1. Why did I not take the day off work? Gamestation are delivering today, my wife is camping on my doorstep..

   
   Comment by MrJimmy — Apr 29, 2008 @ 9:54 am

2. I love it, picked up my copy from ASDA at 7:30 this morning and had enough time to install it, watch the amazing opening credits/scene setter and have a quick whizz around the city. Definitely going to be ‘working from home’ this afternoon.

   
   Comment by SgtBeano — Apr 29, 2008 @ 9:58 am

3. Postie just handed over my Special Edition - loving the metal case!

   Going to pop it in the PS3 now…

   
   Comment by Cei — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:06 am

4. Im stuck at work,

   I want to go home

   I need to play this game, If Amazon havnt delivered it this morning there is going to be some big big trouble

   aaaahhhhhhh the frustration

   
   Comment by Scorn — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:16 am

5. Just seen the postie doing the houses opposite, must be careful not to tear his hand off!

   Isn’t it lucky I am ’sick’ today

   
   Comment by TheShirts — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:17 am

6. Very good. But for somereason I’m a little dissapointed and i really dont know why, because it’s an amazing game. must just be that time of the month, lol

   
   Comment by E-ROLE — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:21 am

7. I suspect its the hype. I always find that with a game as overhyped as this is, you can’t help but feel let down even if it totally rocks your socks. Let it bed in a few days and your subconcious will forget the hype and let the game speak for itself.

   
   Comment by TheShirts — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:24 am

8. FYI:
   The UPS & Downs of “Grand Theft Auto”…

   [ http://www.1upgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2526 ]

   

   BFN,

   fp.

   
   Comment by fanpages — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:28 am

9. If it’s not there in my box when I get home, I’m going to shit! Probably going to kick something too. I’m already thinking of what I can kick to breaking point to make me feel a little better. Planning and preparation and stuff like that.

   Of course, if it’s there, waiting; well, then I’m gonna shit. Hee hee! Oh I so wish I had taken the day off.

   
   Comment by LordOfRuin — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:31 am

10. I’m 9% in so far, but I’ve had it since Friday (my local supermarket, like a few in the UK, sold it early in error! That said I’ve not being able to play much over the weekend, too busy!). It’s good, but I don’t think it’s such an evolutionary leap as GTA 3 was, that jump to 3d was just amazing.

    What has impressed me though is the storyline so far, it’s got real character!

    Radio stations are ok, nothing too great IMO, it’s a shame you couldn’t have your own music as an option.

    Handling of the cars is a little wobbly, which makes things interesting.

    Overall I’d give it ~9/10 as I don’t think it’s genre defining in the same way that something like Gran Turismo or GTA3 was.

    
    Comment by Paul — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:32 am

11. I think Barbie horse Rider world has real merit and should be hailed by all as the greatest achievement to gaming kind this decade!

    
    Comment by JohnSketch — Apr 29, 2008 @ 10:50 am

12. Went to a midnight release last night, all gone but was first inline this morning. Great game, shame I have to work rather than play this!

    
    Comment by anon — Apr 29, 2008 @ 11:16 am

13. Picked this up from Asda last night(queued from 11.40 and got my grubby mitts on it at 1.30am)

    Best bit so far… crashing my car and flying out of the windscreen… spent 1/2 hour this morning just doing that.

    Soundtrack is lacking in songs i know and like but the commentary is funny… custom radio station with some of the GTA commentary stuck in would be amazing… maybe in a future update like Burnout??

    Haven’t tried the sixaxis controls yet… will try them tonight.

    Only decided to go to Asda on a whim… wish I had booked today off work i’ve taken too many sick ‘playstation’ days for it to work again

    
    Comment by Pauly454 — Apr 29, 2008 @ 11:24 am

14. I got a copy this morning. It’s in my bag, next to me as I sit here at work.

    Needless to say, I can’t wait to get home and get some hookers round. I’m still talking about the game here, of course.

    
    Comment by Real — Apr 29, 2008 @ 11:37 am

15. i have booked a half day off, couldnt the whole one off cause my boss is a c#@t!
    have my copy waiting for me at my local game store. cant bloody wait!!

    
    Comment by manley — Apr 29, 2008 @ 11:42 am

16. I guess everyone’s too busy playing to blog.

    Pity me.. It’ll be Thursdays before I’m sat in my LC swingers cap living life as Niko Bellic.
    Roll on Thursday

    
    Comment by mrric — Apr 29, 2008 @ 11:47 am

17. Unfortunately I’m flying off on a business trip this afternoon. Hopefully they’re have a copy of GTA IV left at the airport - who knows I might even get it tax-free. Will of course play it when I get back to blighty as the PS3 is a little too big to bring along.

    
    Comment by reakt — Apr 29, 2008 @ 11:49 am

18. Gamestation true to word, my wife reports a Special Edition shaped box arriving at lunchtime. She’s not even opening it - thats my job when I get home. Loooong afternoon.

    My pal MrVertigo reports Asda MK being sold out at 9am, then picked it up at Zavvi.

    Haven’t even played yet, but nonetheless well done Rockstar, don’t sell to EA guys we love you how you are..

    
    Comment by MrJimmy — Apr 29, 2008 @ 12:23 pm

19. Oops, looks like PS3 version is lower res than X360.

    http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=134736

    
    Comment by Zed Zee — Apr 29, 2008 @ 12:30 pm

20. @Zed Zee - that’s the internal scaling resolution you idiot - still trolling round on PS3 sites I see. Xbrick 360 with microsoft again is it?

    
    Comment by Mike — Apr 29, 2008 @ 12:44 pm

21. @Zed Zee - i forgot to mention - you’re a twat

    
    Comment by Mike — Apr 29, 2008 @ 12:47 pm

22. I couldn’t bare it, the waiting was too much, and reading comments about those with it in their sticky mitts was just depressing. So I went home at lunch. Lo and behold, a shiny thing in my post box. Ah, lovely.

    It’s rather good so far. I thought it was a bit dark, so settings, brightness, max, and all was well. I’m liking our hero already.

    
    Comment by LordOfRuin — Apr 29, 2008 @ 12:53 pm

23. [...] well in the reviews: IGN gives it ten out of ten and an Editor’s Choice […] Source: Grand Theft Auto IV - first impressions. - at Threespeech (No Ratings Yet)  Loading … RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL Write a [...]

    
    Pingback by Grand Theft Auto IV - first impressions. | GameBlews PS3, XBOX 360, Wii, PSP, DS News — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:00 pm

24. Not convinced yet.
    1) Too dark
    2) Cars handle badly
    3) He walks awkwardly compared to the older games

    
    Comment by John — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:00 pm

25. Great. Only a bit into it so far (just sneaked off at lunch to play some), but impressed.

    I think some people were expecting too much of this game though, wait for the next one!

    I hear that DLC might be coming to PS3 as well and the ‘exclusive’ DLC for the 360 is only exclusive in that the PS3 will have different content. Also…trophies for Home (when it finally arrives).

    
    Comment by pb-live — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:14 pm

26. No pre-order, and the Morrisons around the corner from the office has sold out. My lovely missus is now scouring town for a copy. My fingers are crossed… haven’t really got the time to get stuck in until the weekend anyway.

    I’ll keep telling myself that, might make me feel better.

    
    Comment by Dan (PSN-Detale) — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:26 pm

27. online is like the best thing ever…..

    basejumping outta choppers FTW!!

    
    Comment by marvzilla — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:28 pm

28. im at work:(

    
    Comment by iagdad — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:44 pm

29. Epic moment, life on hold…

    
    Comment by rBerggren — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:49 pm

30. the game is amazing, driving is really hard but does anyone find the default setting to be REALLY dark?? in some parts i have to adjust the brightness and contrast just to see around the place

    
    Comment by Paul — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:50 pm

31. Been playing since the weekend, the game is amazing. a VAST improvement on the last gen ones. Also the XBOX live and DLC content will be amazing!

    
    Comment by Nyco — Apr 29, 2008 @ 1:57 pm

32. This game is astonishing! I’ve just spent the last three hours trying to get to grips with how big this place is!! It feels so much bigger than San Andreas! His movement in response to earlier comments feels and looks more biological, he reacts in a way he should react rather than just falling on his ass in the same postion (cf SA & VC). Got the special edition, what a buy! The box, safe, artwork, all feels like nice stuff, not cheap crap.
    Pity I got an exam tomorrow…
    Cheers

    
    Comment by Nico's Friend — Apr 29, 2008 @ 2:20 pm

33. Had to tweak the sharpness on my TV to remove some of the blurry-o-vision, reduced the saturation to remove the ‘You’ve been Tango’ed’ effect and played with the brightness and contrast settings. Now it looks pretty damn good for a game of this scale. Can’t wait for some quality time on it this evening….

    
    Comment by BlueGene — Apr 29, 2008 @ 2:26 pm

34. Finish work @17:30, home by 18.00 GTA4 better be there. game said it was posted on 26th

    
    Comment by Mostyn — Apr 29, 2008 @ 2:28 pm

35. I found that I preferred the picture with the brightness on max (which I think is more like normal), and the flicker fix thing turned off, (which turns off the smoothing effect too).

    
    Comment by LordOfRuin — Apr 29, 2008 @ 2:55 pm

36. Don’t see why it’s getting 10s anything from 9.5 to 9.9 I can understand, but not 10. I’ve seen some problems in my irst impresions. 8 ball is especially broken.

    
    Comment by Moses — Apr 29, 2008 @ 2:58 pm

37. I played it for an hour and a half late last night, and it’s pretty cool. The graphics are great and it has that GTA feel. Unfortunately, I just tried to do the early missions, which are pretty lame. “Drive me here, pick up this person, etc”. It’s just the basic tutorial stuff. Don’t expect to be a stone cold killer right out of the gate, unless you like driving over people. I only got into two fist fights and I still don’t have a weapon. I don’t have much money, but I did buy some clothes and go on a date (bowling). Watched some TV. Not quite living large at the moment.

    
    Comment by Brian Spence — Apr 29, 2008 @ 3:41 pm

38. I am doomed. The missus has just called and our town is officially sold out. She’s tried all the places that sell games (the supermarkets, Blockbuster, Woolworths, Argos & two branches of Currys). No PS3 copies available, only a few 360 ones.

    I must now try to sneak out of work early and head into the city centre to try and snag a copy instead. Craptacular.

    
    Comment by Dan (PSN-Detale) — Apr 29, 2008 @ 3:41 pm

39. WELCOME TO LIBERTY CITY!!

    see you all again in several weeks time

    
    Comment by mobiletone — Apr 29, 2008 @ 4:17 pm

40. Fantastic story-line and gameplay, however over use of the “blur” and lighting effects, very poor textures in places and a low resolution makes the gfx look even more blurry.

    Looks alot lower than 720p 620?

    Having said that i love the game and I’m enjoying it immensely, however not game of the year having now seen the GFX in action.

    I’m disappointed that reviews get carried away with the pressure and give these games 10/10 as it’s not perfect in any way.

    It’s an awesome game, don’t get me wrong, but when i first played i was like wtf the graphics are well blurry i can”t see shit.

    It took me a good 2 hours to get used to it.

    And no it’s not my tv, lots of people have said the same.

    
    Comment by Anthonyp — Apr 30, 2008 @ 7:18 am

41. I have a copy for the PS3 and my brother has a copy for his Xbox 360.

    Is it just me or does it look sharper and have less blur than the PS3 version?

    
    Comment by dan — Apr 30, 2008 @ 7:44 am

42. Has anyone else had trouble connect online?

    
    Comment by Syphon — Apr 30, 2008 @ 7:52 am

43. storys wicked. i wanted to hurt vlad when he was talking to niko like some bitch!

    had to turn the brightness up alot as everything is so dark!

    the phone thing is wicked too! very intuitive!!

    driving while on the phone is just so much fun!

    my copy did crash though:( only once wile talking to some guy on the street!

    didnt get to multiplay as there was a problem and it was telling me to come back later all night!

    watching niko scrath his balls while idle had me in stitches!

    
    Comment by iagdad — Apr 30, 2008 @ 7:52 am

44. Great game - can’t wait to get home to play some more this evening!!! The quality of missions definetly ramps up from the early ones.

    Is it me, or does Nico sound a lot like Shrek from time to time???

    
    Comment by orme — Apr 30, 2008 @ 8:04 am

45. @ Syphon.

    Yep. Been having connection problems. My n/w indicator light just stays on when i try and connect. Theres nothing wrong with the setup of my ps3 as ive been online for ages with no probs.

    Anyone else getting this?

    
    Comment by James Banks — Apr 30, 2008 @ 8:15 am

46. TS - be a love and find out what’s going on with the PSN multiplayer - lot’s of peeps couldn’t connect last night with a ‘can not connect to the game provider’ message. Has the problem been notified to Sony?

    
    Comment by BlueGene — Apr 30, 2008 @ 8:16 am

47. Yeah! guess the servers are down. Any news about when they will be back online?

    
    Comment by Bateman — Apr 30, 2008 @ 8:17 am

48. FYI…
    Freezing issues on a 60Gb console?
    [ http://www.pspsps.tv/2008/04/gta_iv_freezing_sony_say_reins.html ]

    GTA IV online is down
    [ http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/04/29/gta-iv-online-is-down/ ]

    BFN,

    fp.

    
    Comment by fanpages — Apr 30, 2008 @ 8:36 am

49. It feels a lot slower paced than San Andreas, but I suppose this one is just more realistic. I found the frame rate to be pretty slow when playing the game first time, especially when driving. Once I re-started the game it seemed quicker, but then crashed

    It’s certainly needs some ‘playing in’ time to get used to it. But I was amazed by all the small details. for some reason the exhaust from cars kept me amused for some time, when you hold the hand brake and pump the throttle!

    And the explosions are superb. That is some realistic looking flames. Shame I’m busy til Fri evening now.

    
    Comment by Real — Apr 30, 2008 @ 8:42 am

50. I managed to connect once. Hitting x on multiplayer it just brought me into it straight away. I chose deathmatch but it just had a black loading screen. VOIP was working and some guy was playing as i could hear him. Got bored after a while and rebooted.

    Really want to play multiplayer!!!

    
    Comment by James Banks — Apr 30, 2008 @ 8:53 am

51. I love running people over. Hee hee! Does this mean I’m nasty? Pays the bills though.

    
    Comment by LordOfRuin — Apr 30, 2008 @ 9:14 am

52. Still not managed to find any in stock. Doh!

    
    Comment by SharkyUK — Apr 30, 2008 @ 9:35 am

53. Mine froze twice last night in the game. Could it be related to the server issues?

    I will try reinstalling when I come home tonight. Great game though!!

    
    Comment by Bateman — Apr 30, 2008 @ 9:39 am

54. Didn’t Sony give up GTA as an exclusive on the understanding that Rockstars next game would be a Sony exclusive? This means that title will have a huge budget if they plough GTA4 profits into it. Which is all good for PS3

    
    Comment by Mister_G — Apr 30, 2008 @ 10:02 am

55. I was getting freezing randomly, almost like a lag effect, every couple of minutes last night, I signed out of psn and it seems to be working fine right now.

    P.S. Brucie is awesome!

    
    Comment by rothbury — Apr 30, 2008 @ 10:02 am

56. played it most of yesterday,,, my god i love it!!

    i didnt have any issue that some have mentioned here, worked fine all the way. i havent been online with it yet as i thought the servers would be over loaded, and also i want to hone my shooting skills.
    there are moments in the game that are simply breathtaking, the level of detail that has gone into this game is shocking.
    i love the realistic feel of the cars and city, although it takes a while to get used to. when i first starting driving it seemed a bit slow and anoying, but after finding a good sports car and felt the differents i realised that the physics were correct just the average cars were shit!

    @all
    has any one been online? if so what was it like?

    
    Comment by manley — Apr 30, 2008 @ 10:56 am

57. @ everyone with freezing problems.

    Lots of you will already be on the case with this, but have a quick look at this article…

    http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=134790

    
    Comment by Three Speech — Apr 30, 2008 @ 11:06 am

58. yeah - i think the hype got to me.

    initial thoughts are:

    too dark even with brightness up.
    frame rate! wtf. i think all the ps2 versions were more stable
    initial missions seem no different to gta3, etc…
    car handling that encourages sensible driving. brake in straight lines, even sporty cars handling like boats at high speeds.

    however! it’s still awesome and i expect to be playing it for a long time to come + for it too suprise me a good few times

    
    Comment by d33p — Apr 30, 2008 @ 11:38 am

59. VERY first impression: meh.

    First impression (after five hours’ play): excellent.

    The graphics and frame-rate of an open-world game of this nature will never take your breath away (Oblivion was similarly disarming). It’s all about a breathing world lovingly recreated with a loving attention to detail. That’s why it’s worth 10 out of 10.

    
    Comment by rooee — Apr 30, 2008 @ 12:06 pm

60. I played it for 3-4 hours last night and the only thing I was disapointed in was the radio stations, where’s all the good well known 80’s tunes gone!? I don’t recognise any songs on it at all, and I’d have thought that with a game this big, they would have got some licenses from record labels. but apart from that, brilliant, esp the weather effects!

    
    Comment by Flegg — Apr 30, 2008 @ 12:23 pm

61. @mobiletone+jimmy+ruin+rooe+dojo+enter name here

    Someone come multiplayer with me!!!!!

    
    Comment by JohnSketch — Apr 30, 2008 @ 2:17 pm

62. mobiletone+jimmy+ruin+rooe+dojo+rBerggren+ ENTER NAME HERE

    
    Comment by rBerggren — Apr 30, 2008 @ 2:25 pm

63. overated,over violent,rubbish,imo

    
    Comment by andy — Apr 30, 2008 @ 2:27 pm

64. FYI the “freezing”.

    Make of this what you will, but I’ve spoken to Rockstar AND the PS3 helpline as my copy was virtually un-playable on my 60GB launch model. They told me it’s an issue regarding JUST the older 60GB SKU, and that they’ve got no idea how to fix it. (Yes, I’ve tried re-installing it!) They told me that the game performs flawless on the new 40GB model so, I ‘downgraded’ to the 40GB PS3 and I cannot believe the difference!

    No freezing whatsoever, now. Yes it’s a bit of a pisser having to downgrade, but when I asked them if they think this is something that can be fixed with a future patch, the bashfully helpful person from Rockstar was far from optimistic!

    My advice - Get rid of your 60GB PS3 and get the newer model.

    
    Comment by GIANT ENEMY CRAB — Apr 30, 2008 @ 3:22 pm

65. Love it.
    Got my Special Edition today (only 1 day after launch) from Amazon. Not had much time to play yet (damn work!) but everything I have seen so far has been great.
    I am coming to this as the first big console game I have ever played - as I have been a PC gamer for years. I only bought a next gen console for this game and I am very pleased that I did. BTW I chose PS3 over 360 only for the Blu-ray drive but am very glad I did! Cant quite call myself a console gamer yet - love to try GTA IV with a keyboard and mouse - but this game has made me very happy.
    Well done Rockstar!

    
    Comment by Fatty — Apr 30, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

66. Oh and I have had no “freezing” issues and had a quick online multiplayer game this afternoon no problem at all.

    
    Comment by Fatty — Apr 30, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

67. Yeah, dunno what the fuzz about freezing is all about.. I have an european 60gb model, played 12+ hours in a row, and no problems at all..

    
    Comment by rBerggren — Apr 30, 2008 @ 4:00 pm

68. @ Threespeech, mayb could u guys make some sign-up-thing for the users on this blog, so we can set up multiplayer-games with each other easier?

    
    Comment by rBerggren — Apr 30, 2008 @ 4:03 pm

69. Been getting into the multiplayer now it’s working again. Fantastic. Deathmatch at the prison is great fun.

    
    Comment by pb-live — Apr 30, 2008 @ 4:30 pm

70. played six hours solid last night on my day one 60Gb with no freezing/lag issues at all, ran the game in 720p instead of 1080 as a test and personally can’t see any benefits from running at a higher resolution due to the look of the game.

    the blurryness was an issue though, it was really bad on my display but i bunged the sharpness up to about 75% and it looks sweet now, put brightness up to around 70% and contrast around 80% in game and lowered the saturation. also decided to use the ‘classic’ control option.

    loving every minute of it.

    amusing moment, outrunning the police on a Faggio scooter!

    spent about 2hrs just wandering around in awe.

    
    Comment by mobiletone — Apr 30, 2008 @ 5:55 pm

71. again postings deleted

    @ Freespeech

    Why the box states GTA 4 is 720p 1080i
    but when playing on my 42″ TRUEHD
    the screen mentions 630p
    see also the link on :
    http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=46242&page=21

    why does Rockstar promisses on the box HD, but more likely nowadays,always gives the customer SD

    
    Comment by terrortime — Apr 30, 2008 @ 6:07 pm

72. mine still haasnt arrived off amazon i wanna play it so much. the seller promised me it be here on release day if not today but still no GTA4 for me

    
    Comment by Marky264 — Apr 30, 2008 @ 6:19 pm

73. Yeah, Play.com have shafted me with a non reciept of the game as of yet… posted on soddin monday… ffs last time i use Play unless they are desperatly cheaper than anyone else! Which lets be fair, happens less and less these days!

    
    Comment by TheIronEagle — Apr 30, 2008 @ 7:51 pm

74. I have a 60g model… nil freezing probs for me either.

    Absolutely loving it!

    
    Comment by rooee — May 1, 2008 @ 6:18 am

75. @71:
    Please, if you’re going to post, get your facts right. As has already been noted by the source you quote, the game probably has a native res of 640p, not 630p, meaning you’re claim that your TV has 630p popping up seems highly unlikely. I also have a 1080p TV — it pops up 720p on mine whenever the game starts.

    As for the game itself, it’s good. The graphics may be blurry and a bit rubbish in places (I’ve been spoilt by GT5:P and Uncharted), and the core mechanics are exactly the same as any other GTA game since III, but it’s still a blast. I’m not sure the whole 99-100% review thing is fair, but I’d definitely be scoring it as one of the best games on PS3.

    25 hours so far on a 60Gb PS3 and all is well.

    
    Comment by Hapimeses — May 1, 2008 @ 7:23 am

76. i got home last night and deleted the game data (but kept my saves) and reinstalled.

    played for 5 hours ( till midnight) on and offline. one of the cut scenes did jump during the evening then bang, game freezes.

    i restarted the machine and started again and within 5 mins it had frozen again! help!!

    
    Comment by iagdad — May 1, 2008 @ 7:51 am

77. FYI:
    PS3Fanboy.com are maintaining a poll in conjunction with Joystiq and X3F regarding technical issues with “Grand Theft Auto IV” (on both PS3 & Xbox 360 platforms):

    [ http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/04/30/are-you-having-technical-issues-with-gta-iv/ ]

    BFN,

    fp.

    
    Comment by fanpages — May 1, 2008 @ 8:16 am

78. @ terrortime - go troll elsewhere, the ps3 box states it can run at 1080p. i went into my display options, turned off 720p using custom and it ran in 1080 just fine. the ps3 version uses some nice processing to make the game graphics smoother and less cartoony than the 360 version.

    @ Hapimeses - have you tried altering the ’sharpness’ on your display if you have one? that sorted out the over blurry issue i had and looks great now.

    another solid 6hrs last night and still no freezing. i wonder if it’s related to being connected to the PSN as i haven’t gone online with it yet.

    anyone wanna hang out at The Pink Triangle?

    
    Comment by mobiletone — May 1, 2008 @ 8:18 am

79. @75,78 goto the computer screen in de policecar.
    its even worse,
    max480,

    my tv is constantly resizing but never the 1080

    
    Comment by terrortime — May 1, 2008 @ 8:36 am

80. @78 Agreed. I too set my display options to ignore the 720 option so it forces it out at 1080, just as i do with COD4. Looks just fine to me.

    Absolutely lovin this game, so many nice little touches that make you go ooh! I met some random guy near Romans taxis last night, he was a complete weirdo but he gave me a $100 dollars just for talking to him! I guess there are many like him around the city. Also i keep finding pigeons that are glowing red but i have never had a gun with me to shoot them, again i presume these are like the hidden packages from the previous outings.

    As far as the freezing goes mine stuttered a couple of time on Tuesday eve at about 10pm then froze completely at about 11:45pm, i was connected to the PSN at the time. No problems since. I don’t mind the occasional glitch with something this complex.

    See you in Liberty City peeps.

    
    Comment by Si Doob — May 1, 2008 @ 11:21 am

81. I’ve played for about 10 hours so far on my 60GB PS3 picked up a day after launch. I’ve had no problems at all, and played for 4 hours last night online and this was the most fun I can remember having on a console! The variety of stuff you can do in Party Play mode is mindblowing.
    When I first started playing the game I wasn’t too impressed with the graphics, bit dark and blurry. Uncharted and COD4 are loads better. However, turning up the sharpness on my LCD TV really made a difference, the game looks great now, especially the first time you go up in a chopper and head towards all the skyscrapers with the sun setting in the background…. Almost bought a tear to my eye!

    
    Comment by Robothamster — May 1, 2008 @ 11:27 am

82. It lives up to the hype for sure!

    Loving it….I’v played about 8 hours and only done 15 missions, spent way too much time taking in the sights whilst riding in a taxi, getting drunk with my cousing and going to see stippers and watching the Television.

    p.s. Mens Room = MegaLolzzz

    p.p.s. Has anyone been busted for accessing illegal content on the tinternet yet? haha

    
    Comment by elephant_stone — May 1, 2008 @ 11:34 am

83. i am 20 % through on a 60 gig ps3 no probs at all in any way, i have a 720p lcd tv, graphics look great dont understand this blurry stuff that peeps is saying.
    the game is amazing and until i have completed it i will refrain from give a review score, but its certainly on track for a 10 out 10 imo.

    @80 i found a guy near the strip club that gave me £100 for talking, but as soon as he gave me the cash he then called me a dick,,, so i shot him in his face, appropriate action taken then!

    
    Comment by manley — May 1, 2008 @ 11:43 am

84. @ terrortime, if you are going to insist on continuing to troll this site, at least make sense!

    You’re TV can’t possibly be saying 630p as a) that resolution doesn’t exist, b) the PS3 cannot output 630p (or 640p for that matter).

    From this comment it is clear that you almost certainly don’t own a PS3 or the PS3 version of GTAIV and more than likely don’t even have a HDTV.

    Why don’t you do us all a favour and get back to playing your XBox 360, maybe when you’ve saved up enough of your pocket money you’ll be able to afford a PS3 to try for real…

    The PS3 version of GTAIV outputs at 1080p as it says on the box, and as anyone with a correctly setup PS3 and 1080p screen can attest to. Have you ever heard of Trading Standards? Can you imagine the lawsuit Rockstar would face falsely advertising a “630p” game as a 1080p game?

    This mentality of “I’ve read it on the internet it must be true” really bothers me. There are literally hundreds of news sites and blogs reporting this “news” when in actuality the source of it was an anonymous user on an internet forum that zoomed in and counted pixels from a 3rd party screenshot of allegedly the final build of the PS3 game!!!! Hardly a credible source, for all we know he’s a Microsoft employee or 12 years old!

    Where is the independent verification from a different source (why has no one else tested/reported this)? Where is the documented (pictured) side-by-side comparison between the PS3/360 (at no point does this guy say he’s tested the 360 version)? Where is the official press release from Rockstar explaining the situation?

    Regardless how many pixels this saddo allegedly counted on a screenshot, the fact remains that the majority of independent/unbiased sources give the edge to the PS3 in terms of graphics (including the Executive Producer of the game!).

    
    Comment by Apnomis — May 1, 2008 @ 12:17 pm

85. i think that guy is part of the story coz he pops up again lol but in manleys case maybe not!

    
    Comment by iagdad — May 1, 2008 @ 12:18 pm

86. Awesome - I got the game cheap at Heathrow - well 38 quid - cheaper than I expected. I’ve only played it for a couple of hours but it’s great. Hope I get some time to get really stuck into it this weekend.

    
    Comment by reakt — May 1, 2008 @ 12:26 pm

87. Ha ha nice one manley that’s the Liberty City way! Can’t wait to get home and do a bit more of the storymode. I got the game at midnight Monday,had Tuesday off work and i’ve only just taken Michelle bowling (she kicked my ass).

    
    Comment by Si Doob — May 1, 2008 @ 12:34 pm

88. the bitch spanked me at bowling and pool! but i did then take her home and spank the ass off of her while she told niko to tell her more interesting things! classic!

    
    Comment by iagdad — May 1, 2008 @ 12:44 pm

89. @84, to stop this ongowing war against terror.

    i got a 42″ 42PFL5432D/37 Phlips
    i got a PS3 hooked trough HDMI on the TV
    i got constantly resizing of the screen when playing GTA,meaning the resolution changes time after time,
    eg. startup screens are bigger than gamescreen (1080)
    the computer in the car drops the resolution to 480.

    Again tell me that the resizing of my screen isn’t happening,
    like a famous dude once said, It’s TRUE, it’s DAMM TRUE

    PS. regarding the verification,have we all forgotten that rockstar invited the reviewers to play GTA-SA if they at minimum give the game a 9 (or 90%) (see official playstation magazine Benelux a couple of episodes back)
    Ps2: the game is good

    
    Comment by terrortime — May 1, 2008 @ 12:46 pm

90. another funny thing that ahppend which is really quite simple is that when i ran someone down they flipped over the bonnet but while rolling over the side he grabbed hold of the door handle! so i sped up and he wouildnt let go! so i saw a car coming inthe opposite direction and side swipped it at about 60miles an hour with this guy holding on for dear life! classic! there ws blood everywhere!

    something i am missing though is the “squelch” sound u got in previous gta tiles when u ran over someones head?! anybody else heard it? my gf makes me turn the telly down while she is watch tv in the main room:(

    
    Comment by iagdad — May 1, 2008 @ 12:48 pm

91. ….here’s my PSN ID if anyone fancies hooking up for some multiplayer fun.(NEMESIS1974).

    
    Comment by Si Doob — May 1, 2008 @ 12:53 pm

92. @90 I crushed a skull last night it went with a sickening pop/crunch with plenty of blood! Felt a bit sorry for the poor individual. Wrong place at the wrong time.

    
    Comment by Si Doob — May 1, 2008 @ 12:56 pm

93. kool

    
    Comment by iagdad — May 1, 2008 @ 12:58 pm

94. Amazing the game is awesome! After playing its mind boggling how great this game is, so many clever new ideas/improvements have been put into the game. Ridiculous fun to play its one of the best games ive ever played. Definitely a big step up for the gta series. Fully deserves all the praise its getting ,the metascore so far is still 100%. INCREDIBLE.

    
    Comment by mark — May 1, 2008 @ 1:49 pm

95. Got my copy last friday (don’t ask how…). For obvious reason i disabled my internet connection on my PS3 and played quite happily for 20 odd hours over the course off the weekend. Come Tuesday i enabled my internet connection again and since then have had a number of problems - the game stops responding at times, sometimes for up to a minute. I’ve also had a couple of complete crashes resulting in the familiar beeps of anger from my console. For the record i’m running on a PAL 60GB upgraded to 250GB (bought about a year ago).

    Worth mentioning now though that despite these issues i still think the game is killer - hopefully a patch of some sort down the road will sort stuff out, but it won’t stop me playing in the meantime.

    
    Comment by ElStefio — May 1, 2008 @ 2:52 pm

96. @85

    call me a dick and thats what happens! there aint gonna be no story for him! ashes to ashes and all that!

    
    Comment by manley — May 1, 2008 @ 4:09 pm

97. I’ve played the game about 10 hours now…exquisite ! I love this game. Although, the cars are a bit hard to steer, but that’s my opinion of course.

    
    Comment by JaKhris — May 1, 2008 @ 5:11 pm

98. It is just the right blance between innovation and familiarity… Love it!!
    8 hours in, nearly 7 per cent complete. Too busy hanging out with my cousin and going on dates, exploring the area looking for pickups/secrets etc to do missions!
    Anyway, I’m playing on the launch 60GB model, It has freezed twice but I’m positive that it’s connected to the online servers being overloaded. Once the servers came back on and multiplayer became available, no issues happened. The online is amazing fun, loads of potential, but I got trashed!
    Graphically I’ve been really impressed tbh.

    
    Comment by Tom F — May 1, 2008 @ 6:34 pm

99. this game is impossible to describe with one word… playing mine on a 60gb that i picked up on ps3 release and 30% through no freeze issues of the sort must just be lucky.

    @83 i didn’t shoot him and found him again and had to do a mission with him then found him for a third time and that was the last time i saw him.

    
    Comment by Andrew — May 1, 2008 @ 6:52 pm

100. GTA IV is so over hyped and all the gaming sites got totally sucked in - 10/10 IGN?!!

     Yes it is a very good game but not perfect…
     1. graphics are not crisp hd - it feels a bit last gen
     2. the lighting can be a pain - on a few missions I had to wait until day or muddle around in the dark to find a ladder etc.
     3. combat is better than GTA III but still not as sharp as say Drakes Fortune
     4. it is still the same structure as the previous games - go to some one get a mission

     that said there are some great moments:
     1. the dialogue between characters is hilarious
     2. the tv channels are brilliant and you will wonder how some of the stuff got past censors
     3. the story is very engaging
     4. whilst not proper hd it must be said that at times the graphics are beautiful

     
     Comment by gobucks — May 2, 2008 @ 12:33 am

101. playued multiplaya last night. WOW!

     while lining a random playa up for a drive by he runs over, pulls me out of the car and drives off!

     bastard!

     the ensuing cahse was classic!

     
     Comment by iagdad — May 2, 2008 @ 7:39 am

102. FYI:
     From TalkPlaystation.com…
     “How to run Grand Theft Auto IV at 1080p”
     ===
     Here is a little how-to guide on how to run Grand Theft Auto at 1080p on the Playstation 3. If you have a 1080p set and the game keeps booting up in 720p all you need to do is disable the other resolutions, i will show you how to do that now…

     Go to to the display option under settings
     Select video output settings
     Select HDMI
     Select custom
     Untick 1080i and 720p
     Press X
     Press X again
     Select finish
     Launch game

     Please note that you need a 1080p HDTV in the 40″ range and preferably connected via HDMI.
     ===

     There is a demonstration video hosted on the site if you need extra help.

     BFN,

     fp.

     
     Comment by fanpages — May 2, 2008 @ 8:46 am

103. I still can’t find a shop or supermarket in Cornwall that has it in stock Damn stupid car MOT making me miss the launch day!

     
     Comment by lxd — May 2, 2008 @ 8:49 am

104. finaly got to the central island last night!!!
     madison square gardens looks off the hook.
     i love this game soo much im dreaming about it, that cant be healthy.
     i have a long weekend ahead of me, the game be burning by the time i put it down.

     
     Comment by manley — May 2, 2008 @ 9:52 am

105. Managed to get my hands on a copy finally this afternoon, forgot to put a pre-order down for a PS3 version, on launch day it was sold out, so it was either get the XBox 360 version or wait until the PS3 version is back in stock…

     I took the latter choice obviously can’t wait to get started on playing this

     
     Comment by SpikedEffect — May 2, 2008 @ 12:48 pm

106. FYI:
     “Take-Two suggests PS3 GTAIV fix”
     [ http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6190279.html ]
     ===
     Publisher’s tech support department unveils an elaborate 12-step program to address frequent freezing by deleting saves, disabling online and rumble support; 360 remedy still MIA.
     By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpot
     Posted May 2, 2008 12:25 am GMT

     Reports of Grand Theft Auto IV freezing up have been circulating message boards since the game’s launch Tuesday, but Rockstar Games has been tight-lipped as to the reason or the remedy, passing off requests for public comment onto Sony. While the majority of complaints appear to be coming from PlayStation 3 users, Xbox 360 owners with glitch-ridden game experiences have also voiced their frustrations online.

     Take-Two representatives may not have been willing to go on the record about the issue, but the publisher’s tech support team does not have the same luxury when it comes to customer complaints. An inquiry into the Take-Two tech support site yielded the following array of suggestions on how to fix the problem. The 12-part response follows below:

     Please run through the following, go through in order.

     [snip – see above link for the details]

     If that doesn’t solve the problem, Take-Two allows tech support users to reopen their cases within seven days.

     As for Sony, earlier today, a representative with the company confirmed a ‘freezing’ issue with GTAIV on “a limited number of PS3s.” He added that Sony has received “an extremely low volume” of complaint calls to its customer service line, and that it is working with all concerned parties to pin down and fix the issue.

     Microsoft has not yet responded to GameSpot’s inquiries on problems with the Xbox 360 edition of the game. GameSpot editors have yet to receive a response to a Take-Two tech support ticket filed for that version of the game.
     ===

     Gee! Am I glad I don’t have this problem… no, wait, I don’t even have this game… seems like this option is the only way to avoid getting loads of grief.

     Perhaps Rockstar should release a patch rather than expect those affected to do all this malarkey manually, or do what Konami did & ask everybody to Beta test for them weeks in advance.

     Then again, I doubt any scheduled release date would have been met if issues of the quantity reported had been found in the latter stages of testing.

     BFN,

     fp.

     
     Comment by fanpages — May 2, 2008 @ 8:23 pm

107. Hmm…

     My thoughts are if you are hard resetting if the game crashes it could corrupt the save or install file.

     But it seems more related to the network than anything. Friends new 40gb machine crashed and wouldnt restart, even after reinstalling, but after pulling the network cable its working fine again now.

     So its probably just related to the high traffic on the networks causing issues when the game tries to check something online. if it cant connect online then its just gonna hang.

     I would imagine these problems will start to fade once the servers are sorted.

     
     Comment by SH4RKY — May 3, 2008 @ 12:07 pm

108. FYI:
     For all those left out in the cold so far…

     An 18Mb patch (”1.01 Update”) to “Grand Theft Auto IV” is available to fix the ‘freezing’ problem.

     [ http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/05/07/gta-iv-gets-1-01-patch-freezing-fixed/ ]

     BFN,

     fp.

     
     Comment by fanpages — May 7, 2008 @ 6:03 pm

109. Don’t all Russian at once to get it.

     (Oh look, somebody has got my coat for me…)

     
     Comment by fanpages — May 7, 2008 @ 6:06 pm

110. Just received it at last!! Can’t wait to try!! Just about to finish work and run off!

     
     Comment by Penta — May 9, 2008 @ 6:10 pm

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