Category: GTA IV

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC is here!

Press release:

Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC is now available for purchase at retail outlets and for digital download on Steam (http://store.steampowered.com ).

“We are very proud to be releasing Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We have taken our time to ensure this version of the game is not just a quick port, but a perfectly tailored experience for the PC. We hope the PC gaming community appreciates all of the innovative features in the game. Grand Theft Auto began on the PC and we have tried very hard to ensure this version was worthy of that heritage.”

Developed by Rockstar Toronto in conjunction with series creator Rockstar North, the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV offers a wealth of new features, including 32-player multiplayer modes – expanded from 16 on the console versions of the game; a deep, sophisticated and easy-to-use video editor tool to capture and edit in-game footage; stunning, high-resolution graphics; and the all-new Independence FM radio station that allows players to add their own songs for a truly personalized and unique in-game music experience.

Eurogamer calls Grand Theft Auto IV on PC a “genuinely ground-breaking blockbuster in video game history.”  According to popular gaming site, 1UP.com, “the upgraded visuals and improved multiplayer for what’s already been hailed as the year’s most significant game make this a PC version worth getting excited about — really excited about.”

GTA IV PC early release and performance issues

The game has been sold early in various stores and it will officially be released on the 3rd of December in most countries. I’ve been reading various gaming forums and there have been many reports of performance issues.

The game has some hefty minimum requirements and even with the recommended requirements some systems aren’t running the game at more than 25 FPS on low detail.  There are of course people who can run the game fine but they are less likely to post on forums. There’s still a lot more testing to be done and there will be various driver updates and game patches to look forward to. Welcome to the world of PC gaming and compatibility/configuration issues!

It’s still early days, I’m sure Rockstar will comment on the issues and try their best to solve them.

GTA IV PC uncut in Australia

Grand Theft Auto IV PC has been rated MA15+ strong violence, sex scenes, coarse language, and drug references by the Australian Classification Office. The PC game is unedited in any way and identical in content to the international version,” a local Rockstar rep said.

This is not a double standard, Rockstar edited the Australian console versions of GTA IV before making their submission to the Australian Classification board.  It is likely they just didn’t want to take any chances (they weren’t sure if it would have been refused). The changes they made were based on Rockstar’s own interpretation of the guidelines and they were stricter than they needed to be.

This time around, Rockstar must have been feeling more confident since they submitted the unedited version and luckily it received an MA15+ rating. The cuts Rockstar made to the Australian version of GTA IV on consoles may not have been necessary (it’s impossible to know for sure since the decisions made by the board are often inconsistent and the members of the board may have changed). Hopefully the 360 and PS3 uncut versions will now be legal to sell.

Source: au.gamespot.com

GTA IV DLC: The Lost and Damned – Feb 17, 2009

USA Today has published an article revealing information on the upcoming GTA IV downloadable content. The content will be released to the Xbox Marketplace on February 17, 2009. The episode, titled “The Lost and Damned” will revolve around Johnny Klebitz, a member of the Liberty City biker gang The Lost, who you meet a couple times in GTA IV’s singleplayer game (Elizabeta has you overlook a drug deal with him, and Ray has him accompany you on the diamond deal).

Houser had this to add about the DLC’s features and story:

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 in GTA IV’s mythical Liberty City.

Source: USA Today
Via: GTAGaming.com

GTA IV will be available on Steam

The PC version of GTA IV will be sold in stores and through digital distribution via Steam.  The release date for both versions is currently December 2 in North America and December 3 in Europe. The PC version will support XBOX Live compatible achievements. In a attempt to fight piracy, all versions will require an internet connection during first installation.

View the GTA IV Steam page for more information and some new screenshots.

GTA IV 360 DLC and Chinatown Wars delayed

This is becoming a habit, first the GTA IV PC version was delayed by a few weeks then the GTA IV 360 downloadable content was delayed by months and now the Nintendo DS game “GTA: Chinatown Wars” has also had its release date extended.

Copied from gtagaming.com

At a press conference today, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed GTA IV DLC’s delay rumors stating that it may arrive as late as Spring 2009. Zelnick also stated that Chinatown Wars isn’t scheduled to be released in the first quarter of the 2009 fiscal year (January 2009) as initially expected, but will arrive within Q2 2009, which ends in April.

Source: MTV

GTA IV PC system requirements and delay

IGN posted the GTA IV PC system requirements and they also announced that the US release date has been delayed until the 2nd of December.

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows Vista – Service Pack 1 / XP – Service Pack 3
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
Memory: 1.5GB, 16GB Free Hard Drive Space
Video Card: 256MB NVIDIA 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows Vista – Service Pack 1 / XP – Service Pack 3
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista), 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space
Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870