grand theft auto

Playing Around

GTA IV: Perfect Isn't Perfect

It may be the biggest hit of the year, but that doesn't mean it won't tick you off

Proceeding on Foot!: Photo by Rockstar Games

You heard the hype, you read the astonishing array of perfect-score online reviews. So you bought a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, sat down to play and . . . what's going on here? How can a perfect game be ticking you off? I'm not saying that GTA IV is less than amazing, but it most definitely is less than perfect, particularly if you're not one of the professional gamers writing those frothing-at-the-mouth-with-delight reviews. Some of the most basic elements in the game are just plain aggravating.

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Playing Around

Guinness Got Game

The first gamer’s edition of the ultimate record book

Used to be, when I answered my phone at work, I didn't know what to expect. A college frat boy wanting to build the world's largest beer bong. Ashrita Furman, a guy from Brooklyn planning to break the marathon unicycle-riding record for the greater glory of his spiritual leader, Sri Chinmoy. A woman who had toilet-trained her chameleon. I was the associate American editor for the Guinness Book of World Records, and point man in the U.S. for would-be record-breakers.

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The Most Expensive Game Ever Developed?

Putting together Grand Theft Auto IV might have cost more than $100 million

Rockstar Games producer Leslie Benzies says that Grand Theft Auto IV may have cost more than $100 million to develop, which would reportedly make it the most expensive game ever produced.

Apparently more than a thousand people worked on the job. There's a 1,000-plus page script. Photographers snapped 100,000 photos for background scenes. And yes, the developers worked long hours getting things ready.

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Do Brutal Video Games Desensitize Players to Violence?

Breaking down a new study that looks at the psychological effects of violent games

If you spend your free time killing and maiming people and/or aliens in a virtual world, does this have any effect on what you do in the real one? Psychologists have been trying to answer that question, or some form of it at least, for a while, and Cognitive Daily has an interesting review of one of the latest papers on the subject.

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Electronic Arts Won’t Clean up Take Two

Amid fears that a takeover could lead to a less violent Grand Theft Auto, the CEO promises not to touch a line of code

Gaming giant Electronic Arts recently announced its intention to buy Take Two Interactive, the shop behind violent titles like Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne, plus the unsettling but ridiculously creative BioShock. Since EA isn’t known for Mature titles, some in the gaming community feared they’d soften those edgier games. But EA’s CEO has some encouraging words for fans. Regarding those games, he said in a call with Multiplayer, “I wouldn’t change a line of code.”

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Grand Theft Auto IV To Debut in April

The long-anticipated game gets a debut date at last

GTAIV: Photo by GTAIV
Take Two Interactive Software announced today that it will release Grand Theft Auto IV on April—an event that was originally planned for this past fall. The franchise is one of the most successful in video game history and, of course, one of the most controversial.

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