It saddens me to represent to you this horrible news. First of all, I purchased my copy of Grand theft auto 4 (from best buy) on day one - yup, thats right, no preorder. To my satisfaction the game seems very interesting, until it froze…… three times with in the hour. Even more crazy, I couldn’t play it online…….at all!
After some quick research on the ever so mighty “internet” or Google if you will. I discovered that this is an ongoing issue that many people experienced way before me. Anyhoo, when push comes to shove I find my self in an awkward position that no gamer should ever be in - I have a game that froze a few time, but hasn’t lately and sometimes I can go online. The online issue seems to by dieing down, it might have been just the rush of all the people playing the dang game at the same time. The freezing issue I’m not so sure about.
Rockstar has yet to address the issue and offer a solution besides the stupid “erase the game data and install it again” excuse.
So, don’t buy GTA4 yet, at least until Rockstar sorts it all out. Meanwhile you can all sign up for Rockstars social club for GTA4, Enjoy? http://socialclub.rockstargames.com/
Rockstar revealed 4 new multiplayer game modes bringing the total of known game modes to 7 out of the supposed 15 game modes. Wow!
Okay, here are the 4 new modes:
Team Mafiya Work (2-8 Teams)
You’re a member of a crew doing contract work for the mafiya - including such plum gigs as escorting wanted men, picking up MacGuffins and stealing cars. Work as a team to complete contracts before the time period ends and get the rewards. You’ll probably want to do your best to scupper the other crew’s hard work as well. Each contract you complete gives your team cash, and the crew with the most cash at the end of the round wins.
Team Car Jack City (2-8 Teams)
Cars spawn parked around the map and the teams must steal them and take them to a drop off point. The cash teams get for dropping off stolen vehicles depends on their condition - teams get less cash the more damaged they are. The exception to this are special bonus cars, stuffed with drugs, which give a set amount of cash on delivery no matter how damaged they are. Your crew has to get hold of whatever vehicles the boss wants. Whichever crew makes the most money wins. Simple.
Turf War (2 teams only)
A timed capture-the-base mode. There are a number of bases around the map that you have to take by standing on them for a short period of time. The more players that are on a base, the faster it can be captured. The more bases that your team owns, the faster your team’s cash score increases. If the rival gang is on or near a base, you won’t be able to take control of it - so do what you can to try and… displace them. The team with the most cash at the end of the round wins.
Race
Race to the finish through each checkpoint in order. If you take a wrong turn or mess up in some way you can respawn your vehicle on the last checkpoint you passed. There is a large selection of races for cars, boats, and helicopters - you can choose laps and vehicle class/type. This mode has two sub-modes: ‘Free Race’ and ‘Cannonball Run.’ Free Race are point-to-point races. First one to reach the end point wins. Cannonball Run are races where you have to traverse several checkpoints any way you can.
Now, here are the previously anounced game modes:
Team Deathmatch (2-8 Teams)
Players work as a team to rub out other teams for money and the crew with the most cash at the end of the round wins. Take the other crew down. Remember to loot the cash dropped by deceased players. That’s the way to get ahead.
Cops n’ Crooks (2 teams only)
A team-based mode in which the Crooks must get their Boss to safety while the Cops have to take him down. The Boss is marked with a crosshair. This mode has two sub-modes: ‘All For One’ and ‘One For All.’
In All For One, one team is made up of Crooks and a Boss, and the other team is made up of Cops. The Cops are trying to hunt down and kill the Boss while the Crooks are trying to protect him. The Cops win by killing the Boss and the Crooks win by getting the Boss safely to the getaway vehicle and escaping.
One For All is similar but there is no Boss. Here, the Cops win by killing all of the Crooks and the Crooks win by filling up a getaway vehicle with members of their team. Only 4 people can escape in the getaway vehicle. Players cannot respawn in this mode.
Both of these variations can be won by the Cops if they manage to destroy the getaway vehicle.
GTA Race
Similar to the orthodox Race, but with the added element of combat. Race and fight your way through the checkpoints in order and then hit the finish, but this time you can also pick up the weapons spawned en route to help take out your opponents. You can also exit the vehicle during the road races.
I am so excited I can’t wait for GTA IV to launch. For more screens and vids of GTAIV visit www.rockstar.com.
Time to celebrate, all you PS3 and/or Sony fans!!! The New, and shiny, PSN Store is now live. It will be included with the new 2.30 software update. I’ve wrote about this a lot in my blog, but for those of you who haven’t seen any pictures of the store……here you go!
Here’s a more detailed description from Gamepro.com
After a few hiccups and a brief stint of downtime, the PlayStation Store is up and running again today with a new coat of paint and an alleged better browsing experience.
As part of the redesign, the PlayStation Store now lives natively as an application on the PS3 system, instead of as a Web-based page. Sony also promised dramatically improved navigation speed.
Sony also promises that PS3 users can now more quickly and seamlessly shop, purchase and download PlayStation Network games, demos, game videos, Blu-ray movie trailers and other game-related content for PS3 system, said a Sony press release. Users can also preview their movies and other content before they buy.
To experience the new store, users must update their PS3 with the latest system software, version 2.30, which was released today.
The federal tax bill for President Bush and his wife: $221,635. That’s how much the Bushes owed on their adjusted gross income of $923,807 for the year 2007, according to a joint return released Friday. The Bushes have paid $203,894 so far, which means they’ll need to break out the checkbook — they owe the government $17,741. - Yahoo News
It kinda makes me sick that the President can owe money to the Government and pay it when ever he wants, but if I owed the Government $17,741, wasn’t rich or Jewish, then they would be after me like crazy.
Their income total includes a $150,000 advance received by Laura Bush for the children’s book she co-authored with her daughter, Jenna. Bush’s salary as president is about $400,000. - Yahoo News
Ok, now for the disturbing part.
The White House also reported that Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, had an adjusted gross income of $3.04 million in 2007.
The Cheneys owed $602,651 in federal taxes on that income. They have paid $466,165 through withholdings and estimated tax payments, and will pay the remaining $136,486 upon filing their tax return. - Yahoo News
I’ve never, ever, ever seen a “VICE” President make more (let alone $3.04 million) money than a President. No wonder Dick Cheney is nowhere to be found, that idiot is out making money while all of us Americans are stuck with no jobs, high gas prices, and an economy so bad that even Canada is laughing at us. Thanks a lot Dick, thanks so much your a real benefit to society, your Halliburton oil, money hungry, company in Suadi Arabia, Iraq, and Libya are really benefiting society.
The vice president’s salary is about $212,000.
The Cheneys owed $602,651 in federal taxes on that income. They have paid $466,165 through withholdings and estimated tax payments, and will pay the remaining $136,486 upon filing their tax return. - Yahoo News
Yahoo Inc.’s last-ditch efforts to avoid a takeover by Microsoft Corp. appear to be setting the stage for a dramatic finale featuring a rich cast of Internet and media stars. - Yahoo News
Wow, this whole Yahoo thing has come very far. Shame on Microsoft for doing what they are doing, you can’t force someone to sell you something. I’m pretty sure Yahoo got mad, that’s why they are exploring other options. Although AOL and Yahoo have been on the decline (especially AOL) I think if they merge it would probably boost them up.
Eager to frustrate Microsoft in any way possible, Internet search leader Google Inc. has already agreed to help out Yahoo by participating in an unusual test that will gauge how much more advertising Google can sell for its struggling rival. - Yahoo News
Ha ha, good job Google. Its nice to see people stand up to corporate giants, like Microsoft, who want to control everything and assert themselves into a market that they are not doing to well in.
Sony’s marketing VP tells GamePro that Microsoft may have “already leveraged all of their big assets” for the Xbox 360 in 2007, leaving 2008 wide open for the PlayStation 3.
GamePro spoke with Sony marketing VP Scott Steinberg at the Game Developers Conference in February. This is a condensed form of that discussion; Steinberg spoke at length about the Blu-ray victory, Microsoft’s 2008 game line-up, and possibilities for new PS3 downloads (including the possibility of movies, music, and PS2 games).
GamePro: So Sony hasn’t had a big splashy keynote so far this year. Would you like to explain why?
Scott Steinberg, Sony: I think the noise level has been pretty loud relative to the momentum behind Blu-ray and that hasn’t necessarily come from us. We don’t have to [give keynotes] when we have Warner, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart lining up behind the Blu-ray format.
GamePro: The PS3 has some impressive media capabilities, but the missing link is downloadable movies, movie rentals, TV shows. Will PS3 owners ever see downloadable movies and shows?
Sony: We have entertainment leverage and that means music and movies. No other company has that ability or those assets. The PS3 is the hub….you can probably connect the dots. There are a lot of opportunities and I think no other company can bring that in such a neatly tied bow and package to consumers than Sony. Stay tuned!
GamePro: The Blu-ray victory was a huge win and may represent a turning point for the PS3. What is Sony doing to keep PS3 interest high among gamers?
Sony: I think [the Blu-ray win] is a huge momentum builder for us and I think it is part of why we believe 2008 is going to be a monster year for the PS3. When you incorporate games like Gran Turismo 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, and Resistance 2…there will a great mixture of new IP and proven PlayStation brands. I think these factors are timed perfectly because our competition has already leveraged all their big assets in the first couple of years and may have punched themselves out of the fight. We are the [HD movie] standard and now we have the creativity and the products, so I think that formula is going to drive consumers to the PS3.
GamePro: Will Sony start releasing PS2 and more PS1 classics as downloads for the PS3?
Sony: It is hard not to see that as a good idea. We have heard it from consumers and we have seen it in other platforms. People love the retro games. It is a comfort food in a lot of ways. So, we don’t have any announcements yet, but there’s a very short list of companies with the breadth of catalog that Sony has. I think leveraging that catalog would be a no-brainer.
GamePro: If you were to offer downloadable PS2 classics, would you be offering third-party hits in addition to the Sony-produced games?
Sony: We love third-parties. I am sure we have already reached out to third-parties. There are different ways to get some of the last-gen games over [to the PS3]. I think there have been some ongoing sessions about that.
GamePro: What’s up with Home? We haven’t heard an update in ages!
Sony: We are still in our closed beta. Our bar is set high for Home, so we haven’t yet announced exposing more people to the beta. It would be a natural extension for us –you start small and broaden. We are in that first stage still and learning lots and taking those lessons to the engineering side and making it as ready for prime time as it can be. We have high expectations so we are not looking to expose some of the early development until it is ready.
GamePro: Obviously Home has seen many changes since its first appearance last year. How substantial have the changes been?
Sony: Beta periods are like Petri dishes of opportunity…if you talk to any game developer who has gone through a beta, they will tell you how remarkably important it is to development and the engineering roadmap, so naturally it is going to be the same way for something as ambitious as Home. It is big. There are a lot of things to learn and a lot of things to build out.
I must agree, Sony is stepping up a little. Home should be coming soon, the PSN update, and MGS4 should do some serious damage to Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 is like….bread…if you leave it out for so long it turns crusty and old, but in this case you’re not leaving it out so long– just for two years.
Lets take a look at the new PSN store so you can see what your up for. They don’t look that bad, although I think their could have been room for improvement.
Sony on Monday said it will introduce an improved PlayStation Store for PS3 in mid-April — so long current clunky version! - Gamepro
The new store (shown), which will go live via a spring update, promises a “more dynamic look and improved navigation,” according to Sony. There is a minor downside, however.
“To enable enhancements to be made to the store, no additional downloadable content will be posted prior to the revamp, starting April 3,” the company said in a presser today. PS3 owners will still be able to download current content while the change is being made, though.
Store updates will resume in mid-April with the addition of the Gran Turismo 5 Prologue download, says Sony.
The current PlayStation Network store, which launched with the PS3 in November 2006, has been criticized for its cumbersome navigation when compared to Microsoft’s Xbox Live Marketplace. - Gamepro
Well, its about dang time!!! That old stupid PSN store it horrible. Thanks, Sony for realizing and giving us a specific time frame which I know is going to be pushed back until Spring 2009.
