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Rockstar doles out freebies to 'GTA Online' and 'Red Dead Online' players
Rockstar's multiplayer games apparently had a banner holiday, and the company is using that as an excuse to hand out goodies to players (and, conveniently, give them a reason to keep playing). GTA Online gamers will get $1 million in virtual currency if they play before February 5th, and can receive another $1 million more if they sign on between February 6th and February 12th. Red Dead Online players, meanwhile, can pick up a "Gunslinger's Cache" with guns and ammo by February 3rd, or a "Bounty Hunter's Kit" (with a license and gear) between February 4th and February 10th.
The 'Grand Theft Auto V' Rockstar Editor is exclusive to PC
Anyone who plays Grand Theft Auto V on PC will get a special treat when the game launches tomorrow, April 14. The Rockstar Editor is exclusive to the PC version of GTAV, offering tools that allow players to cut up in-game shots, create unique scenes with hand-selected characters, animals and physics, and basically mess around even more in sunny Los Santos. We're talking about a movie editor here, not a level editor, meaning players will be able to really rev up their creative engines. Imagine re-creating Furious 7, for example -- or maybe even Furious 8 (Now with 150 percent more bald dudes!). Take a look at the sweet editing suite coming to GTAV on PC in the new trailer below.
Elders wait for traffic, play Grand Theft Auto 5
The Fine Brothers offered another React Gaming video, but unlike the youthful ones in the past, this one features senior citizens taking Grand Theft Auto 5 out for a spin. The charming video shows the elderly folks stealing cars, shooting civilians and above all else, obeying traffic signals. Grand Theft Auto 5's PC version will launch on March 24. The channel's previous reaction videos included teens playing Mario Kart 64, commenting on the Game Boy as well as just plain sucking at Mega Man. Another video features Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams discussing the absurdness of Nintendo's NES. Now that The Fine Brothers delved into senior players reacting to video games, we don't know if these videos make us feel overly young or old. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Joystiq Weekly: New 3DS XL, The Talos Principle review, no more review scores and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. This was a busy week, but our decision to drop numerical review scores is probably what will have the longest-lasting effect on Joystiq. While not everyone has expressed support of the decision, we immensely appreciate the effort and thought many have put into discussing the topic with us. We hope our transition into using "In Other Words" text summaries and the new Joystiq Excellence Award will be more effective at conveying our stances and better at helping you find games that you'd actually enjoy. Even if you're indifferent about the discussion of reviews though, plenty happened this week beyond our shift in examining games. The New 3DS XL will reach us next month, Xbox One consoles slipped back to their $350 holiday price, The Talos Principle surprised us with its depth, and 3D After Burner 2 transcended the fabled "arcade-perfect" status of arcade ports. All those stories and more are waiting for you after the break!
Destiny tops PS4 downloads in 2014
Bungie's Destiny topped the PlayStation Store's PS4 best-sellers list for all of 2014, Sony revealed today. The store's top sellers on the current-generation console don't include many surprises; Grand Theft Auto 5 took the second spot, followed by Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Minecraft and The Last of Us Remastered to round out the top five. GTA 5 was the most purchased PS4 game in the month of December. As for PS3 games, Minecraft led all purchases on the system in 2014 on the PS Store, followed by GTA 5, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny and Battlefield 4. Likewise, the list of top-selling PS4 and PS3 add-ons are a mix of Destiny, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC for the most part; Battlefield 4 Premium and The Last of Us' Left Behind DLC swooped in to the third spot in the PS4 and PS3 lists, respectively. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment was the highest-selling game last year on the PlayStation Store for Vita. The Bandai Namco RPG was trailed on the handheld system by Minecraft, Killzone: Mercenary, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. [Image: Activision]
Grand Theft Auto 5 pre-orders go live with free game offer
Pre-order the digital version of Grand Theft Auto 5 for PC via Rockstar starting today and get some free goodies – GTA$500,000 to spend in the game's Story Mode and GTA$500,000 to spend in Grand Theft Auto Online. Plus, through February 1, get an extra GTA$300,000 for Online, plus a free game from a list including Max Payne 3, LA Noire, Bully, and Grand Theft Auto 4, 3, San Andreas, Vice City and Liberty City. Here's how pre-orders and that free-game deal work out: "Upon checkout, a non-refundable 15 percent deposit will be charged and the free game code will be immediately provided. Once Grand Theft Auto 5 is released, the remaining amount will be charged and the activation code for Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC will be provided via email." Grand Theft Auto 5 is due out on PC on March 24, a delay from its initial January release date. See PC requirements here. [Image: Take-Two]
GTA5 tops PS4 digital sales charts for December
Gamers who found a PlayStation 4 under their Christmas trees last month very quickly turned their holiday cheer into murderous bloodshed, as Sony revealed that Rockstar's remastered port of Grand Theft Auto 5 ranked as the PlayStation 4's most popular digital purchase in the month of December. GTA 5 beat out Minecraft: PlayStation 4 Edition, Battlefield 4, and The Walking Dead: Season Two to claim the platform's top digital sales spot last month. Digital versions of Minecraft: PlayStation 3 Edition and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare ranked as the PlayStation 3's best digital sellers in December, while Minecraft: PlayStation Vita Edition and Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment headed up the PS Vita charts. December was also a big month for classic RPGs. Konami's recently reissued Suikoden 2 took top honors in Sony's PS Classics sales chart last month, leading over the original Suikoden and Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7. [Image: Rockstar]
Grand Theft Auto 5 PC due on March 24, rig requirements
Grand Theft Auto 5 is due out for PC on March 24, Rockstar announced today in a blog post. The PC edition was originally scheduled to drop on January 27. "Our apologies for the slight shift in the date but the game requires a few extra weeks of testing and polish to make it as good as can be," Rockstar writes. "Moving a release date is never a decision we take lightly and is a choice we make only when we know it is in the best interests of the game and our fans. Thanks everyone for your understanding and we assure you these few extra weeks will be worth it when the game does arrive in March." Rockstar promises the PC version will run at 1080p and 60fps, with up to 4K resolution and support for three monitors, including Nvidia 3D Vision. Minimum PC requirements include a quad-core processor, 4GB memory and 65GB hard drive space. Recommended specs include an i5 processor, 8GB memory and 65GB hard drive space. See the full system requirements below. Grand Theft Auto Online for PC supports up to 30 players and will launch – with Heists – alongside Grand Theft Auto 5 on March 24.
Xbox countdown sale wraps today
Xbox wraps up its daily deals leading into the new year today, featuring add-ons like the Dead Rising 3 season pass and Red Dead Redemption's super excellent Undead Nightmare Collection. There's also BioShock Infinite's Burial at Sea's two episodes at about $5 apiece. There's also been a slew of sales on Xbox One and Xbox 360 games this week. The deep discounts for Xbox One owners include the worthwhile Alien: Isolation, along with Telltale Games goodies like Tales from the Borderlands and Game of Thrones at $2.50 apiece. Worth a browse if you're planning on staying in tonight.
Rockstar extends GTA Online's Christmas gift window due to XBL, PSN outage
If you had trouble opening your Christmas Day inventory gifts in Grand Theft Auto Online, you weren't alone. Between apparent DDoS attacks and the likely holiday rush of player traffic, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network have suffered connectivity issues over the past few days. Rockstar Games is no Grinch however – in recognition of the downtime seen with online services, the developer is extending its Christmas day gift-giving streak "for the time being." Rockstar's initial press release specified that a seasonal tree for GTA Online apartments is among its Christmas Day bundle, but it also encouraged players to check their inventory for "a few extra gifts." The festivities will continue on for New Year's, offering firework launchers to help welcome 2015, and the celebratory chaos will be available through January 5. At the time of this writing, the outlook for presents is good – a status page for Xbox Live is currently showing green lights for online play. Update: The PlayStation Network has gone offline since this story was published. Recent activity from the Ask PlayStation Twitter account notes that an estimated revival time cannot be given, but adds that engineers are currently working on resolving the issue. We recommend keeping an eye on Ask PlayStation and also checking the related status page before making plans to play on PSN. [Image: Rockstar Games]
GTA 5 'Festive Surprise' brings Christmas fear to Los Santas
As the snow drifted quietly this wintry morn, Rockstar Games offered a new "Festive Surprise" update for Grand Theft Auto 5. Players will now be able to use proximity mines and a homing missile launcher in the game, which will feature occasional snowy days. The update also adds holiday pajamas, Christmas sweaters, hats, scarves, masks and other festive gear for free, available through Monday, January 5. GTA 5's Festive Surprise update also features special gifts on Christmas Day (December 25) and a firework launcher and firework rocket ammo to celebrate New Year's. Lastly, players can pick up four new vehicles, such as the Hot Rod Christmas Ratloader and the Slam Van. The open world game's update also tweaked a few of the game's mechanics, adding an on/off switch for the first-person mode's auto-level setting as well as deadzone and acceleration slider controls. Better yet, players are now able to own a third property in GTA Online, allowing them to own up to 30 cars and 9 bicycles. While the Festive Surprise update is available to all players, a recent developer Q&A addressed concerns over next-gen-exclusive updates, such as first-person mode. Rockstar stressed that "there may be some updates that are only technically possible on the new hardware," though it does "hope to continue delivering as many updates as we can for all four consoles for as long as possible." GTA Online's heist missions will be available for all players in early 2015. [Image: Take-Two]
GTA Online heists breaking and entering 2015 with new trailer
Grand Theft Auto 5 will get its cooperative online heist missions in early 2015, Rockstar Games revealed today. The developer originally expected to add heists to GTA Online this past spring, apologizing for the delay later in June. As of November, Rockstar said online heists would surface in the game's online world following GTA 5's next-gen launch. As the latest trailer for the game shows, the online heist missions appear to feature a number of vehicles, such as planes and helicopters; you can head past the break to sneak a peek. We deemed the updated edition of Grand Theft Auto 5 the "definitive version" of the chaotic open-world game in our review. [Image: Take-Two]
Take-Two 'unaffected' by GTA5's removal from Australian stores
Target and Kmart stores in Australia pulled Grand Theft Auto 5 from their shelves last week, following a review of the game's content and feedback from customers, the companies said. A change.org petition with nearly 50,000 signatures decried the game's depiction of violence against women and called upon Australian Target stores to remove the game. Take-Two President Karl Slatoff called the situation "disappointing" at a conference this week, but said it's not that big of a deal. "Australia is relatively small for us and two retailers are relatively small in the context of Australia," Slatoff said. "There are other places for folks to buy Grand Theft Auto in Australia." Despite the low impact of the stores' decisions – both are subsidiaries of retail group Westfarmers – Slatoff had more to say about the situation. A lot more: "It's one thing for someone to not want to buy a piece of content, which is completely understandable," Slatoff said. "And that's really the solution. If you don't like it and it's offensive to you, then you don't buy it. But for a person or a group of people to try to make that decision for millions of people .... We have 34 million people who bought Grand Theft Auto, and if these folks had their way, none of those people would be able to buy Grand Theft Auto. And that really just flies in the face of everything that free society is based on. It's the freedom of expression, and to try to squelch that is a dangerous and slippery slope to go down. So it's really more disappointing for us in that regard than it is in the context of our business. Our business is going to be completely unaffected by this; it doesn't make a difference to us. At the end of the day though, it's not something you want because it's a poor leadership decision." Slatoff said that Take-Two hadn't seen a change in consumer habits in the area. [Image: Take-Two]
Joystiq Weekly: Street Fighter 5, Captain Toad review, PlayStation's 20th and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Judging by how many uploads of Street Fighter 5's announcement trailer have been pulled, we're thinking Capcom doesn't want us to know about it just yet. Considering it seems to be a PS4 console exclusive, we're wondering if the reveal slipped out ahead of PlayStation Experience, this weekend's gathering in Las Vegas to talk all things PlayStation. We can find out together as the event plays out over the next 48 hours, but PlayStation news isn't the only thing happening this week – The King's Quest series is getting a new entry, we reviewed Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Telltale Games' Game Of Thrones, and Managing Editor Susan Arendt explained the Danganronpa series' remarkable conveyance of how depression works. Those and many more stories are waiting for you after the break!
Kmart joins Target in taking GTA 5 off Australian store shelves
Kmart became the second major Australian retailer to remove Grand Theft Auto 5 from sale following a 45,000 strong online petition. In a statement provided to Kotaku, a spokesperson for the department store chain said it plans to take the game off store shelves "immediately." "Following a significant review of all content in Grand Theft Auto games Kmart has taken the decision to remove this product immediately," reads the statement. "Kmart apologizes for not being closer to the content of this game."
Target pulls Grand Theft Auto 5 off shelves in Australia
Target Australia will cease sales of Grand Theft Auto 5 following "feedback from customers about the game's depictions of violence against women," according to a company press release. "We've been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game's content," said Target General Manager Corporate Affairs Jim Cooper. "We feel the decision to stop selling GTA 5 is in line with the majority view of our customers." Target Australia will continue selling other R-rated DVDs and games.
All of the Lights: Many curious uses for the PS4 light bar
Sony is no stranger to idiosyncratic hardware design. Nintendo and Sega put analog sticks on their controllers in the '90s? Sony adds on an extra stick and redefines console controllers. Touch screens are de rigueur? Sony slaps a touch surface on the front and back of PS Vita. The PlayStation 4 is a sleek piece of modern consumer tech design, but even it's got its quirks. Case in point: the Dualshock 4 light bar. Every PS4 controller looks like KITT from Knight Rider, with a giant oblate spheroid of light pulsing on the front. Not just good for running down the battery, the light bar actually performs some unusual functions in a variety of games. Below the break is a taster's choice selection of memorable light bar uses from the PlayStation 4's first year of games. After browsing that, take our poll and discuss the light bar's career in the comments. What do you think of the Dualshock 4 light bar? [Images: Sony]
Rockstar's Black Friday sale discounts GTA 5 merchandise
Rockstar joins this week's money-saving festivities with a collection of Black Friday price drops on collectibles and apparel featured in its online store. DIscounted items include traditional fare like lithographs, hoodies, and posters along with oddities like a body bag-styled sleeping bag and a t-shirt that identifies its wearer as a known associate of noted psychopath Trevor Philips from Grand Theft Auto 5. This holiday weekend is also your chance to pick up a cheap iFruit case for your smartphone or a GTA 5-branded beach towel for warmer months. Rockstar's sale starts this Friday and extends through Monday at 11:59 p.m. EST. [Image: Rockstar]
Grand Theft Auto 5 becomes the UK's all-time bestseller
The new king of Britain is Grand Theft Auto 5, after it claimed the crown for the most units sold in the nation in the ever of ever. On the back of hitting PS4 and Xbox One, Rockstar's latest crime circus usurped the former rule of Call of Duty: Black Ops, according to data-bods Chart Track. While Chart Track didn't report specific sales figures, MCV claims GTA 5 was at "almost 4 million" units sold in the UK ahead of its arrival on the newest systems. As per other re-releases, GTA 5 offers enhanced graphics on PS4 and Xbox One. In its case, however, there's also the undoubted showpiece of the new first-person camera. "Rather than lowering the camera and shoving it in the chests of its three protagonists, GTA 5's first-person mode adds detailed animations that give the perspective a feeling more akin to simulation than a shooter," said Joystiq's Xav de Matos in our updated review. GTA 5 isn't the only rock star in this week's UK charts, so head below the break to see how well Far Cry 4 and Dragon Age: Inquisition did, and just how badly Sonic Boom flopped. You'll also find the UK top ten and, as ever, the minimally-beloved customary music video.
When AI goes mad: A Grand Theft Auto 5 traffic jam
Honestly? It's still not as bad as the traffic in LA. [Image: Rockstar Games]
