PS3 Fanboy

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV is making a big splash over in Japan, according to the weekly software ranking published by Famitsu. The big budget sandbox title is debuted at the top of the charts, while LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue: Spec III took third and seventh place, respectively. The exact numbers should be released tomorrow, along with hardware sales (unconfirmed word on the street is the PS3 is number 1). It's really refreshing to see games on the PS3 do so well -- we'll keep you updated when the exact numbers are published!

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)
2. Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One (DS)
3. LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (360)
5. Wagamama Fassion Girls Mode (DS)
6. Pokemon Platinum (DS)
7. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue: Spec III (PS3)
8. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS)
9. Chocobo's Dungeon DS+ (DS)
10. Wii Music (Wii)

[Thanks, Zack!]

So when Rockstar says "Monday the 27th of October" it seems they actually mean "the evening of Sunday the 26th." The GTA IV Trophy patch is now live and ready to be downloaded worldwide. So if you're not too busy exploring Africa, the Ishimura or Rapture, why not have another go around Liberty City? Keep in mind that you'll have to start a new game as the Trophies are not retroactive. But was anyone really expecting them to be?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The latest Rockstar Social Club email has finally given us an indication of when we can see the Grand Theft Auto IV Trophy patch. We've known what the Trophies are for a little while now, but we were never quite sure when they'd be coming. Thankfully, we now have a date and best of all, it's soon. You'll be happily traversing Liberty City again (but this time for fun and profit) on Monday the 27th of October. That's only days away. So dust off your copy and have it ready and waiting. We'll be sure to tell you once the patch is live.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

We know a good deal of you were looking forward to this: Trophies for Grand Theft Auto IV! Strange, how this came from out of nowhere. Let's not waste any more time though, shall we? The complete list is below.

Well, finally. We were hoping this would come sooner, but better late than never, no? The widely reported problems of "freezes during certain modes" and "multiplayer connectivity issues" finally have a remedy -- a patch has just been released by Rockstar for Grand Theft Auto IV. An apology was also included in the patch notes, along with details of each problem resolved.

[Via Joystiq]

In spite of a patch, many PS3 owners are reporting problems with Grand Theft Auto IV. While a number of solutions have been suggested, many are hoping for a better solution. According to one post on the PlayStation forums, a Take Two representative said the issue was "with the launch edition of the PS3" and that "the game was checked over and passed as 100% compatible with the current version of the PS3."

While this is unconfirmed, it does seem to be a plausible scenario. Considering how important GTA IV is, it wouldn't surprise us to see a new firmware attempt to fix these issues. Sony has previous released firmware updates, simply to patch games on the PSP. For example, Sony released an entirely new firmware for PSP a day after the release of Parappa the Rapper in Japan, because the in-game browser wasn't working properly.

[Via Joystiq]

According to Level Up, the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV has been outselling the PS3 at nearly a 2-1 ratio, with 64% of sales going to Microsoft's platform, and 36% going to Sony's. Granted, this data comes from first week sales at GameStop, which will skew towards early-adopting hardcore gamers. Many had suggested that GTA was so strongly associated with the PlayStation brand that PS3 sales would boom from the release of the new GTA. Could this initial sales data suggest otherwise?

Peter Dille, senior VP of marketing at SCEA, thinks that this is a figure that Microsoft shouldn't deem as a victory. He says that any difference in sales is due to the difference of install bases. "There's a larger installed base right now on Xbox 360 than on PS3. So it's not surprising that there's going to be more selling on Xbox 360 than PS3. Having said that, we're really excited about the ratio. If I had an installed base advantage of 3-1, I wouldn't be crowing too much about a 60-40 sales advantage."

The coming weeks and months will start drawing in the more casual market to the game, a sector which the PS2 captured wholeheartedly in the last generation of consoles. "We think it's not as high as what GameStop's telling you, if you look at [the full picture on] the national level. They're outselling us, but not by that same margin, and it's because of their installed base lead. With an installed base lead that's close to 3-1, if you're bragging about a 60-40 software split, it's clear evidence that the PlayStation 3 consumer is overindexing on GTA IV, and the PlayStation brand loyalty that we've been talking about is bearing itself out in the marketplace as we speak."

One of the big advantages of the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV is its exclusive DLC, coming later this Fall. Some may argue that a game as deep as GTA IV doesn't need additional content (Liberty City is a massive sprawl already!). However, it's not like PS3 owners shouldn't have the option.

Speaking to videogamer.com, SCEE boss David Reeves said that we may see DLC for PS3: "Well I think you probably will see it, it's just that a deal obviously was struck between Microsoft and Take 2 to do that ... I would say to them then, you know, email Rockstar (laughs), and ask them what's coming. I think they already are, probably!"

Reeve's wishy-washy answer certainly doesn't inspire confidence in the certainty of DLC for the PS3 version of GTA IV. For now it's still a pipe dream -- one that PS3 fans are incredibly reluctant to let go of.

[Via Joystiq]

Looks like Grand Theft Auto IV got a little band-aid patchwork today with a 1.01 update. It's a small little tweak at 18 MB, and it supposedly will fix up those freezing problems everyone's been getting antsy over. So far, we've been playing with the new patch for the past few minutes and everything seems to be going smoothly.

[Update: Looks like the freezing issue has not been fixed after all. Many gamers are stating the problem is persisting. Apparently, this update is supposed to fix multiplayer connectivity issues which cause the game to lockup. Eurogamer notes: "reducing the loads on the servers at GameSpy and hopefully the completely random hangs that some users have seen".]

[Thanks Lee!]

Liberty City can be a tough place to live. Trying to make an honest living in Grand Theft Auto IV as a hardened criminal just ain't as easy as it used to be. Sometimes you need to cheat.

You play as a thief and a murderer, why not be a cheater, too. Oh dear, if only your mother could see how far you've fallen. Watch the video to see the cheats work their magic. To read up on the full list and how to do them, check that out after the break.

[Thanks, Chris!]

Both PS3 and Xbox 360 owners have been experiencing issues with Grand Theft Auto IV. Although the number of PS3 consoles afflicted is "limited" according to Sony, those that have experienced problems seemingly can't find a solution. From the looks of Take Two's 12-step "fix" at Gamespot, we don't think Rockstar knows a real solution either.

The first suggestion is what we've heard already: delete your game cache and save data. However, other parts to the laborious process include disabling internet connectivity on the system. Then, disabling the Information Board, Media Server, screen aver, and more. When your PS3 is totally gimped, it may be able to successfully play Grand Theft Auto IV.

Sorry, but that's not going to cut the mustard. We're sure that the people affected by this mysterious plague of errors want a patch -- one that allows them to play the game without disabling every feature of their PS3.

[Via Joystiq]

You've most likely heard about the issues plaguing Grand Theft Auto IV on PS3. While some have reported success by deleting their saved content off their PS3 systems, many are still experiencing many issues with the game, on both the Xbox 360. We're conducting a network-wide poll with Joystiq and X3F to see how many people are affected. If we're vocal enough, Rockstar might finally issue a statement about what's going on.

Are you having problems with Grand Theft Auto IV?
	Yes, and I use the Xbox 360
	Yes, and I use the 60GB PS3
	Yes, and I use the non-60GB PS3 (please specify in comments)
	No problem (Xbox 360)
	No problem (60GB PS3)
	No problem (non-60GB PS3; please specify in comments)
	Don't own the game, I just felt compelled to click something

If you are a proud owner of Grand Theft Auto IV on the PS3, then you might not be so proud to know that the online multi-player mode is down. Or, at least it appears to be so for PS3 patrons. Numerous players have received errors upon attempting to connect; this blogger included has not been able to get the multi-player to work. An error message pops up: "Cannot connect to game provider, please try again." Hopefully, Rockstar can get things running soon. Wouldn't want to upset the GTA IV crowd, if you know what we mean. In the meantime, get back to the single player game. We'll keep you posted as we find out more.

[Thanks, Aron A.!]

[Update: It's back up. Yay!]

It was bound to happen: one of the video game sites was going to provide a video comparison of the two versions of Grand Theft Auto. A word to the wise: these videos are always tricky to capture. But, we think GameVideos did a pretty stellar job with this one. Make sure you download the HD version if you want to see any potential differences between the two. Do you have a strong preference for one over the other? Or are we just squinting to find differences that aren't really prominent?