Holy crap look out! There's a huge freaking shark roaming the Liberty City Bay. It hasn't attacked anyone yet, but it seems like it's only a matter of time, right?
In light of our recent list of the best sharks in video games (and also the one from Banjo Kazooie) comes this mod from JMoorfoot4 that allows players to pilot a massive killer shark around the bay. It seems like a boat mod, so it doesn't have working jaws, but if and when it ever develops the ability to bite... it will merit inclusion on the "best video game sharks" list for next year.
(Via ZZCOOL)
Creating a compelling and enjoyable open world experience is more than just giving the player as much real estate technologically possible to play in. It's a delicate balancing act between character and scale. Somewhere between Grand Theft Auto's size and Yakuza's personality lies Sleeping Dogs.
That's not to say that Grand Theft Auto IV or Yakuza 4 aren't both excellent titles in their own right. The former is one of the finest open world experiences available in gaming; the latter a more intimate experience that oozes character and atmosphere. Some gamers prefer size, others immersion.
But for the gamer that wants the best of both open worlds? Sleeping Dogs is their game.
The 31 year-old drunk man was sitting on the curb in southern Seoul when the gang assaulted him. Authorities filed for arrest warrants for two of the five teens; the other three are already in police custody.
As The Korea Herald points out, GTA IV has vehicles, including motorcycle bikes, as well as guns. None of the teens had firearms.
GTA, of course, is a favorite boogeyman to pin crimes on. The Korea Herald does not go into detail as to why authorities think this attack was an attempt to "copy" a GTA IV scene—you know, the one in which a group of young punks attack a drunk guy sitting on the curb. Surely you remember that mission? No?
Teens assault man, ‘copying' video game [The Korea Herald]
Things weren't always as "cool", though. As this advertisement from 1997, for the very first game in the series, shows. Run before Rockstar was even known as Rockstar, it's...look, it's not pretty, for the developers, the publisher, the game or anyone who drew breath in the 1990s.
GTA [VGJunk]
While most Grand Theft Auto IV mods do little more than add a stupid character to the game or mess with the visuals, this mod - called Desert Storm - does something way more drastic.
It covers the city in sand. Like, it buries the entire city in the stuff. In a very Spec Ops/Dubai kind of way.
You'd be forgiven for thinking it's just a cosmetic effect, but no. Stick with the video above long enough and you'll see people driving all over the stuff.
If you want to try Desert Storm out, you can grab it below.
Desert Storm [GTA4 Mods]
So what's going on with Grand Theft Auto V? Very little, aside from a couple of screenshots and some analysts reading tea leaves and thinking it'll be out by April. A bored Internet public already has recreated the Grand Theft Auto V teaser trailer within the original San Andreas and then in Liberty City (since taken down). Now they're moving on to other games. Like, Battlefield 3.
That's the side-by-side comparison of the original video and this mashup, done by YouTube's KETEGANO15. If you want to see the full-size Battlefield 3 version, it's here.
[h/t TheIvaneh]
This horse, from the fount of zany mods on YouTube user Taltigolt's channel, may have a smoother gait than ones you see in, say, Skyrim. But his hit box and mass still appear to be that of a regular person in the game. So a riderless steed charging through a public park isn't quite the rampage you'd imagine. For that, you'll have to set Ol' Paint down in a Feltzer and, well, you know the rest.
There is no release date for Grand Theft Auto V. There are no confirmed platforms for the game. All we have is one trailer and two screenshots, but some of the people who follow the business of the publisher of Grand Theft Auto, Take Two Interactive, are convinced the game will be out before the end of March.
Here's a jargon-filled explanation as to why from the oft-quoted stock analyst Michael Pachter, a man known by those who follow the gaming press for lots and lots of predictions. This comes from his latest note to investors about Take Two:
FY:13 guidance implies the release of Grand Theft Auto V in FY:13 [Note from Kotaku: That's Take Two's fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2013]. Management expects revenue to more than double yearover-year in FY:13, with non-GAAP EPS [Earnings per share] increasing from a loss of $0.71 in FY:12 to a profit of $1.75 – 2.00 in FY:13. In addition, FY:13 guidance includes an estimated 1H [First-half] loss of $(1.46) – (1.31), which implies 2H earnings of $3.06 – 3.46. We cannot construct a scenario in which Take-Two could generate the revenue or EPS needed to achieve FY:13 guidance without GTA V, given the highest combined EPS for two consecutive quarters in Take-Two's history was $2.46 (Q2/Q3 2008). We expect GTA V to sell at least 18 million units, representing a 20% attach rate to the estimated 2011 year-end installed base of PS3 and Xbox 360 in the U.S. and Europe. At this level, we estimate that Grand Theft Auto will generate at least $2.65/share in incremental EPS, making Take-Two's full-year forecast attainable. Should the game sell 24 million units (in line with its historical attach rate), we expect contribution of more than $3.65 per share in incremental EPS. Importantly, the company has a history of providing conservative guidance, and without a GTA game, we would not expect management to be so bold as to provide FY:13 earnings guidance of $1.75 – 2.00. Also, we believe that the game's developers are unlikely to risk delay very far into CY 2013 and battle declining current-generation software sales in the face of the potential introduction of next-generation consoles that year or the next.
Translation: Take Two expects their current business year to get a lot better by the end of March 2013 and it doesn't seem like the boost they're expecting could be wholly attributed to how well Pachter thinks X-Com: Enemy Unknown, Borderlands 2, NBA 2K13 and BioShock Infinite—all games planned for release between now and February—will do.
Pachter is not alone in predicting a looming GTA V release. On a conference call yesterday, another analyst, Mike Hickey, asked Take Two boss Strauss Zelnick about the "believability" of GTA V coming out by the end of March, something Hickey said Wall Street expects it based on Take Two's financial guidance for the year. "We just haven't talked about a release date," Zelnick said. "So obviously we can't talk about the credibility of a release date that we haven't announced."
Are these guys underestimating the possible success of Take Two's announced games? Or are these folks who are paid to understand what Take Two means when it predicts its earnings on to something? It's strange that a potential March release of GTA V would not yet be announced by Rockstar, stranger still that Pachter has even predicted that the game will be out in late 2012. The latter is hard to believe, but it's clear that the financial folks expect GTA V in the next eight months.
The mod scene around Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV continues to impress and amuse. Sonic The Hedgehog and the Portal robots were cool, but Mickey Mouse? We're veering into the realm of social commentary. Or we're veering into an alternate world where Kingdom Hearts = Disney + Rockstar.
The mod was created by YouTube user Indirivacua, who also made the Sonic one. Get the Mickey mod here.
Here's a second look.
GTA IV Mod: Mickey Mouse [Created by me]+Link [YouTube]
Wouldn't it be awesome to be Batman? I mean, without all of the angst, perhaps. And without the years of training. And the constant threat of bodily harm. And the... hmm. Okay, you know what? Forget being Batman. I just want the cool parts of being Batman. The Batmobile and the suit and the jumping and, most especially, the not getting caught.
One Redditor felt the same way. And after an excursion to see The Dark Knight Rises, he came home feeling that Arkham City wasn't quite doing it for him. He needed something a little more... San Andreas. And lo, the newest Batman-themed mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was born. As the poster explains:
I kinda got obsessed with it over the last week and collected heaps of different Batman mods from all over the internet. It was hard, because most of the projects are dead and the links were all down, but I ended up putting together a pretty fully featured pack, using a mod called "The Dark Knight Begins" as a base.
There are way worse ways to be Batman. And should you happen to have grabbed San Andreas at any point, you can be Batman too. Or you can browse through the full gallery of Batman's annotated adventures in Gotham San Andreas.
The only Batman simulator I'll ever need [Reddit]