GTA IV – Multiplayer. Exclusive 360 Content.

Game Informer's ten-page preview informs us that, as suspected, the game is set in a much-expanded Liberty City in 2007 and that the central protagonist's name is Niko Bellic - an Eastern European immigrant (it suggests Croatian or Serbian) who has come to Liberty City to live the 'American Dream'.

The other important tidbit gleaned from the preview is that GTA IV will have multiplayer, but it's not going to be a massively multiplayer online game, according to Rockstar Games' co-founder and creative VP, Dan Houser - which is hardly surprising news!

The preview merely states that Rockstar is trying to make something that is interesting, fun, progressive and which goes along nicely with the single-player game.

[bung tickler]

the downloadable content says right in the article that it is only for hte 360.

"Both the (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions will "likely be identical". However, the Xbox 360 version will have exclusive downloadable episodic (sizeable) content. So, not identical at all then - what with there being exclusive content for the 360."

i dont know what you read deepbrown but it wasnt this.

the coolest thing i think is this little bit: "After an initial load sequence, the game will never load again. Not even during exterior-interior transitions (and vice versa)." I think this almost more than anything will help to put you in the game. on a side note it really is a shame i think that we couldnt design our own person ala Saints Row. other that that i cant wait.

with Mass Effect dropping soon and then this in Oct. and Halo 3 in Nov. my girlfiend is gonna be real pissed for the rest of the year i think.

[techie]

Dude it's still about GTA...which is on the PS3 and it mentions the PS3...hence it should be in PS3 as well. It talks a lot about the features of the game and not just about the 360.

lol bubbles be gone

[BIadestarX]

Deep... what kind of logic is that? what the @#I#$% did you just say?

"the 360 gets [exclusive] downloadable content...the ps3 [gets it] on the disc from the get go.".

I have 2 questions.

1) Why would they call it [exclusive]. Define exclusive please.

2) Name one multiplatform game available on the PS3 and the 360 where content was stripped out from the 360 version sold on xbox live and came in the disk for the PS3. (release at the same time *** Don't give me an example of a game like 360 owners being playing for 1 year... some content was released.. and now the PS3 gets the game + wherever content was release during that period; which is logical)

If anything some games for the 360 have more content/features.. Some games release for both consoles have online for the 360 and not for the PS3. Some games get more content on the 360 (ultimate aliance).

Deep, you may not be noticing it but you may be turning into a fanboy. We all apreciate your non-bias or at least logical comments, but you are starting to scare us with things like this.

[The BS Police]

The PS3 does not get the Xbox 360 exclusive content at all when the game ships.

[techie]

ok ok I knew it would get you worked up. Fine. MS has paid for some exclusive content. Good one. It's pure jealousy I won't be able to get it.

More content on Ultimate Alliance? DIfferent you'll find...they both have different special characters.

Fear, Splinter Cell...both have new content on PS3...swings in roundabouts.

Oh come on. We knew about the exclusive DC for the 360 since ages ago. It was in the speech when they announced GTA for the 360! Everyones on the defensive here. Not good.

[hardwood2001]

deepbrown- you just lost so many cool points in my book, with that dumb comment, that I'll be bookmaking this page for future "fanboy references."

[Keyser]

This is simply my opinion but I believe that they are releasing the speciall content for the 360 so that they can get that all important intial fan base to buy into GTA IV (as if they needed more of a reason).

I doubt that the PS3 would not also get it's own version of exclusive content. Why?

Why not? They don't have a reason to piss off the PS3 fans an only releasing exclusive content for the 360 of course would. I'm sure within the week we will see a story that "PS3 HAS EXCLUSIVE GTAIV CONTENT!!!!!"

Anyone willing to make a small wager?

[power of Green]

Deep Brown and I had our dissagreements but he was getting better in controlling his extream Sonyfanboyism. But i guess trying to protect what he thinks deserves to be on top due to legacy and pedigree; is as acticting as Crack.

The Method of Delivery of content doesn't mean Exclustivity(selling point).

Splinter Cell has different fan types they obviously thought chicks appeal to PS fans and would help attacting their attention.

[techie]

"they obviously thought chicks appeal to PS fans" haha POG it sounds like you're taking a jab at 360 fans there. Nice one.

Come on people...it was best for me to say it than someone who actually meant it. Jeeez. I'm sure you could see I was saying it as a little quip...don't need to be defensive about the differences in the drive.

[n4g sucks]

just wanted to say that rockstar has previously said that both the 360 and ps3 will have their own exclusive downloadable content. so 360 will get downloadable content and ps3 will get different downloadable content. ps3's could be free and MS might charge. the whole load once idea is great except for core xbox users ( no hard drive )

[Dareaver1]

This is not directed to anyone in specific, just to the annoying fanboyism.

All the article said was that the 360 was getting exclusive content. It didn't say that the ps3 wasn't getting exclusive content. All this flaming needs to stop. The game looks and sounds like it's gonna be great. Now is a great time to be a gamer, two stellar consoles giving us (the gamers) what we want and that is to play great games. Who cares about multi disc, pc users have had to deal with that for decades now, does that make them not like to play games on their chosen platform, no! If you have a ps3 what does it matter if games are multi-disc on 360, it won't affect you in the least. And so what if the ps3 has strict ram constrictions, it doesn't stop it from pumpin out impressive graphics. We are finally getting what we want out of these consoles, and people are still flaming and complaining. If you have either system, why are you worried so much about the one you don't have, and if you have all of them, then you get to relish in all your gaming glory, and thinner pockets. LOL.

Game on people! let's play

[T-Virus]

I couldn't find the multiplayer bit. Where's that?

[stingray9191]

Quote
"The other important tidbit gleaned from the preview is that GTA IV will have multiplayer, but it's not going to be a massively multiplayer online game, according to Rockstar Games' co-founder and creative VP, Dan Houser - which is hardly surprising news!
The preview merely states that Rockstar is trying to make something that is interesting, fun, progressive and which goes along nicely with the single-player game.

SPOnG spoke with a Rockstar rep earlier today, who told us that an announcement detailing the exact nature of the multiplayer elements in the game would be made in due course, so watch this space. "

[stingray9191]

WAAAA... oh well I guess ill live. 360 RULZ!

....Downloadable planes....YAY! Please Please Please!!

[SuperSaiyan4]

360 version will also have achievemant points WOOT!

[Scythesean]

yeah but in Home we will be able to go view ours in wonderful 3d.

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

I still dont understand wats so cool about them....can some one explain wats so cool about them ?

[BIadestarX]

It add playability to the games. It encorage you to beat the game.
It give you a sense of guidance to what you need to do. It's a different level to playing games. It allows you to know how far your friends are on the same games you are playing. It makes the games more competives. If shows if you suck at the games I play.

And an example? I have 200/200 on Geometry Wars. Some of my friends hate me for that.

I'm not sure if I mananged to help you understand... it's something that Playstation gamers have problems understanding.

It's similar to scoreboard at the local arcade machine. Everyone wants to be on top. This is more like, yeah I know you beat the game but did you get all your achivements? No!?

[Bonsai1214]

it makes people feel good about themselves after they've wasted hours upon hours accomplishing stupid things like "died twenty times in a row" or "you've jumped 20ft on a skateboard"

[SuperSaiyan4]

If you dont get a 360 play some games then see how that lovely 'Acheivemant Unlocked' flashes up on screen and then makes you become a small child in soo much joy!!

[r1000]

Who cares.... This game is the MTV of gaming.. it was good in the beginning... but now.....?

[hamburgerhill]

Oh so now that 360 get's all the bells and whistles it's not so good anymore? People grow up and understand that 360 fans have been telling you guys since before PS3's launch that 360 is the machine to get for games this generation! If you don't believe me then sit there and watch as more and games favor the 360! With exclusive content, achievements, and i'm pretty sure Xboxlive multiplayer it looks as if this game is going to be one of the kings this year!

[r1000]

Sorry dude but like I said in my comment... I played the 1st one and it was good...after maybe part 2... there's nothing more two it then mindless content... just like crappy ass MTV ;)

[Says you]

Especially like crapy achievement points if you want to achieve some thing in life its not in games. and plus achievement points are pointless to begin with. you XBox 360 fans are so dumb and of coures its the same thing with PS3 fans but they dont make a big deal about achievement points considering there nothing special. and further more theres stats for games so technically achievements is the same thing is stats so Microsoft actually change the name for stats for achievements.

[socomnick]

shut up achievement points are great they add replay value. No one here can say they would rather not have them because it feels nice when you heard the noise and the icon saying you unlocked a achievement.

[PS360PCROCKS]

God I really hate you I might have to use the ignore for the first time because your a total moron.

[nstott]

Ahmen to that.

[Double-Edged]

Watch how many games comming for the 360 will have crazy downloadable content.

The marvel game just got 8 new characters.. SICK!!!

Gears of War just got a new mode.

If you look at the marketplace// So many downloadable contents.. and it aint GIMMICKS......

shivering iles.... cool..

So good to own a 360.

KUDOS

[SmokeyMcBear]

haha ok, just had to mention this.. you didnt get the marvel characters yet, or so i have heard, maybe you should double check on that one, the new gears of war mode has people complaing about price, and the fact that is pretty much the same modes as the other ones, and the expansion pack has bugs much to the shagrin of 360 users.. has them complaining about having to pay to be beta testers.. just too funny.

oops.. people are complaining about the mode saying.. eh same thing, cover, shotgun blasts.. rinse repeat, no real gameplay changes, other than kills actually don't really count now. I guess the rumor about Epic wanting to keep it free and M$ wanting to charge for it is wrong. Meh, no skin off my back. 360 Beta testers is true though

[God of Gaming]

WHAT??? The new Gears mode is FREE.. nobody is complaining about cost. And the mode is NOTHING like the other modes. Its objective and has respawns...two things that are not in the other 3 modes.

[MissAubrey]

you dont know what youre talking about

[makingdamage]

This information doesn´t make me happy. Smaller than san andreeas? What the f**k! Is it because 360 uses dvd´s or what?
I´m starting to feel that we already seen the best GTA rockstar can come up with but I hope I´m wrong...

[hamburgerhill]

Trust me dvd9 is plenty of space for this game and it doesn't have to be extremely big to be a good game! It's hilarious how PS3 fan's try and say a game isn't that good anymore when developers favor the 360! You guy's better purchase this game because if not Rockstar is going to favor 360 not just now but in the future as well lol! If Final Fantasy and MGS4 come to 360 I bet you will try and say it's not so good anymore! If you guy's would quit being so mindless and just pick up a 360, all of this animosity towards it would quickly disappear! Why keep doing yourselves like this and staying loyal to a company that keep's dropping the ball like Sega? Just jump in and stop fighting the inevitable change in gaming history that started last year when 360 hit the market! And who ever disagrees with me is mindless because i'm just telling it like it is and you know it!

[SmokeyMcBear]

you got it all wrong hamburger, you gotta drop that 360. I mean its gonna break down within the next 6 months anyways, join in the future of gaming where there are no constraints, where anything a developer can think of is possible, without having to worry about that whole capactiy issue.

must...not.. say ....it..... ahhhhh....
Blue Dragon.. Blue Dragon.. Blue Dragon....
3 DVDs...3 DVDs....3 DVDs... ah sorry sorry, i can't help myself.

[Schmitty07]

That has to be one of the dumbest comments I have ever read.

"...join in the future of gaming where there are no constraints, where anything a developer can think of is possible, without having to worry about that whole capactiy issue."

[BIGBAER]

Dude, there is plenty of space on DVD9 discs for content. Oblivion for example, is huge!

Then there is Test Drive Unlimited, which, if it ever comes to the PS3, you will find out how big a game can be. TDU on the 360 has over 1000 miles of roads to race, cruise or just plain old explore. PLUS - you can drive anywhere off road. The game is HUGE! --- and DETAILED.

DVD9 = plenty of space.

[Amplifier]

Well I own both the PS3 and X360 so I will be definately picking it up on the PS3 because of the controller, I still don't like the "Xbox" style controls. But I use them if I have no choice, for Gears, Halo, etc...

@mp

[weekapaugh]

right there with ya amp, i have both and hate the 360 controller. just a matter of personal pref.

[Double-Edged]

Achievment points.....
I was like you until I bought a 360 and got my first achievment unlocked...playing GRAW.

It's really makes you kill the game...
plus... the online achievments push games to it's limits...

people are still trying to get 100K kills on Gears of War.

Unless you have unlocked an achievment.... and Unless you aint competetive... I dont think you'll find the achievments any worth.

It also describes how good a person is or addicted to the game.

[socomnick]

Reason it might be smaller than San Andreas is because they are going for a realistic look that means they have to put more time into every city block unlike San Andreas which had pretty cartoony graphics.

[GameJunkieJim]

Does that mean the Sony fanboys are going to be in here frothing and pissed all night?

The exclusive content is probably just Rockstar's way of saying thanks to Peter Moore for the free advertising he gave them with that stupid tattoo.

[Marriot VP]

no it means they can't praise GTA as much, and some will say it's played out or overrated.

When in all actuality, MMO GTA was what people wanted all along. MS paid them off big time, and they'll market this feature.

[MissAubrey]

lol

[THAMMER1]

This is great news.

[Havince]

itl probably be things such as a new multiplayer level or 2. maybe a few new characters or clothes 2 custom ur character (if u can custom a character ala saint row)

But even if it is thats better than nothing right ??????

[kewlkat007]

this game must suck, because it's not exclusive only to PS anymore. Oh darn, I'm gonna cry.

Vice city made GTA a house hold name, besides all the lawsuits that came after. I'm glad I'm able to purchase it for my console of choice. Whichever one it may be gamers. I've been playing this since 2-d top view on the PC. It's come along way.

Now what kind of content are we talking about?

[SmokeyMcBear]

GTA on Genesis was awesome. Ah memories

[BrainDead]

Your not a gamer.

[kingboy]

Too bad they gonna miss Blu rays capacity advantage because of mr dvd

[God of Gaming]

Enjoy watching your Blue Ray movies while I play exclusive content on an actual game.

[kewlkat007]

with that statement about blu-ray disk size as opposed to the DVD9, I'm still not sold that a Blu-ray has made any differences yet, that's all.

If GOW was possible on a DVD9 then why do I care about Blu-Ray as of now..Last time I heard R:FOM was no GOW killer, until then we will see.

[lilwingman]

Though until it is confirmed I'd take this with a grain of salt; however, if it ends up being true, I think 360 owners have something to be happy about. Then again, if it is content you have to pay for, I personally wouldn't miss it, and definitely wouldn't waste my money on it.

[nirwanda]

that the version demoed to game informer by rockstar was the 360 version dev's tend to show the best version or the most advanced version at the time to game journalists as the best way of showing off their new game. So obviously at the moment Rockstar themselves think that the 360 version of GTA4 is the best or they would have shown the PS3 version instead or as well as the 360.

[techie]

Wahhh exclusive content for the 360 was announced from day one! How do I know that and I havent even got a 360?

[Gamer13]

I just need the game with or without content - just 6 month to go hope they don,t delay even thou its confirm october.

IM OUT...///"""

[Skynetone]

i would have loved to have seen massive pile ups with hundreds of players in shoot-outs

been a member of swat and taking down the most wanted

forming city wide gangs

high speed shootouts / drive-byes / taking over hole city streets

ARE THESE MACHINESB REALLY NEXTGEN

[CrazzyMan]

too early to talk about all this stuff, everything may 10 times change :)

p.s. ech.. how awesome would look GTA4 on EDGE, maybe they will later release some exclusive GTA4: Stories on that engine.. http://www.youtube.com/watc...
"we did this demo with 2 programmers and 1 artist in 2 weeks"

[Keyser]

I'm glad that the 360 get's exclusive content!!! That's going to make the game very interesting. I'm sure the PS3 will get downloadable game content as well. This game will be like Soul Calibur. There will be 2 different covers and different outfits and crap for both versions.

Rubbing it in peoples faces isn't really necessary. This is why PS3fanboys spout off on 360 articles and vice versa.

[lilwingman]

Indeed. The online gaming community is - for the most part - very immature :P

[PS360PCROCKS]

Im excited for the content tho

[sajj316]

Didn't Rockstar say that both consoles would get their own exclusive content? Agree with Keyser ... smacktalk is unecessary, considering we don't exactly know what this exclusive content is for the 360.

[XerockX]

yet another reason us multi-platform owners will buy the 360 version...wtf sony...

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

that was pretty vague.

i`ll wait for more

[overrated]

Another article, another flock of 360 women going on the defensive. I cant figure out why, wait they are regretting there choice of console and are now trying to trick themselves that they have the better console or somthing. i dunno. Most of them sound jealous. Why do they do this? They sure are not gamers. They are not even fanboys.

[highps3]

You WILL be charged for that content so im not to worried about it.

[Figboy]

i'm a 360 gamer (at least on my roommate's 360), and i still think Achievement Points are, well, pointless (no pun intended).

maybe it's because i'm not a little boy anymore, or in high school, but i just don't care about bragging rights.

the fact that i beat the final boss of Street Fighter 3 having never played the game before even once, whereas my roommate, who plays it all the time, and knows the ins and outs of game better than anyone, but still couldn't beat him, is proper bragging rights.

getting points for jumping the farthest in Crackdown is not.

there are better reasons to boast about owning a 360 than Achievement Points.

in my opinion, the Playstation Home trophies are much more interesting, and at least give you a fancy visual representation of your achievements (pun intended).

also, the *GAME* should be the thing that's adding playability and replay value to itself, not points.

i play Shadow of the Colossus and RE4 over and over, and over again because they are great games. adding points isn't going change that fact. not having points doesn't suddenly diminish the game's value either.

i guess for those people that need constant validation that they are "better" than other people, Achievement points are great.

for those people confident in their gaming abilities, and game for the fun, achievement points are irrelevent to their gaming enjoyment.

but hey, that's just me.

oh yeah, and on topic, i'm looking forward to seeing how this game turns out.

one city means their entire focus will be on this one city. making sure everything from character interaction, visuals (which we've seen, and they are nice), physics, and the little details that make a game GTA, are spot on.

so what if there aren't planes? they never excluded any other types of flying devices (like rocket packs, hang-gliders, helicopters, etc).

San Andreas was the limit of what they could do on the PS2.

now, they have two new consoles to test the waters on. it would have been easy to do more of the same, and make GTAIV bigger and more expansive, but the gameplay probably would have felt just like the first 3 iterations, and the handheld iterations.

at least like this, there is a chance the game will be different. i think the return to Liberty City for the consoles is Rockstar saying, "forget the GTAs of the past. *THIS* is the game we would have made back in 2001 if the technology was there. *THIS* is what our true vision has always been. but, we took everything we learned about game design from our previous games, not just GTA, and are applying them here."

i can't wait for more in depth coverage. you'll get no kneejerk reactions from *ME* (at least not today, i'm tired).

[BrainDead]

same for me.

[SmokeyMcBear]

AMEN.. what a novel idea.. replaying a game simply because its a great game... what did we do before all of this achievement point stuff??

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

maybe the extra content is extra discs they had to use to fit the game on.

@figboy
I agree 100%

[Figboy]

i saw your bubbles go from, like, 5 to 2 in a matter of about 5 minutes.

i guess fanboys just can't take criticism (on all camps, Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo. fanboys of all 3 are all parasites, and should go back to the cesspools that spawned them. they're not making the game industry better with their smug, self-righteous and all-knowing attitudes. they're killing it).

anyway, you get plus bubbles from me whenever i can vote. so hopefully you'll be back up to more soon.

[sajj316]

I like your comments ... as off the wall they are sometimes, they make sense to me. I will give you an extra bubble buddy.

I'm no fanboy but I am a fan of good opinions, even if they are full of sarcasm ;)

[Whoooop]

I'll jump in the wagon too.. Let me blow a bubble for you..

[TheExecutive]

Who ever said that the PS3 wont have exclusive content? Just because the 360's is confirmed doesnt mean that sony wont have exclusive content.

[Premonition]

Im not sure if im the only one who thinks this, but when it comes to new ports, PS3 wont get any good features or bigger game because the other system holds back the devs from even trying. For example if a dev wanted to make a huge game with this and that, and on top of this the game is a port, he cant because the other system limits him or they would have to work over time compressing. So basically only exclusive and 1st party will make good use of the blu ray. Im pretty sure there are some devs out there that think that way and dont want to tell Microsoft. Its like you being a big brother and having a little sister or something, and you have to limit yourself because you have to look after her and you cant do this and that, im sure others understand me.

[Keyser]

If that were the case and actually happenend then devs would pay the price for that in sales. Because it appears that Sony's VP's went down to their 1st party creation team, and put up a job posting reading "Looking for Good Devs". They've put the fear into the hearts of men! It appears from the upcoming titles that Sony's boys are going to try and show what the PS3 can really do. They will make other developers look bad. Not only that, 1st party games will sell more and will force 3rd party groups to step up or step off because mediocre will no longer be allowed.

Look at it already, no camp out there wants to make a FPS that looks less game worthy than Gears. Why, because the market would crap on it an no one would buy it. Who will make an RPG and not try to take some of what they see from FF13 or a action adventure game and not take what they see from Uncharted or a kiddie game that doesn't measure up to Ratchet and Clank or an action/adventure game that doesn't measure up to Heavenly Sword or God of War 2. (longest sentence ever!!!)

It will be "Come hard or don't come at all". As far as us gamers are concerned, that's what we need.

[power of Green]

If built from the ground up PS3 would have a bigger cities(BLU-RAY) and the 360s version would look nicer(More Ram) although the 120gig drive would hold massive chunks of the game anyways.

[power of Green]

He plays games, he's a gamer. lol Whats wrong with these people?. Not even the industry uses these terms in the sub-culture twisted ass harcore point of view, if you have prefference you're not a gamer as if thats some great honor in the first place. Gamer(one who plays games).

[THE TERMINATOR]

360 version would look nicer? STOP DREAMING, the PS3 version will have better graphics guaranteed!!! Why cant you except when programmed correctly Ps3 games look nicer.

[GameJunkieJim]

Plenty of evidence around. Even Resitance doesn't look too good, and that's a ground up PS3 game.

The 360 has integrated DX and shared RAM which allows the developers to make things look very nice with a minimum of effort, effort that can then be used to better the gameplay.

The PS3 will catch up, possibly, but it's got a long way to go to look like Gears or Mass Effect.

[THE TERMINATOR]

Also the hard drive for the 360 version isnt going to be used as it deosnt come as standard so expect longer loading times!

[GameJunkieJim]

When games are programmed for the 360, they have an option of using a HD to spool data from if it's present. If the developer decides to implement it. But the load time for a DVD9 at 12X is about 20 times faster than a BD-Disc at 2X. So loading times will either be shorter, or MUCH shorter.

[sumfood4u]

I'M NOT REALLY A FAN OF GTA BUT IF ITS MULITPLATFORM, I'LL TAKE A STAB AT IT. I WANT TO KNOW NEW DIFFRENT THING BOUT THIS ONE, CAUSE I GOT BORED REAL FAST WITH THE OTHER 3 ON PS2.

[ChefDejon]

i think they added exclusive content to the 360 to make for the lack of graphics and pop its gonna have compared to the Ps3 version

[n4g sucks]

dont forget the load time ( ps3 estimated install to hd...2.5-5 gigs) virtua fighter 5 put 2.5 gigs on my hard drive. i wonder what the 360 version will look like

[GameJunkieJim]

DX and unified memory, nuff said.
RSX hasn't put out anything impressive yet.

And the load time will likely be much faster on the 360, since the DVD9 drive runs at 12X compared to the 2X BD Drive. Not to mention Rockstar can always enable the HD detect feature to spool data on the HD resulting in even faster load times.

So go spread your sour grapes elsewhere.