This combination of mods for Grand Theft Auto IV makes the game look more or less like last December's Far Cry 3, and this machinima shared by RyderPL completes, or at least continues, the illusion.

It's… well, let's say the motion capture in Far Cry 3 is a touch above what GTA IV's game engine is capable of. Still, it's interesting to see one game running in another game like this. Vaas looks so… shiny.

(Thanks, Gaz.)

Real-world sunrises get more intense as we get closer to spring—but they pale next to what we can find in games. The lovely time-lapse moments you can see above, from Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto IV, among others, create living, breathing worlds that you just can't wait to dive into.

Video Game Sunrises [YouTube]

I have to say, while I enjoyed watching Woody from Toy Story wreaking havoc in Liberty City, I didn't really think I'd like watching Mater from Cars do the same. Come to think of it, I think I figured my relative enjoyment would be about on par with the difference between my enjoyment of Toy Story and Cars.

But hey, as it turns out, this video is pretty funny, if only because Mater somehow manages to leave a gravity-defying swath of destruction in his wake. The mod was uploaded by YouTuber Taltigolt, and created by SkylineGTRR34Freak.

Now that we had the Oscars last night, it is time to gather a list of games that enhanced their storytelling by featuring real-life actors, actresses and other celebrities—not just as voice actors, but sometimes even as the main characters.

Chow Yun-fat as Inspector Tequila in Stranglehold

Bruce Lee as himself in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

Burt Reynolds as himself in Saints Row: The Third

Shaquille O'Neal as himself in Shaq-Fu

Tia Carrere as Ari in The Daedalus Encounter

Christopher Lloyd as Drew Blanck in Toonstruck

Ricky Gervais as himself in Grand Theft Auto IV

Ozzy Osbourne as himself in Brütal Legend

Snoop Dogg as an unlockable character in True Crime: Streets of L.A.

Ellen Page as Jodie Holmes in Beyond: Two Souls

Year by year, the number of these games increases exponentially. If we didn't include your favorite, make sure to post them below with visual support.

sources: Strangleholdgame.com, Craiglovespepsi's LP, Saint Row: The Third Pimps and Gimps trailer, Hardcoregaming101, pheedbaq's LP, cubex55's LP, d1ceBLN's LP, Double Fine, GamesStation1987, Beyondps3.com

Wednesday's PlayStation 4 event showed us what next-gen graphics are capable of, so if you had any doubts that game environments could grow even better looking and more detailed, they're probably now gone.

Cities and city skylines in general were always a perfect way to show how beautiful a game is, so we collected some huge and gorgeous cities from upcoming titles—and a few from recent memory as well.

SimCity (SimCity 2013)

source: EA

Hengsha (Deus Ex: Human Revolution)

source: Deus Ex Wiki

Panau City (Just Cause 2)

source: Just Cause Wiki

Vekta City (Killzone: Shadow Fall)

source: Killzone.com

Chicago (Watch_Dogs)

source: Ubisoft

Los Angeles (LA Noire)

source: Rockstar

Los Santos (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)

source: GTAGaming

Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto IV)

source: Rockstar

Liberty Dome NYC (Crysis 3)

source: Crysis.com

And this is how it looked back then. The neon lights of Moonside in Earthbound are still pretty charming.

source: Starmen.net

You should submit your picks with visuals in the comments below!

Grand Theft Auto IV modder H1Vltg3 has built this incredible Iron Man mod for the PC version of the game, which does so much more than just reskin the main character.

The mod also contains a script which dramatically alters the way you can play the game, giving him proper hand repulsor beam effects and the ability to fly that has its own animation and sound effects. As you can see above, he even has the three-point landing.

Iron Man Script MKIII [GTA4 Mods, via taltigolt]

Thanks to a dedicated community, the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV has been continually polished and upgraded since its release all those years ago. To the point where, now, it looks like something from the future.

The iCEnhancer series of mods, which we've featured before, are being updated to 2.5 (this is an alpha preview), and the results are amazing.

This looks as good as a quality first-person shooter. The fact that this kind of fidelity can be applied to an open world game the size of Liberty City is just mind-boggling.

iCEnhancer 2.5 Alpha - First preview [YouTube]

Lazlow Jones co-wrote the radio scripts for all the Grand Theft Auto games (save Chinatown Wars, of course) going back to III, and appears as a radio personality in all of the games. He also, evidently, has all of the master copies of the recordings. In his home. Which is on Long Island. Or, well, a barrier island off Long Island.

Ordinarily this isn't much of a problem. but it was as Hurricane Sandy came barreling in late October, and Long Island was whomped particularly bad by the stormacane, or whatever it was at that stage. In a visit to the Opie & Anthony Show last week, where Lazlow's a regular guest, he related what his priorities were as the storm came barreling in.

1. Get the GTA III master recording.
2. Get the GTA: Vice City master recording.
3. Get the GTA: San Andreas master recording.
4. You get the idea.

"My studio is on the ground floor," he said on the show. "That's where GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, all those masters like the full recordings with Axl Rose and everything. I mean, all this stuff," he said. "I started freaking out and grabbing, just boxes of masters and putting it up on the second floor. Cause I was like 'I'm not going to let this stuff get ruined.'"

Asked if he was storing the recordings elsewhere, Lazlow said he'd learned he shouldn't "keep a lot of amazing masters from some epic video games on the ground floor near a sand bar."

If you're curious if he said anything about Grand Theft Auto V, he did, but only to say the game was due in the coming spring.

GTA master audio tapes almost lost during Superstorm Sandy [Original Gamer]

Eight years and one month ago, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas released on the PlayStation 2. It begins rather abruptly—C.J. in an airport, saying that after five years on the east coast, it was time to return to San Andreas.

The game's official soundtrack included a DVD of "The Introduction," a 20-minute in-game cinematic explaining all the reasons why Carl Johnson returned. Rockstar this week finally made it public via its Social Club and YouTube (where others had uploaded it before. This one went up on Aug. 27, 2005, four months after the first YouTube video was uploaded.) Here you may see it in full quality, and if you haven't already, take the 20 minutes to do so. For those who have, hey, Sunday afternoons are always good for reruns.

I shouldn't have to tell any self—respecting gamer to go drop $4.99 on the tenth anniversary edition of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on iOS or Android (once it's live). For those that lack self-respect, go drop $4.99 on the tenth anniversary edition of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It's better than ever.

Along with the HD graphics and portability, the mobile version of the best game in Rockstar's beloved crime simulator series adds a number of enhancements to make the game worthy of another play-through. It's got enhanced targeting, complete with a tap-to-shoot option that makes shooting people fun. It's got a fully-customizable HUD, allowing players to move and resize interface elements and controls as they please. It's got a chase camera you can adjust by pinching and zooming, and a free-look camera that lets players experience the sights of Vice City from a fresh angle.

The Android version has full controller support. The iOS version supports cloud saves and custom soundtracks, in case you have absolutely no taste at all and don't like the game's 80s soundtrack.

It's everything Vice City on the PlayStation 2 was, only better. I am drowning in happy right now.