Jason Sanders, Project Manager at GGL, bought Grand Theft Auto IV like everyone else yesterday. However, the clerk at Best Buy neglected to remove the game’s plastic security case while Jason was signing for his credit card.
Find out what happens when you get between a man and his GTA IV below.
Remember six months ago, when Rockstar released Bully, its comedic and mildly violent horrors-of-high-school simulator? Remember how some people were upset, believing the game would somehow glorify or promote bullying in school? You know, as if playing a video game could completely change a person’s personality?
Yeah, neither do I.
But the Canadian Teachers Federation, which bizarrely includes teachers in the United States, Britain, South Korea, Australia and the Caribbean, wants you to remember. They’re calling for retailers to refuse to sell the Bully: Scholarship Edition, a rerelease of the game with additional content. Continued…
Going along with all the recent news of Grand Theft Auto IV stealing the spotlight in the world of gaming lately, we finally have a confirmation of a release date. Get your pens out and circle this day on your calendars: April 29th, 2008.
Directly from the mouth keyboard of Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games: “We are so excited to be releasing Grand Theft Auto IV. We’ve pushed ourselves very hard to make something incredible and hope the game sets a new benchmark for interactive entertainment.”
With all the newly released information available about the game, as well some some very nice looking screen shots, this gamer is starting to get very excited for Grand Theft Auto IV.
Of course local media outlets and politicians everywhere are preparing their long, drawn-out stories of how this game will corrupt the worlds youth, and should be banned from stores everywhere.
Another Grand Theft Auto release, another year of mindless entertainment.
For the full press release, hit the jump.
Cool stuff from the web, steamed and pressed for your edutainment.
Bizarre GTA3 branded promo item
Wiimote hack turns your punching bag into an interactive punching bag.
Wiipons
God save the Q-Wii-N
Could Super Mario Galaxy really happen?
Got a cool link? Email me.
Today IGN Entertainment’s Direct2Drive online distribution service announced that the entire Rockstar Games catalog will be added to their collection. This includes the Grand Theft Auto series, The Max Payne series, Wild Metal, Manhunt and Midni:ht Club: Street racing II.
Right now there are two bundles being offered, A Grand Theft Auto collection (GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas) for $29.95, and the entire Rockstar catalog for $59.95.
If you haven’t played the Grand Theft Auto series, $30 isn’t a bad price for three of the best games ever made. Also the Max Payne series is worth a look.
Read Rockstar Goes Digital Download Through IGN’s Direct2Drive
The Chief Operating Officer of Rockstar Games, Gary Dale, has left Rockstar to go on to bigger and better things. He has been promoted to executive vice president of Take-Two and is now in charge of “optimizing the company’s sales and distribution activities, pursuing business development opportunities and serving as corporate liaison with all of Take-Two’s publishing labels.”
In human terms, this means he’s printing more money than before and is moving up to help Take-Two print more money. What does this mean for you? Does it matter?
[Editor’s note: I realized that a picture of virtually any 40-50 year old guy in a suit could be put in this story and blindly accepted as Gary Dale. Guess what I did?]
Check out the full press release below for details. Continued…
Some rumors are 0% true. These rumors are at least twice as accurate.
Rockstar to break away from Take-Two? Their contract is up in 2009. Will Take-Two’s delinquent child leave home?
New Mechwarrior or Shadowrun titles? The founder of FASA buys his own IP back from Microsoft. ‘Cuz Microsoft needed the money.
A rumor nixed: No Dreamcast 2. I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.
The media-generated controversy over violent content in Rockstar’s Manhunt 2 is spurring a cabal of U.S. senators to call for a stronger videogame ratings system, as well as an examination of the “robustness” of the current system.
In particular the senators, led by Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), want the ESRB ratings system to take into account the “psychological impact” of acting out actions in a game. This concern is based on the Wii motion controls for Manhunt 2. Continued…
The rumors have been confirmed — Target is pulling Rockstar Games’ Manhunt 2 from shelves, in response to media reports that hackers can restore AO-rated content in the game.
Target: Continued…
Prepare for Jack Thompson head explosion in 5… 4…
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is holding Rockstar Games blameless for a second “Hot Coffee”-type scandal.
In order to make Manhunt 2 suitable for release in North America under an “M” rating, Rockstar used color filters and lighting effects to obscure the offending “violent” material. But some enterprising hackers have figured out how to delete these filters from the PSP version of the game. Continued…
Some fantastic news came out recently: Rockstar never actually took the gory Adults Only fatalities out of Manhunt 2 on the PSP, and now some smart hackers have re-enabled that content.
Cue another round of congressional hearings and Jack Thompson publicity. Here we go again.
Meanwhile, in the BatCa — er, damage control land, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said:
We hope that consumers will not engage in hacking or download illegally modified copies of our games. We encourage them to enjoy our games as they are meant to be played. We would also like to emphasize that Manhunt 2 is intended for an audience aged 17 and above.
On the other hand, I’m thinking that Rockstar/Take-Two are doing this on purpose to get more publicity. Since it’s a free speech issue, they can’t be censored, but using C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC and (lest I forget) Fox News for free advertising is pure genius.
Wired reports that the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), which rates certain videogames in the United Kingdom, has rejected a second, toned-down version of Rockstar’s Manhunt 2.
From Rockstar:
We are continuing to appeal the British Board of Film Classification’s (BBFC) decision to deny the edited version of Manhunt 2 an 18+ certificate and thereby ban its release in the United Kingdom. The changes necessary in order to publish the game in Britain are unacceptable to us and represent a setback for video games. The BBFC allows adults the freedom to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in movies and we think adults should be similarly allowed to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in video games, such as Manhunt 2.
Not all videogames have to be submitted to the BBFC, only those containing “human sexual activity, human genital organs or gross acts of violence.” The first game to be denied refused classification by the BBFC was Carmageddon in 1997.
This link has been censored.
