240w ago - Some new details about GTA: Chinatown Wars are available as follows:

EDGE Magazine interviewed Rockstar Games VP, Dan Houser on what to expect for this winter's forthcoming GTA debut on Nintendo DS, Chinatown Wars. The interview revealed a few new snippets of information about the game.

• Pedestrians will act the same as they do in GTA IV. You can find them talking with each other, buying snacks and items at newsstands, and will even take out an umbrella when it's raining.

• Characters on foot will look exaggerated "for the very simple reason of being able to inject them with character when viewed from above". Looking at some of the previously released screenshots, you'll notice characters on foot are not in proportion (larger) to the environment around them (cars, etc).

• The game will feature an assisted driving system to help make driving a little forgiving.

• Wanted levels can be reduced by knocking police cars off the road, however destroying them will increase wanted levels. Alderney will not be featured in this version of Liberty City .

• Although the game is isometric, the y-axis will be taken into consideration, therefore weapons cannot be fired over a certain height.

245w ago - Looks like trouble never sleeps in Liberty City, indeed. This time around, it's a music copyright lawsuit that's filed against Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, particularly on the songs played on the in-game radio station.

Jamaican Linton White alleged in his complaint that the reggae song "Last Night" making its rounds on the GTA IV (Xbox 360, PS3) airwaves care of the reggae station, Massive B Sound System 96.9, was actually co-written by him with one David Brooks (aka "Mavado"). Apart from that song, there's also "Bullet Proof Skin", which he says he co-wrote with Brooks and Rodney Basil price.

Although Linton was recognized and credited as a producer on Mavado's Gangsta for Life album (2007), his beef is that he was not credited for co-authorship on the said tracks in the Liberty City Guidebook that comes along with a copy of the sandbox title.

Linton's complaint states that:

In the... Liberty City Guidebook... [Take-Two and Rockstar] designate D. Brooks and B. Konders as the writers of "Last Night." ...[Take-Two and Rockstar] designate D. Brooks and R. Price as the writers of Bullet Proof Skin." No designation is made of plaintiff as a writer.

Reportedly, plaintiff Linton is demanding for US$ 150,000, plus punitive damages and other fees. In Rockstar...

246w ago - Unlike most of what we read about GTA being a bad influence, GTA is actually being portrayed in a positive light for helping to save the life of a family in this article.

An 11 year old girl knew from playing GTA the dangers of a potential vehicle rollover. With a bit of quick-thinking, she helped pull out her family members to safety and her Mom commented:

"She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us."

To quote: Many disparage the value of video games and their effect on today's youths.

Karen Norris, of Streator, will say no such thing. Not after her quick-witted 11-year-old daughter, Audrey Plique, sprung to the rescue of their family because a popular video game showed a potential danger of a vehicle rollover.

"She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us," Norris said.

247w ago - Gearbox making Halo 4?

Gearbox Software is no stranger to high profile games, particularly those of the shooter variety. The company behind the Brothers in Arms series has been hinting for a while now that they're working on something big, something huge, something so mind-blowing if they dared speak its name we would all prostrate ourselves and weep uncontrollably for weeks. The only problem is that we had no idea what this project was, until now.

According to Joystiq, who is in turn relying on the spies at OXM, the new double-secret game coming from Gearbox is none other than Halo 4, the next true sequel in the franchise. Furthermore, this latest edition of Master Chief's saga would be a launch title for the next Xbox, meaning that if the game faces a normal development schedule then we should be expecting Microsoft's next console to drop sometime in 2012.

So how realistic is this one? Gearbox is one of the preeminent FPS developers in the industry, so the idea of them doing a Halo game is completely reasonable. Also, Randy Pitchford, the head of the studio, is directing this game personally, and he has gone on record saying that he "can't oversell this one." With all that in mind, this seems like a nearly done deal; we'll go ahead and wait for official confirmation, but in...

248w ago - Earlier today Rockstar gave us the first ever look at Grand Theft Auto IV running on PC. And while you can read our quite favorable impressions in our full GTA IV PC preview and check out all the screenshots, it's worth noting some of the specific enhancements for the PC version.

First of all, the visuals. Running at a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600, the game's PC port offers all sorts of visual enhancements over its console counterparts, from a further draw distance to up-rezzed textures.

Then there's the replay mode. The game always records the last 30 seconds of whatever you do, and at any moment you can tap a button on the keyboard to capture a video clip. You're then able to edit together these clips in a montage editor and export your own home videos to Rockstar's Social Club website.

Perhaps best of all, though, are the multiplayer enhancements. Though Rockstar has teased about these in the past, it stated that the PC version will support more than the 16 players that the console versions had -- exactly how many more we don't yet know. Rockstar also mentioned that GTA IV on PC will offer improved searching and filtering to find the type of multiplayer games you're most interested in joining.

From what we saw and heard, GTA IV on PC is definitely worth getting excited...