Lazlow Jones, one of GTA's lead writers, radio station host, and perhaps who I stole got my name from, appeared on the Opie and Anthony show yesterday.

In the show he discussed how he was involved with the development with GTAIV and he did manage to give us a few previously unknown facts :

Niko can date women he meets via online dating sites like Love-Meet.net Recording sessions for the in-game dialogue and audio lasted ten hours a day five days a week for many weeks Rockstar employees worked overtime, and even on weekends, in order the complete the game on time There will be over 100 different commercials on the in-game radio stations The Liberty City beer band 'Piswasser' is a direct jab at Budweiser, and will feature an ad sung by Anthony himself The in-game internet is ridiculously extensive and will contain spoofs of various popular news sources, blogs and websites. There will also be pop-up ads. Injuries will be more important in firefights then before. If Niko is shot in the leg, for example, he'll bleed and limp There will be periodic announcements in the subway stations that will randomly alert you of spontaneous police searches, extra security checks and harassment of passengers Lazlow also stated that his personal favorite version of GTAIV is the 360 version because of it’s downloadable content which will contain (among other things) new missions, characters and comedy routines

You can also listen to Jim Norton play GTAIV while Lazlow, Opie, and Anthony all comment on his murderous tendencies!

Official PlayStation Magazine UK has just reviewed Grand Theft Auto IV. The review includes a few new screenshots, as well as some used in the OXM review. Just as OXM did, OPM awarded GTAIV a perfect 10 out of 10.

Here is a summary of the more interesting points from the article, some of which may consider spoilers :

• One of the reasons Niko goes to Liberty City is to track down the man who betrayed his old army unit.
• Cars don't catch fire after a bit of damage any more.
• There are several points at which you need to make life or death decisions between prominent characters.
• Comedy clubs feature real comedians.
• "Michelle" is the first girl that Niko hooks up with.
• Dimitiri Rascalov is Mikhail Faustin's right hand man.
• Another use of the phone include "calling a target to make him come to the window and into Niko's sniper sight."
• There is a museum called the Libertonian museum, which features dinosaur fossils and exploding vases. Environments such as these have been created specifically for shootouts.
• The name of every radio station is revealed :
  • Electro Choc (dance)
  • Fusion FM
  • IF99 - International Funk (funk)
  • Integrity 2.0 (speech, hosted by Lazlow)
  • Jazz Nation Radio 108.5 (jazz)
  • K109 The Studio (disco)
  • Liberty City Hardcore (punk/hardcore)
  • Liberty Rock Radio 97.8 (classic rock)
  • Massive B Soundsystem 96.9 (dance hall)
  • PLR - Public Liberty Radio (call-in speech)
  • Radio Broker (rock)
  • San Juan Sounds (latin)
  • The Beat 102.7 (contemporary hip-hop)
  • The Classics 104.1 (old-skool hip-hop)
  • The Journey (Ambient)
  • The Vibe 98.8 (soul)
  • Tuff Gong Radio (reggae/dub)
  • Vladivostok FM (eastern european)
  • WKTT - We Know The Truth (right wing talk radio)

Thanks to our friend Chris over at The GTA Place for heads up!

Rockstar just sent over an exclusive GTAIV multiplayer screenshot. It shows a helicopter flying towards a large roadblock in the middle of an intersection...


Alot of other fansites got exclusive shots too : TheGTAPlace, GTA4.net, PlanetGTA, GTA4.tv, GTAGaming, GTASite.net, GTANetwork.it, GTA-Series.com, GTAGames.nl and GrandTheftWiki (Which got the same screenshot as us, so take that "exclusive" with a grain of salt).

Be sure to check them all out. And thanks to the guys over at R* as always.

The latest issue of Official Xbox Magazine UK has been released today and it contains the world's first review of Grand Theft Auto IV...

The magazine gave GTAIV a perfect 10/10 score! The final verdict of the review : Amazingly realistic world. Stunning action set pieces. Genuinely engrossing storyline Hugely entertaining multiplayer. Vast in every respect.

Just let me be the first to say, fuck yes.

Many other bits of information was also released in the article, some of the more important facts are listed below :

Skipping a trip in a taxi costs more than it would if you sat back and enjoyed the ride.

The Statue of Happiness is actually clutching a coffee cup, not a Sprunk/beer can as many had previously thought.

Some celebrity voice actors play themselves in the game.

Similar to Crackdown, hidden packages in GTA IV make a quiet sound as you get close to them, helping your search. It is also said that the reward for collecting them all is much more satisfyingly.

Your in-game email account will get spam.

Driving through flames will set vehicle tires on fire, causing them to degrade and burst.

A mission similar to "Dead Skunk in the Trunk" from GTA3 is in the game, this time there are two bodies in the trunk, and if you hit a bump and it opens, you'll have to get out and quickly close it again before any pedestrians notice.

The mobile phone you receive at the start of the game is an old, second hand model capable only of calling and texting. You'll need to wait for an upgrade later in the story to unlock the full functionality that people get from more modern models.

Downloadable content is confirmed to contain at least 10 hours of gameplay.


Thanks to our good friend Chris from The GTA Place for the heads up.

As the release date draws closer, it is now the time for the flood of previews...


We start with a whole list of gaming sites that got their sweaty hands on the multiplayer of GTA IV...

TeamXbox
GameSpot
Destructoid
Kotaku
IGN
IGN Roundtable
CVG
TotalVideoGames
GameDaily
GameSpy
Kikizo
SPOnG
GameTap

As always, I prefer Kotaku's preview over the rest. Is it the interesting and creative writing? Or maybe just the magic that is Brian Crecente's hair?

More IV news is soon to follow, stay tuned.