Publisher Take Two Interactivee has issued a response to CNN regarding the link between the crime and the minor playing GTA IV. “Ascribing a connection to entertainment – a theory that has been disproven repeatedly by multiple independent studies – both minimizes this moment and sidesteps the real issues at hand.”

The minor, for his part, won’t be charged with the crime since under Louisiana law, no one under the age of ten can be charged with criminal responsibility. And video games are apparently the problem here?

In a recent interview with Buzzfeed, Rockstar North art director Aaron Garbut stated that, “Grand Theft Auto IV was our first headlong jump into current-gen consoles. We had a lot to learn in every aspect, not just technically but artistically and even in terms of production. As I mentioned earlier, I think we moved from effectively building a world out of some roads and boxes to a much, much more detailed creation.

“That first jump was really hard. Since then, though, we’ve had a lot more experience. We’re comfortable building assets at this level of detail and our coders are comfortable with the machines. We’ve pushed them much, much further than before.

“The main thing we wanted to achieve was to pull off this sense of scale. The way we don’t limit the draw distance and draw the lights so far back really emphasizes this. We have a load of tech just geared toward the countryside, from heat haze to cloud shadows, to the water to the advanced fog.

“On the streaming side we’re able to do so much more. That’s let us make the world not just a lot bigger but much more detailed than IV was. There’s just so much going on, not just on the backdrop of the world but in the life on the street.”

Grand Theft Auto V will release on September 17th for Xbox 360 and PS3, with rumours of a PC release fueled by recent comments from Nvidia.

Some time ago, a user on Reddit showcased some blueprints for how Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 would look. Needless to say, the world was huge, but how did it compare to the scale of Grand Theft Auto 4’s map?

Another user has compared the scale of both maps, which you can check out below.

Grand Theft Auto 5’s world consists of Blaine County and Los Santos along with a vast underwater ocean to explore. GTA 4, on the other hand, consists of Liberty City. Obviously, GTA 5’s world is much bigger.

Keep in mind that the blueprints leaked haven’t been officially confirmed by Rockstar Games (yet). However, what are your thoughts on the comparison of scale? Look just about accurate enough or could the actual world be even bigger?

Grand Theft Auto 5 is set to release on September 17th 2013 worldwide for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. See what Rockstar said about the large mandatory install size for the game.

One of our readers, Brad has emailed us a very a interesting image which shows how Rockstar have evolved in to a story telling behemoth.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

1

We have some new screenshots of GTA 4, modded obviously, and we can’t believe what we have just seen. The game looks incredible. This has to be seen to be beleived; the ENB mod has completely shown what a latest PC is capable off. Will the next-gen console be able to match this visual fidelity? We doubt it, but if they come close it’ll be one hell of an achievement. Take a look at the screenshots below and tell us what you think in the comments section.

Also check out the latest video showing color correction in the ENB mod.

At their presentation at the ThinkEquity annual Growth conference, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that the 2008 title, Grand Theft Auto IV, has shipped over 22 million units worldwide now, taking the franchise’s shipment numbers to 114 million units since its introduction in 1997, now even higher in the highest selling franchises list.

This is after it was reported in March that the game has shipped 20 million. This puts GTA IV’s sales on par with those of the amazing GTA: San Andreas.

Lifetime shipment numbers for other titles and franchises were also revealed:

* Midnight Club franchise: 18.5 million
* NBA2K franchise: 17 million
* Red Dead Redemption: 12.5 million
* Civilization franchise: 11 million
* BioShock franchise: 9 million
* Carnival Games franchise: 8 million
* Max Payne franchise: 7.5 million
* Mafia franchise: 5 million
* Borderlands franchise: 4.5 million
* The Darkness: 1 million

“Once we do the core development, which takes a long time and is pretty hard, doing the development related to the DLC in a high-quality way is a lot easier and a lot quicker,” Zelnick commented. “At the time we put out Red Dead Redemption in May, we didn’t even have a fantasy that we’d be putting out a zombie title [the Undead Nightmare DLC] for Halloween. But we [did], as it happens.”

Take Two recently announced a GotY Edition for Red Dead Redemption. Go over the details here.

[Gamasutra]

But that is not all, the guy who developed iCE enhancer for GTA 4 is already working on new version: iCE enhancer 1.3 which looks mind blowing.

Dont take my word for it. Check the video below and your jaws will drop!

Check out the mods facebook page over here

1

Image source: http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/usa/pages-4/New-York-cabbie-overcharges-passenger-by-millions-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html

What do you guys think? Are Games Surpassing Real World Visuals? Let us know in the comments below.

With all the hype for the PlayStation 4, Xbox 720 and Wii U, video gamers often forget that PC gaming is always a generation ahead of consoles. People have been begging for a Grand Theft Auto V ever since 2008, but hey if you are a hardcore PC gamer  and know how to install mods than you can convert GTA IV in to a next generation game. The mod named as enb transforms GTA IV with stunning vistas. Dont take our word for it, just check the video above.

You can get more information about how to get this mod over here.

A user named kitty076 has made this awesome fan made movie based on 2008’s huge hit Grand Theft Auto IV. The video has been titled GTA IV: The Salesman Ultimatum.

The author describes the video as:

In this feature film, a salesman (who happens to be a biker) wants to sell his goods to the various citizens of Liberty City to feed his striving family. However, when a mafia boss refuses his offer of his goods, the boss ends up sleeping with the fishes, brought down by the salesman’s hand. As the salesman goes about his business, including a random encounter with his clone(s), the mafia hires a hitman to take him out. During this ferocious chain of events, a fellow Liberty City police officer gets involved with the mess, adding insult to injury. Why can’t the salesman be such a nice guy? Because he’s a badass, you bitch.