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GTA IV Poll results: Achievements, DLC put 360 ahead

Ross Miller
Associate Editor
Updated ·4 min read

Last week, Joystiq (with some help from PS3 Fanboy and Xbox 360 Fanboy) asked you which version of Grand Theft Auto IV you were planning to purchase. We got a great response from everyone, with over 38,400 votes coming in! Check out the results after the break, as well as a breakdown of the reasons (as noted in the comments section).
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First off, the results:


Xbox 360 at 58%, PlayStation 3 at 42%


Here are the reasons cited, broken down by each site. The number next to each reason represents our best estimate of how often it was cited in comments.

PS3 Fanboy (49 comments)

  • Xbox 360 Achievements (3)

  • Prefer the PS3 Controller (2)

  • More friends on Xbox Live (2)

  • More friends on PSN (2)

  • Hardware concerns with Xbox 360 (e.g. RRoD, loud fan) (2)

  • Downloadable Content (1)

Number of people who said they didn't care about DLC: 2, and they both picked Xbox 360.

Xbox 360 Fanboy (41 comments)

  • Xbox 360 Achievements (6)

  • Downloadable Content (4)

  • More friends on Xbox Live (2)

  • More friends on PSN (1)

  • Prefer the Xbox 360 Controller (1)

  • Prefer the PS3 Controller (1)

  • Hardware concerns with Xbox 360 (e.g. RRoD, loud fan) (1)

Number of people who said they didn't care about DLC: 1.

Joystiq (223 comments)

  • Downloadable Content (19)

  • More friends on Xbox Live (16)

  • Achievements (15)

  • Hardware concerns with Xbox 360 (e.g. RRoD, loud fan) (14)

  • Prefer the Xbox 360 Controller (8)

  • PSN is free (5)

Number of people who said they didn't care about DLC: 7.

Other Observations:

While we didn't get an exact tally, we noticed at least a dozen of people write in an answer for the PC version, even though it hasn't been announced. About a dozen people also said they either believed the DLC wouldn't remain exclusive or that the PS3 would get its own exclusive DLC.

Conclusion:

The top reasons cited for playing Grand Theft Auto IV on the Xbox 360 were achievements (24), the downloadable content (24) and more friends on Xbox Live (20). As for those who picked the PlayStation 3, the reason commenters most often gave was hardware concern for the Xbox 360 (17), either the Red Ring of Death or the loud cooling fan, especially after 100 hours of gameplay. Surprising to us was the number of people who said they didn't care about downloadable content (10).

Very interesting is the ratio of those who picked Xbox 360 over PS3 in the poll, 1.38:1. That the Xbox 360 overtook Sony's platform is unsurprising given its current lead in total hardware sales; sales data released by both companies in January put the ratio at 1.86:1 in Microsoft's favor (that's based on 17.7 million Xbox 360s worldwide vs. the 9.5 million end-of-March projection by Sony -- the reality likely makes for an even larger ratio). Anecdotally, it would seem a larger proportion of polled PS3 owners intend to purchase GTA IV compared to their Xbox 360 counterparts.

Here's what some of the Joystiq Network staffers said when asked which version they planned to pick up:

  • Ross Miller: "Xbox 360. Most of my friends have Xbox Live and I need something else to play online with them between Call of Duty 4 matches and Rock Band marathons."

  • Kyle Orland: "Three Words: Xbox 360. Achievements."

  • Alexander Sliwinski: "I'm getting the Xbox 360 version for the potential of extra content and because of achievements. I'm not an addict, but I do like to earn them for recreation."

  • Andrew Yoon (PS Fanboy): "Both versions are pretty much the same to me. But, I'm picking up the Xbox 360 version -- 'cos I am an achievement whore."

  • Alisha Karabinus (Nintendo Fanboy): "Xbox 360 all the way, because I would need to jack actual cars, out on the actual street, to afford a damn PS3."

  • Kyle Horner (Massively): "I've got both systems and I'll be going with the 360 version, mostly because I want to play the multiplayer on XBL and the feel of the 360 controller which already has the rumble. Also, the eventual downloadable content and native 360 development don't hurt either."

Need more carjacking? Check out all our coverage on Grand Theft Auto IV.