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GAME, one of Britain’s biggest games retailers are at this point in time only selling GTA IV standard edition in pre-determined bundle deals on it’s website. If you wish to purchase the standard Xbox 360 version you can only do so if you buy a copy of Kane & Lynch, Bully or Devil May Cry 4 along with it. An alternative bundle which includes an Xbox 360 controller instead of a 2nd game is also available, as are hardware bundles. The standard edition cannot be purchased on it’s own. The practice of only selling popular titles in retailer decided bundles is often frowned upon by gamers as many see it as an attempt to take advantage of stock shortages, effectively leaving potential customers with no option other than to purchase additional items that they may not necessarily want in order to secure a product that is in short supply.

UPDATE: It seems the standard edition is available to buy on it’s own now but the product is really hidden away on the site, not showing up in the GTA section, the front page or the top sellers area. Also only PS3 bundles are now available rather than Xbox 360.

If you are one of the many people with no pre-order and could not get a copy from a supermarket midnight launch then where should you go today to try and get a copy? Your best bet would be the Argos website where you should be able to check stock and reserve a copy from about 8 am today. If they are out of stock then head for the non specialist games stores such as WHSmith’s and Woolworths as these are the most likely to have launch day stock on shelves. If you come home empty handed then unfortunately it looks like your going to have to wait until the next batch of stock arrives which should be this Friday.

The BBC have covered the launch of GTA IV on the 6 o’clock news. True, they covered the launch of Halo 3 as well but it’s pretty unusual to find any form of games coverage at all on the BBC these days. As is usual for mainstream media, the report mainly focuses on the fact it’s rated 18 and not for kids, although their is a business angle to it as well saying how much money is now involved in the industry. Of interest to most though will be where the guy shown playing the game was apparently able to buy a copy from before release date???

Microsoft have wisely decided not to release a game this week on Xbox Live arcade. As Xbox Live director Major Nelson put’s it “My guess is most people will be busy with another game this week “. Elsewhere in full price games releases, everyone has avoided the week with only Sega giving it a go with their Iron Man game being released on all formats to tie in with the release date of the movie.

Gametrailers have posted an 11 minute video review of GTA IV.The review does contain some minor plot spoilers from the initial start of the game as it’s practically 11 minutes of gameplay footage. The review is very in depth and offers a good balanced opinion, highlighting a couple of the games flaws along the way. The HD version is well worth a watch. Remember though, it has minor spoilers so click below at your own risk!

The GTA IV review emargo has been lifted and the scores are starting to come in along with lots of new gameplay footage in video reviews.

• Eurogamer - 10/10
• Gamespot  - 10/10
• IGN - 10/10
• IGN UK - 10/10
• Gamespy - 5/5
• 1UP - A+ (10/10)
• Teamxbox - 10/10
• Gameinfromer - 10/10
• GameDaily - 10/10
• GamePro - 10/10
• VideoGamer - 10/10
• total Video Games - 10/10
• IGN AU - 9.8/10
• Gametrailers - 9.8/10
• C&VG - 9.5/10

Post last updated 30/04/08

IGN have released their review of GTA IV ahead of all other sites who arn’t allowed to publish theirs until 5pm on Sunday. Check out the video review below which shows off non plot spoiling gameplay footage. It gets 10/10 by the way.

Following on from the problems Xbox Live has experienced in recent times during high profile games releases, Microsoft’s General Manager of LIVE Services Operations, Derek Ingalls says this time the service is going to be be ready.

In an interview with Kotaku he states “we are preparing for a spike that could be much larger than what we saw with the launches of Halo 3 and Activision’s “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.”. Xbox 360 owners will remember the significant problems the service experienced over the Christmas period where it struggled for around 2 weeks before beginning to get back to normal. Derek says “Last holiday we weren’t properly prepared… So we are going the extra mile with Grand Theft Auto IV”. Check out the full interview over at Kotaku.

Most if not all shops now have their stock of GTA IV sitting in the warehouse. There seem to have only been very isolated cases of retailers breaking the street date and these are by mistake due to uninformed staff at random supermarket branches. Of the usual suspects for early release, Indi games shops are mostly holding firm, Asda has the game out but with 29th of April stickers, Sainsbury’s has a blank space where the game should be, it doesn’t seem to exist in Morrisons and finally in Argos the tills come up with a message saying not to sell until 29th if you try and buy it at both self service and staff manned tills.

Online it seems all retailers are being closely watched and have been given specific instructions to post out copies from Monday onwards. Unfortunately it seems the pirates can play the game this weekend while the law abiding have to wait until Tuesday.

Following on From Frosty’s review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl recently, here’s an alternative view of the game:

Warning explicit lyrics