Week-End Podcast Roundup -- GTA4 (and Not Much More) Edition

Yes, yes, we're playing it. We heart it too. A review is coming -- it's long! And you know this. That doesn't mean nothing else is goin' on! Noted by Joystiq's Justin McElroy in this week's Joystiq Podcast (the same podcast that held up production of this very podcast roundup, thank you very much), output in the games journalism field this entire week has taken a significant downturn, with every single podcast weighing in notoriously lighter than usual (including their own.)

GiantBomb pulls an all-nighter and Jeff Gerstmann is nearly zombified, 1UP Yours gets philosophical (shocking!), Cheapy and Wombat talk about poop (less shocking) and GFW Radio has disappeared (let's hope not permanently.) All this and more, [tips hat] as your weekend is (nearly?) confirmed.

The GiantBombcast (feat. Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis)
Joystiq Podcast (feat. Chris Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann and Justic McElroy)
The CAGcast (feat Cheapy D and Wombat)
The 1UP Show and 1UP Yours Podcast (feat. Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, Nick Suttner and Shawn Elliott)

And finally, Quarterplay would like to give a shoutout to everyone at the Cottman Avenue GameStop in Northeast Philadelphia for handling such a massive turnout with relative ease and professionalism, as well as the free pizza (thanks Papa John's, you pseudo-pizzeria, you.) Though I, (me, personally, Benjamin Gilbert), do not necessarily agree with many practices of the GameStop corporation on the whole, individual branches are often full of nice individuals who play games actively and are (usually) friendly -- this specific location especially. Don't hate the player, hate the game, right? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to return to Liberty City...

Microsoft (Barely) Details GTA4 Exclusive DLC Release Date

Continuing the deluge of Grand Theft Auto 4 information, a press release from Microsoft today notes, "Starting this autumn, Xbox 360 owners will also have access to exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV episodes that will provide hours of additional game play." This autumn being officially September 21st through December 20th, we're going all the way crazy and saying this date's just a bit hazy in it's specifics. Considering I'm roughly five percent through the main story and have owned it for five hours or so, they can take all the time they need -- for now. Us here at QP will of course keep you updated as more details unfold.

Launch of the Year? GTA4 Midnight Release, Philly Style

As people waking up for class/work in the next five or six hours, it'd be hard to say we're glad that Grand Theft Auto 4 inspired GameStop (among other retailers) to hold midnight release events wherein you arrive late at night, buy your copy of the game ('Would you like a strategy guide with that? 20% off if you buy it with the game!') and then proceed to go home and play it well past any reasonable hour (it's currently 3:30 in the morning.) That last part, we suppose, is optional, though hardly controllable. We arrived at the local area GameStop around 11:40, debit card in hand, and $64.19 later, we were lining up to wait out the rest of the hour with everyone else. The line, as you can sort of see, was extensive, though not disabling so. As detailed in our previous midnight release coverage, this particular GameStop location handles events such as these with relative ease -- politely ushering everyone in and out, keeping people informed and generally making the situation a pleasant one.

In the intermediary, we took time to speak with the lucky group of fellas heading up the (by midnight) 200+ person raving beast we dare call a "line." Anthony, Joe and Rob like Grand Theft Auto quite a bit -- not necessarily first-in-line-at-a-Star-Wars-opening level excitement, but excited enough that they arrived three hours ahead of time. (We should mention, though located within Philadelphia city limits, this particular GameStop location isn't exactly in an exciting neighborhood, so three hours here means something.) Anthony was the glorified gamer among the group, having played and completed nearly all GTA's, excluding only Vice City Stories for the PSP and having started with number two on the Playstation 1. GTA3 was the majority favorite among these guys, who were all prepared to go home and start immediately.

Upon exiting the glowing light of GameStop's front windows and seeing the line for what it had truly become, we snapped another shot to our best ability (which is to say very little), and QP blogger extraordinaire Shawn Annable noted, "There have to be at least 200 people here. This is nuts." Within minutes the clock had struck midnight and the line began moving -- fast.

As you can clearly see, we certainly didn't leave empty handed. A quick trip to the nearby Wendy's to insure gastrointestinal problems later in the night sealed our adventure with a greasy and over-processed kiss. In case you were wondering, the mysterious markings on my receipt are just a few of the Ancient Druid rune writings, passed down centuries upon centuries through dynasty to dynasty of GameStop Regional Managers. It's beauty knows no bounds.

It's currently 4:30 in the a.m. when I type these last words, half wired on coffee/half asleep from exhaustion. We're glad GTA4 came out on a Monday, seriously.

Grand Theft Auto IV: A Brutal New World

One of Colorado's major newspapers, the Rocky Mountain News, published a piece in today's Spotlight on Grand Theft Auto IV, written by Kotaku's big daddy Brian Crecente. While the story is understandably a bit watered down for mainstream readers, it's a nice overview of the game as a whole. Plus, it's in a Colorado newspaper, which automatically makes it awesome.

Now, excuse me while I go slit my wrists in the bathroom because I won't be able to get GTA4 along with everyone else this Tuesday. Stupid college. Though we will be posting our review of the upcoming blockbuster (we hope) by week's end.

No Sexy Gun Fun in Aus/NZ GTA4

Gamers in Australia and New Zealand who buy up Grand Theft Auto IV will miss out on a thrilling scene involving a gun in an unpleasant place. Kotaku's resident Aussie, Luke Plunkett, gave Take-Two a jingle to find out what exactly had been cut, and was told "the scene involves a weapon being inserted into an enemies private area during a mission where Niko is taking revenge after one of his close friends was forced into sexual intercourse during his stay in prison."

Well that sounds fun. Times like this, I'm glad to be an American.