Rockstar Officially Announce GTA IV

09
May
2006
By Chris | 9th May 2006 at 19:35 GMT in GTA IV | 23 Comments

Breaking news! Rockstar have just officially announced by way of press release the next Grand Theft Auto for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., is proud to announce Grand Theft Auto IV, the next-generation console debut of the genre-defining Grand Theft Auto franchise. Developed by world-class designers Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto IV will be simultaneously available for the PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360™ and is currently planned to be in stores in North America on October 16, 2007 and in Europe on October 19, 2007.

gta4logo.gif

I've uploaded the GTAIV logo for your viewing pleasure, click the thumbnail for the full image.

So there we have it, Grand Theft Auto IV, that's 4, hopefully this will silence all the GTA5, 6 and 7 fools.

The official GTA IV website can be found at http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto4/

Also if you have noticed that little Xbox Live logo on the GTA4 website, it seems like it might not be for multiplayer (and probably won't be) but in another press release by Take Two it states: "Microsoft and Rockstar Games also forge strategic alliance to provide exclusive episodic content downloads on Xbox Live."

Discuss.

OrbX's photo
OrbX 9th May, 2006 @ 20:07 - Permalink
Major announcement about one of greatest franchsies of all time." Says its so exciting that he has to take his shirt off. Shows Halo 2 tatto--GRAND THEFT AUTO IV tatoo on other arm. Grand Theft Auto IV October 16 2007 to Xbox 360 ONLY.

Where did you get your information from? Here it says for xbox 360 ONLY, quoted by Peter Moore at E3 - http://uk.gamespot.com/e3/e3story.html?sid=6149698 (near the bottom)

chris82's photo
chris82 9th May, 2006 @ 20:08 - Permalink

Sweet.

I can't wait, although I wish they wouldn't have announced it now, because now it's the only game I want.

I'm gonna preorder ASAP.

I wonder what the PC version will require...

EDIT: Um, OrbX, it says Playstation 3 at the bottom of the GTA4 website.

Dave Yak's photo
Dave Yak 9th May, 2006 @ 20:16 - Permalink

http://www.gamespot.com/e3/e3story.html?sid=6149698

Gamespot reports an xbox 360 exclusive. Chech the time 12:22 and it says xbox 360 exclusive. But they must be wrong because Rockstar's website says it will be for PS3 as well.

Chris's photo
Chris 9th May, 2006 @ 20:20 - Permalink

Unlike other gaming websites, my information is straight from Take Two. If you had even bothered to read my post you will have seen I even linked to BOTH press releases.

Please stop saying this is 360 exclusive. It is NOT.

Spaz The Great's photo
Spaz The Great 9th May, 2006 @ 20:34 - Permalink

Psh, stop trying to feel special you fanboys.

Amazing news, though. I KNEW it would be called GTA IV, I also KNEW it wouldn't be out in '06. But nooooo, no one would listen to old Spazzy here.

I win.

Chris's photo
Chris 9th May, 2006 @ 20:35 - Permalink

Hehe. I think most of us knew it was GTA IV. It's just all the other speculation that made others reconsider. And my infamous GTAChicago prank :P

Awesome news anyway :)

Gerard's photo
Gerard 9th May, 2006 @ 20:36 - Permalink

This is good very good

Now let's just hope we get to see more of it pretty soon. GTA Chicago proved that curiosity is spiking.

And as I recall, it was Spaz who has been claiming it would be GTA IV for years now :P

Chris's photo
Chris 9th May, 2006 @ 20:39 - Permalink

And myself + GTAnet who own GTA4 related domains :P

Gerard's photo
Gerard 9th May, 2006 @ 20:50 - Permalink

Mind you.. October 2007.. thats a helluva long way away. We'll probs see first content at NEXT year's E3.

Not a PS3 launch title then :P

Spaz The Great's photo
Spaz The Great 9th May, 2006 @ 21:07 - Permalink
Mind you.. October 2007.. thats a helluva long way away. We'll probs see first content at NEXT year's E3.

Not a PS3 launch title then :P

Yet again, ANOTHER thing I've been saying. I'd love to know what would make someone think it would be.

And yeah, me and Pyro have been saying it for years.

Switch Designs's photo
Switch Designs 9th May, 2006 @ 23:06 - Permalink

I have told so many people since the day Vice City was created that Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas are all GTA 3 and that all of the img files for all three games are called gta3.img because they all are run on the gta3 engine. Now that Rockstar has announced that the next GTA will be called GTA4 I'm sure we can all be looking forward to a whole new engine and img file name.

All I have to say it HA!

Neto's photo
Neto 10th May, 2006 @ 05:11 - Permalink

what the @!#! I didn't buy the freakin' xbox360 because I thought GTA4 was going to come out first in the ps3........ why does this happend to me!

why gta4? that's kinda [bad] and unoriginal

Gerard's photo
Gerard 10th May, 2006 @ 06:18 - Permalink

1) Don't use the word Gay. Ever. You obviously don't know how to use it properly.

GTA4 isn't an 'unoriginal' name, it follows the GTA, GTA2, GTA3, GTA4 pattern. They had a break with all the games in the GTA3 series, and they called 3 "GTAIII" and 4 "IV", which is a bit of a change. The game will be completely different, just like every numerical increase.

And what's stopping you getting an xbox 360 now? You won't have bought a PS3 instead yet.

The JD's photo
The JD 10th May, 2006 @ 07:45 - Permalink

A new engine? Finally our prayers have been answered! BTW, any idea on the PC release date? If they release the PS3 and XBox 360 versions in October 2007, will it mean that us loyal PC fans will have to wait until 2008? Two more years for a new GTA?

*Screams like Calculon - Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!*

Slayer's photo
Slayer 10th May, 2006 @ 09:01 - Permalink

I really hope to see a new engine. GTA3 engine was outrageous even for SA, so it was really about time for a new engine.

*wants to see 3D car damage*

Silverman's photo
Silverman 10th May, 2006 @ 18:50 - Permalink

Yes, October '07 is a long time away... especially because previously it has been rumored that GTA4 would launch this year, along with the PS3. Such rumors were not without merit, mind you, as previous iterations of the GTA franchise had launched at 2-year intervals, as has been noted elsewhere... i.e., GTA 3 was followed 2 years later by Vice City, which was followed 2 years later by San Andreas, in 2004.

As I see it, however, we need to take a realistic look at the situation, and think of the positive aspects of this unforseen 'delay'...

I. PS3 vs PS2 programming:

From what we've read so far, the PS3 will be at least eight times as powerful as the PS2, and provide many programming options which have previously been unavailable on a home gaming platform. Coding a game which takes full advantage of all of this hardware will, of couse, take a lot more time to do properly. As the next few years come to pass, it may become a good rule of thumb that all forthcoming PS3 GTA titles (and there WILL be more than one, I can guarantee you) will require at least 3 years of development between launch dates. Just think: PS2= new game every 2 years; PS3= 3 years. Mind you, even to maintain this schedule, Rock Star will have to hire at least double, if not triple, the staff as before. And the resulting games will likely take you 3x as long to complete as before, and 10x as long to get bored of (we're talking 10,000's of hours of play time).

II. Purchasing your PS3:

If you are like me, you believe that GTA games are really the only games worth playing. There might be some others that we enjoy, like the Gran Turismo series, but 90% of our playing time is devoted to the what I feel to be the most immersive, interactive games ever created.

And now we have been told that a PS3 will set us back 0, or 0 with an enhanced hard drive. (As an aside, it is hard for me to imagine needing more than a 20 GB HD, when the original PS2 512 k Memory Cards contained enough space to save info for dozens of games. Playing the role of Devil's Advocate, however, given the exponential increase in the complexity of games, and the amount of info which they could accumulate regarding your progress and development, 20 GB may ultimately prove limiting, depending on how game developers take advantage of this capacity).

Anyway, my point is, even if you buy the 'entry level' PS3, 0 is a heluuva lot of money. And you'll have to pony it up pretty soon to get one by X-mas '06, by getting on a pre-order program at your local GameStop or somewhere. Upon release, PS3s will be a HOT item, and I can also guarantee that if you wait until November of this year to buy one (the official release date) you will be forced to pay up to a 200% markup through eBay because there will be almost NONE available on the store shelves this Holiday Season. TRUST me on this one, begin planning now!

SO, if the only game worth playing won't be available for almost an entire YEAR after the fact, why stress now? Let all of the Soccer Moms wanting to appease their bratty 12-year-olds duke it out in the isles of K-Mart this holiday season, and bid your time until 6 months later, when the chaos has subsided.

III: The New PS3 Controller

This week at E3 we have seen some exciting announcements regarding the new PS3 controller. Previously, we have all see photos of something looking like the Batmobile steering wheel, and thought "Why? The PS2 controller was perfect already..."

Well, this week we have learned that Sony has seen the error of their ways, and fallen back on a controller design that is nearly identical in shape and layout to the PS2 controller. Thank God!

However, we also know that the new PS3 controller will be wireless (and fear not, Sony's Bluetooth technology should get rid of any delay problems which have plauged earlier generation, 3rd-Party wireless PS2 controllers).

Not only that, but now we know that the new PS3 controller will feature Motion Sensing capability!!

I would not be suprised if RockStar is as suprised by this announcement as everybody else. Now that they have an entire extra year to polish their next title to perfection, we will likely see this motion-sensing capability incorporated into many areas of the game, not the least exciting of which could include new hand-to-hand combat moves, and more realistic motorcycle handling, for starters.

----

In conclusion, an extra year for GTA4 development may be a dissapointment for lots of folks, including myself, but in the end I think we will all be able to say 'it was worth it'.

In the meantime, anybody got any cheat codes to make the traffic in GTA: San Andreas drive on the left hand side of the road, to allow me to practice for what will likely be a UK-based GTA4?

chris82's photo
chris82 11th May, 2006 @ 11:30 - Permalink
Yes, October '07 is a long time away... especially because previously it has been rumored that GTA4 would launch this year, along with the PS3. Such rumors were not without merit, mind you, as previous iterations of the GTA franchise had launched at 2-year intervals, as has been noted elsewhere... i.e., GTA 3 was followed 2 years later by Vice City, which was followed 2 years later by San Andreas, in 2004.

GTA3 was released in 2001. Vice City in 2002. One year interval there.

From what we've read so far, the PS3 will be at least eight times as powerful as the PS2, and provide many programming options which have previously been unavailable on a home gaming platform. Coding a game which takes full advantage of all of this hardware will, of couse, take a lot more time to do properly. As the next few years come to pass, it may become a good rule of thumb that all forthcoming PS3 GTA titles (and there WILL be more than one, I can guarantee you) will require at least 3 years of development between launch dates. Just think: PS2= new game every 2 years; PS3= 3 years. Mind you, even to maintain this schedule, Rock Star will have to hire at least double, if not triple, the staff as before. And the resulting games will likely take you 3x as long to complete as before, and 10x as long to get bored of (we're talking 10,000's of hours of play time).

GTA4 is being released for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. People will get it for both platforms.

If you are like me, you believe that GTA games are really the only games worth playing. There might be some others that we enjoy, like the Gran Turismo series, but 90% of our playing time is devoted to the what I feel to be the most immersive, interactive games ever created.

And now we have been told that a PS3 will set us back 0, or 0 with an enhanced hard drive. (As an aside, it is hard for me to imagine needing more than a 20 GB HD, when the original PS2 512 k Memory Cards contained enough space to save info for dozens of games. Playing the role of Devil's Advocate, however, given the exponential increase in the complexity of games, and the amount of info which they could accumulate regarding your progress and development, 20 GB may ultimately prove limiting, depending on how game developers take advantage of this capacity).

GTA is not going to be the only game worth playing on PS3. Try Devil May Cry 4, Final Fantasy PS3, The Getaway PS3, Killzone, Metal Gear Solid 4, Tekken, Alan Wake, and Unreal 2007. While GTA may be the best, it is not the only good title.

Oh, and PS2 memory cards were 8mb.

In the meantime, anybody got any cheat codes to make the traffic in GTA: San Andreas drive on the left hand side of the road, to allow me to practice for what will likely be a UK-based GTA4?

No, you'd have to edit the path files. I'd get the PC version and find a pathfile editor.

Edds's photo
Edds 12th May, 2006 @ 14:30 - Permalink

It's stated that the game will be released for both PS3 and Xbox360 simultaneously. Does this mean that they will follow the limit of Xbox360's disc space, which is 9.4GB? (Or something around 9.4) PS3's Blu-Ray fits over 50GB. That's more than five times the difference.

Slayer's photo
Slayer 12th May, 2006 @ 18:52 - Permalink

He he, hold on! You've gotta make 9.4 GB of code.

Dave1's photo
Dave1 17th May, 2006 @ 19:44 - Permalink

I would have posted sooner, but I had some connection issues.

I am pleased that it will be on xbox 360, I can just drool when I think of gta xbox live.

The games going to be soo kick ass.

Steven's photo
Steven 17th May, 2006 @ 22:47 - Permalink

Say hello to ARR GTA!!

Sweetness...

SoLo's photo
SoLo 21st May, 2006 @ 03:18 - Permalink

Man the only 3 things i wanna see in Gta 4 are :

1)Span across a whole nation ( so like u can go to Vice city to Liberty city in a plane ) :coolthumbup:

2)Longer Distances to see! i dont wanna be driving 80 mph and i hit something i cant see and then 2 seconds later the game processes it and the obsticle shows up.. :thumbsdown:

3)Online play on Xbox live and have a living breathing Gta world and every decision you make effects everyone else in the game (etc. you jack someones car, they retaliate by jacking another car and chasing you down to get it back)

gta philly's photo
gta philly 13th June, 2006 @ 21:53 - Permalink

If my parents can scrounge out enough change from the couch to get me a ps3 i will definitly be buying

gta IV.