It's like…Rockstar can read my mind.
So clearly, this week's biggest bit of gaming news was the
revelation of Grand Theft Auto IV. As soon as 6PM EST struck,
people frantically began searching for the trailer, seeing as how
Rockstar's website crashed almost immediately. The game being set
back in a new and improved version of Liberty City (that is
realistically based on NYC) didn't surprise me, because I had
figured that much from the start – I even said so in one of my
forum posts. What surprised me the most was that the main
character would be a Russian.
In the past, as much as I enjoyed previous GTA games, I could
never really relate to any of the characters. But this GTA has
completely struck a chord with me like no other GTA has in the
past. First off, the game is clearly based on New York City;
they've gone as far as model our actual city streets, buildings,
landmarks, and so forth. So now I have a Grand Theft Auto game
that'll allow me to explore a rendition of my home, and on top of
that gives me a character I can relate to. I'm a Russian in New
York City, so GTAIV is definitely going to feel a lot more
personal than the past games for me.
I like how Rockstar has also captured the attire, fitting our
character with the status-quo black, with white striped, Adidas
windbreakers. I can sort of feel where the game is going to go in
direction; possibly that the Russian mafia tracks down our
character, and he becomes entangled in the whole ordeal all over
again. Anyways, I noticed that our character crosses the Brooklyn
Bridge, which indicates that Rockstar rendered other parts of
NYC, and not just Manhattan. Typically GTA games have always had
two or three sections to unlock, so here's hoping that we get to
see Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
Or, GTAIV can go in the direction of the original Grand Theft
Auto, and feature Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas all in
one game, with all of the cities being realistically modeled
after their respective counterparts. Though I doubt that Rockstar
would do that for just one game, so we're more likely to see just
one enormous Liberty City. Then we have a potentially immense
online experience to look forward to, which is every bit as
exciting. With the downsized E3 limited to only the press,
hopefully we get to give GTAIV a whirl this July, as Rockstar has
never publicly displayed a GTA game at E3 in the past.
*Tumbleweeds…*
Last week I ranted about Sony not securing enough exclusives for
the PS3. This week, something else began to bug me about the PS3,
but in Japan. I'm sort of tired of seeing the PS3 perform so
poorly in Japan. I seriously cannot believe how terrible the
release list is for the PS3 overseas. Americans and Europeans are
receiving a steady stream of content, and yet the PS3's release
list for Japan is pretty much nil. It's pretty pathetic, and a
little depressing.
Gundam Musou has shown that Japanese gamers want a PlayStation 3;
they just want some software to justify its purchase. I'm really
hoping that over the next few weeks we see some announcements and
have that game list bulk up, because the way it's looking now,
there are a total of 4 games expected to come out from tomorrow
to mid-June, that's scary.