Grand Theft Auto IV - Measuring My Geekness

[llama64]

Originally Posted by JayP

A game this big will be easy to find.

Rockstar isn't going to lose sales because they didn't ship out enough copies to meet the hype.

If you could walk into a store and find the WoW expansion pack easily on day one GTA IV should be no problem.

Precisely the reason I don't understand lining up to get a game like this.

GTA IV is going to have a high demand, but I'm more worried about finding a copy of the new Mario Kart game. Wii Games are still impossible to find (well, the good ones). Xbox360 games are a dime a dozen.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by llama64

Precisely the reason I don't understand lining up to get a game like this.

GTA IV is going to have a high demand, but I'm more worried about finding a copy of the new Mario Kart game. Wii Games are still impossible to find (well, the good ones). Xbox360 games are a dime a dozen.

I got my Wii on the same day that WoW:Burning Crusade came out (was there at about 7-7:15 for an 8am opening). Everyone in line was worrying if they would have enough WoW copies to go around and were nervously talking about how busy the midnight releases were and how many copies got sold. Eventually the Future Shop employee came out and was shocked to see a line-up primarily for WoW when they had, according to him, about 1000 copies in the store.

I found Mario Kart pretty easily just before closing on Sunday. Great game and worth a pick-up. It's a lot more fun than the last few Mario Karts.

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by llama64

Precisely the reason I don't understand lining up to get a game like this.

GTA IV is going to have a high demand, but I'm more worried about finding a copy of the new Mario Kart game. Wii Games are still impossible to find (well, the good ones). Xbox360 games are a dime a dozen.

Picked up Mario Kart at the Superstore in Country Hills last night. They had at least 10 more copies behind the counter.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by llama64

Precisely the reason I don't understand lining up to get a game like this.

GTA IV is going to have a high demand, but I'm more worried about finding a copy of the new Mario Kart game. Wii Games are still impossible to find (well, the good ones). Xbox360 games are a dime a dozen.

For me it was to ensure that I got the special edition. For others it's to get the game the second it comes out. Sure there will be tons of copies flying around but the anticipation is severly high for this game. I can't see how that would be hard to understand.

[FlamesKickAss]

I got mine at superstore shawnessy but they didnt have any xbox live points so I have to take my game and receipt to mckenzie and get it.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

For me it was to ensure that I got the special edition. For others it's to get the game the second it comes out. Sure there will be tons of copies flying around but the anticipation is severly high for this game. I can't see how that would be hard to understand.

I don't understand it.

I never understood the special editions - like you said before it's usually cheap stuff anyways. Either way, it's a bunch of useless clutter with GTA stamped all over it so it's not like I'm going to be walking around town with it.

As for getting it the second it comes out - so what? I love games as much as anyone here, but is there really a difference between staying up until 4 playing the game and then going to sleep and going to sleep and picking up the game in the morning?

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by JayP

I don't understand it.

I never understood the special editions - like you said before it's usually cheap stuff anyways. Either way, it's a bunch of useless clutter with GTA stamped all over it so it's not like I'm going to be walking around town with it.

As for getting it the second it comes out - so what? I love games as much as anyone here, but is there really a difference between staying up until 4 playing the game and then going to sleep and going to sleep and picking up the game in the morning?

If you honestly can't understand why people would want to play one of the highest rated games of the last decade the second it comes out then I can't help you there. It may not be for you but not being able to understand why? Common.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

If you honestly can't understand why people would want to play one of the highest rated games of the last decade the second it comes out then I can't help you there. It may not be for you but not being able to understand why? Common.

I didn't wait all night for Galaxy, one of the highest rated games ever, and that was probably the most anticipated game ever for me.

I still don't understand it.

EDIT: More importantly, I just picked up GTAIV on my break at work and there were tons of copies at Wal-Mart. No one should be too concerned about finding it today.

[Russic]

Northland last night was pretty crazy . . . couple hundred people in line. It certainly wasn't necessary, but I had a great deal of fun before I went to bed. To me it was well worth it. I just needed to sit down and give it a whirl for a few hours . . . work would have crawled by extra slow today if I hadn't.

So far I'm incredibly impressed by the game. I've only really done the first few missions (which in every gta are mind-blowingly tedious) so I spent an hour driving people around, learning to fight etc.

The little details and physics are what impress me the most so far. Upon finding a locked car door, it's very satisfying to be able to hold down the 'open' button and throw a boot through the window. When running down pedestrians it's nice to see them realistically fly up onto the hood and get kicked off the windshield (or try and hold on).

Before I went to bed I beat up a cop and stole his gun just to see how the shooting went. In the 25 seconds I had to play with it (before 10 cops mowed me down with shotguns) it felt really cool. Looking forward to being able to buy guns. The aiming was so much better than gta games of old.

I liked the driving. At the beginning you generally only drive beaters, so that wasn't as cool. The times I was able to find a motorbike and a sports car were incredible though.

I jumped online before bed and was pleasantly surprised how smooth it all seemed. I realize it was 2:30 in the morning and the server wasn't probably getting hit too hard, but I was still really impressed at how the game didn't seem to change. Played the mode where there are cars stashed with drugs and it's a mad dash to get them to a drop off point. Only played one game but I was laughing pretty hard at the end of it.

Necessary? No. Fun? Hell yes.

Rhettzky: Were you able to get the deal on the system? I noticed last night they had a stack of systems with GT: Prologue at the tills.

[Rhettzky]

Yeah, there are going to be hundreds of copies everywhere today. Should be no problem picking it up. Special editions are limited and might be a little harder to find.

I guess what I meant to say before is that it's easy for me to understand why people would want to line-up for this game. Obviously because I did (Which is probably why I'm a little edgy today). I mean there is a huge level of controversy that this game drums up from the media and from parent watch groups and junk like that. Plus with all the 100% reviews for the PS3 version of this game it is already coming in at 99.8% average ratings, which is two points above Mario Galaxy's final rating.

The hard part for me will be not watching any more gameplay trailers and whatnot so that I can experience it all first hand without spoilers.

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by Russic

Rhettzky: Were you able to get the deal on the system? I noticed last night they had a stack of systems with GT: Prologue at the tills.

Barely, by the time I got in I was so bagged I almost forgot to ask and they didn't offer it up. Then I remembered while he was trying to sell me the care package and made him run and grab it. Thanks for the heads up or I definitely wouldn't have got GT: Prologue. I'm not huge on racing games but free is free!! Maybe I can sell it and get Ratchet and Clank.

Thanks again though!

[photon]

http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/topi...hs1&l=en&s=dhs

$5 off if you don't mind waiting for it to ship (should be next day, though I still don't have my Wii Mario Kart preorder )

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by photon

http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/topi...hs1&l=en&s=dhs

$5 off if you don't mind waiting for it to ship (should be next day, though I still don't have my Wii Mario Kart preorder )

i wouldn't have waited if it was $20 cheaper lol

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

Yeah, there are going to be hundreds of copies everywhere today. Should be no problem picking it up. Special editions are limited and might be a little harder to find.

I guess what I meant to say before is that it's easy for me to understand why people would want to line-up for this game. Obviously because I did (Which is probably why I'm a little edgy today). I mean there is a huge level of controversy that this game drums up from the media and from parent watch groups and junk like that. Plus with all the 100% reviews for the PS3 version of this game it is already coming in at 99.8% average ratings, which is two points above Mario Galaxy's final rating.

Wal-Mart had a handful of special editions too.

I don't really put too much stock in reviews. I mean, when IGN says the story in GTA IV is Oscar worthy you know there's a problem.

No videogame story is close to a classic movie. Especially in a game like GTA where there's so much freedom and it's quite easy to act out of character, ruining the entire impact of any character transformations (it's hard to feel for the main character after you just blew up a block full of pedestrians with a rocket launcher).

[Russic]

Originally Posted by JayP

Wal-Mart had a handful of special editions too.

I don't really put too much stock in reviews. I mean, when IGN says the story in GTA IV is Oscar worthy you know there's a problem.

No videogame story is close to a classic movie. Especially in a game like GTA where there's so much freedom and it's quite easy to act out of character, ruining the entire impact of any character transformations (it's hard to feel for the main character after you just blew up a block full of pedestrians with a rocket launcher).

I understand reviews aren't things you should put 100% faith into, but there's something to be said for the reviews the game is getting. I can understand if one reviewer gives an outrageously high score, but this is a game that is getting rave reviews from many sources (who very often don't agree).

You started this conversation off by saying that you don't understand how people can wait in line for a game. I can appreciate your position, but personally I understand the line waiting thing. I wouldn't stand in line for a Harry Potter book or a big movie release, but that doesn't mean I don't understand it. It's a compulsive thing. I've wanted to play it for a couple years, I had a night completely to myself with nothing to do. I could have waited but I flat out didn't want or need to!

[Flames_Gimp]

who's got it for xbox360?

i want to play multiplayer!!!

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Russic

I understand reviews aren't things you should put 100% faith into, but there's something to be said for the reviews the game is getting. I can understand if one reviewer gives an outrageously high score, but this is a game that is getting rave reviews from many sources (who very often don't agree).

It's clearly a great game that I don't disagree, but reviews are very biased. The difference between the top games on the list are very little.

I read one Galaxy review (that's on game rankings) where the guy gave it a 9 because it didn't have blood and you couldn't shoot anyone in it.

Over at NeoGAF, everyone is laughing at Gamespot for putting up a 9.5 review, pulling it down, and replacing it with a 10. I guess they didn't want the flood of fanboy e-mails for being the first major site not to give it a perfect score.

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

who's got it for xbox360?

i want to play multiplayer!!!

i do but i'm stuck at work

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

i do but i'm stuck at work

I dont have my xbox until 5pm tonight..could play then

[Russic]

Originally Posted by JayP

It's clearly a great game that I don't disagree, but reviews are very biased. The difference between the top games on the list are very little.

I read one Galaxy review (that's on game rankings) where the guy gave it a 9 because it didn't have blood and you couldn't shoot anyone in it.

Over at NeoGAF, everyone is laughing at Gamespot for putting up a 9.5 review, pulling it down, and replacing it with a 10. I guess they didn't want the flood of fanboy e-mails for being the first major site not to give it a perfect score.

I do see your point. I guess my argument is that un-justified scores should get weeded out as we factor multiple reviews through the magic of statistics.

To me it's relative. Even though I think game reviews can be biased and somewhat inaccurate, I think all game reviews can be biased and somewhat inaccurate. We can dispute the validity of GTA reviews, but we can also dispute Mario Galaxy reviews. While I rarely pick up a game based completely off a review, I do tend to prefer a game rated an 8 more than a 7 and so on.

Keep in mind, the buzz generated by the reviews is only one reason of many that I sacrificed a couple hours of my night last night.