Grand Theft Auto IV -- Still Stealing Attention

Grand Theft Auto 4 sold six million copies of the game in its first week, with 3.6 million coming on the first day, earning a total of $500 million. It is set to cement its place in the sales record books beating out the previous title-holder, Halo 3, when GTA4's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, releases the official numbers later today. The $500 million figure was reported early by The New York Times.

Along with the record-smashing sales and enthusiastic reviews, the week has seen some unique and funny storylines regarding the game over the past week.

Retailers are using the game's popularity to their advantage. A recent advertisement by Target reminds players to not forget their mother with Mother's Day coming up this weekend.

Some were worried that the release of GTA4 would affect other types of entertainment. The big question is if the release of GTA4 would lessen the box office numbers for Iron Man. That wasn't the case as Iron Man racked up $98.6 million in box office sales over the weekend. A two-hour break is nice when gaming for a week straight, don't you think?

The late night talk show circuit even had its fun with GTA4. Conan O'Brien spoofed the game by redubbing scenes with more friendly and quite hilarious dialogue.

Don't think that high-level executives will be the only ones pocketing cash from the sales of this game. Oxford University will be seeing profits as well because part of the game uses an engine designed by students at the university who have a profit sharing agreement with Take-Two Interactive.

The Mother's Against Drunk Driving has come out and blasted the game for including drunk driving in the gameplay. The game's main character, Niko, can goto a bar, get drunk and then drive a car, which is very difficult in the intoxicated state. The car constantly swerves around and is very susceptible to alerting the police. MADD wants the game to include an Adults Only rating because of this feature.

Despite these storylines, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has yet to make an appearance. That group likes to jump on any controversial cause, but has yet to rear their heads about this game despite one of the game's achievements involves finding and killing 200 "flying rats," or pigeons.

Comments

i also learned how to help my fellow man. solving my friend's problems, and helping a stranger prove that their wife might be cheating on them (saving relationships), and even saying no to drinking/drugs. many scenes depict Niko being offered a drink - and he refuses. i only remember him saying "ok" once so far.
i also know how to save my family from murderous crooks and that shows how much love and care i have in my heart.

i also returned items to rightful owners and discipline people who steal from my friends. i also get paid, so i have learned to budget while becoming an entrepreneur.

j/k

chosendragon

May 07, 2008

11:21 AM PT

gtiglilik

iconograph

May 08, 2008

9:08 PM PT