Rockstar Games has relaunched the official Grand Theft Auto IV site, offering information on characters and locations in the form of a crazy amount of screenshots and five in-game movies.

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Rockstar product development VP Jeronimo Barerra has revealed that technical issues with the PS3 were partly to blame for last fall's delay of Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360).

"It's really no surprise to anybody that the PS3 was definitely a contributing factor to that," Barerra told MTV. "Now, we're neck and neck. That's not an issue anymore. But back then that was something we were taking into account."

Grand Theft Auto IV missed its original release window last fall and is now scheduled for release on PS3 and X360 April 29. The Xbox 360 version of GTA4 ... Read more

Rockstar North's long-awaited Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) will arrive in stores worldwide on Tuesday, April 29. Publisher Take-Two Interactive, which had vowed the game would hit by April 30 following last fall's delay, announced the date today.

Today's news tails yesterday's flood of new GTA4 details, which included word of a Resident Evil 4-esque free-aim mode, a reworked wanted meter that only recognizes crimes if witnessed by police, the option to instant warp back to a mission's start point in the event of failure, and the ability to get drunk.

"We are so excited to be releasing Grand Theft Auto IV," said Rockstar founder and executive producer Sam Houser. "We've pushed ourselves very hard to make something incredible and hope the game sets a new benchmark for interactive entertainment."

New details have surfaced regarding Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360), which is due in stores by April 30, 2008.

Highlights brought to us by MTV's Stephen Totilo include the ability to immediately warp back to a mission's start point in the event of failure and a revamped wanted meter. Criminal actions will only increase player's wanted meter if they are witnessed by police.

Totilo noted that combat has taken cues from more modern action gaming standards, including a trigger-enabled "free-aim" mode, similar to Capcom's Resident Evil 4 or Epic Games' Gears of War. A cover system and blind-fire option have also been implemented.

Crowds have been significantly improved as well and now feature... Read more

IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy, Team Xbox, Computer & Video Games all have new Grand Theft Auto 4 previews, taking in a new demonstration by Rockstar Games.

The Xbox 360 will not be receiving more than the two formerly announced exclusive pieces of downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV, developer Rockstar has clarified to Next Generation.

In a conference call yesterday, publisher Take-Two revealed that it has plans to release new GTA4 DLC on Xbox 360 during its 2009 fiscal year. The two known content packs were previously expected to be released exclusively on the Xbox 360 within the company's 2008 fiscal year, so this declaration lead many to believe that additional content was on the way.

According to Rockstar, the publisher was actually referring to a... Read more

Rockstar North's highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) is still planned for a simultaneous launch on both systems between February and April of 2008, publisher Take-Two confirmed in a conference call today.

After repeated questioning regarding a specific release date for the game, a Take-Two executive responded, "We'll announce the date when we're ready to announce the date."

Though Grand Theft Auto IV will arrive at the same time on both platforms, the company noted it will be providing the Xbox 360 version of the game with additional downloadable content beyond the 2008 fiscal year. This includes the Xbox 360-only DLC previously announced.

The executives also noted that the game has received an M16+ rating in Australia, based on a rating package that included documentation and gameplay... Read more

Following the debut of yesterday's trailer, Rockstar has issued a new batch of Grand Theft Auto 4 screenshots illustrating scenes not shown in the video. Also included below are a few high-res screen grabs from the trailer.

Rockstar has released the third Grand Theft Auto IV trailer today, titled "Move up, ladies." Grab it from FileShack, or check it out below.

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Speaking to Shacknews, frequently-cited Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter expressed his belief that acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series developer Rockstar North may look to split off from parent Take-Two Interactive in 2009.

According to Pachter, Sam and Dan Houser, founders of Take-Two publisher subsidiary Rockstar Games, have a contract with Take-Two that expires in February 2009. Following the precedent of Bungie Studios' epic maneuver to independence in October, the Housers may then attempt to gauge the company's value on the market.

"I don't think that this is an issue of dissatisfaction with Take-Two; rather, I think it is rational to believe that in the wake of the $850 million Pandemic/BioWare deal, high quality developers like Bungie and [Rockstar] North would look to test their market value," said Pachter. Rockstar North has famously enjoyed a great amount of freedom under Take-Two, as the developer of what is by far the company's strongest property.

Pachter also pointed out that the Housers remain close to key members of the Rockstar North development team, including Les Benzies, who is part of the studio's management team and also directs development of the Grand Theft Auto... Read more

In anticipation of the new teaser trailer slated to release today, Rockstar Games has issued four new screenshots of Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360).

Rockstar North's highly anticipated gangster life simulator is slated to arrive in early 2008.

Rockstar Games has revealed the box art for Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) on the game's official site.

The company also announced that the third teaser trailer--entitled "Move up, ladies"--will be released on Thursday, December 6 at 3p.m. EST. The past two trailers can be found over at FileShack.

Originally slated to release on October 16, the Rockstar North-developed Grand Theft Auto IV was delayed until early 2008 following reports that the game was experiencing technical difficulties. As publisher Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick put it, the company wanted to "make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology."

Word out of the gaming grapevine is that Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) will feature a full-fledged 16-player online mode when it arrives in early 2008.

GamingExcellence claims to have spoken with a Rockstar representative at a recent PlayStation Holiday Preview Event. This rep apparently dropped hints regarding the multiplayer mode, which is said to feature more than just deathmatch, and also indicated the whole of the game world may be open from the title's start.

While Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PC, PS2, Xbox) featured a few two player cooperative missions and both Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories on PSP showcased six player brawls, Rockstar has yet to integrate online play into any of the 3D Grand Theft Auto titles. However, the homebrew community has enabled online multiplayer into the three latest PC Grand Theft Auto offerings via mods.

Shacknews contacted the ever-elusive Rockstar for confirmation and was told that the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.

Rockstar North's highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) has been delayed into 2008, publisher Take-Two revealed in a financial update. The company cited the necessity of additional development time as the cause of the postponement.

Previously planned for release on October 16, 2007, Grand Theft Auto IV will now arrive in the second quarter of the company's 2008 fiscal year, which spans from February to April. Numerous outlets, Shacknews included, reported that the game ran at a sluggish framerate after witnessing a live demonstration. For more on Grand Theft Auto IV, check out our E3 impressions.

"Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous ... Read more

More Grand Theft Auto IV previews can be found at GameSpy, 1UP and Computer & Video Games (part 1, part 2).

Team Xbox, IGN and GameSpot have been updated with new Grand Theft Auto IV previews. Take Two recently demonstrated the game for some 45 minutes.

As had been expected, a new trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV has been released. The movie runs for about a minute, showing cinematic in-game footage.

Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto IV will be released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this October.

Yahoo Video Games has a brief Grand Theft Auto IV Q&A, asking Rockstar's Dan Houser a few questions about the game.

Featured prominently in Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two's Q2 financial report was the upcoming exclusive content for the Xbox 360 version of the Rockstar-developed game. Now a corporate conference call with Take-Two higher-ups and financial analysts has revealed that a $50 million chunk of deferred revenue originated from Microsoft, apparently in payment for the exclusive content.

In speaking to the cash infusion, Take-Two chief of finance Lainie Goldstein also confirmed the release date of the first of two downloadable expansions. "The first 25 [million] is for the first episodic content package that's supposed to go out, and that is in March of '08," she said, according to SeekingAlpha. "The second 25 will be for the second episode, and... Read more

While the few scant details contained within Rockstar's recent Grand Theft Auto IV trailer certainly gave the hype bandwagon a firm push, they also brought out another quality the franchise is known for: controversy. The trailer, which did little more than showcase several in-game environments, has already drawn complaints from New York City officials protesting the game's NYC-inspired setting and the series' penchant for violence. Technically, Grand Theft Auto IV takes places in the fictional Liberty City, but scenes from last week's trailer displayed virtual recreations of several distinctive New York landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge.

"Setting Grand Theft Auto in the safest big city in America would be like setting Halo in Disneyland," NYC councilman and public safety committee chairman Peter Vallone told the NY Daily News. "It's despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be," noted police commissioner Raymond Kelly. A statement from mayor Michael Bloomberg issued by spokesman Jason Post also focused on concerns regarding violence. "The mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers," he relayed.

This is not the the first time the setting of a Grand Theft Auto game has been based off a real-life location. A previous version of Liberty City, seen in Grand Theft Auto III (PS2, Xbox, PC) and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2, PSP) also took inspiration from New York City. Vice City, the featured location in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2, Xbox, PC) and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PS2, PSP), contained elements of Miami, Florida. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, Xbox, PC) used fictional renditions of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, referred to in-game as Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Ventures. An expansion pack for the original Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation and PC put players in London, England circa 1969.

New York City officials join an ever-growing list of both domestic and foreign government officials concerned with the implications of an improper or inaccurate virtual depiction. Officials from Las Vegas, Nevada complained that the terrorist attacks carried out against the city in Ubisoft Montreal's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas painted the city as unsafe. Members of Venezuela's government have vocally protested Pandemic's setting of the upcoming Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PS2, PS3, X360, PC) in Venzeuela, fearing it "gives a false vision" and acts as "a justification for an imperialist aggression." Most recently, the mayor of Juarez, Mexico, Hector Murguia Lardizabal, accused the Juarez-based events within Ubisoft Paris and Red Storm Studios' Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (X360) of insulting the intellect of his city's residents and increasing tension between the U.S. and Mexico, after which officials in Chihuahua, Mexico began confiscating copies of the game.

Grand Theft Auto IV is due out on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year.