via Games Industry


Online retailer Play.com has revealed it has been taking over 80 orders per minute for Grand Theft Auto IV, released today.

Stuart Rowe, chief operating officer for Play.com, has said that the game is likely to smash previous sales records in the videogame sector.


The company had to resort to a first come, first served basis for the game earlier this month when demand became so strong it could not guarantee delivery on the day of release.

"Grand Theft Auto IV is going to break all previous records when it comes to gaming," offered Rowe. ...

via IGN


Atari today announced the forthcoming European release of Namco Bandai Games' Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 for PlayStation 2. As the latest and most advanced in the fighting game series based on the Naruto Universe, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 boasts the largest ever selection of playable ninja characters, brand new playing modes for even more gameplay variety, and unprecedented freedom and immerson into the Naruto world with a 3D rendered Hidden Leaf Village. Set in the Naruto universe popularised by the anime TV show currently on air across Europe, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 is scheduled for European release in September 2008.

The game's main story mode, Ultimate Contest, revolves around the Leaf Village where the All-Out Ninja Tournament is being held between the rival Leaf and Sand ninja. The winner of the tournament will be crowned Hokage and will be able to put forward a new rule for the Leaf Village, but this power must not fall into the wrong hands. To ensure this does not happen, the player enters the Naruto world to explore the massive 3D rendered Hidden Leaf Village, engage in all out battle royale matches, interact with residents in the village and complete over 55 missions.

Players can choose their favourite ninja from the most extensive selection of over 40 playable characters from the hit anime TV show including Naruto, Sasuke, Itachi, The Hokages, The Sound Ninja 4 and many more. Battles are made bigger than ever before by unleashing Ultimate Jutsu to customise favourite characters into powerful ninja warriors, and summoning gigantic creatures as allies in Summoning Mode. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 also offers tons of combat variety either as close combat or using a variety of ranged weapons, and support characters can be called upon to help with super attacks.

Another unique feature of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 is the Hero's History mode which lets the player participate in major events and battles from the anime series through the Sasuke Retrieval Arc where the decisive battle of destiny will be played out to determine the fate of the two greatest ninja. For the first time in the series, the player can choose between English and Japanese voiceover to enhance the original flavour of the anime series.

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 for PlayStation 2 is published by Namco Bandai Games Europe SAS, distributed in Europe by Atari, and scheduled for European release in September 2008. ...

via Eurogamer


Sony London has begun full production on PS3 third-person shooter Eight Days.

The Guardian confirmed work was under way as it was shown around the studio, and also revealed that pre-production on The Getaway had begun.

"Moving up from floor to floor, we see Eight Days - which is just ramping up to full production," wrote The Guardian. "To get an idea of the scale of development required on next-gen consoles, the team, currently numbering 63, will expand to about 80 with a further 40 or so outsourced workers.

"A small team is working on pre-production for the next iteration of The Getaway, in preparation for being joined by the bulk of the Eight Days team when the latter is completed."

Eight Days was first shown at E3 in 2006 as one of the hot prospects on PS3 for the future. Its unveiling was handled by a suitably juicy trailer - probably to be taken with a pinch of salt - and shows plenty of driving action with exploding gas tanks in a desert-style location.

There's still no word on when it will be out, but we may see more as E3 and the Sony event in May approach.

Sony London is perhaps best known for its work on SingStar and EyeToy games. ...

via Computer and Video Games


In an even more obvious move than us writing this GTA IV news story, Microsoft has decided to pimp its exclusive downloadable content on today's big launch day.

"Play Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer online with your friends starting today over the Xbox LIVE," says the company's statement."Starting this autumn, Xbox 360 owners will also have access to exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV episodes that will provide hours of additional game play."

And that's about it. So far all we know about the 360 exclusive DLC comes from a Sam Houser rant in Edge magazine, where he revealed that Rockstar's mission was to "fry Xbox Live".

"I think the mission packs with the episodes are going to be pretty deep, offering another full-on adventure in this world," the Rockstar boss said. "I think we will be in a position to market them not a million miles away from the way the boxed game is marketed.

"You'll get a lot of content for your money. There are too many stories at the moment of people having the feeling that they're not getting enough for their money in terms of downloadable content."

You can read our GTA IV review here and oh look, here's some in-game footage. ...

via Eurogamer


Microsoft has decided not to publish a new Xbox Live Arcade game this week, and comments on the publisher's Gamerscoreblog suggest GTA IV is the reason.

"There will be no new Xbox Live Arcade title this week, and we anticipate all Xbox 360 controllers will be busy with [GTA IV]," the blog writers, all MS staffers, revealed.

After a few posters moaned about this, online community manager Nelson Rodriguez said, "We definitely understand the complaints".

"There are certainly people who won't be playing GTA IV, and would want to see an alternative on the Arcade, but to be fair, any game released this week will not get a fair chance to reach everyone who the publisher might want to reach.

"There are a ton of games out there to still try, and a publisher who might have released a game this week will probably be thrilled to have the entire public's undivided attention when they do launch."

But this wasn't enough for some, like poster DF, who wrote: "Not everybody likes the series, you know?" Clearly he's not been pigeon-hunting yet. 195 winged rats to go! ...

via Eurogamer


The PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV almost certainly runs in 630p.

Word spiralled from comparison shots by the same fellow responsible for outing Halo 3 as sub-HD, and the same chap who assists with our Face-Off screenshots before we show them to you.

However, Eurogamer's Face-Off compiler and resident big-brain Rich Leadbetter says that while the PS3 version may be a touch blurrier, it's not necessarily inferior. Far from it, in fact.

"It's worth noting that due to the post-processing effects the game employs (there's a serious amount of stuff being done to the raw frame), the PS3's lower resolution serves to mask a lot of the nasty after effects," said Leadbetter.

"For example, look at the dithering on the signs in the background on those shots. A bit ugly on Xbox 360, but smoothed and blurred away on PS3, presenting a generally nicer look."

Apparently the problem with pinning down the resolution previously was due to Rockstar releasing the bulk of its press shots on Xbox 360.

Look out for our full Grand Theft Auto IV Face-Off soon.

GTA IV is out today on PS3 and Xbox 360. You can buy it in shops, unless you queued up last night to get it, and lots of people did. ...

via Games Industry


Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV finally went on sale in the early hours of the morning today, as consumers across the UK clamoured to be first to play the latest in the 66 million-selling franchise.

After months of hype that saw console rivals attempt to claim the title as their own - Microsoft had promised to match the marketing spend of Halo 3, while Sony secured a tempting hardware bundle - the game is now expected to sell over 9 million units worldwide this fiscal year.

But while the money men are tapping at calculators and console rivals will be hoping to claim the highest attach rate, the consumers could only think of one thing.

"I'm all about GTA. I've been waiting for months, I pre-ordered as soon as I could," said 23 year-old John, who'd been queuing outside of Stafford's GAME store since 11:00pm.

"I usually only play sports games – FIFA and PES mainly, but GTA is different. Nothing comes close," he added.

While some specialist stores had only opened at midnight to allow in customers who had preordered the title, GAME, which had opened 260 stores to celebrate the release, was first stop for a majority of eager gamers.

In Guildford two GAME stores were open, and the queue at both had started at around 10:30pm. At the head of the line at the larger store was Neil Young, in his late twenties, who had preordered the special edition of the game for the Xbox 360.

"I just love sandbox games," he said when asked why he was queuing for the title. "Nothing is better than GTA, it's as simple as that. Having the ability to do anything you want, play the game any way you want - and the multiplayer is going to be good as well."

Further down the queue, Steve, Dominic and Cat had only been in the line since around 11:15pm, and although none of them had preordered, they were hopeful of grabbing a copy before the store sold out.

"It's a benchmark game," said Dominic simply, although all three admitted that had a single launch event taken place in London, as with previous titles, they wouldn't have travelled. "This is in our home town, so…" he shrugged.

As retail prepares for a manic day, there's expectations that there won't be enough copies of the game on shelves to meet demand, and that the game will continue to push hardware sales through the rest of the year.

"Whatever Rockstar put into the market will be gone day one, I'd like to think it will eclipse GTA: San Andreas," offered Steve O'Brien, MD of respected indie Gameshop. "Without doubt it's a hardware driver so sales even as far as the backend of 2008 will be incredibly strong."

Online retailers had already struggled to fulfil preorder demand. GAME, HMV and Play.com began to warn consumers they could not guarantee day one delivery, and due to demand GAME had begun picking and packing stock earlier than usual to make sure the postman delivered GTA IV on Tuesday morning.

But it wasn't just the specialist retailer reaping the benefits of a dedicated audience. Supermarkets hardly need a special occasion to open at midnight so long as consumers have got their wallets with them, and Asda in Wakefield had organised tickets for those who arrived early enough.

"The queue was the entire length of Asda. I got there at 10:45 and I was about 30th in line," said Christian, 35. "They only seemed to have about 40 tickets on each format.

"People who turned up just before midnight took one look at the queue and then went away again.

He observed that hype had probably helped fuel demand for the game, as crowds were bigger than at the release of the last console GTA title: "I was there when San Andreas came out at the same Asda. It was a bit bigger crowd this time, probably because of the stupidly high reviews."

For those that can't get their hands on their own copy this week, or simply want to cut back on games spending, rental companies have also seen great demand.

"The anticipation has been huge. Customers have been adding this to their coming soon lists since last Easter," offered Aaron Barrett, products and services director of WhyBuyGames.com. "I think by delaying the release date and teasing us with the odd trailer has heightened the 'got to have it' value even more."

With perfect review scores hitting the web, hype surrounding the game isn't dying down, but the fans can finally get their hands on the game and make up their own minds. Grand Theft Auto IV is sure to remain a talking point and big seller for the rest of the year, and with exclusive episodic content due for the Xbox 360 version, the ...

via Computer and Video Games


Capcom's senior director of strategy Christian Svensson has said that the omission of Bionic Commando on Virtual Console is down to Nintendo.


Bionic Commando producer Ben Judd also chimed in on the possibility of seeing the all new 3D title appear on the Wii.


Is Capcom's days of porting old titles to Wii finally at an end? An all new Bionic Commando title exclusive to Wii could be the kind of traditional game Wii owners are waiting for. ...

via Eurogamer


Radical Entertainment has said it's working hard to ensure Prototype gets a release in Australia and Germany - even if that means cutting the level of violence in the game.

Both regions are notorious for demanding cuts, but Radical's marketing director Chris Hansell has said the team will face the challenges and work closely with ratings authorities to ensure release.

"We're working really closely with the German office and we've had multiple meetings with the USK. As you can imagine that was a lot of work to get it through the German market but we take it very seriously," said Hansell.

"They've seen it a number of times and we're making very detailed analysis of the particular elements we need to change and tweak and we're always watching the other titles and what they have to change. It's a large job for us to do, I won't lie. It's a challenge that we've said we would tackle and take on."

Radical has toned down ragdoll physics on dead bodies, levels of blood and dismemberment, and has said the producer currently has a "very long list" of changes and tweaks.

Despite the extra work, Radical hopes to ship the edited title in Germany and Australia at the same time as the other versions of the game worldwide.

"We've not confirmed simultaneous shipping with low violence but that's the intention for us," revealed Hansell.

Asked whether having to make changes to a game that was conceived for a mature audience was frustrating Hansell admitted, "It's not ideal."

He continued: "We set out to make this game a mature-rated game like any mature movie, people who buy this will be over 18. That's the area we're playing with.

"But obviously it's a challenge that we all face and we have to respect this and make the best possible game we can within those restrictions. But yes, in a perfect world we'd have complete freedom. Maybe one day things might change.".

Prototype is out on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC this summer - visit Eurogamer later this week for a full preview. ...