GTA5
Latest
GTA 5 pockets around 2.25 million sales across first week in UK
Grand Theft Auto 5 is taking out sales records with reckless abandon, and now it's officially the UK's fastest selling game across an opening week. Chart-Track notes the PS3 and Xbox 360 game sold almost 250,000 more copies than Black Ops did in its first week, the Call of Duty game shifting around 2 million. The Super Joystiq Super Calculator (patent pending) tells us that means GTA 5 is somewhere near the 2.25 million mark - wowzers! That's in the UK alone, we stress to underline, where the population is just over 63 million. That's a whole lot of one country people playing a video game. That said, it's not like they're the only ones; GTA 5 sales surpassed a cool $1 billion worldwide at the top of the weekend. If you need more eye-popping stats: GTA 5 is already the 24th biggest-selling game in the UK, its launch week sales outsold those of GTA 4 by a factor of 2.4, and it's sold more in its first week than all the other GTA games did combined. All done? Good, let's move on. Topping the other newsbits from the UK charts is Pro Evo 2014, the soccer sim coming in 2nd in its debut week as it looks to beat FIFA 14 to as much of the punch (kick?) as possible - EA's game comes out this week. The rest of the top ten is kind of oddball: The Last of Us moves up from 25th to 3rd thanks to hardware bundles, while Aliens: Colonial Marines re-enters the top 40 in 9th thanks to a retailer offer. Elsewhere, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning starts up in 22nd. To provide some perspective, four percent of this week's UK sales came from chart entries 2-10. If you'll indulge us on one last GTA 5 stat, Rockstar's game notched 57 percent of this week's sales on Xbox 360, and 43 percent on PS3. It's that kind of week, folks.
Grand Theft Auto 5 sales surpass $1 billion
Take-Two Interactive announced today that based on internal estimates it believes Grand Theft Auto 5 sales have surpassed $1 billion during its first three days at retail. According to the company, the game is the fastest product to achieve that milestone. If the estimates by the Rockstar Games' parent company are correct, it will have beaten the already ridiculous achievement by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 last year, which hit the billion milestone in 15 days. Take-Two announced on Wednesday that Grand Theft Auto 5 had sales of $800 million in its first 24 hours (compared to CoD: Black Ops 2's $500 million). Also, we're just using Call of Duty here for comparative purposes. Don't you worry. Call of Duty: Ghosts is still going to do plenty fine, with GameStop recently noting it as the "most pre-ordered" game of the year.
Conan O'Brien has vendetta with Grand Theft Auto 5 strip club
Team Coco? More like Team Loco. Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien can't put his differences aside with a Los Santos strip club and pays the price – repeatedly. Also, never ask him to drive for you on any intense operation. He's no cool as cucumber Ryan Gosling.
Toys R Us promo code slashes 20% off games
If you're in the market for a new game, Toys R Us is offering a tempting deal this weekend on its stock of all released games. Head over to the Toys R Us site, add some games to your shopping cart, input code FRIENDS20 (one time use!) during checkout and you'll get 20% off. This deal only applies to games that are out now – unfortunately, PS4 and Xbox One consoles and games don't qualify. Still, that'll get you a good discount on Grand Theft Auto 5, Saints Row 4, Madden NFL 25, The Wonderful 101 and many more. The sale, which ends on September 21, not only applies to shipped goods, but in-store pick-up as well.
Report: GTA5 PSN version stutters compared with PS3 retail copy
Digital Foundry finds noticeable streaming issues with the PSN digital edition of Grand Theft Auto 5, as compared with the PS3 retail edition. Major issues include pop-in geometry and delayed textures and shading, mostly prevalent during full-speed drives through Los Santos' congested city streets. The digital version's opening sequence also has lagging textures. Before launch, Rockstar warned Xbox 360 players to not install the second "Play" disc to the console's hard drive, and Digital Foundry found that doing so results in missing objects and pop-in textures. The PSN version's problems "aren't as nefarious" as the Xbox 360 dual-install method, but they're still noticeable, the site reports. "It must be stressed that pop-in to this level isn't a constant, and only hits in at full force when traveling at breakneck speeds through the busiest streets – and it is largely absent when driving around less built-up areas and almost completely non-existent during on-foot action," the site says. "Also, this isn't to say the disc-based release is entirely exempt from pop-in; minor objects like boxes and telephone booths can fade in during synchronized high-stress runs on the very same street, but it's fair to say the disc version never reaches the same level in these worst-case scenarios." Digital Foundry also encountered issues downloading GTA5 via PSN, receiving multiple errors before a successful download – which then took three hours, and another hour for installation. GTA5 generated $800 million in sales in its first 24 hours on shelves, so it seems a lot people previously decided retail was the way to go.
Grand Theft Auto 5 breaks UK day one sales record
GFK Chart-Track, the company responsible for the weekly UK sales charts, stated this afternoon that Grand Theft Auto 5 is "officially UK's biggest ever video game launch." The game sold 1.57 million copies on its first day, with estimated sales of £65 million ($103.8 million). The company noted the previous record was held by Call of Duty: Black Ops, which sold 1.4 million copies in one day. Publisher Take-Two stated earlier this afternoon that Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold $800 million in total on launch day.
Grand Theft Auto 5 makes off with over $800 million on day one
Worldwide sales of the latest entry in Rockstar's open-world crime series, Grand Theft Auto 5, have surpassed $800 million in just 24 hours at retail. This figure represents a new day-one high for both the series and parent company Take Two Interactive. Currently, Grand Theft Auto 5 only has a single-player component on Xbox 360 and PS3. Rockstar announced the multiplayer supplement, Grand Theft Auto Online, will launch on October 1.
Rockstar working out Social Club and iFruit companion app issues [Update]
With the launch of Grand Theft Auto 5 this week, both Rockstar Games Social Club and the GTA iFruit companion app have had numerous issues. According to an update on its support page, Rockstar is aware of problems like account linking being down, stats not syncing properly and content not loading correctly, and is working to resolve them. While Social Club has been around for years, Rockstar just launched the iFruit companion app this week to coincide with GTA 5's release. The free app allows players to take care of Chop, the pet dog owned by one of the game's characters, as well as customize vehicles and license plates for use in the game. Update: Rockstar updated its support page, noting it "made some changes that should help to resolve some of these issues, and will continue to work toward a full resolution for any remaining problems such as logging into iFruit."
PSN Tuesday: Grand Theft Auto 5, discounted Ni No Kuni
It seems all anyone can talk about this week is Grand Theft Auto 5 – we're partly responsible – but the weekly PSN update has plenty of content for those who enjoy experiences outside of stealing old lady's purses and running over pedestrians in Los Santos. Real Boxing makes its PS Vita debut this week, pre-orders are now open for Need for Speed: Rivals and Capcom Fighting Evolution joins the PS2 Classics ranks. PS Plus members get a pair of freebies in Ico on PS3 and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, compatible with PSP and PS Vita. There's also a host of discounts this week, including cheap downloads of Sleeping Dogs, both Kane & Lynch games, PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate HD and perhaps the most tempting deal of them all: massive JRPG Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for a mere $20.
Install GTA 5 'Play' disc to USB for Xbox 360 workaround
While Rockstar doesn't recommend installing the second "Play" disc for GTA 5 on your Xbox 360 hard drive, the fine folks at Digital Foundry have found a workaround. Installing the disc to the hard drive presents texture and frame rate issues, but installing that disc to a USB flash drive produces much more favorable results. Digital Foundry warns mileage may vary depending on the flash drive you use, and it's definitely suggested you go with a 16GB stick over an 8GB model if possible. As you can see in the video above, the USB install clears a lot of the texture pop-in that comes from streaming off the Xbox 360 disc alone. Grand Theft Auto 5 officially launched today on the PS3 and Xbox 360. In our review, we cited complaints with the story's focus on deplorable characters, but found the sandbox to be the best Rockstar has ever created.
GTA 5 iFruit companion free on iOS
Rockstar launched a free iOS app that complements Grand Theft Auto 5 today, called Grand Theft Auto: iFruit. The app offers two activities that affect the main game's campaign. The first is Los Santos Customs, which has players creating custom cars and license plates for use in GTA 5. Chop the Dog is the other activity offered by iFruit, in which players care for the pet of one of GTA 5's main characters, Franklin. The dog, Chop, will better assist players in GTA 5 if he's well-tended in the iFruit app by finding hidden items when being taken for walks by Franklin. In our review of the game, we considered Franklin the standout character of the playable protagonists, so we'll happily spend more time with Chop through the app.
Rockstar doesn't recommend installing GTA5 'Play' disc on 360
If you're looking to get the most out of your Grand Theft Auto 5 experience on the Xbox 360, you'll want to hold off on installing both discs to the console's hard drive. Rockstar recommends that players refrain from installing the game's "Play" disc after completing the first disc's required 8GB install. Eurogamer's tech analysis team Digital Foundry illustrates the consequences in the above comparison video, which shows that an installed Play disc results in missing objects and texture pop-in, among other in-game issues. "Optimal streaming is achieved by making use of all the available bandwidth in the system," Digital Foundry chief Richard Leadbetter explains. "Why stream just from the hard drive when you can run in data simultaneously from both the disc and the HDD? "Based on what we're seeing on the Xbox 360 version, perhaps running both DVD and HDD assets from just the one source slows down access times, impacting streaming performance. It's not game-breaking stuff, but it does take you out of the moment when it does manifest and for that reason we can't recommend installing the play disc."
Grand Theft Auto 5 review: How to take it in America
It was after waterboarding a man with a canister of gasoline that I realized Grand Theft Auto 5 operates on its own set of rules. While other games have shied away from societal hot-buttons like torture in the past few years, developer Rockstar North runs toward these problems with a loaded weapon, an angry mob of cops in tow as businesses are being robbed and cars explode around them. As a series, Grand Theft Auto has proudly poked the Western world about its obsessions and the things it finds offensive, offering its own slanted view of that world – a view that refuses to be dishonest. Politicians promise to nuke adversarial countries, a crowdfunding website equates its business model to panhandling, social media moguls brag about selling their users' private information, and the list goes on. Despite Grand Theft Auto's glamorization of virtual violence, which has never irked me, Rockstar's franchise has been able to maintain its likability with expansive, believable worlds and a band of interesting and redeemable characters. Grand Theft Auto 5 has difficulty with its cast, however, as the latest in the notorious series features some of the most unbearable people I've ever had the misfortune of interacting with. Thankfully, interacting with Grand Theft Auto's world is better than it's ever been.
Grand Theft Auto V pre-orders ship early, Amazon UK learns crime doesn't pay
Amazon could find itself struck off Rockstar Games' Christmas card list after it delivered Grand Theft Auto V preorders to customers in the UK in advance of its September 17th release. Some customers reported receiving shipping notifications over the weekend, with additional reports suggesting the game had made it to some doorsteps as early as Saturday. Games Industry says that the company is already investigating these early sales, although we wouldn't put it past some silent, rogue type like Claude from GTA 3. Microsoft is reportedly banning Xbox Live accounts belonging to those that shared early footage of the game, so if you did receive an early copy, make sure to refrain from sharing your impressive bank heists on social media and video sites until release day.
Report: Rockstar investigating early copies of Grand Theft Auto 5
Rockstar is looking into the possibility of retailers breaking Grand Theft Auto 5's street date over the weekend, GamesIndustry International reports. The game is just two days away from beginning its life of crime. Rockstar told GamesIndustry that it is "in the process of investigating early 'sales' to determine how and why that is occurring." Its investigation follows photos posted online by users showing supposed copies of the game.
Preload Grand Theft Auto 5 on Monday in US, Sunday in Europe [update]
Update: Rockstar has sent out a tweet clarifying preload times for Grand Theft Auto 5 on PS3. In the US, PSN users who pre-ordered the game can download the game files on Monday at 3am EST; in Europe, it's Sunday at 3pm BST. Original story: Those who pre-ordered Grand Theft Auto 5 through PSN will not be able to preload the game ahead of its September 17 launch. A Rockstar representative confirmed the news with Joystiq, stating that there would be no preloading in the US and that "it's not our call." Those who pre-ordered the game in Europe will have to wait until Monday, September 16 to preload Grand Theft Auto 5, a post on the forums reads. Europe was originally supposed to be able to preload the game from today on. A whole slew of details about Grand Theft Auto 5's plot and soundtrack were leaked through a European PlayStation Store pre-order file last month. Sony took responsibility for the leak and removed the file, which could be the reason for the last-minute preload delay in Europe. We've followed up with Sony for further clarification on the matter and will update this post accordingly.
Rockstar launches GTA 5 social network parody Lifeinvader
Forget Facebook, daddio, because Lifeinvader is where the cool kids are at. Yes, Lifeinvader is a social network parody launched by Rockstar ahead of Grand Theft Auto 5's arrival next week, and it likely features some of the characters and brands from the game itself. The site loads up various profiles when accessed, including ones for returning soda Sprunk, hairdresser Herr Kutz Barber, and Redwood Cigarettes, the latter running a promo for 10 percent off your first visit to a hospital when you "stalk" them on Lifeinvader. GTA 4 had plenty of parody websites, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see Lifeinvader in GTA 5 when it launches on Xbox 360 and PS3 on September 17. We'll avoid detailing its content any further for those who want to go in knowing as little as possible, but we must mention some of the Lifeinvader taglines, because they're great: "Portray the life you want online," "Make friends with strangers," and "Making the private public," are a few of the best. Right, now to post this on Facebook ...
Grand Theft Auto 5 gameplay tops 100 hours of the American dream
We knew Grand Theft Auto 5 was going to be big. Los Santos is the largest Grand Theft Auto map to date and it has "20 movies' worth of score" – and all of this adds up to 100 hours of gameplay across the campaign, side quests and back alleys of the city, Rockstar Creative Director Dan Houser tells The Guardian. Houser says GTA5 is so massive because he wants to get intimate with the three main protagonists and allow players to explore ideas of classic Americana as perceived through the veil of spray-on tanner. There are no playable female characters in GTA5 because "the concept of being masculine was so key to this story," he says. "LA is this embodiment of 20th century American desires: the houses, the gardens, the tans, all slightly fake," Houser says. "It's the end of the western world – the suns sets and then it's tomorrow. But the industry is movies or, equally phoney, real estate. It's people trying to escape their pasts and reinvent themselves. If GTA 4 was a classic New York story, this is the endpoint of the American dream." Rockstar spent 100 days on "research trips" to LA: "Out and about, all night long with weird people, strange cops showing us around, a lot of first-hand research. We spoke to FBI agents that have been undercover, experts in the Mafia, street gangsters who know the slang – we even went to see a proper prison. These poor buggers in the middle of the salt flat desert, miles away. It was eye-openingly depressing." Sounds like a great foundation for a fun-filled game – or even a movie. Rockstar has been approached multiple times to make a Grand Theft Auto film, but it's not worth the risk, Houser says. "We've been offered, many times, and it's never appealed. The money's never been close to be worth risking one's crown jewels."
Grand Theft Auto 5 starts its engines with 'The Official Trailer'
It's surreal to think that, in all the madness of the next-gen consoles coming out in a few months time, a new GTA game is under three weeks away. Here's the so-dubbed "The Official Trailer" for Grand Theft Auto 5, due on PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 17.
Grand Theft Auto 5 soundtrack packs '20 movies worth of score'
Rolling Stone has published an extensive look at the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto 5, with streaming samples of a few Los Santos stations available right now. Ivan Pavlovich, soundtrack supervisor, says it's the biggest soundtrack Rockstar has ever done, around "20 movies worth of score." "We approached the radio stations as the musical soundscape [you experience] as you fly into L.A. One of the things we've never done in a GTA game before is a pop station; exploring that made so much sense in the context of L.A." Some stations have big-name talent attached too: DJ Pooh hosts a rap station; Wavves' Stephen Pope and Nate Williams host a rock station; Pam Grier hosts a soul station. Grand Theft Auto 5's soundtrack is also unique in that it's the first game in the series to have its own score created by Rockstar. Many composers have created music specifically for Grand Theft Auto 5, including electronic band Tangerine Dream, LA-based producer The Alchemist and rapper Oh No. Woody Jackson, who worked on Red Dead Redemption and LA Noire, is the final piece of this composer ensemble.
