GTA IV Thread

The majority additions are frivolous at best. Nice touches, some of them, but very few actually do much for the game itself.

The vast majority of console gamers do not bother with online multiplayer.

I wasn't under the impression we had a lower average grade than "fail"

Last time I checked, dozens of millions of people have played online multiplayer on consoles. That's more than enough to warrant the opinion that GTA IV offers a lot more than a usual game in the series. Just because you don't do it doesn't mean the opportunity isn't there.

Last time I checked, just because the opportunity is there doesn't mean anyone cares.

Edited by: Jiffy_No0b

Alright then, how 'bout this:

A new "Online Gaming 2008" report from the NPD Group finds that 72 percent of the US plays video games, a dramatic increase from the 63 percent who said they played in the previous year. The amount of people playing games online, however, is much lower than expected, with 42 percent of people saying they play games online, up only two percent from last year.

Unsurprisingly, the PC plays a large part in online gaming. 90 percent of those who said they play online play through their PCs, versus only 19 percent playing on a game console or portable and three percent using a cell phone.

Taken from here.

So, again, just because it is available, doesn't necessarily mean people use it, or care about it.

Edited by: JoeX111

You both seem to be missing the point here (and you seem to be greatly misconstruing something if you think I called you stupid).

I'm not saying everyone does use multiplayer, or that they have to care about it. I'm saying that that percent that does still accounts for millions and millions of people, millions of whom are willing to pay to play. If you're trying to sell a product, you'll find that millions of customers is a nice thing to have.

Again, what % of gamers do you think play in HD? Should developers assume gamers don't care about HD?  Should Bungie have left multiplayer out of Halo becuase only a small percent of gamers would care? Should Blizzard have not made World of Warcraft because only a tiny percent of the population will play it. What percent have played _____ game or watched ____movie, should_____company not have made it because not everyone cares about the product? Should we stop making mods because a small % of gamers play them, stop using firefox becuase 75% of internet users still use Internet Explorer, etc.

Rockstar isn't looking at what every gamer wants, because they know that only a small percent of gamers even play their games. They're going to focus more on what the people who actually give them money want, and it's been pretty apparent for years that a large number of GTA owners have wanted the ability to play GTA with friends - quite a few have even attempted to make such a thing possible for the PC versions (I see some multiplayer GTA mods listed here even). Obviously they care, and when you look at the millions of people who have been playing the game online since it's release, I think it is safe to say multiplayer was a very valid inclusion. The game sold what, 6 million the first week? 2.3 million were playing it on Live alone, probably another million have been trying on the PS3... that's 38-50% of GTA4 users right there.

Edited by: Cryrid

Doubt it, seeing as how it passed up Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3as the most played Xbox Live game. It had 1 million unique online users in its first 24 hours, and that takes into account the fact that people may be online just using the single-player mode, so it's really the same thing as if people were playing online (just not with other people, since it uses the ranking service regardless). It doesn't, however, take into consideration the PS3 users who are online, since they use dedicated servers instead of one whole service. I'd say the numbers are justified.

While the point still stands, it's a little skewed. GTA4 surpassed CoD4 and Halo 3 as the most played XBL game in a single week.

Well seeing as GTA4 sold 6 million copies in it's first week, even if only a 1/4 of those players went online thats still 2 million. While the 2.3mill on XBL seems a little out there, GameStop did report that the game sold on Xbox 360 2-to-1 against the PS3 version in their stores. So it is quite possible.

I just think that out of the millions of people who do have it for the 360, millions are going to have highspeed and at the very least a free month of XBL Gold thrown in to tempt them into at least giving it a shot. Then again I suppose there is no real way to track who is playing online, and who is merely logged in.

I'm trying to find statistics for other games like Halo and CoD4 to see if it does, but so far can only find the count of Unique Users that are on Live  : /

Why are we arguing over this? Regardless of if the numbers are truly real or not, a hell of a lot of people are playing this game online, and it is a feature made available for anyone interested. That gives it the hypothetical doubling of game time (perhaps more). It doesn't matter whether someone cares for it or not, because a lot of others do. It's like saying that your computer can play games and go online, but since you don't like games right now, the games don't do anything to help the computer itself. You may eventually turn to that area in the future, which is all that really matters.

And yes, it is confirmed that there have been 6 million copies of GTA IV sold in its first week (1 million in the UK alone). It sold 3.6 million copies on the first day. It has been said that the game has been sold to a third of all PS3 and 360 owners. Here's a good fact sheet for the game: Blog.wired.com

I'd say online play counts as 'what there is to do in the game', seeing how it is something people can 'do in the game'. I don't bowl or play pool - does that mean we should scratch that out of the list of things to do? Should we count multiplayer in CoD4 as just 'an alternative to the singleplayer game' and mention how there's less to do since it lacks the ability to drive tanks?

To me the game took a combat system which was horribly stale and lacking, and turned it into something which feels like Gears or Uncharted. I'd count that as more than a small cosmetic change. LC is no longer so lonely feeling as it is no possibile to play with a few friends in the game (a feature I don't recall being in previous versions of GTA, least not on my ps2), and as for the smaller changes like the way the citizens act and move.... I just don't think I can go back to San Andreas and feel the same about it.