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I performed this unboxing quite some time ago, but I haven’t put the game away for long enough to post it until now. Well better late then never I guess, right? So without further ‘ado, here is the documented unboxing of Grand Theft Auto IV’s limited edition (after the jump).

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We have all waited for what has felt like an eternity for this moment, and now it has finally come! Grand Theft Auto IV is officially out here on the East Coast, and the rest of the nation is only hours away from finally getting their hands on this most coveted title. When you are not too busy playing, be sure to check back here throughout the day for all of the Rotpod style GTA goodness that we will be churning out, and don’t forget to eat or sleep once in a while either. We know it can be hard to remember sometimes…

Congrats to all of you guys who just picked up the game this minute at your respective midnight-opening locations! I have a feeling that a lot of our readers, and a large percentage of the gaming population as a whole will be mysteriously off of work ’sick’ today…

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Sure it might seem like GTA IV is still a long way off, but here on the east coast we only have 5 hours left until we are blasting our way through the streets of liberty city. We have waited a long, long, time for this day my fellow gamers, and now we are so close that we can taste it. Can you hold on just that little bit longer?

Here are a few GTA-centric things to help occupy your time until midnight. Well, its a start at least.

• Check out all of the GTA IV Gameplay vids you can handle
• What are all the critics saying about GTA IV?
• How are those achievements lookin’?

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Ever since Rockstar’s press embargo was lifted earlier today, there has been an unstoppable rush of GTA IV goodness from every gaming press site you can think of. So instead of having you crawl all over the web like a hungry spider, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to compile a list of some major reviews for this year’s most highly anticipated title.

•  IGN – 10/10
  • “Grand Theft Auto III was a revolutionary title, one that inspired a whole new generation of 3D action games. Grand Theft Auto IV is just as big a leap forward, though perhaps in subtler ways, and sets a new benchmark for open-world games.”

• GamePro – 5/5
  • “It’s the best GTA ever, in all ways. If you thought the other GTA titles were impressive, just wait until you get your hands on GTA IV.”

• GameSpy – 5/5
  • “The very nature of the American Dream is the central theme in Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV, a gaming masterpiece that is a picture-perfect snapshot of the underworld of today’s big cities. This is not only the finest title of the generation thus far, it is one of the best games of all-time”

• TVG – 10/10
  • “ Fundamentally, it follows the format of its predecessors. Rockstar North has focused intently on ironing out the niggles and flaws of the trilogy, refining the rough edges, and polishing an already glistening videogame into something that transcends all forms of art: the plot of a good book, the razor-sharp dialogue and action of a stylish movie, a soundtrack that’s worth playing loud – and the violence that you choose to wreak.”

• Game Informer – 10/10
  • “Grand Theft Auto IV doesn’t just raise the bar for the storied franchise; it completely changes the landscape of gaming. Once you play it, you won’t look at video games the same way again.”

• EuroGamer – 10/10
  • “Ever since GTA III, they’ve all been standing on Rockstar’s shoulders and leaping off in new directions, like war and destruction in Mercenaries, super-heroics in Crackdown, and goblins and Jean-Luc Picard in Oblivion. But Rockstar kept its eye on the zeitgeist, and GTA IV’s big innovations aren’t amazing physics, spectacular graphics and epic environments – although it has all those – but convenience and multi-tasking. There is no longer any wasted time.”

• GameTrailers – 98/100
  • “Its hard to get more mileage out of a $60 game than you can with GTA IV.”

• Games Radar – 10/10
  • “There will be detractors, for sure, but we’re convinced that 97% of the gamers who purchase this whether they’re existing fans or not will find themselves hooked on it at least until the release of new downloadable content (currently 360 exclusive) later this year. As for the future of the series? This bodes well. And we’ve been assured the next instalment will raise the bar even further…”

• 1UP – 10/10
  • “None of these little flaws take away from Liberty City’s breathtaking vistas, incredibly varied scenery, and lived-in look (the PS3 version has the slightest visual edge, plus motion-control support — but then it’s missing Achievements and the eventual downloadable episodes exclusive to the 360 game). The city just feels alive.”

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Thanks to our buddies over at Xbox360Achievements.org, we now have a final list of achievements for GTA IV. While we have seen some of these in the past, many are new, and obtaining the full set still looks as if it will be quite the challenge. The achievements range from requiring players to beat the final mission, all the way to making them kill a Rockstar developer in an online match in order to unlock them.All in all it looks like a fun set to go after. Check out the full list after the jump.

GTA IV Achievement List (Thanks to Xbox360Achievements.org)

	Off The Boat	5
	Complete the first mission.
	One Hundred And Eighty	10
	In a darts game score 180 with 3 darts.
	Pool Shark	10
	Beat a friend at pool.
	King of QUB3D	15
	Beat the High Score in QUB3D.
	Finish Him	15
	Complete 10 melee counters in 4 minutes.
	Genetically Superior	25
	Come first in 20 singleplayer street races.
	Wheelie Rider	30
	Do a wheelie lasting at least 500 feet on a motorbike.
	Gobble Gobble	10
	Score 3 strikes in a row, a turkey, in 10-pin bowling.
	Driving Mr. Bellic	10
	Unlock the special ability of taxi.
	Rolled Over	30
	Do 5 car rolls in a row from one crash.
	Walk Free	50
	Lose a 4 star wanted rating by outrunning the cops.
	Courier Service	10
	Complete all 10 package delivery jobs.
	Retail Therapy	10
	Unlock the special ability of buying guns from a friend.
	Chain Reaction	20
	You must blow up 10 vehicles in 10 seconds.
	One Man Army	40
	Survive 5 minutes on 6 star wanted level.
	Lowest Point	5
	Complete mission “Roman’s Sorrow”.
	Order Fulfilled	10
	Complete all 10 Exotic Export orders.
	Manhunt	15
	Complete the most wanted side missions from the police computer.
	Cleaned The Mean Streets	20
	Capture 20 criminals through the police computer.
	Fed The Fish	5
	Complete the mission “Uncle Vlad”.
	It’ll Cost Ya	5
	Complete a taxi ride without skipping from one island to another.
	Sightseer	5
	Fly on all helicopter tours of Liberty City.
	Warm Coffee	5
	Successfully date a girl to be invited into her house.
	That’s How We Roll!	10
	Unlock the special ability of helicopter.
	Half Million	55
	Reach a balance of $500,000.
	Impossible Trinity	10
	Complete mission “Museum Piece”.
	Full Exploration	20
	Unlock all the islands.
	You Got The Message	20
	Deliver all 30 cars ordered through text message.
	Dare Devil	30
	Complete 100% of the unique stunt jumps.
	Assassin’s Greed	20
	Complete all 9 assassin missions.
	Endangered Species	50
	Collect every hidden package in the game.
	Under The Radar	40
	Fly underneath the main bridges in the game that cross water with a helicopter.
	Dial B For Bomb	10
	Unlock the special ability of phoning for a bomb to be placed.
	Gracefully Taken	10
	Complete mission “I’ll Take Her”.
	Liberty City (5)	20
	After meeting all possible friends, the ones left alive all like you above 90%.
	No More Strangers	5
	Meet all random characters.
	That Special Someone	10
	Complete mission “That Special Someone”.
	You Won!	60
	Complete the final mission.
	Liberty City Minute	30
	Complete the story missions in less than 30 hours.
	Key To The City	100
	Achieve 100% in “Game progress” statistic.
	Teamplayer	10
	Kill 5 players who are not in your team, in any ranked multiplayer team game.
	Cut Your Teeth	5
	Earn a personal rank promotion in multiplayer.
	Join The Midnight Club	10
	Win a ranked multiplayer race without damaging your vehicle too much and with damage enabled.
	Fly The Co-op	15
	Beat our time in ranked versions of “Deal Breaker”, “Hangman’s NOOSE” and “Bomb da Base II”.
	Taking It For The Team	10
	Be on the winning team in all ranked multiplayer team games.
	Top Of The Food Chain	10
	Kill 20 players with a pistol in a ranked multiplayer deathmatch.
	Top The Midnight Club	20
	Come first in 20 different ranked standard multiplayer races.
	Wanted	20
	Achieve the highest personal rank in multiplayer.
	Auf Wiedersehen Petrovic	30
	Win all ranked multiplayer variations, all races and “Cops ‘n Crooks”, as both sides.
	Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie	10
	Kill a Rockstar developer in a ranked multiplayer match.

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What follows the jump is a collection of GTA IV videos so huge, that you might actually be able to spend all of the remaining time between now and the game’s release watching them. This is one video bonanza that you do not want to miss!

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Time flies doesn’t it? Wait, who am I kidding? The next day and a half will likely feel like an eternity for the millions of gamers who have been itching to play Grand Theft Auto IV since its announcement almost two years ago. So how is one supposed to fill that time? I mean, we all have to do something to stop us from going insane, right?Here are a couple things you could occupy your time with:

• IGN – First Video Review of GTA IV
• Pre-register for the Rockstar Games Social Club
• Read up on Everything About GTA IV You Might Have Missed

Hmm, maybe there isn’t really all that much to do after all…

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Patcher. Michael Patcher. Everyone’s favorite video game industry analyst, bearer of news before it even becomes news, and overall awesome guy! What do you have for us today oh great soothsayer of the digital realm?

What’s that you say about GTA IV? Possible what? Possible delay?! Let’s take a deep breath, calm down, and talk this over shall we?

Speaking to Jeff Keighley on the internet gaming show Bonus Round, Mr. Patcher talked about the possiblity of Electronic Arts acquiring Take-Two, and what effect such a take over could have on the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV. And those effects? Not so good. Straight from Patcher’s mouth:

“I think if EA takes over Take-Two, they have an economic incentive to delay GTA IV.”

You had better start hoping that this deal never goes down my fellow gamers, or these April showers might not bring any May flowers. Not for GTA fans at least.

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Earlier today, some pics popped up on the web which displayed what appeared to be a GTA IV achievement comparison between an anonymous gamer and a Rockstar employee who had played a build of the game online. Suspiciously, the comparison showed only the names of each achievement on the list while the companion pictures, descriptions, and gamerscore values were nowhere to be found.

But just when I was about ready to call hoax on the whole thing, a member of the xbox360achievements.org forums posted the same list, this time with respective descriptions and gamerscore amounts for each achievement . They sound pretty legit too, as many Rockstar-esque references and inferences can be found throughout the post. Maybe these are the real deal after all…

Check them out at the x360a forums and judge their validity for yourself. As for us, we’re still labeling this one a rumor for now.

“Complete GTA IV Achievement List”

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A similar situation is being predicted for the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV on April 29th. Mike Hickey of analyst group Janco Partners is predicting that GTA IV will have a significant impact on the sales of the Iron Man movie. Hickey also predicted that Grand Theft Auto IV will sell more than Halo 3 ($300 million) in the first week–more specifically that GTA IV will gross $360 million in the first week. This is probably due to it being available on both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. Maybe the $360 million in profit for GTA IV could help the movie studios to wake up and start making good movies for a change.

via[Next-Gen.biz]

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Damn. There really is something to this month’s issue of EGM isn’t there? Not only did it deliver us tons of rumors, but it also contains a huge 13 page GTA IV preview which covers pretty much every aspect of the game that one could imagine. After some quality hands on time with the title up at the Rockstar North HQ, the magazine has a writeup that will answer any questions you could possibly have.

If you didn’t get a chance to pick the issue up yet, you can check out some scans of the GTA IV article here. But uh, I didn’t send you okay?

[Thanks CosmosTheMouse!]

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Yesterday’s 1UP Yours podcast revealed some juicy info regarding GTA IV’s visual elements across the two platforms on which it will be releasing. First of all, the crew confirmed that both versions will be running at 30 FPS (Frames Per Second), and that they look pretty much identical graphically. The only difference that was mentioned in the podcast referred to how the PS3 was lagging behind a bit in development, but they did confirm that Rockstar is still shooting for a simultaneous multiplatform release.

Check out the podcast for yourself for this and a whole mess of other news as well.

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It’s not quite midnight, but here is this weeks edition of TWIR:

• GTA IV Gets Delayed
• Xbox Support Website Launches
• Amazon.com Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive Sales Up 1000%
• Bizzare Says that PGR4 is not Constrained by DVD9
• Crysis Slated for November ‘07 Release
• Best Buy Ripping Gamers off for Xbox 360 Bundle?
• Epic Talks About Xbox 360 User Created Content Challenges
• Xbox 360 to Get 65nm Chips This Fall; 45nm for 2008-2009
• First Set of Forza 2 DLC Hits XBLM
• Fire Emblem’s Ike Confirmed as SSBB Character
• Bungie Details Halo 3 Cooperative Play
• More Xbox 360 Price Drop Evidence
• MGS4 Release Window and Multiplatform Possibilities Discussed
• Halo 3 Online Co-Op Confirmed
• PGR4 Track List Unveiled
• MGS4 Gameplay Video
• Lego Indiana Jones Announced
• FBI Searches Ted Stephen’s House

There is the important news that you may have missed this week! Don’t get too depressed about GTA IV, its not the end of the world… I guess.

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Recently, the Xbox 360 got exclusive GTA IV Episodic content, which really sticks it to Sony and the PS3. But, what we didn’t know is that Microsoft is said to have shelled out $50 million. Here Take-Two’s CFO reveals the price for each of the episodes and maybe even some prospective release dates

“The first 25 is for the first >episodic content package that’s supposed to go out and that is in March of ‘08. That’s why it moved into current because it’s in the next 12 months. The second 25 will be for the second episodic, the episode, and that will be later in fiscal ‘08.”

So, each episode cost 25 million and will be available next year, but we what we have left to wonder is if these episodes will be put a whole in our pockets.

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