliance of the Xbox Live Arcade game Braid, Soulja Boy is once again broadcasting his videogame superiority via his YouTube channel.  Highlights include “Fuck PlayStation 3… nobody play no goddamn PlayStation” and “You can get an ass-whoopin’ fo’ free on Xbox Live”. I especially like when he says you can tell his game is imported because of the “Japanese signals”.

Check out the full video for proof that evolution is flawed.

“Ya’ll know I do music, but let’s just forget about the music for right now.” Already did, Soulja Boy… already did.

So what do you think?  Is Soulja Boy just your average trash-talking douche that happens to be famous and uploads douchey videos of himself to YouTube, or is he an epic douche that wields a +1 camcorder of doucheness and mystical hat rotation?  I think you know my vote.

Milton, Ga. – Three teenagers arrested in connection to a string of car bombings professed to have learned to make Molotov cocktails playing Grand Theft Auto.

The teens, one 15-year-old and two 16-year-olds are to be charged with 57 felony counts that include possession of an explosive device, arson, and criminal damage to property.

Video surveillance shows the teenagers buying the materials for the Molotov cocktails which consisted of glass soda bottles, Coleman lantern fuel and some rags. A video that later led to their identification by high-school police officers.

After their apprehension by the Milton Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, the teenagers told authorities that they learned “how to do it” by playing Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto.

Police Chief Chris Lagerbloom told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the teens committed the crimes for fun. “They did it for the entertainment value,” he said.

Due to the nature of the crimes the teens would face federal prosecution – however, their age prevents them from being tried in federal court. None of the teens have any records of prior arrests before the fire bombings.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Milton Police Department classified GTA as ‘a computer game series that has been blamed for inciting juvenile crime sprees in the United States and globally, including murder and carjacking.’

“This case is another strong example of the serious ramifications that can come from letting impressionable teens play violent video games like this one,” Lagerbloom said to Doug Nurse of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We urge parents to pay particular attention to their children’s extracurricular activities and to intervene before it’s too late.”

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thailand just got an ally in its war on Grand Theft Auto: Jack Thompson.

A caricature of thriving in the face of adversity, besieged Florida lawyer and video game industry critic Thompson has given his two cents on the Thailand ban on GTA.

As reported by  GamePolitics.com, Thompson wrote in an e-mail to Take 2 heads Strauss Zelnick and Ben Feder stating:

“I warned you both that copycat killing by teens would occur upon the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. Now my prediction has come true…”

The killer, 19-year-old Polwat Chinno, was arrested after killing a cabbie with a knife, confessing that he did so to support himself. It is not known if Chinno owns a copy of GTA IV as Thompson suggests.

Thompson went on to make threats, writing:

“This is just the latest killing incident prompted by your murder simulators. I aim to make it the last.”

Source: GamePolitics

Here we go again. An 18 year old in Thailand confessed to the robbery and murder of a 54 year old taxi cab driver, claiming he was trying to recreate a scene from the Grand Theft Auto video game.

Distributors of the game in Thailand are now being instructed to remove the game from their shelves indefinitely it would seem. Sales and Marketing Director for New Era Interactive Media, Sakchai Chotikachinda, was quoted saying:

“We are sending out requests today to outlets and shops to pull the games off their shelves and we will replace them with other games … We are also urging video game arcades to pull the games from service …”

Police explained that the teen exhibited no signs of mental illness and openly took admitted to the crime citing the game as his motive. According to authorities, the boy stated that:

“He said he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game …”

He then added that it was not his intent to kill the man however he proceeded to do so once he started to fight back. Currently detained until his trial, if found guilty, the teenager faces death by lethal injection.

A Thailand Culture Ministry senior official stated that this latest act of violence should serve as a “wake-up-call”, urging that authorities crack down on video game violence.

Personally, I think that when the time comes, whoever injects him should whisper in his ear right before doing so — saying something like “I saw this in a movie once and I’ve been dying to try it out!”

Afterthought: What do you think? Is this just another case of a deranged teenager, or are games like GTA to blame?

Source: news.yahoo.com

I think that a LEGO GTA game would actually be pretty awesome. Think about it.

Source: WeGame

An exciting announcement for hardcore DS owners has been made at Nintendo’s E3 Conference, which you can experience via our live blogging. Grand Theft Auto is on its way to the handheld.

Here’s how Andrew described the news live from the conference:

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars comes to DS this winter!! Custom game engine, new characters, and the same hooker-killing gameplay we’ve come to expect.

Well the Nintendo DS glory never end?

Remember the end of Reservoir Dogs when everyone is suspicious of the next guy and they all shoot each other?  Remember the scene in American History X where Edward Norton caps a bunch of dudes with his nazi wrath?  Wouldn’t it be neat to see those scenes remade in Grand Theft Auto 4?  Well, it doesn’t matter what you think because it’s been done anyways.

Some people by the names of Mentok/Burnt Toastt and Ultimate Chance/chance reborn (don’t ask ’cause I don’t know) used the in-game multiplayer to record the video while overdubbing the original movie audio.  The result is akin to any other machinima, really.  That’s why there’s a word for this type of thing.  So anyways, here it is:

Update to source: We have been contacted by the original creators of the video, who explained that Joblo lifted the piece from their YouTube page, and then watermarked it as their own. Apparently Joblo’s media player isn’t the only thing that blows. To rectify the situation, we have decided to link to the original YouTube video instead.

Source:UltimateChance (via: JoBlo.com)

A recent series of Burger King print and television ads appearing in Germany poke fun at various aspects of pop culture. Specifically, the theme titled “Veg City”, shown above, takes a stab at the popular Grand Theft Auto franchise.

The closest we have gotten to a GTA parody by a large corporation here in states is the Coca-Cola “Give a little love” commercial. While funny in its own right, it’s no where near as edgy as its German Burger King counterpart.

The video below, was originally pulled from YouTube, so I am not sure just how long I will be allowed to display the one below. In other words, “have it your way”, while you still can. There is also a “Veg City” website worth checking out, assuming you don’t mind the fact that it’s completely in German.

Via: GamePolitics

Australian graphic artist Patrick Brown has created some truly awesome Grand Theft Auto-inspired fan art. Check out the gallery for the GTA goodness, as well as some other videogame/comic book/movie-related masterpieces.

Patrick’s work is currently posted on his deviantART page, aptly named “Grand Theft Awesome.”  No, I wasn’t the innovative one that thought up the creative title — it was all him and I totally ripped it off.  He has a lot of stuff in his gallery that we didn’t post here, so show the man some love and check it out.

Grand Theft Awesome

16 Photos

 

A fourth (and fantastic looking!) GTA IV trailer is now available if you aren’t already begging for its release April 29th, and Rockstar has announced a new online social club for Xbox Live and PSN that will track all kinds of usage data surrounding the game– plus more in the future.

GTA IV’s release is imminent. The new trailer is as exciting and dramatic as ever, and launching just ahead of the game’s release is the Rockstar Social Club.

Registration for the website is set to begin April 15 and will be open to both Xbox and PlayStation users. The future looks to bring more competitions and awards, but at first the site will track a lot of single-player related statistics as well as multiplayer leaderboards.

The press release details some features of the site:

LCPD Police Blotter – A virtual map and tracker of single-player criminal activity logged in Liberty City from the aggregated data of millions of connected players – showing the most dangerous areas of town, most commonly used weapons and more.

The Story Gang – This special single-player leaderboard recognizes players who complete Niko Bellic’s main story arc of Grand Theft Auto IV – The leaderboard ranks players according to the total amount of playing time it’s taken to complete the story, as well as a historical rank by who has completed it first. Members of this club will receive special online widgets and merit badges marking all of their in-game accomplishments.

The 100% Club – Watch to see who will be the first to complete 100% of the game. The first ten people to be identified on the Social Club as reaching 100% will be sent an ultra-rare commemorative ‘key to the city’ to mark their accomplishment. In the future, the 100% Club will then carry a historical leaderboard showing rankings of who has completed 100% of a game in the shortest span of playing hours.

The Hall of Fame — This area will dynamically recognize those singularly elite players who have reached the top of the hill on various statistical leaderboards, and will also contain a personal awards display of special in-game landmarks and successes in Social Club competitions.

The Liberty City Marathon — A ranking of special physical milestones achieved in the game – from the amount of miles walked, driven, or swam – to the number of bullets fired and stunt-jumps jumped. There will be additional special marathon-based competitions in the future from this area as well.

Sources: Rockstar, 1up News

Rockstar’s golden hooker, Grand Theft Auto, was supposed to return last October in the much anticipated fourth installment… wait, sixth installment? Eighth? Okay, let’s just say Grand Theft Auto IV and move on.

October came and went, and obviously the game was not released — if it were, you’d be playing it right now instead of just reading about it. All that’s about to change very soon.

Take Two, publisher of the game, has GTA4 nestled firmly in their second quarter release calendar, which runs from February to April. Rockstar Games Vice President of Product Development, Jeronimo Barrera, confirmed that it’s still on track to meet that goal.

As far as the progress of the game goes, Rockstar seems to have addressed most of the things GTA fans have bitched about, such as having to drive all the way back to the starting point if you fail a mission, just to re-initialize it — now it’s a quick button press. Mission repeats will also have some varied dialog so “players won’t get bored”.

Your wanted level is now only affected if your crimes are actually witnessed by the police. Once the fuzz shows up, the mini-map flashes to indicate your danger zone. While you’re in the zone, the police will continue to give chase, so the goal is to escape and hide. Fighting back or causing any other kind of mayhem while in the zone will increase the radius and just make it that much more difficult to shake them.

Cars now have GPS systems in them to help guide you to your destination. The route will be drawn out on your mini-map, and expensive cars will even have talking GPS systems. Additionally, random events will occur while driving, such as barrels falling off of a truck, bums lying in the road, or other car chases completely unrelated to you or your actions.

Finally, probably the biggest gripe about the GTA series, is the targeting system. This has been completely overhauled and is now quite similar to The Godfather. Pulling the left trigger aims down the sights of your weapon and allows free-aiming. Holding the left trigger while aiming at an enemy locks onto that target. Once locked, you can move the right analog stick up or down to target the head or legs, respectively, and flicking the stick left or right changes targets altogether.

All of this works in tandem with the cover system, which is very much like that in Gears of War. Run into a wall or obstacle, hit the cover button, and you’re stuck to it. You can then peer out and aim with left trigger, or you can blind-fire.

Basically, Rockstar implemented all of the good things about Saints Row, added the targeting of The Godfather, and sprinkled with a pinch of Gears of War. Even if this wasn’t the next Grand Theft Auto game, I’d still say that’s a recipe for a delicious “I-will-buy-this-game” sandwich.

MTV News had a 90-minute exclusive preview of the game and claims it’s looking great. The build was running on an Xbox 360 development kit, and “appears to be shining with polish” — they see no reason why it wouldn’t make the target window of February – April. You can read MTV News’ full impressions here.

Update: Take Two just announced that the official release date for GTA4 is April 29, 2008. Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, had this to say:

We’ve pushed ourselves very hard to make something incredible and hope the game sets a new benchmark for interactive entertainment.

I’m sure your game will do just fine, Sam.

Very ironic, however I am not impressed as this pales in comparison to the bible I found in a hotel room, signed by none other than Satan himself.

If you are interested in the unique mix of pop culture and politics that this particular ink stained copy of GTA III offers up, you will need to dish out $4000 for the chance to make it yours — or you can just show up at Jack’s next debate hoping to get something signed like our boy Nick did.

The only positive thing here is that the seller promises to give all earnings from the sale to the Child’s Play foundation.

Buy it now on Ebay

The game has been rated a 15+. That is, no-one under the age of 15 can play the game without adult supervision. The game is said to include strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references.

Expected a higher rating? I mean this is the highly controversial Grand Theft Auto. It’s also set in a faux New York, and has more realistic characters. However, if a game is rated higher than 15+ in Oz, then the game cannot be sold. The game would be banned.

This was the case with Grand Theft Auto III; pulled off of Australian shelves for three months. Moreover, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were edited especially for Australia audiences.

So can we expect a tamer GTA experience? We don’t think so. Rockstar have just been conscious of the ratings boards, especially after the Manhunt 2 debacle.

Does this mean the game is now finished? Not necessarily. Often developers provide unfinished games to be rated, or even provide a “mix tape” of the typical content way before the end of development.

Via Neogaf

Keep your eyes glued to the Marketplace, because the new GTAIV trailer hinted at during last week’s box art reveal will be available on Xbox Live around 3 PM EST. That’s a scant few hours from now!

We still don’t know much about the trailer, itself, except that it’s entitled “Move up, ladies!” In a world filled with old ladies to run over and pimp operations to simply run, that could mean just about anything. Let’s just hope it’s actually exciting and demonstrates that the game’s made some progress since the last time we saw it in motion.

The recently released screen shots remain impressive, but what they don’t show us are potential frame-rate problems, screen tearing, draw-in, or any of those other nasty graphical glitches native to a game in progress. Not that we’d expect to see a whole lot of that anyway from one of Rockstar’s slickly-produced teasers, regardless of all the internal development problems.

Microsoft claims no exclusivity, so we may also see the trailer on Playstation Network today, and you can bet your last dollar that it’ll be all over the internet proper.

Take Two announced today that they are prepared to settle all consumer class action lawsuits currently pending. Under the terms of the settlement, in order to claim benefits, class members must have bought a copy of the game before July 20th 2005, and attest to the fact that they would not have bought the game had they known users could modify the content.

Coming off the heels of Target pulling Manhunt 2, Rockstar might have bitten off more than they can chew legally. With almost solely negative press surrounding their games, this move reeks of desperation. With a business expense estimated at around $2.75 million in settlements, the future of Rockstar, and mature games in general, is seriously in jeopardy.