Grand Theft Auto IV trailer makes pigs squeal
by Nick Doerr 
{ Mar 2nd 2007 at 2:30PM }
"Squealing Pig" can also mean "A police car that has its sirens running, generally chasing a criminal". Then again, maybe it doesn't. I just made it up, but it makes perfect sense. Use the term, spread it around. Anyway, a teaser page for the first GTAIV trailer has popped up: a giant roman numeral "IV" and a countdown beneath it. It's clearly for the time the trailer launches, but what will it behold?First, we've been told that the game will use the Eurphoria engine which allows realistic facial features or something -- it "simulates the human body and motor nervous system. It means that in-game characters are fully interactive and always react differently to external influences, ultimately leading to a more life-like experience for the player." Great.
Second, we've been informed of episodic content for GTAIV will be released starting in 2008. Which means this game needs to get released soon, so people can get tired of it and then snag up those episodes when they arrive. Throwing it all out there in the span of two or three months can be kind of aggravating. For our wallets.
Begin speculation! What do you expect to see in this game? Any certain time period? Early gangster days? Modern day? Perhaps short-term future? Long term future? Perhaps the world will be taken over by sea otters who like to eat everything off of their bellies. I have no idea what to expect. So, tell me what to expect.
[uh, photo credit goes to www.cartoonstock.com, obviously.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tyler @ Mar 2nd 2007 2:46PM
Never thought about that, Old style gangers would be awesome.. though I kinda doubt it
naruto007 @ Mar 2nd 2007 2:58PM
how about the entire world? lolz that would be a freaking huge game o.O or maybe a continent?
Chris Putnam @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:12PM
Go here for an idea of what Euphoria means to a game:
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/705/705489p1.html
It's nothing to scoff at. In fact, it's absolutely incredible. This makes me very optimistic about what GTAIV could be like.
Stef Geiger @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:22PM
I'm one of those weird people who thought that GTA set in the 80s and 90s sucked. Those are decades that most of us don't WANT to relive. Give me a present day GTA, or may 70s era.
tom @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:29PM
Once again PS3 Fanboy shocks me with it's incredible lack of knowledge about the very industry and platform they proclaim to worship. Not knowing what Euphoria is is almost as bad as when you guys didn't know who From Software was. Get with the program, eh? You don't want to look like the kinds of fanboys who don't know what they are talking about, do you?
SlavedHeart @ Mar 4th 2007 4:54PM
Man oh man... Don't do that to me Chris... now I'm seeing the hills in San Fierro all over again in my head...
Also of note is that GTAIV was built on the RAGE (rockstar advanced game engine) Dev, according to previous rumor. For more info on that one, look at Table Tennis over on gamespot or other favorite game site (sorry, no link, not that committed to your ease).
As for what I'm looking for, persistence of character (let me own a house in da'hood, whatever that hood may be) and granularity (let me break down envrionments piece by piece...
Basically make me a MMOGTA (P.S. I'd like to believe that I've coined MMOGTA (a Massively Multi-player Online GTA, so please feel free to tell others about it, and give me credit, so I can get a jump on that girl from myspace, *lol*) and let me have free rent in return for providing service to the community (like spending a couple hours a week being a cab driver, or ambulance driver, or whatever online). Don't make me pay for things, like WoW or Starwars Galaxy, unless it's something uber cool, like new music for my car or house, or exclusive, one of a kind items.
Actualy, I have a whole rant about MMO's and where they fall down, and I really think that taking a few items from the MMO world COULD make newest GTA the most popular game of all time. Again, just thoughts... (oh, and don't let anyone who hasn't finished the story mode online, makes sure everyone is at least competent)
Ok, now I'm ranting... l8r
Stef Geiger @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:39PM
OH NO! Someone misunderstood the purpose of the Euphoria technology! This must mean that all people who like Sony systems are worthless beings!
See Tom, you're an idiot. How pathetically desperate do you have to be to insult people who like Sony hardware because one person confused the function of some software?
hot carl @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:43PM
i think given the fact that it's titled GTA "IV", it's same to assume it's set in present day. Since Vice City, San Andreas, and the various "stories" games are all essentially GTA 3 in different locals with different stories and a few new features...
GTA IV should be what GTA III was a reinvention of the game... engine and all.
tom @ Mar 2nd 2007 5:01PM
A little defensive there, Stef? I insulted a person who is an editor on a public website who's entire purpose is to report news and rumors about the PS3. I never said ANYTHING about it being because it's a Sony website, YOU're the one who made that leap of logic.
iDeLine @ Mar 2nd 2007 5:24PM
Tom has no life and actually thinks the editor is going to care about the bullshit he types.
Cut him some slack there Stef.
ndoerr @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:35PM
@ Tom -- I do care what you guys think. I don't see how I'm not reporting PS3 news and rumors, though, Tom. And oh, forgive me for not knowing the in-and-out for hardwares. I'm not majoring in computer sciences. I can guarantee you that I know more about software, video games in particular, than about 90% of the blogosphere. I wish I were exaggerating or making a boast, but it's the God's-honest truth. I know video games as well as critics know movies. Obviously, though, you can find nothing to complain about in the actual posts, so you find pleasure in attacking me personally. Do it again and your IP goes the Way of the Ban.
Naaiif @ Mar 2nd 2007 6:44PM
Didn't seem very enthusiastic Nick... are you a fan of GTA? i bet if this was Devil May Cry news you'd be LIKE OMG AWESOME.
But we all have our own biased views...
tom @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:04PM
Nick> It's a piece of software that your own site has covered before:
http://playstation.joystiq.com/2006/04/21/lucasarts-shows-us-what-next-gen-really-is/
And, you did make it a part of your post- a whole paragraph - and even offered your own mini-review of the feature to boot. "Great."
As far as GTA goes, I'm really curious to see what they are going to do with the series. It's grown a bit stale and never really got it's hooks into me the way I seem to think it should have. Something was just missing. Some light RPG elements, like Crackdown has go a long way to making a free-roaming game like this more fun. I'm actually hoping they don't go for a too-realistic look. Something stylized and wild would be a really cool thing for the devs to accomplish. So, I'm pretty much looking for more character development and an unexpected art style. Other than that, I'm expecting the usual host of technical advancements, such as physics, the Euphoria system, huge world, new songs, etc.
ndoerr @ Mar 2nd 2007 7:09PM
@ Naaiif -- Ya caught me =D. I get tired of GTA games after a few hours. Maybe because people insist on trying to show you one thing in the game and it ends up taking an hour because they've no idea where they're going. They're fun, though. But the same thing happened to me with Max Payne: someone tried to show me something and it took a long time, so I kind of have a "bleh" against those games. If I want to see something cool, let me play it myself.
@ Tom -- That was Adams. If he said something wrong, don't push it onto me. And are you saying that calling the Euphoria engine "Great" was a bad move?! Everyone else seems to think it's great. Don't be mean, now.
Dapper Dan @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:28PM
man, I'm such a cry baby douche! how insecure do you have to be to threaten to ban someone because they calles you out on a valid point. seriously, if you are going to reprt on some news, especially news that everyone will like atleast know what you are talking about. then you try to retort with you know more than most people in the blogosphere about video games?
@tom-
dude i will do you a favor, i don't live far from athens, ga. where ndoerr resides, i will so take a trip to punch his ass in the throat just for being so insecure about myself. ndoerr you write for a thriving system blog, dude grow up and learn to take control. oh, and please ban me, i just come here to read all the shitty ps3 news because i get tired of seeing so much awesome 360 news. fucking douche...
=)
Dapper Dan @ Mar 2nd 2007 10:29PM
sorry for any typos...i was pissed
Se7enwolf @ Mar 3rd 2007 6:08AM
actually, i coined MMPOGTA back between 2002 and 2003 when I was coming up with the idea of GTA being an online game. Even had several pages wrote out on ideas and possibilities, this was before the PS3 was even offically announced. This was planned for PS2. Anyways. My idea did include episodic downloads of missions and storyline added to your bought game. Along with that, there would be monthly up dates with cities being added on, or the cities/enviorments changing with new buildings, new character, new cars, almost any thing in the game could be updated or added. But it not having to be downloads, it would just be updates to online levels /cities just like WOW. Eliminating having to download stuff.
Really my main idea was baicly build a system that allowed players to work up in ranks and become the bosses giving the missions. You're new to the game, you create your own character from the start, you start out as a lonely petty thief/criminal or you can be a cop. You work your way up the ladder by doing jobs for other players or AI characters. the higher in rank you get, the more abilities you get, the more respect you get, and the bigger the missions. Such a mission a "real-life" boss could give you is to take our a rival gang member and earn respect that way. You dont even have to do missions, you can just be a average citizen or just stay a low time criminal or work your way up the ladder your own way. This leaves the gang wide open. Take on the biggest gangs and mobs in the city in one shot if you life. When you die by failing a mission, you get knocked down a rank. Of course missions can be present to a limit for the bosses to choose from to give you. But also there could be text message missions, or talk to the players through mic with present voices for your character.
With a map of several hundred players to it, it would be alot of fun and really theres no way there could be that much havoc created if the world is big enough, say 3 times bigger than San Andreas.
Another cool thing is start your own gang or mob with real life players, the ability becomes avaible. when you work up to a boss rank. And you can contact gang members by mic "cell phones" or text message. Just pick in a communication screen "phone" or "text" so and so.
there are so many possiblities you can do with a MMPOGTA game that its mind blowing and this would be the biggest game ever! blowing stuff like WOW away.
Stuff that can be updated for the map/game for online:
-store products you can by (clothes, weapons,ext)
-cars, vehicles,
-advertisments (perfect for in-game life advertisment)
-New Character creation options
-new enviorments, new buildings, new AI characters
-car costumizations
-weather!
-world events, such as put in big accidents or events into the game like someone famous coming to town, or building/bridge construction (say when a new building is being made, it goes under construction for a few days or a week before we can access it), terrorists attacks, anything you can think of.
-personal updates, say if your gang or mob boss was killed and knocked out of their ranks, you get updated on it and have to choose a differnt path (There is no single path to follow)
can you guys think of anymore?
now I know something like this is way out there, but if it is possible, them R* by all means DO IT!