Microsoft today announced that the PC port of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV will exclusively use Games for Windows Live for its multiplayer component when it is released on November 18.

"As we work toward the release of the PC version, Games for Windows Live affords us the opportunity to seamlessly translate the multiplayer console experience for PC gamers," said Rockstar founder Sam Houser. "The service is a natural fit for the platform and we strongly believe it will help in building a strong online community around GTA IV PC."

According to the Microsoft, GTA 4 PC will benefit from upcoming Live features such as "a redesigned game interface, out-of-game client and marketplace."

The port is set to feature graphics improvements, a new replay/clip editing mode, and multiplayer additions.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, speaking yesterday at the company's Analyst Day event, said he couldn't answer a question from an analyst about attempting to hire Sam and Dan Houser, the producers of the Grand Theft Auto series for rival publisher Take-Two.

Kotick did, however, say this: "We really embrace the individual studio model. We know how to take studios and talented teams and appropriately incentivize them. We’ve definitely become the destination location for independently minded entrepreneurial talent," which Silicon Alley Insider translates from PR-speak to an implicit acknowledgement that Activision may try to hire the duo.

The very "independently minded" Houser brothers have together served as producers for the Grand Theft Auto series since Grand Theft Auto 3, seeing it rise into a franchise worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Their contract expires in February 2009, which may send them running to the highest bidder.

While any potential moves on the brothers' part are officially speculation as of now, even a PR-sanitized quote from Kotick serves as the first public acknowledgement from a rival publisher that the two may leave the publisher they helped to build into a major player.

The official Games for Windows website has released the recommended system specs for the upcoming PC port of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.

Grand Theft Auto IV PC will include an expanded multiplayer component, improved graphics, and a gameplay clip editing suite when it hits the PC on November 18.

The recommended specs are as follows:

• OS: Windows XP SP2
• Processor: Dual core processor (Intel Pentium D or better)
• RAM: 2GB
• Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
• Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
• Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

An ordinary current event has been made extraordinary by injecting a little Grand Theft Auto--eleven-year-old Audrey Plique helped to extract her family from a rollover car accident with the help of Rockstar's hijack-happy action game, according to The Times of Ottawa, IL.

"She just knew, from playing 'Grand Theft Auto.' She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us," said Karen Norris, Plique's mother.

Norris's family of five was traveling through rural Illinois in a Jeep Grand Cherokee when driver Robert Norris, Jr., "felt lightheaded" and the car went off the road, rolling over four times before landing on its side in a ditch. Plique then discovered the rear window had shattered and crawled out of the car before helping her family escape as well. There were no injuries aside from cuts and bruises.

The Times reported no danger of the car exploding.

The use of Grand Theft Auto as a scapegoat isn't going anywhere, says law professor Ashley Lipson. The trick is worth too much money.

"A good defense lawyer will blame everyone in sight, except of course the client. When he or she runs out of people to blame, it's time to look around for objects. What could be better than a popular videogame?" Lipson reasoned to the Palm Beach Post.

James Waller, a practicing defense attorney--and gamer--admits to using the tactic. "Portraying your client as the victim of outside forces (be they child abuse, coercion by peers, or an ultra-violent video game industry) humanizes the client and shifts the culpability," he said.

As a gamer, Waller is put in a strange situation by using the ... Read more

The first of the two pieces of Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV will add approximately 15 hours of gameplay to the 360 version when it hits this November, according to an unconfirmed report from web comic RPG-TV.

Allegedly sourcing a Microsoft London representative, writer Chris Thomas further claims that the new Xbox 360 dashboard--packing an updated look, game install support and Netflix streaming--is likewise slated to arrive in November.

Both Microsoft and Rockstar Games have remained mum on the details of the exclusive GTA 4 DLC, only confirming that it will arrive this fall. Likewise, Microsoft has only officially stated that the new Xbox dashboard will hit in the fall.

Shacknews has contacted Microsoft for clarification and confirmation of these details, but had yet to hear back as of this writing.

The following screenshots represent the first glimpse of the PC port of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.

Said to feature graphics improvements, a new replay mode, and multiplayer additions, Grand Theft Auto IV PC will be hitting stores on November 18. For more details on the port, check out our earlier coverage.

The first details on the Grand Theft Auto 4 PC port are drifting in from the Leipzig Games Convention.

A new replay editor will allow players to edit and save the last 30 seconds of gameplay. Filters, cutting, and camera angles will be supported. The separate 30-second clips can then be edited together into a longer work using the "montage editor." The complete work can then be shared on the Rockstar Social Club.

The game will also receive some changes to its multiplayer modes. Though few details have been released on this point, it was hinted that the overall player count--Grand Theft Auto 4 supported 16 player servers--may be increased for the PC edition. Confirmed are a robust set of server filters, which will enable users to find matches with specific settings much easier.

The graphics engine has also been improved, with more realistic lighting and a higher level of character and environment detail, according to Eurogamer. Resolutions up to 2560x1600 will be supported.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is set to hit PC on November 18.

Game makers should be prosecuted for the criminal activities of players that are inspired by game content and actions, according to a Thailand government official.

The response stems from the recent murder of a Thai cab driver, with the 18-year old murder suspect telling police he was attempting to recreate a scene from Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV. The game has since been pulled from store shelves in Thailand.

"When a player copycats a crime he or she sees in the game, the game maker should be prosecuted," Somchai Jaroen-amnuaysuk, deputy director of Thailand's Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups Office, told AsiaOne, as relayed by GamePolitics.

"Prosecutions will automatically force game makers to act more... Read more

A poll of over 1,600 parents said that Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series was a more objectionable activity for their children than drinking alcohol or watching pornography, according to press release from parent gaming resource What They Play.

The poll, conducted on the What They Play website, asked parents what they'd be most concerned about their 17-year-old child doing while at a sleepover. Marijuana use topped the poll at 49%, followed by playing Grand Theft Auto at 19%. Watching porn and drinking beer clocked in at 16% and 14%, respectively.

"Although these findings seem surprising at first, they hint at fears parents have about video games," said Grand Theft Childhood co-author Cheryl K. Olson. "To some parents, video games are full of unknowable dangers... Of course, parents don't want their children drinking alcohol, but that's a more familiar risk."

The accuracy of the poll, however, remains an area of dispute; though What They Play is a site most commonly referred to by concerned parents, the sampling... Read more

The long-rumored PC version of Rockstar's open-world crime life simulator Grand Theft Auto IV will hit North America on November 18 and in Europe on November 21, the developer announced today.

The PC edition is said to pack "newly expanded multiplayer just for the PC," with Rockstar remaining mum on the specifics. Released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this past April, the Rockstar North-developed title went on to sell over 6 million units in its first week at retailers and has since sold over 8.5 million units.

Screenshots from the console editions of Grand Theft Auto IV

"We are very excited to be releasing the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV," said Rockstar founder Sam House. "The whole team is dedicated to bringing an amazing gaming experience to the PC. The game looks and plays beautifully on PC and we can't wait for people to play it."

Word of a relatively quick PC release fits with the company's previous work, as the past three GTA titles--Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas--all arrived on PC within 7-9 months of their console debut.

A Thai video game distributor has pulled Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, 360) from retailer shelves after an 18-year-old high school student confessed to killing a taxi driver while recreating a scene from Rockstar's open-world action title.

According to Reuters, the teenager told Thai police that "he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in a game."

The youth faces death by lethal injection if found guilty of robbing and killing the 54-year-old taxi driver, pending further investigations and a trial.

"We are sending out requests today to outlets and shops to pull the games off their shelves and we will replace them with other games," said New Era Interactive Media marketing director Sakchai Chotikachinda. "We are also urging video... Read more

Microsoft corporate VP Shane Kim today reconfirmed that the first bit of Xbox 360-exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV downloadable content will debut on Xbox Live this fall.

The episode will mark the first of two promised game-expanding, Xbox 360-exclusive pieces of downloadable content for the title. No additional details were revealed.

Rockstar Games today released an update for Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, 360) targeting a number of online multiplayer issues in the open-world shooter.

The patch addresses numerous connectivity problems such as freezes during certain game modes, and bugs in races and race lobbies. The new update also fixes certain exploits, including one that allowed players to inflate scores in the Cops 'n Crooks gametype.

The latest update will be downloaded automatically upon starting up Grand Theft Auto IV on either platform. The full patch notes are viewable below... Read more

A film based on the open-world criminal antics of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series is likely to never happen due to a 1977 movie of the same name, according to LA Weekly film columnist Nikki Finke.

That movie, which was directed by and starred Ron Howard (left), is said to be the source of a legal settlement in which Rockstar supposedly agreed to never make a Grand Theft Auto film as long as Fox never makes a video game based on Howard's work.

Left, Howard's Grand Theft Auto film. Right, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.

In other words, Finke claims that Rockstar has the rights to the Grand Theft Auto game series, while Fox holds the rights for the entirely unrelated, but identically... Read more

Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two spent millions to defend against the recent hostile takeover attempt by rival publisher Electronic Arts.

The news comes out of Take-Two's second quarter financial statement, which noted it had spent "$5.3 million in professional fees and legal expenses, with the majority related to Electronic Arts' unsolicited tender offer."

The company should be able to easily absorb the costs, after pulling in profits of $98.2 million, a marked improvement from its 2007 second quarter loss of $51.2 million.

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV has sold 8.5 million units to date, with 11 million shipped to retailers. The game managed to move 6 million units in its first week, amounting to some $500 million in revenue.

2K Boston and 2K Australia's underwater action title BioShock also did well for publisher Take-Two, with 2.2 million copies sold to date across both the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. A PlayStation 3 version is planned for release in October.

Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive revealed today that it has delayed the first piece of Grand Theft Auto IV DLC until the first quarter of its 2009 fiscal year, which runs from November 1, 2008 to January 31, 2009.

According to the company, the Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content was pushed back "in order to provide a better balance in Take-Two's release schedule."

Little is known about two planned pieces of game-expanding content, though marketing materials refer to them as "episodes." Both were originally slated to debut before November 1, though the second pack was pushed into FY2009 late last year.

Actor Michael Hollick, who voiced Grand Theft Auto IV protagonist Niko Bellic, revealed to the New York Times that he was paid just over $100,000 for roughly fifteen months of work, with no royalties or residuals from the $500M earned by the game in the first week of sales.

"Obviously I'm incredibly thankful to Rockstar... But it's tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they're making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don't see any of it," said Hollick.

"I don't blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games."

Hollick noted that while his appearance in Rockstar's wildly successful opus has propelled him to new levels of notoriety, contracts between the actors' union and the entertainment industry offer no provisions for electronic media... Read more

Parents Television Council public policy director Dan Isett claimed in an interview that Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) awards points for drunk driving, before confessing that he hadn't played enough of the game to verify it himself.

When questioned by Arizona Daily Star reporter Phil Villarreal, Isett said that he had played the open-world action title, and that the game rewards players for driving drunk.

"I've actually played Grand Theft Auto IV, and it's right in keeping with previous versions. The series continues to lower the bar and this is the first game that has an alcohol content warning. You get points for driving drunk in this game."

When the reporter corrected Isett, the director backpedaled, offering instead that it was a "rewarded activity" which is "necessary for advancement." When ... Read more

Though Microsoft has lined up two exclusive downloadable episodes for the Xbox 360 edition of Grand Theft Auto IV, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves is optimistic that the PlayStation 3 version will eventually receive some form of downloadable content as well.

"Well I think you probably will see [GTA 4 DLC on PS3]," Reeves told VideoGamer. "It's just that a deal obviously was struck between Microsoft and Take Two to do that, and if that's what they want to do, I think that's the last shot they have."

Reeve's underhanded comment is most likely referring to Sony's declaration that the PlayStation 3 has now outsold the Xbox 360 in Europe, though the Xbox 360 edition of GTA 4 sold 20% more than the PlayStation 3 version in the UK.

Few details have been revealed about the two Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable episodes, though the first is expected to arrive before November. Rumors have suggested that the content may go so far as to include entirely new cities.