"In a more practical, action-oriented setting, enemies are also imbued with Euphoria's influence. When Niko is unloading a clip into his adversary, none of the reactionary movements to the hot lead are canned or scripted. The hapless bad guy recoils naturally in response to being struck by the bullet. Wound him enough and he'll fall backwards, slouch on the ground or start to try and crawl away to cover with his last ounces of strength. Shoot him on a ledge, and he'll topple backwards or lose his balance and plummet, arms waving, to his death. In the most recent trailer, you might recall a body falling onto a four-wheel drive. This was part of a mission involving Niko sniping thugs off of high points in a construction yard. The falling body and its final impact are also controlled by Euphoria. It's actually quite moving and unnerving to watch such a logical cause/effect relationship play out as naturally as it does."

"Following the earlier announcement from Rockstar Games about the release date for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Grand Theft Auto IV, French website Jeux Expo is reporting that the PC version of the game will be launched in Europe in October 2008."

"NEW YORK — "Grand Theft Auto IV" will be the biggest entertainment experience of the year and make its players feel like immigrants newly arrived in America, according to a developer working on the game.

After showcasing a nearly complete version of "Grand Theft Auto IV" on the Xbox 360 to MTV News for an hour and a half earlier this week, Rockstar Games Vice President of Product Development Jeronimo Barrera talked about how delays have shaped "GTA IV," how the game handles sex and violence this time around, and more.

"I don't see anything being bigger in 2008 in any entertainment," Barrera said as he sat on a black couch in Rockstar's demo room, proudly sporting a white T-shirt with a large "IV" printed on the front. "We think it's that big, and we just have to get the word out."

What Barrera and the development team that handles the game in New York and in Scotland-based Rockstar North are promising is the king of open-world games. Rockstar Games popularized the go-anywhere, do-anything open-world genre with "Grand Theft Auto III" in 2001. This new game is intended to be the next leap. "We don't want anybody else to raise the bar for a genre that we created and that everybody else ripped off," Barrera said. "So we definitely want to shock not just the players, but the industry. I'm not talking about shock value. I'm talking about just how big it is and just how many crazy, bananas things you can do in the game."

"GTA IV" was initially going to make its splash in 2007, when it was scheduled for an October release. Thursday (January 24) morning, Rockstar announced a new release date of April 29. And the delay, Barrera said, makes the game stronger. "We wanted the time, and I think we made the right choice. It was very difficult to make the choice because everybody wanted it. But we thought, you know, what with that extra bit of time, it's just going to be that much better and there will be more systems out." "

"Basically, some unnamed person has tipped that Microsoft will be dropping the price of the Premium 360 another $49 on the same day that GTAIV gets released. This would be a smart move for Microsoft as we know millions upon millions of people love the GTA series. Now if you are still a PS2 or Xbox owner sitting on the fence waiting for this game to be released, then it would be a good time to invest in a next gen system."