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PSN Spring Fever franchise deals include Call of Duty, GTA
If the seven games debuting on PSN this month at discounted rates don't spice up Sony's Spring Fever sale enough for your liking, the sale will also include sales on four different franchises. Games and DLC in the Call of Duty, Need for Speed, BioShock and Grand Theft Auto series are on sale at varying points in March for all PSN users. The sale spans five games in the Need for Speed series, each down to $9.99 ($5 for PS Plus subscribers) tomorrow through March 10. Those games include Need for Speed: Most Wanted on both PS3 and Vita, Hot Pursuit on PS3, The Run on PS3 and Carbon on PSP and Vita. The Call of Duty series continues on March 11 through March 17 and features a variety of game and DLC bundles for Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops and Black Ops 2. Both Black Ops games can be purchased together for $69.99 ($62.99 on PS Plus) as well as all three Modern Warfare games for $64.99 ($58.49 for PS Plus members). Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series rolls in next on March 18 with sales lasting through March 24. The sale knocks GTA 5 down to $39.99, GTA 4 to $5.99 ($4.79 on PS Plus) as well as a handful of other PS3 and PSP games in the series ranging from $5.99 each ($4.79 for PS Plus) to $2.99 each ($2.39 on PS Plus). Lastly, the first two games in the BioShock series will also be $9.99 ($5 for PS Plus members) March 25 through March 31. Those games are joined by BioShock Infinite's Burial at Sea Episode 1 DLC for $10.40 ($7.34 on PS Plus) as well as Columbia's Finest Pack and Clash in the Clouds for $3.49 each ($2.44 on PS Plus). [Image: Rockstar Games]
GTA 4 Iron Man mod is flying into buildings
Grand Theft Auto 4 has been host to many excellent mods in the past, such as one in which R2-D2 destroys Liberty City. In this case, YouTube user taltigolt recently showed off a video that showcaes improvements made to a complete GTA 4 mod that places Iron Man in the heat of the action. Not only does the video show Iron Man flying around the city and smashing into buildings, but he destroys police cars with ease by raising his arms. The modding crew also uploaded an album with Tony Stark in the game to their Facebook page. Unfortunately, the video features no sound at the request of another GTA 4 modder. Just imagine various crunch and explosion sound effects while you watch it.
GTA's Liberty City recreated in Google Street View, reveals your nearest Ammu-Nation
Type "Liberty City" into Google Maps and it whisks you to some place east of Wichita, Kansas. Yup, Wichita, for Pete's sake. No self-respecting Grand Theft Auto fan can stand for an omission like that, and thankfully now they don't have to. Those hardcore Niko-lovers at gta4.net have not only recreated the real fictional Liberty City using the Google Maps API, they've even cobbled together 80,000 screenshots to provide full-blown Street View too. Man, we haven't seen this much Gay Tony passion since the Trashmaster. Oh, wait a minute -- apparently this so-called Street View leaves out a couple of ramps that gta4.net considered to be "not very interesting." Hush, and you call yourselves fans?
The Brothers Mario return in GTA IV machinima 'Kong Country'
Machinima stars The Brothers Mario are back, and they've brought a new character with them: "Don Keykong," a mob boss who's bananas for vengeance. Along with all of the other cameos, there's even a music video for the gangsta anthem featured in the trailer. Being a plumber has never been so badass.
Original GTA developer says game was 'almost canned'
Gary Penn was a developer at DMA Design way back when the British company was working on the very first Grand Theft Auto game -- the top-down, PC-based version, not the 3D console hit you know and love today -- and says that it was "almost canned." Not because of any Hot Coffee-style shenanigans, mind you. Just because (and we're paraphrasing here) it sucked. It was incredibly unstable and "it was awful, it was too sim-y," says Penn. It wasn't until the developer found a bit of fun by turning up the police aggressiveness that it finally landed on the gameplay that's sustained the series to this day: GTA creates a much more manic, amped-up version of the world we actually live in. Once the dev figured that out, it moved on to things like mowing down 2D Hare Khrishnas (Penn's right -- it was really satisfying, moral qualms aside) and just enjoying the world. Penn goes on to say that the series is "stagnating" for him, perhaps because of its success. "It's anything but a lazy game," he says, "but they don't have the pressure if no one else is doing it anywhere near as well as they're doing it."
Heavy Rain in Liberty City: a GTA IV Machinima
If you've played through Heavy Rain, you know that most problems can't be solved by shooting a dude in the face. For GTA IV's Niko Bellic, that's very much a real problem solver -- a tactic he has no problem using. So it's a pretty odd juxtaposition to see the two games spliced together like they are in the video past the break. It's a pretty great video, but we feel we should warn you that you probably won't get it if you've never played Heavy Rain. Unless you're watching this part, which we're pretty sure is funny no matter what game(s) you've played. [Via Kotaku]
Mothers Against Violence discuss GTA, emphasize parental responsibility, on BBC
During a BBC Radio Leeds discussion on violent video games earlier today, a spokesperson for Mothers Against Violence urged parents to take responsibility for their children rather than blame the games themselves. "I'm not directly blaming games, I'm blaming parents. If someone doesn't do something, where does it stop?" Eurogamer transcribed pieces of the discussion, which range from the relatively mild, positive quote above, to the misinformed ("Why is it okay to beat up a prostitute, but not okay to pick up a normal civilian?" -- regarding the Grand Theft Auto series), and even to the legalese ("[Rockstar Games] submits every game to the appropriate ratings body. [GTA is] 18-rated and is entertainment clearly aimed at an adult audience." -- Rockstar's response). The MAV spokesperson reiterated that, while she worries about the effect violent games have on children, the onus is on parents to "study what games are all about." We're just gonna put this out there -- hear, hear!
GTA: Episodes From Liberty City for PC, PS3 delayed two weeks due to 'minor content changes'
If you've waited this long for Episodes from Liberty City, another two weeks shouldn't hurt, right? Rockstar Games has pushed back the PS3 and PC releases of the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto IV expansions by two weeks due to "a request by Sony Europe to make some minor content changes to the PAL PS3 version of the game." According to the press release, "the minor changes made to the game will not affect the gamers enjoyment of the games, these will not affect any gameplay elements and were not related to any local ratings requirements." All versions of the add-ons -- including the downloadable episodes "The Lost & Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" -- have been delayed to April 13th for North America, and April 16th for all other countries. A Rockstar Games blog post further elaborated on the decision to do a global delay, ensuring that "everyone can experience multiplayer simultaneously, take part in online events together, be on level ground on leaderboards, etc."
Take-Two revenue up $14m, laying off 15% of execs
Take-Two has released its fiscal 2010 Q1 financial report, dropping always thrilling financial news on us about the company's performance between November 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010. Aside from a $13.8 million year-over-year increase in net revenue ($163.2 million this year over $149.4 million last year), Take-Two also reports a diminished net loss (again, year-over-year) to the tune of $20 million. Take-Two also updated investors on current sales of several games and franchises, with GTA IV chocking up "over 15 million units globally" to date, NBA 2K10 already shipping "over 2 million units," and Carnival Games accruing 6 million units sold worldwide across both Wii and DS platforms. That's gotta be helping with that improved bottom line, eh? Aside from those highlights, the investor report additionally notes plans for "a targeted restructuring of its corporate departments," resulting in a "15 percent reduction in corporate headcount." More shocking, the "restructuring" (read: layoffs) will amount to "approximately $8 million in savings in fiscal 2010." Holy cow!
Take-Two taking its business to Japan
Take-Two is starting an office in Japan to publish its games. Previously, Take-Two and Rockstar games have been published by partners like Capcom, Cyberfront and, most recently, D3 Publisher. It always seemed a bit weird to see a GTA game with a Capcom label, and now we'll be spared that minor cognitive dissonance. The first game to be released under the new Japanese branch of Take-Two Interactive is Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. The publisher has yet to offer a date for this Japanese release, or even specify if it will be on both PS3 and Xbox 360.
Why a Grand Theft Auto movie hasn't gotten off the ground (yet)
You know Gamer, right? That movie with a pasty-faced kid controlling human prisoners in a future game? Well, it turns out that the film almost ended up as a Grand Theft Auto joint. According to a recent interview with co-writer/director Mark Neveldine, "We [Neveldine and co-writer Brian Taylor] actually were going to be hired to write GTA. I am sure that was part of it. That was after we wrote and directed Crank, so I got involved with GTA pretty heavily, I didn't grow up with it." Neveldine claims that it was a "rights issue" that caused the silver screen adaptation of GTA to founder. "It was a movie originally directed by Ron Howard ... and because Rockstar Games made a video game, there is some battle of who can use the title ... you can't make it about the game." Back in 2008, Variety alleged that a GTA movie was on the precipice of production when the deal fell through, but we get the feeling that these folks are speaking about something completely different.
GTA: Episodes From Liberty City on PS3, PC March 30
We were all expecting it and finally Rockstar has come through with the announcement: Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City is coming to the PS3 and PC on March 30. There will be two ways to get your expansion fix: you can either jack each individual episode -- The Lost and the Damned or The Ballad of Gay Tony -- through PSN or Games For Windows Live, or you can snag a disc with the new content on there, just like the previous Xbox 360 release. Well, OK, technically it's not "jacking," per se, but work with us here -- it's essential to the mental imagery we're trying to force into your wrinkly thought machine. Jedi blogging. A disc will set you back $39.99, while individual episodes will be $20 each. Like the Xbox 360 version of Episodes From Liberty City, a retail disc will not require a copy of GTA IV, while the DLC will.
Take-Two CEO thinks Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC was late to the party
Fielding a question on today's quarterly investors call regarding the performance of Grand Theft Auto 4's DLC double-header and the accompanying retail bundle – The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony, and Episodes from Liberty City, respectively – Take-Two CEO Ben Feder admits, "Both we and Microsoft believed there was a big market for GTA 4 episodic content and some factors affected their performance." Calling the two companies' relationship "a historic, strategic partnership" – remember this? – and calling the episodes themselves "profitable contributors to the company," Feder nevertheless offered some insight into what his company could have done to make them even more profitable. "Both were released significantly after the launch of the core unit," Feder says, referring to the April 2008 launch of Grand Theft Auto 4. "And therefore weren't able to leverage GTA 4's initial marketing campaign and initial launch fervor." With The Lost and Damned coming out in February of this year, some 10 months after GTA 4's initial release, and The Ballad of Gay Tony this past October, 18 months after the initial release, we'd have to agree that timing played an issue; the GTA 4 hype machine had worn off. %Gallery-75593%
Take-Two: revenues up in Q4, down overall for the year
Take-Two warned us (and investors ... actually, mostly investors) to expect smaller revenues for the fiscal year that ended October 31, and its fiscal-year results, announced today, hold true to that portent. The company's net revenue for fiscal 2009 was $968.5 million, down from $1.5 billion. Take-Two attributes the loss to the lack of a game as strong as Grand Theft Auto IV. It wasn't all bad news, however. Net revenue in Q4 was actually up over 2008, from $323.4 million to $343.4 million. Take-Two attributes the success in this period to Borderlands, NBA 2K10, both the downloadable and disc-based releases of the Grand Theft Auto content and, yes, GTA IV, which must have experienced a resurgence when Gay Tony and Episodes from Liberty City were released.
Play The Ballad of Gay Tony with Rockstar tonight
Before you put on some sweats, make a little popcorn and sit down for your sitcoms tonight, you may want to gear up for some The Ballad of Gay Tony multiplayer. Rockstar Games has announced it'll be holding a multiplayer session tonight from 5pm - 8pm ET, allowing prospective Liberty City hoodlums to hang out with some developers in the expansion's new multiplayer modes for a bit of two-on-two action. If you want to get involved, pack a parachute and send a request to these Gamertags: GwRockstar3 GwRockstar4 GwRockstar5 GwRockstar6 And if you fancy yourself a bit of a voyeur or can't get to your Xbox, you can still watch the action from the perspective of one of Rockstar's employees at the Social Club event page here.
Nintendo's Fils-Aime: 'effectively marketed' third-party titles can sell on Wii
Despite slow to non-existent sales for several high-profile third-party Nintendo Wii titles, the company's US head, Reggie Fils-Aime, still believes that third-party publishers on Nintendo's console can be successful. Speaking with Kotaku, Fils-Aime says he's "extremely disappointed" with the lack of major third party games on the Wii. He even goes so far as to say he's spoken (presumably quite sternly) with "every publisher who makes content that is not available on my platform" about the subject. When questioned as to why major titles like Grand Theft Auto IV and Assassin's Creed 2 aren't headed to his company's console, he explains it as a measure of long lead times rather than technological inability. "Typically decisions are being made two years prior ... and so the decisions two years ago were that those types of games would not be effective on the platform." And though the subject isn't directly broached, Fils-Aime remains steadfast that third-party titles can be successful on the Wii ... with the right marketing. "High-quality, effectively marketed against our installed base, will sell. Period. End of story." It would appear then that Boom Blox, The Conduit, No More Heroes, and a mess of other third-party titles, had some truly ineffective marketing by Reggie's standards.
Modern Warfare 2 breaks record with 4.7 million in day-one sales
With his brother dying in the war and his father abusing the whole family, you'd think that Niko Bellic had lost enough, but now Activision has to come along and take away one of the few things he had left: His day-one sales record. Activision announced today that Modern Warfare 2 sold an estimated 4.7 million units in its first 24 hours in North America and the UK alone, which far exceeds the previous record of 3.6 million held by Grand Theft Auto IV. In other news, we're going to go ahead and bring you the world exclusive news that Modern Warfare 3 - 7 will be released in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 respectively. That pattern will likely continue into infinity ... but what will we cover in 2020 if we tell you that now?
Video: 15 days in GTA IV's Liberty City
Time lapse videos were all the rage back in -- actually, we don't think they were ever rage caliber stuff, but in the case of this GTA IV video that shows 15 days go by Liberty City, it's at least reached "oh, that's neat!" territory. The video comes courtesy of DigitalFoundry (you can watch it over at Eurogamer) and reminds us just how much life there is in the virtual sand box, as cars drive along to their respective destinations, pedestrians shuffle about doing their own thing and, in the case of that one lady around the 32-second mark, loaf around the riverside all day and night. We just hope she's not doing what we think she's doing. It'd be such an unbecoming thing of the purest city in all of gaming, amirite?
Rockstar revamps Social Club's online leaderboards and stat tracking for Gay Tony
With the release of this week's second Grand Theft Auto IV expansion The Ballad of Gay Tony, the game's developer has decided to update the online multiplayer statistics tracking in order to reflect the new multiplayer game types. The addition of "BASE Jump" to the mulitplayer as well as "new, tighter Deathmatch arenas" helped spur the leaderboard overhaul, according to the developer blog. The various new additions being made due to the DLC will even get their own section on the Rockstar Social Club, presumably for the four of you tracking your new GTAIV DLC stats after Modern Warfare 2 releases in a couple weeks.
Metareview: The Ballad of Gay Tony
The second and final "Episode from Liberty City," The Ballad of Gay Tony, has arrived. As the tale of Liberty City comes to a close, does The Ballad of Gay Tony present an exciting final act or an anti-climactic letdown? We'll let the critics at large weigh in on this one: Game Informer (93/100): "While I preferred the tight-knit story of brotherhood and betrayal in The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony delivers more explosive weapons, death-defying missions, and off-the-wall characters. Don't miss your chance to close out the GTA IV experience in style." IGN (92/100): "The Ballad of Gay Tony is the perfect way to close out the GTA IV saga. Finally, we know what happened to the diamonds stolen in the main story a year-and-a-half ago. Though Luis Lopez doesn't have much of a story at all (this is the ballad of his boss, after all), the supporting cast is phenomenal. There are a lot of hilarious moments and ludicrous missions that will please GTA fans. Sure, a few of the missions fall flat compared to the wild nature of others, but all-in-all this is a fine package and worth 20 bucks. " 1UP (A-): "This has been one hell of a ride. I'm going to miss seeing something new in Liberty City, as I've probably been to every available nook and cranny. I suppose I could still go hunting for those damn pigeons, but with so many other games coming out in the coming months, I don't know where I'll find the time... at least until Rockstar gives me a ticket to their next world of crime, violence, and vice." Eurogamer (80/100): "Perhaps Tony Prince does nothing to drag the series forward -- somewhat fittingly for a man with his head stuck in the eighties -- but the episode Rockstar has named in his honour is a colourful and pleasingly unpredictable adventure that gets better throughout and ends on a high." %Gallery-68537%
