grand theft

A six-year-old who recently stole his parents' car and drove it into a utility pole has passed the buck onto a familiar scapegoat: the video game, Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar Games' controversial Grand Theft Auto video game series has been accused of ... many things in the past. Its violent gameplay, including car heists, bank heists, beatings, shootings, and absentee law enforcement, has been criticized by parent groups and crusaders (or in the eyes of gamers, nincompoops) like former lawyer Jack Thompson for years (Thompson once tried to link the Virginia Tech slayings to late-night ... (view more)

Grand Theft Auto IV ("GTA IV") is a retail phenomenon. By all accounts, it has raked in more sales than any game in history, making GTA IV a retailer's dream come true. However, the buck may not end there -- in fact, GTA IV is now acting as a prime ... marketing tool for music artists. When it shipped last week, Grand Theft Auto IV hit retailers like a sports car through a shop window (uh, you can do that in the game). Long midnight line ups and millions of pre-orders soon gave way to top-ranking reviews, with many experts calling the game the best ever released. With that kind of attention, it ... (view more)

Recently I reported on the intense buzz surrounding Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV. Netting some of the most impressive reviews ever seen in modern video gaming, GTA IV is not only being heralded as "the best Grand Theft Auto game yet," but ... perhaps the best title, well, ever. Too bad a few glitches might spoil the party. According to reports from Gamespot, both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gamers are filling forums with complaints that the game crashes frequently. In pinpointing the source of such complaints, Gamespot cited Xbox.com, official Sony boards, NeoGAF forums, and even its own ... (view more)

Long heralded as the most open-ended franchise in history (well, aside from those 100-plus hour Elder Scrolls games), Grand Theft Auto has received both acclaim and criticism for its violent nature. However, the most recent installment, Grand Theft ... Auto IV, is receiving reviews previously unheard-of in gaming. All in all, these kinds of scores make Halo 3 look like Superman N64 (uh, the worst-reviewed game in history). When it first launched shortly after the introduction of the PlayStation 2, there was little doubt Grand Theft Auto III had changed the way games were made. Granted, it wasn't ... (view more)

Fans of the Sony PlayStation 3 had a rough time of it when the console launched in November 2006. Pounded in sales by Nintendo and overshadowed by the game library of the Xbox 360, few Sony fanboys could legitimately 'sell' the system for gamers. ... Now, that may be changing as the console regains a critical feature once thought lost forever. When it first shipped well over a year ago, the PS3 lacked a small but important little trick that many gamers enjoyed: rumble. Part of the reason, as claimed by Sony, was that the PS3's new controller function, SIXAXIS, would be impaired by the vibrations ... (view more)

Jack Thompson and the PTA get ready. Rockstar has finally confirmed the release date of its much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV, the next-gen evolution of a video game series known for innovation, open-ended play mechanics, and almost unmatched ... public controversy. (Source: dose.ca ) The Grand Theft Auto series debuted in 1998. Its first two iterations were top-down schemes that hardly challenged the capabilities of either the PC or original Sony PlayStation. Critics dismissed Grand Theft Auto I and II as cheap, violent attempts at roping in teens. Things turned around for Rockstar when it ... (view more)