The Grand Theft Auto IV preview we reported on a couple of weeks ago in the UK publication Official PlayStation Magazine has today been dropping through the letterboxes of some lucky subscribers. There's a fair amount of new information in the magazine, which we've summarised below.

• The protagonist Niko Bellic is in his mid-thirties, and although not customisable, you will be able to don him with new outfits and such. Rockstar said they got Niko's physics just right and found it was difficult to implement character customisation with regards to this.
  
• Staten Island, the only area of New York not recreated in Liberty City was left out due to Rockstar deciding it would not be a fun location to play in.
  
• There are no "dead spots" or "irrelevant space" in the game.
  
• There really are no loading screens once you're in the game, even when moving from exterior to interior, moving between the two will be seamless
  
• The mob will be featured in the game, though they won't be lead characters. Additionally, 'hardly any' of the characters from previous games will return.
  
• Missions will offer an increased amount of realism, and will be longer and more varied, some will even have multiple possible outcomes.
  
• Bridges will possibly keep you from accessing other boroughs at the start of the game, but this hasn't yet been finalised.
  
• What comes as a big relief to us is that there's no more pop-ups of buildings and foliage as we've seen in the past thanks to the completely overhauled graphics engine.
  
• Dan Houser stated that no one has attempted to recreate a location of this size, and with so much detail, ever before.
  
• The Artificial Intelligence of the NPC's has received a huge overhaul, pedestrians do a wide variety of things which were mentioned in the GameInformer article, and they even react to events such as a gun being pulled on them.
  
• Shooting is said to be much more precise and fluid than in previous games.
  
• Niko can use his mobile phone to do things such as set up deals and ambushes
  
• Rockstar haven't yet decided how to make use of Sony's SIXAXIS controller for the PlayStation 3 version of the game.
  
• Planes were not included in the game because there isn't enough room for them, and you would traverse the city too quickly. As we confirmed before though, we will be able to pilot helicopters.
  
• Rockstar have promised a wider range of side-missions to partake in while not playing through the main storyline.
  

Thanks to Adds for the scans.

Andrew Reiner has answered your questions about Grand Theft Auto IV. The article contains some surprising (read: dumb) questions that have been answered, such as one about hot chicks(?), however there are a few good questions that were answered too, below is a quick summary of what we've learned from this. The whole article is way too long to post here, so check my second post in the comments if you'd like to read it all.

• Helicopters are confirmed
  
• GameInformer's demo was only 15 minutes, they didn't manage to see if seasons were implemented
  
• AI is likely to have been vastly improved
  
• It seems as though we're able to climb objects such as telephone poles
  
• Liberty City seems very realistic
  
• Girlfriends make a return, slightly surprising judging by the amount of people who really didn't like this feature in San Andreas
  
• It's very possible that characters from previous GTA games will make an appearance
  
• There really are no loading screens
  

Thanks to TheTrojan for the article

GamesRadar have put up an article to prove that Liberty City may in fact be a pretty big game world by using Google Maps.

First we used Google Maps editing kit and dropped in all the known locations that have been seen in the trailer. Then we added the Liberty City/NYC boroughs revealed by the Game Informer preview. Finally we drew a boundary around certain geographical locations that we can imagine serving as useful boundary points in the game - sea, major roads and the JFK airport for example.

The results are pretty surprising. The area the map could potentially cover is huge.

The map isn't entirely accurate, but it gives a bit of an indication of just how big the game world could be. Though, we have to bear in mind that San Andreas was a whole state. Check out the links below to see for yourself. We'll leave you to form your own opinions on how big you perceive the map to be.

Links: GamesRadar article | Liberty City on Google Maps

GamesRadar are reporting on a little printing error made by UK publication PLAY in this month's issue. The next issue advert shows a horizontally flipped "IV" logo, of course turning it into a "VI". So with issue 153 out on May 17th we'll have a nice GTA6 preview to look forward to!

Let us know if you're a subscriber and will be getting a copy early.

GameInformer were lucky enough to grab the world exclusive preview of GTAIV last week, however, only one person at Game Informer actually saw the game in action, and that's Game Informer's Andrew Reine. And now he is asking for your questions!

Now remember that Andrew probably didn't get to see too much of the game, so bear that in mind when you're thinking of questions. It would be pointless to ask him about mutliplayer or episodic content for example, because he probably doesn't know about that himself.

Thursday, April 19th at 5PM CST is the cut-off date for all your questions, so don't be too long thinking about what to ask. Please do reply to this news post with your questions. I'll be collating them and emailing a list of those which are most likely to be answered on Thursday, though feel free to send in your questions yourself of course if you're really eager. If you're emailing in yourself or replying in our forums, please remember to sign your name at the end of your post if you wish to be credited (plus age and location if you want), otherwise I'll assume you wish to remain anonymous.

We're gearing up for a huge Game Informer Unlimited, and we're betting you have a lot of questions about the May World Exclusive Cover Story about Grand Theft Auto IV. There's only one person at Game Informer that has actually seen the game in action, and that's Game Informer's Andrew Reiner.

So what do you want to know about Rockstar's latest creation? Ask Reiner! We're not going to guarantee Reiner will be able to answer all of your questions, but he's going to try!

Send an e-mail to [email protected] with all of your Grand Theft Auto questions, and we'll have a list of questions and answers in the May 2007 edition of Game Informer Unlimited (which launches Monday, April 23rd).

Feel free to add your name, age, and location if you want to be credited with your question. If you want to be anonymous, that's fine too! Just let us know.

All of the Ask Reiner About Grand Theft Auto IV Questions will be cut off at 5pm CST on Thursday, April 19th. What are you waiting for? Send all of your Grand Theft Auto IV questions to [email protected]!

You'll need to be a member of our forums if you wish to comment. If you aren't already, you'll need to register, it only takes a matter of seconds, so what are you waiting for?

Link: Game Informer

Thanks to Jordan for the heads up.

At the end of the R* Broadcast was a link to a video put together by Rockstar with clips from a number of their most famous titles. The video is to celebrate a "proper era of digital entertainment" with the message "on to the next".

Before I even watched the trailer I noticed a few inconsistencies in the Roman numerals used by Rockstar, and a few other sites seem to have also picked up on this.

This image is what was shown in the broadcast email, the Roman numerals here translate to 1918 - 2007. Odd, seeing as the R* Games label was formed in 1998 (the Roman numerals in the footer of R*'s site confirm this). Further, the features page on Rockstar's website in addition to the trailer itself display the Roman numerals MCXVIII - MMVII, translating to 1118 - 2007. Now 1118 as a year doesn't really make any sense here, but as a date, November 18th? We're not sure why different dates are being used, or whether it's a genuine error.

UPDATE: It was just a typo

Above, the video itself, a great compilation of many clips from many great titles. The titles shown include nearly all of the Grand Theft Auto series, May Payne, Manhunt, Bully, Midnight Club, Table Tennis, and Red Dead Revolver.

The song in the video by the way, you will probably all recognise from San Andreas as it was featured on the K-DST radio station. It is called Eminence Front, by The Who

Link: RockstarGames.com Features

After a long spell of exclusivity on Urge.com, Rockstar have finally released the soundtrack to Vice City Stories on iTunes. The announcement came in the R* Broadcast last night.

In honor of the recent PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, all eight music stations from the game's radio dial are now represented on iTunes via the Vice City Stories iMix Collection.

Visit the Music section at www.rockstargames.com/vicecitystories for more information

If you don't live in the US, iTunes will prompt you to change your store to the US version when you click on one of the links to the iMixes. Songs are priced at the usual {post}.99, while the 'albums' seem to be between and each depending on number of songs.

Link: Official Vice City Stories Website

After the reading over all the information obtained from GameInformer, I have updated a few of the GTA4 pages here at The GTA Place.

A few changes have been made to the general information page simply to extend on what we already know, as well as add a few points about multiplayer, the setting, and the characters, with links to the next two pages I have added. The first of those a (currently) small page about the main characters in the game. At the moment, we only know a few things about Niko and Roman, however I'll be adding to the page with each new character we find out about.

The second page I added was an overview on GTA4's new rendition of Liberty City, now confirmed to be set in the current year, 2007. We found out quite a bit about the city from GameInformer, and I have collated the most interesting points from the magazine, as well as a few quotes directly from Dan Houser. It details the similarities to real life New York City, as well as what you can expect to see there with regards to the non-playable characters, and some of the more iconic things about the city.

I also added an artwork page to house all of the different styles of logo which have been cropping up, this page will be more organised shortly with descriptions of each one.

Enjoy!

Some luckly subscribers have already received their copy of GameInformer, the one with the world exclusive 10 page preview of GTA 4. The following is a summary of what we've learned from the magazine. More in depth details will be posted later, with further analysis.

The Facts

• The main character's name is Niko Bellic - he is an Eastern European immigrant
  
• Bellic arrives in Liberty City as he has been receiving emails from his cousin, Roman. At the start of the game, he is the only person you know.
  
• Roman lies to get Niko to come to Liberty City, by telling him he has women, cars and money...he is actually in huge debt. Niko thinks he will live the "American Dream".
  
• The Statue of Liberty is now called the Statue of Happiness, while DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is known as BOABO (Beneath the Offramp of the Algoquin Bridge Overpass).
  
• Liberty City's similarities to New York are as follows, with 4 of the 5 boroughs being recreated: Brooklyn = Broker; Manhattan = Algonquin; Queens = Dukes; Bronx = Bohan; New Jersey = Alderney
  
• The scale of Liberty City is slightly smaller than San Andreas, except now there are no wasted parts (with countryside for example), it is a lot more detailed.
  
• Multiplayer modes in GTA 4 are still to be announced, however, Rockstar have said it won't be a massively multiplayer online game. They are making something interesting, fun and progressive, and which ties in with single player gameplay.
  
• Since it's only New York, there will be no planes in the game which you can pilot. Rockstar want the game to seem realistic, i.e. you won't be needing planes.
  
• Pedestrians are a lot more realistic, and do things such as smoke, sit on benches, read, go shopping, eat, and more...
  
• Rockstar have been working very hard on the targeting system - expect it to be a big improvement from previous games.
  
• After the initial loading sequence, there will be no more loading screens to sit through, not even when transitioning between interior and exterior environments
  
• While making the game, Rockstar consulted crime experts and ex-policemen and found that being a criminal is much more difficult now than it was during previous decades, so they have tried to reflect this in the game. Expect to see people getting arrested as the police are a heavy presence.
  
• As Rockstar North are approaching the recruitment of voice actors in a different way. We probably won't hear and recognisable voices in GTA 4 because they are looking for voices that suit the attitude of the characters - This approach is also being carried over to the soundtrack, where R* are looking for music which works well with the modern day Liberty City.
  
• You will use a cell phone to call contacts
  
• The visual effects of the game will be massively enhanced - the rising and setting sun will reflect off glass and light up details on buildings; the streets will have potholes and rubble. Variations in terrain are reflected in the way people walk over it.
  
• A big part of the game is delivering story in new ways and allowing the player to plot their own destiny
  
• GameInformer played the Xbox 360 version, and say the graphics are not representative of the final version. The final version will look better than these shots suggest
  

Huge thanks to demologik at GTAForums for getting the mag so quickly, and providing the pictures of it. You can discuss how you feel about GTA 4 as we learn new details in our forum.

This one doesn't seem to be official in any way, rather belonging to a very enthusiastic car owner, and seemingly a GTA fan judging by the 'classic' style GTAIV logos and Rockstar decals. Apparently this nice machine was spotted at the New York Auto Show. I'm not a great lover of cars with black paintjobs, but this is something a little more decorated than usual.

via Kotaku

Once again some more posters advertising Grand Theft Auto IV have been spotted in New York City, you may remember last month gaming blog Kotaku posted about some posters plastered around the city. Today, we have more of the same, except this time the posters are absolutely massive.

Click the picture to the right to see the scale of this thing, which is painted on a building in SoHo street.

Strangely enough, the general public won't have a clue what this is even advertising unless they visit the website address shown in comparitively small print at the bottom of the ad. Though perhaps that's a good thing considering what certain politicians are like these days.

Thanks to GayGamer for the pic. (via Kotaku)

The relatively new UK publication Official PlayStation Magazine is to have a large article on Grand Theft Auto IV in next month's issue (#6), which is on sale from May 2nd.

Our friends at GTA4.net were able to get confirmation from the magazine's editor Tim Clark that the feature will have brand new exclusive GTA 4 screenshots and info. We're hoping this means truly "exclusive", and that it won't be the same info and screens we will get from GameInformer the week before (related news post).

Since it's a UK publication I should be able to pick up a copy of the magazine myself, however if there are any subscribers out there who will get the mag early, or if you're planning on buying it anyway, let me know in the comments.

The Lancashire Evening Post, a local British newspaper, has posted an article on its website about a singer-songwriter called Kurgan Merrick (not his real name). While at first he seems like a bit of an egotist, interestingly he claims he has been contacted by Rockstar and asked if one of his songs could be used in Grand Theft Auto IV.

"I was contacted by someone who has heard my songs on the website. They wanted a track they could use on the car radio as people are driving round the game."

Merrick describes his style of music as "synthesiser music with samples and heavy guitars". Rockstar are remaining tight-lipped about any details regarding the game, so again we we have no confirmation on whether or not he will feature in GTA4. You can visit his website for some samples of his music.

This isn't the first rumour we've heard regarding soundtrack details, the first appeared as a topic on a forum (which was promptly removed) where 80's New York-based band Breakdown were allegedly contacted by Rockstar Games.

If both these rumours turn out to be true it seems like we'll be hearing quite a few different types of music in the game, just as we have in previous iterations.

Thanks to gta4.net for the heads up.

Over the last few days a fair amount of small discoveries have been made, and a few fan made videos have been cropping up. This post is simply to round them all up into one article to keep you all informed and up to date.

• First of all, credit to our friend Jordan (PlanetGTA) for keeping his Shot-by-shot breakdown article of the first trailer up to date. An interesting read, you may find there's a few things you missed when you first watched the trailer. Jordan also created a nice little GTA Wii video for April Fools using GTA3 footage, check that out if you haven't already seen it.
  
• The second update seems to confirm the time period the game takes place in. While it's clearly modern day from looking at vehicles and such, PatrickW noticed that you can see what appears to be a replica of the Hearst Tower (Wikipedia) in the trailer and circled in this screen cap. The interesting point about this is that it was completed in early 2006, suggesting the game will be set no earlier than that.
  
• GTA3Rockstar, a member at GTAForums noticed that behind the "Screamer" rollercoaster there appears to be a ferris wheel (see video) while watching the GTA4 trailer. This isn't exactly anything big, but it's nice novelty. It's safe to say it will most likely be ridable, Vice City Stories introduced ferris wheels to the series not too long ago, and even the one in that game was ridable.
  
• One of the more popular topics in our GTAIV forum is discussion about the new protagonist. Some have suggested that Vladimir Mashkov (you may have seen him in Behind Enemy Lines) could be playing this role. While there is no hard evidence to support this, he seems to be an appropriate choice, it is likely we'll find out the actor in this month's GameInformer magazine which we posted about recently.
  
• Finally, Allen05 has used his spare time to compile a selection of video clips from YouTube. From these he's put together a real life spoof of the first GTAIV trailer, you can view his creation below.
  

Discuss GTAIV in our forums