Grand Theft Auto IV

Fans who are hoping to see Grand Theft Auto turned into a film have one man to blame for their inevitable disappointment – Ron Howard.

Damn  you, Richie Cunningham!

Yes, the LA Weekly is reporting that the film based on the Rockstar series is likely to never happen due to a 1977 movie of the same name, directed by and starring Ron Howard.

Grand Theft Auto, the film, is said to be the source of a legal settlement in which Rockstar supposedly agreed to never make a Grand Theft Auto film as long as Fox never makes a videogame based on Howard's flick.

In other words, Rockstar has the rights to the Grand Theft Auto game series, while Fox owns the rights for the unrelated but identically named Grand Theft Auto movie. 

Confused?

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Well, Metal Gear Solid 4 hasn't been out a full week and GTA IV is already back in the news. According to The Telegraph, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is up in arms over a parody website within Liberty City's virtual virtual world that, they claim, "glamorizes" child pornography.

Go into any TW@ in Liberty City, direct your browser to www.littlelacysurprisepageant.com and you'll be greeted with a large logo for the LCPD, accompanied by the following message: "This website for child beauty pageants has been shut down. Your IP address has been catalogued and an investigator will be contacting you soon." Sure, you can log off the computer, but it's too late. You now have a 5-star wanted level.

The NSPCC claims that the spoof website trivializes child pornography and may even help in making it more acceptable. Proponents of the game have made the point that the game actually discourages child pornography and the website is only part of a large satire on the online community that exists in the game.

For the record, here's a list of some other taboo things that will get you auto-wanted levels in Liberty City:

• Trespassing at the United Nations building
• Trespassing on the Airport Runway
• Traveling to boroughs of Liberty City that have been closed off due to "Suspected Terrorist Activity"

It seems that Grand Theft Auto IV's reign of terror over the Xbox Live leaderboards is over. As people finish the game, they are going back to Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3.

Maybe the GTA IV multiplayer isn't all it's cracked up to be?

Did you go back to CoD4 or Halo 3?

Hit the jump for the new top 10 games being played on Xbox Live. Remember, this includes single player games if the player is connected to Live while gaming.

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Forbes has taken a look at Take-Two statement that they have been having buyout discussions with other "interested parties" besides Electronic Arts.

They believe this could only be Activision and Ubisoft. They further eliminate Activision because of their current merger with Vivendi on the belief that they are probably too busy to deal with a buyout.

That leaves Ubisoft.

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Games Radar redid the intro to The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad in the Grand Theft Auto IV world. It's quite funny and surprisingly accurate. Our only gripe? There is a car wash. Why not go through it in the game? Anyway, enjoy over at the Radar site.

Nice work fellas and ladyfellas.

GamesRadar.com: Naked Gun intro done in GTA IV

Ok, hands up. No, this is not a car-jacking, this is an informal poll. Who plunked down the extra bones for the super deluxe kick-ass limited edition of Grand Theft Auto IV? Yep, me too. Now granted, the real reason to get this version was the replica safety deposit box the game came packed in, but Rockstar, being the rock stars that they are, saw fit to include a CD called “The Music of Grand Theft Auto IV” inside too.

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Grand Theft Auto IV made a lot of money for Take Two this quarter. The publishing company's income more than doubled to $539.8 million, and profits rose to nearly $100 million following losses of $50 million the year prior.

According to Take Two, GTAIV surpassed all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales. It sold 6 million copies in its first week and brought in more than $500 million. By the end of May, Take-Two said the game had shipped more than 11 million units and sold 8.5 million.

Take Two CEO Ben Feder, “Based on the Company’s stronger than expected results, we have increased our financial guidance for fiscal 2008 and are confident in our ability to continue to perform for the balance of the year. Furthermore, Take-Two is extremely well positioned in an industry that is experiencing explosive growth. We believe that our exceptional creative talent, diverse range of hit products, and the proven global demand for our titles will be the drivers of increasing value over time.”

Take Two predicts it will make $1.5 billion (with a "B) this year. That's enough money to buy like 15 hamburgers, at least!.

Gamasutra: GTA Doubles Take-Two Profits, Sales In Q2

The first downloadable Grand Theft Auto IV content is due in the first quarter of 2009, according to an investor conference call with Take-Two CEO Ben Feder. Quarter 1 is between November 1, 2008, and January 31, 2009.
Apparently, this is specifically for the Xbox 360 version. No word on the PlayStation 3's DLC.

There are no other details right now. We don't know what the content is going to be, what it will cost, etc, but you can bet when we hear anything, we'll let you guys know.

Kotaku: First GTA IV Episodic DLC To Come In Q1 09

Newsflash:

Liberty City Police Face Allegations Of Incompetence, Brutality

"I was shot 14 times on my way to work today, including twice by police," said one Algonquin-area resident. "That is unacceptable."

(the onion)

Grand Theft Auto IV stunts for days, son.

A report in the Stockton Record, a local rag of Stockton, California, says that residents have been severely, and negatively, effected by GTA 4.

Titled "Grand Theft Auto IV Criticized by Stocktonians," the story cites interviews with two people who say GTA has adversely affected their lives.

“My son Peter was never really aggressive,,” claims Greg Within, “but once he got into video games, GTA being one of them, he started to push, hit, talk back, and just become a different person."

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A 13-year-old, male middle school student in Framingham, Massachusetts pulled a knife on his teacher in an attempt to steal money to score Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Now that is a hardcore gamer!

Turns out the boy’s mom refused to give him the money, so he came up with this masterful Plan B. So he stayed behind after the other kids had left the classroom, pulled the 11-inch knife and demanded $20. After the teacher refused, the punk lowered his demand to $1. The teacher then took the knife from the student….thereby making this the lamest crime in GTA history. 

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UK's ChartTrack has released sales statistics on Grand Theft Auto IV since it launched in the UK and the 360 version has come out on top.

According to their numbers, the 360 version moved 750,000 copies to the PS3's 570,000.

This is in line with US sales numbers, but is notable because the PlayStation has been more popular in the UK.

Kotaku: 360 Beats PS3 In UK GTA IV Throwdown

The Aussie version of open-world car-jacking simulator Grand Theft Auto IV has been altered from the initial version the rest of the world gets to play. We already knew that. But just how different is it?

Well, according to a dude named Mick, who's played both versions, in Australia, Rockstar has removed the animated hooker actions and the pools of blood that form beneath slain victims. The game still has the splashing and splatters of blood as normal. But pools? Well, pools of blood are just too much for those down under.

It's unclear how this is affecting sales of Australian copies by Australian retailers but we know that those in the know in Aussieland are just importing the real version from the UK or the US. So, really the sanctions have hurt their own economy, while only mildly keeping the populace more conservative. Congratulations.

gamepolitics.com: Report: Hooker, Blood Animations Removed from Australian Edition of GTA IV

We've seen this lady sucking a lollipop at the begining of GTA IV about forty thousand times, and we never once counted her fingers.

Looks like there are six.

Photoshop Disasters