Young Latarian Milton runs a muck on the streets in classic Grand Theft Auto style.
From the Associated Press:
“Grand Theft Auto IV” raked in more than $500 million (324.04 million) in its first week in stores, selling more than 6 million units worldwide, the video game’s publisher said Wednesday.
The highly anticipated title from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. has received stellar ratings along with criticism for its violent content. The game follows Eastern European immigrant-turned-gangster Niko Bellic on crime missions around a fictional Liberty City.
The title sold about 3.6 million units on April 29, its opening day, bringing in roughly $310 million (200.91 million). This is $10 million (6.48 million) more than what Microsoft Corp.’s “Halo 3,” another blockbuster game, took in during its first week last fall.
The game has also lifted sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3, the two consoles for which it is available.
Without giving numbers, Microsoft said Xbox 360 sales jumped 54 percent in the week following the title’s launch, compared with the prior week, and more than 2.3 million people played it on its Xbox Live online service.
“Retailers say roughly four out of every 10 Xbox 360 consoles sold also included the sale of a copy of ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’” said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management at Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
Sony spokeswoman Laura Bakken said the company’s 10 largest retailers have “all seen a pretty substantial lift” in PS3 sales, but she did not give specifics.
The game is generating controversy as previous versions have.
Take-Two sued the Chicago Transit Authority on Monday after the organization removed ads for the game because of its “Mature” rating, which means it is not suitable for people under 17. The game also caught the ire of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which seeks an adults-only rating because it lets players drive after imbibing in virtual liquor.
Previous versions of the game generated controversy over hidden sex scenes, sharp criticism from Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton and a 2006 lawsuit that blames the game for three New Mexico murders committed by a 14-year-old.
An analyst with Wedbush Morgan, Michael Pachter, said he expects the game to sell 12 million copies by the end of 2008. Previous versions of Grand Theft Auto have sold more than 70 million copies worldwide.
New York-based Take-Two is the subject of a $2 billion (1.3 billion) hostile buyout from larger rival Electronic Arts Inc., whose offer Take-Two has repeatedly rebuffed as too low.
Take-Two’s shares were recently trading at $26.39, which is above EA’s tender offer of $25.74 (16.68) per share; the offer expires May 16. Unless EA is willing to offer more, it seems “increasingly possible” the acquisition attempt could unravel, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey said in a note to investors.
from ShackNews.com:
As is the case with many anticipated launches, reports are spreading across the internet that Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) players are experiencing system freezes across both editions, with its introductory sequence said to be especially prone to lockups.
Judging from the reports, it seems that the 60GB model of the PlayStation 3 is most affected by the issue, with NeoGAF poster Marty Chin offering his observation that “trying the same disc on another model often results in it working.”
While developer Rockstar has yet to make any official statement regarding the issue, a support representative told Kotaku that the company is well aware of the complaints and working on a fix, though it is not yet sure what is causing the problems.
Though the Shacknews staff and our readers have put multiple hours into both versions, we have yet to experience any system freezes or notice any claims of such problems in our dedicated chat thread, though complaints are beginning to surface in this article’s comments.
What do you know, its an A+… Can’t wait to see the pandemonium that this thing causes when it hits the streets tommorow. Here’s an early review from 1up.com to whet your appetite:
Niko Bellic, Grand Theft Auto IV’s bruiser from the former Eastern Bloc, is a stone-cold couch potato, a desperate online dater with dead-on aim, and a chronic websurfer who could kill you in a hand-to-hand Krav Maga brawl. Fresh off the boat, he’s an illegal immigrant pursuing the dual American dreams of quick money and mass multimedia consumption in the most vibrant, dynamic, and entertainment-packed playground in console videogame history: Liberty City. The civil engineers at Rockstar Games have upgraded this burg’s infrastructure since we visited seven years ago in GTA3, adding basic cable (hours of programming Niko can watch on safe-house TVs), an in-game Internet rich with blogs, parody websites — even e-mail spams — and such star attractions as [spoiler deleted] performing stand-up comedy as well as a gentleman’s club filled with G-stringed strippers who buzz your controller’s vibration motors as they grind Niko’s lap. (If you must wear sweatpants when you play, please don’t share your joypad.)
The upshot: Liberty City is no longer just a place you explore outdoors, looking for stunt jumps or the thrill of a six-star wanted level after riling up the LCPD during missions. I spent hours of my week-long review session checking out the game’s indoor attractions, parking Niko in front of his TV and PC, watching red-state-riffing shows like Republican Space Rangers while cruising personals on the game’s version of Craigslist. If Niko still lived in prequel city San Andreas, where diet and exercise made a difference, he’d have weighed 400 pounds by the time I finished this game.
Click HERE to read the rest.
PLAY
