Although the heyday of blaming the Grand Theft Auto series of videogames for the commission of real-world crimes has mostly passed,  this little nugget has emerged from an incident Saturday night in Raynham. Two youths, a 12 and a 16 yr old, were arrested for allegedly trying to set fire to a garage and an apartment building with makeshift Molotov cocktails. The younger of the pair claims they got the idea from playing GTA 4 prior to their early morning graffiti spree that commenced with a laughable attempt to blow up a couple of buildings.

Quick thinking, kid.

"They appear to have crossed the line from virtual reality to reality," said Police Chief Lou Pacheco, wasting no time in assuming GTA 4 as an absentee co-defendant. Not surprisingly, the Chief had little to say about the fact that these children were given the opportunity by their parents not only to play this very violent and mature game they have no business playing, but also to be driving around at 4am with a head full of bad ideas.

Fortunately, these two are not the most capable of criminals as the boys appear to have made the wicks out of flame-retardant material from a chair cover. They also neglected to realize that a Molotov cocktail only explodes and causes real damage when you break it.

Following the arrest, the boys were arraigned in juvenile court on charges of possession of an explosive device and attempted arson. They were then released to their families, who will probably now sue 2K Games instead of re-evaluating their lives and taking responsibility for what horrible parents they are.

A piece of graffiti from the incident featuring what is presumably one of the kid's real names...

Source: G4/ Enterprise News

In an earnings report issued to by Take-Two, besides a Red Dead: Redemption delay of game, it was revealed that the underwater big boy BioShock 2 has sold 3 million and the mighty, mighty GTA: IV a monumental 15 million.

So many copies sold!

For reference, BioShock the original sold 4  million total, so its sequel is rapidly approaching that figure.

In other multi-million sales news, Take-Two’s softcore software “Carnival Games” has surpassed 6 million sold across both Wii and DS, the company reported today. Scary, huh?

After playing Grand Theft Auto IV for the first time, the first thing I said to myself was, “You know what this game needs?  More drugs, violence and storylines!”

Of course, this was clearly an exercise of sarcasm as Grand Theft Auto IV was a perfect representation of how to develop a game.  Yet, it seems that the people at Rockstar went ahead and fulfilled my request anyway with their release of Episodes from Liberty City.

This stand-alone title, available for around $40, allows veterans and new fans of the series to play the add-ons for GTA IV, the critically acclaimed Lost and the Damned and the highly anticipated release of The Ballad of Gay Tony, without actually having to own a copy of the original game.  This set-up is perfect for those who played Grand Theft Auto IV as a rental or just never bothered to download the additional episodes, combined with the drop of The Ballad of Gay Tony and a fair price (costing as much as downloading the two separate add-ons in the Xbox Live Marketplace) make Episodes from Liberty City a very intriguing title heading into the holiday season.

First, let’s briefly go over The Lost and the Damned before we focus on The Ballad of Gay Tony and then review the complete package of Episodes of Liberty City as a whole.  (For our more in-depth review of The Lost and the Damned, check out this link). The Lost and the Damned allows players to take control of Johnny Klebitz, a member of the biker gang called The Lost.  Johnny, vice president of the club, is tasked with spending most of his time fixing the mistakes of the president, Billy, who has been in rehab for narcotics possession for a long while.  Of course, upon the release of Billy from rehab, the club is divided by those who prefer Johnny as their leader and those who prefer Billy.  Now, players must find a way to reunite the club, while also dealing with controlling Billy’s out-of-control behavior, gang wars, jail raids and other craziness.  Like The Ballad of Gay Tony, The Lost of the Damned has plenty of mini games and multiplayer modes unique to the add-on.  By itself, The Lost and the Damned is worth downloading due to its unique story and decent amount of gameplay, but how will it look when combined with another add-on?

The Ballad of Gay Tony is the newest release from the folks at Rockstar, which will be available both in downloadable and hardcopy format as found in Episodes From Liberty City, which we’ve been focusing on in this article.  This add-on has a completely different vibe than the previously described The Lost and the Damned episode, which should not really come as a surprise.  Instead of being centered around the gritty activities and conflicts of a biker gang, The Ballad of Gay Tony focuses on the not-so-glamorous life behind the velvet ropes and glitz of the Liberty City club scene.

Players take control of Luis Lopez, a juvenile delinquent turned club-owner body guard.  Luis is introduced as Gay Tony’s (AKA Tony Price) confidant, muscle and eventual business partner.  Of course, coming from a childhood of crime and mischief, Luis has plenty of profitable and questionable connections and opportunities with his life back home as well.  Throughout the game, Mr. Lopez will have to deal with the struggles of balancing business with family in order to become the biggest success he can be.  Plenty of in-game decisions will have to be made by the player, so be prepared to have to make some moral choices as you try to make it to the top.

The Ballad of Gay Tony begins with a funky intro; the term “funky” meaning filled with 70′s and 80′s style of music, complete with synthesizers and heavy bass slaps…. not strange or odorous.  Anyway, the point is that The Ballad of Gay Tony lets you know right from the start that this episode is not like any other Grand Theft Auto title that you’ve seen.  This installment will be filled with a new level of flamboyancy and classiness that players have only gotten mere tastes of in the previous games.  However, rest assured that there are plenty of drugs, swearing, murders and conflicts in this episode, which will surely keep the GTA purists satisfied to a reasonable extent.

Those with “mouse and keyboard for life!” tattooed on their arms, or just PC gaming fans in general can find solace this weekend as Rockstar Games has announced patch 1.0.3 is currently available for download and fixes many of the major hiccups in the Grand Theft Auto 4 PC build.

Notable features include graphical optimization; greater user control over graphic settings, including a new “OFF” option for reflection and shadow quality; and the elimination of remapping restrictions for keyboard and mouse, allowing for user-custom control schemes.

I‚  must say this is excellent news, as the outcry surrounding the PC version of the acclaimed title has been significant, and it is comforting to see a respectable development studio continuing their pursuit of diligence and respectability with fans of the series on console or in this case otherwise.

Head on over here for a full breakdown of these changes, and the various tweaks and improvements in the patch.

We all expected GTA 4 to cause controversy — but this is getting ridiculous.

Connecticut State Senator Gayle Slossberg (D-Milford) is concerned over an apparent rape scene in Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 4. The only problem — it doesn’t exist.

The Senator, who admittedly has never played a single mission of the Grand Theft Auto series wants confirmation of the supposed scene from Rockstar’s parent company Take2, fears that it will corrupt the youth.  In an interview with The New Haven Advocate newspaper, the apparently gullible Slossberg hints that she’ll introduce legislation in the upcoming legislative session that will call for a overhaul of the way the ESRB rates and labels games, adding that she’s unsure of what would be a sufficient label for the game. “Maybe, ‘this game will make you a sociopath,’”  the Senator scoffed.

A quick google search for the terms “GTA 4 rape” brings up nothing but curious message board posters asking about the rumors validity and a single Youtube video titled “GTA 4 Rape” that doesn’t deliver, but does serve to show off some sick pretty sick crashes around Liberty City.

 Take2 has not commented on the rumors, and don’t expect them to.