Rockstar and Future Green Entertainment have announced that they will soon be releasing a new music album called “Liberty City Invasion: Music from and Inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV” by DJ Green Lantern. Obviously, the disc won’t contain the entire game’s soundtrack — that would take a large box set — but it will feature 16 tracks: half from the game and half inspired by it. Eight of the tracks come from the in-game radio station, “The Beat,” while the rest are cashing in on the game’s popularity inspired by GTA IV. The album will feature several known artists like Busta Rhymes, Wyclef, Fat Joe, Styles P, and Fabolous, as well as a number of up and coming artists. All the tracks were picked by DJ Green Lantern, who has gained a reputation for producing well-crafted albums.

“The Grand Theft Auto games have always featured stunning soundtracks and the amount of eclectic music in Grand Theft Auto IV goes above and beyond anything we have been able to do before” said Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, “DJ Green Lantern’s contributions give the soundtrack a true New York flavor and we’re excited to be releasing his full album to fans.”

The album will be available for download on May 20th with a physical release to be announced soon.

Via Press Release

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I think we all could have guessed this was coming sooner or later. GTA IV is the biggest video game launch of the year, so it’s only natural that Yahtzee Croshaw would eventually turn his witty reviewing eye towards it. Amongst all the lavish praise for the game, it’s actually a little refreshing to have something poking fun at the game’s foibles, few though they may be. Although I have to admit that I’m now really wishing there were more dinosaurs in the game.

Take-Two said today that Grand Theft Auto IV has surpassed all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales by dollar value. Released just a week and one day ago, GTA IV has sold approximately 6 million units globally with an estimated retail value of more than $500 million in the first week. The game sold approximately 3.6 million units on its opening day with a retail value of approximately $310 million globally.Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick sounds practically beaming when he states the following:

“We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player’s experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas. Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well. Grand Theft Auto IV’s first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date. We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on creating a must-have experience that takes the legendary Grand Theft Auto franchise to a new level.”

Ben Feder, Take-Two’s Executive Officer went on to say:

“Rockstar’s goal is to make each new title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise even better than those that preceded it, and Grand Theft Auto IV is a smashing success on that score. Grand Theft Auto IV makes full use of the power of next generation technology, and offers players an experience unique in the interactive entertainment medium. This game sets a new standard in the industry, with critics hailing it as both an artistic and technological masterpiece.”

We all knew it would sell well, so this news just basically stated the obvious, but $500 million dollars is pretty darn awesome nonetheless. Plus, thanks to this wonderful bit of cash, stock in Take-Two was up $0.29 (cents) to $26.35 as of Tuesday.

Via: Press Release

Remember how the Chicago Transit Authority decided to pull ads for GTA IV from buses and other forms of public transportation in the Windy City following a Fox News report that accused them of promoting violence? Well, naturally, Take Two wasn’t too happy about that, and now they’re suing the CTA. The publisher has filed a lawsuit in the Manhattan federal court claiming that the transit authority violated their free speech and contractual rights. Take Two is accusing them of breaking a $300,000 ad campaign agreement that was set to run for six weeks and is seeking an order for the ads to be put back up plus monetary damages of at least $300,000.

Wait, you mean you can’t just take a company’s money, blatantly break an agreement with them, and then expect to get away scot free? Well, there goes every get-rich-quick-scheme I had in the works.

Via Reuters

Oh, what’s that, Hollywood? You say the reason your ticket sales are down is because of those darn video games and not because most of your films are terrible? Well then how do you explain Iron Man earning over $100 million this past weekend? That’s $85 million more than this weekend’s other new film, My Best Friend’s Wedding With the Gender Roles Reversed Made of Honor, and $25 million more than most analysts were giving the film credit for. And one of this year’s biggest video game releases, GTA IV, hasn’t even been out a week, so there’s probably plenty of people still playing it.

Could it be all those gamers took my advice (yeah, right) or suffered some catastrophe like a broken controller or a Red Ring of Death that forced them out into sunlight? Or could it be people will actually traipse on down to the theater when there’s actually something good to watch? I don’t know, I’m not an analyst or anything; but I think it’s safe to say that video games aren’t stopping people from seeing movies that are actually worth seeing. Time to find a new excuse for your box office bombs, Hollywood. Or — crazy idea here — take all that creative energy in forming ridiculous excuses and put it into your movies. Just a thought.

Data Via Rotten Tomatoes

I know there’s plenty of game news out there today, but I just want to take a second to talk about something that I’m sure affects most of us. I think it’s safe to say that our sources of entertainment extend beyond video games, to films, for example. And I think it’s also safe to say that the majority of films out there aren’t worth the money it costs to go to a theater these days. Other than not throwing away our hard-earned cash on terrible flicks, there’s not much we can do about that. But this weekend, we as gamers might be able to at least eliminate one of Hollywood’s newest excuses for poor films: blaming low ticket sales on a huge video game release. And that is why, people, I implore you:

Go see Iron Man this weekend.

The thing is, Hollywood has found a new scapegoat in video games. It’s true the video game industry has grown to almost rival the movie industry, but it seems studios and analysts have found this to be a good way to excuse bad films. Last year, in the wake of Halo 3’s release, box office sales seemed to take a dip, which some film executives attributed to the game’s success. What they didn’t seem to consider was that the theaters were at the time flooded with dreck like The Heartbreak Kid and The Game Plan. As such, those same people have already been predicting poorer-than-expected ticket sales for the Iron Man film solely due to GTA IV’s nearby release date. I’m sure most of us can see the major flaw in this logic, and that is exactly why we must prove Hollywood wrong. Read the full article

At a recent campaign stop in Indiana, presidential candidate Barack Obama mentioned the media fervor surrounding GTA IV’s release. Naturally he used the subject to awkwardly segue into the issue of children spending more time on entertainment than education:

I was just catching the news this morning about Grand Theft Auto, this video game, which is gonna break all records and make goo-gobs of money for whoever designed it. Now, this isn’t intended for kids, although I promise you there are kids who are playing it, but these video games are raising our kids…Across the board, middle-class, upper-class, working-class kids, they’re spending a huge amount of their time not on their studies, but on entertainment. And so part of our job is going to have to be to inspire the entire country to say, ‘How are we giving our kids a thirst for knowledge?’ And turning off the TV set, and getting them to be engaged and interested, like their future really does matter on how well they do in school.”

So, as usual, his problem is more with people concentrating on video games as opposed to their education. Frankly, he’s kind of got a point. Just try having any sort of educated conversation on Xbox Live.

Via GamePolitics

The last time I heard from the “Etch-a-Sketchist” it was when he crafted an image of Master Chief on the iconic toy around the time of the Halo 3 launch. So it’s only natural that he would create a GTA IV-related picture to mark this year’s biggest video game release so far. As you can see, he chose to recreate the game’s cover art using his favorite medium. It’s pretty impressive, and I seriously do not have the patience or motor skills to make anything like this.

Via Etch-a-Sketchist Blog

I think you can really tell that GTA IV’s launch has impacted a lot of people, not by the number of copies sold or the hordes waiting to buy the game on Monday night, but by the fact that Jon Stewart is cracking jokes about it on The Daily Show. Comedy Central’s news program had Stewart commenting on the “riots” surrounding the game’s launch, along with a correspondent reporting from Liberty City. All I want to know though is when that crazy wedding game is coming out; that thing looks way more disturbing than anything in GTA IV. Check after the break for another video with some more from the in-game correspondent near the end.

Read the full article

Sure, a lot of us have been happily traipsing through the playground that is GTA IV’s Liberty City since early Tuesday morning. But there’s still a large number of gamers out there still holding out for the PC version of the game. I can’t blame them really, when all the previous GTA games really had smoother graphics and more precise controls on the PC version. Sadly, they may have to wait for quite awhile, as Rockstar has only a firm “No comment” regarding a possible PC release. I’d still bet they’ll pull out a PC version around Christmastime, but for now there’s no confirmation one way or the other. In the mean time, PC gamers, this next pedestrian I run over is dedicated to you.

Via CVG

see more crazy cat pics

I guess this was to be expected, but it’s still nonetheless very impressive. GTA IV is just one day out of the gate and already it’s smashing records. Early sales figures are showing that 609,000 copies of the game were sold on day one, edging out the previous record-holder, GTA: San Andreas. But the one piece of data that’s sure to have the fanboys arguing for awhile is that the Xbox 360 version accounted for 55% of sales, narrowly edging out the PS3 version. That’s hardly a win though, considering the millions that Microsoft pumped into promoting the 360 version, compared to Sony’s much more humbler promotions. GTA IV’s sales however did substantially surpass each console’s previous “day one bestsellers”: Halo 3 for Xbox 360, and Gran Turismo: Prologue for PS3. Either way though, it’s looking to be a very good week for both Sony and Microsoft. And yes, I’m sure every single person who bought the game is a minor with psychotic tendencies.

Via MCV

Apparently some internet forums are abuzz with the news that GTA IV has been freezing up for some people. The game seems to lock up on the initial intro scene, forcing many people to unplug their console just to shut it off (personally, I booted up the game last night and didn’t have any problems at all). At first it was believed this was isolated to only specific models of the PS3, but a Rockstar rep let slip that it seems to be showing up on all types of systems. Unfortunately, at this time, Rockstar is completely stumped. Their techs are currently working hard on finding the cause of the lock-ups to come up a solution. I blame Arnold Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of Mr. Freeze in Batman and Robin, but then again, I blame nearly everything on that “movie.”

Via Kotaku

I’m sure that even in the wake of GTA IV’s release there are still several people looking forward to the latest puzzle game, side-scrolling shooter, remade arcade “classic” that few would waste a quarter on today, or whatever sort of title is next on the XBLA release list. Well, looks like those people are going to have to find something else to do tomorrow, since Microsoft has announced there will be no XBLA update this week. Naturally, they’re anticipating there won’t be any need for one, since probably every other Xbox 360 owner will be engrossed with “The Fantastic Adventures of Niko Bellic.” Next week we’re sure to get a new update that we can test out the trial of and then never look back at it again.

Via Gamerscore Blog

Videogaming247 has a pretty nice sized piece posted over on their site which features pictures of the GTA IV midnight launch in the UK and the US. You get to see people everywhere from Brighton, UK to Alpharetta, GA. You can click through the link at the bottom to see all of these, and the picture posted above is from the Worthing, UK release. Personally, I enjoyed VG247’s experience at the launch the most.

It is basically a hodgepodge of links and pictures from all sorts of gaming sites, and to be quite honest with you, most of the folks in these lines look a little bit hammered. Of course, you would have to have some sort of spirits coursing through your bloodstream to be able to handle some of the weirdos and overly opinionated cellar dwellers that you would inevitable come across.

I am not trying to be hateful or anything, I promise - but you know how it is. Anytime you are in line waiting for something for long periods of time, someone, somewhere in the line is going to piss you off no matter how much brotherly gamerly- love is present in the atmosphere. That is what happens when people gather in large crowds. Haven’t you ever watched COPS?

Thanks: Videogaming247

What does the American Dream mean today? For Niko Bellic, fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape his past. For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity.As they slip into debt and are dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.

Do you know what this means? It means that GTA IV is now out for the PS3 and Xbox 360 - just in case you haven’t heard. With new episodes to be launched in the Fall, the ability to play online with your friends and rip people from their cars and beat them to death all via a cool crime epic set in modern-day Liberty City, - your wish has finally been granted.

Hopefully you called in sick to work or feigned a cold to your mother so that you could stay home from school. Not that I condone that sort of behavior, I just saying…

Via: Press Release

By the time this is posted, most of us will already have a copy of GTA IV in our hands. Ah, don’t ya just love that new game smell? I know I do, and nothing is more delicious to the senses than unwrapping a video game that you just KNOW is going to be worth the wait and the cost. All the hype aside, the GTA series has never disappointed us, because we always get what is advertised - the same heaping helping of vicarious, antisocial behavior that we would never be caught dead doing in public. Every time a new GTA game is released, we know what is inside the packaging only the storyline and graphics get better every year.Another thing we have come to expect with a new GTA game, is the controversy surrounding it – and this year, GTA IV was no exception. Between the back and forth from both the EA camp and the Take-Two camp, the irrelevant lawyers sending hateful letters to corporate Mothers, and the rating debacle in Australia – this year was basically just like any other year. Full of GTA drama.

This past Friday night, I had a few of my female friends over for a little pow-wow, and while we were enjoying our many pitchers of Sangria, our topic of conversation turned to gaming. You see, I have only a handful of female friends, the rest are all male, and each section of my peer world is drastically different. My male friends are all hardcore gamers; the majority of my female pals cannot really be considered gamers, save for one. Yeah, sure, they play video games – but not on a daily basis like I do, and they most definitely do not live and breathe this form of entertainment quite the way I do.

Anyway, back to the subject here, our slightly drunken conversation turned to gaming, which eventually led us to the topic of GTA IV coming out. In my half-lit stupor, I decided to record the conversation for posterity and transcribe it the best I could for you, dear readers. However, before I get to the strange tête-à-tête between drunken women, let me give you a bit of background on each one of them.

Read the full article

Rockstar has unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming GTA IV, since they’ve only got a few more days left to get in some last-minute hype (not that they need it). This time, the video skips past the supporting cast and goes straight for the game’s protagonist, Niko Bellic. The trailer pretty much just shows some clips from the game while Niko talks about his life and how he got into his current situation. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like the developers have really tried to emphasize character in this new game; and it looks like it’s doing just fine.

Well, I hope you’re happy, people who downloaded leaked copies of GTA IV; you made Rockstar cry. The developer recently responded to the news that GTA IV had leaked onto various torrent sites and racked up downloads in the tens of thousands so far. Their response is almost a little pitiful:

It’s difficult. It’s hard to think that so many are willing to download the games and are unwilling to support us with all the efforts we put into it.

I have to admit, it is a little sad and ironic that their game is so hotly anticipated that such a large number of people are willing to snag the game illegally just to get an early taste. Of course, I do wonder if those people realize that they’re being tracked by Rockstar as we speak and will probably face some repercussions for not having the patience to wait one extra week?

Via WhatIfGaming

Yes, the hype for GTA IV has officially crossed the “goddam ridiculous” line. Not only does it seem like spoilers are showing up all over the place, but now the parodies and spoofs are starting to surface as well. Of course, leave it to College Humor to craft something as retro-awesome as this commercial for an NES version of Grand Theft Auto. As you’d expect, an NES version for GTA might look fairly similar to more recent version…um, except completely different. “Only you can master the seven spells of the inn keeper and break the curse of Liberty City!”

We’re in the last stretch of the wait for GTA IV, and the random spoilers just keep rolling in. Now, Amazon.com has posted 16 tracks from the soundtrack online for people to preview. The tracks won’t be available for purchase until Apil 29th, but you can still preview what sort of music you can expect from the game. I doubt this is the full list of songs though, since the track list would be a little short even for GTA III. As you’d expect, it’s mostly a mix of rap, techno, and classic rock songs. As usual, they’ll probably be ten times mre enjoyable when you’re cruising through the streets of Liberty City.

Via Amazon.com