Rock, Paper, Shotgun

That Spore kerfuffle earlier in the year sure seems like spilt milk compared to Rockstar’s GTA IV balls-up. The multiple DRM systems have proven to be the least of the troubled port’s problems – seems Kieron was lucky to even get into the thing, never mind that half his graphics were AWOL.

Everyone’s having their own miseries with it, it seems. So, below the cut: a quickie poll to see how many of you lot are having problems with the game. That’s along with more ranting from me, and a list of the many fun Fatal Errors players are running into. I’m a victim of RMN40, which apparently means I need to install XP SP3. Problem is I’m running Vista. Nice!

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So – GTA’s out and its multi-step installation program is causing gnashing of teeth. Take this proper-AIM growl-piece, for example. As is only right, as it’s incredibly annoying. However, the main reason to justify the post was to stress… well, you only have to do the Rockstar online club thing if you want to play online games or upload stuff. After installing, you can skip a log-in to it to just play, saving a little time. Good luck. Of course, that doesn’t help my own particular problems…

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I think all of RPS have reviewed GTA4 PC for somebody or another – the only one I’m not sure about is Walker, and I think someone may have… actually, no, he hasn’t, apparently. Poor old Walker, eh? Anyway, while Jim’s hit the world of print, mine has hit the internet first, which means I win. I take apart the PC version for Eurogamer, mainly concentrating on the new stuff. And don’t worry, installation-worriers. I give a shout out for you. Go read here.

I also talk a load about music. RPS GTA4 mixtape, I suspect, will be incoming shortly.

IGN’s got a remarkably long Q&A up with some anonymous mouthpiece of the Rockstar hivemind, specifically detailing all the various copy protections and mandatory login guff next week’s murder simulator will require to install and run. There will, it seems, be quite a few barriers between you and your hooker-killing; the internet will not be happy.
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How many zombies does it take to make a meme? How many zombies is too many zombies? And why is every game suddenly obsessed with them? Well, even more so than usual.

It certainly seems like the en vogue way to drum up renewed interest in a game right now – no less than three usually non-zombie-centric titles have made the headlines in the last few days thanks to a little unexpected undeadery.
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Via VG247, the official recommended system specs for the upcoming PC port of of Big Steal Car 4. Oddly, since their discovery yesterday, they’ve been pulled off the official Games For Windows site and replaced with a ‘Coming Soon’. Theories? Either they were wrong, it’s the notorious Rockstar info-chokehold at play again, or they’ve been taken down because the entire internet misinterpreted ‘recommended’ as ‘minimum’. Here’s what they were yesterday though. Read the rest of this entry »

Annoyingly we’re not at this year’s Leipzig Games Convention, because we’re a) stupid b) poor c) lazy and d) unfit for public consumption. We did intend to be, but things fall apart, the centre of PC game blogging cannot hold.

But let’s pretend. Imagine we are actually there, and the list of links below is actually stuff we’ve seen and written ourselves. It’ll be fun!
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As GTA IV enters its extensive beta-testing period on 360 and PS3, the question remains exactly when it will be released on PC.

Okay, sure, they’ve yet to announce it for PC, but tradition dictates that it should be with us within the next year. And if that tradition continues, it will be a superior version designed for considerably more handsome people. Well, we’ve been down to the rumour mill, despite hazardous safety conditions and a lack of protective eyewear, and heard that it might be in November.

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