Will there be a PC port of GTA IV? I don't have any current-gen console, but the way things look now, it's the only game I'll be playing on Xbox 360 (Mass Effect is coming to PC). So I'm thinking: should I buy an Xbox 360 or should I wait for the hypothetical PC release? Will there be any Xbox 360-exclusive games worthy of purchasing this console?

Or maybe I should get a PS3?..

So far, no port announced. Upon initial release, there was no mention for PC ports for GTA III and San Andreas either, so it can still happen. On the other hand, R* seems to have moved away from PC gaming in the past few years, no ports for Bully, Manhunt 2, ... I will only half enjoy the game without a mouse/keyboard, but I still want to play it nevertheless, so probably a 360 for me near the end of the year.

I guess you want to play Metal Gear Solid 4 and the next Final Fantasy, which are both PS3 exclusives. On the 360, Alan Wake will probably be great, and you'd maybe like Lost Odyssey as well.

Buy both consoles. Problem Solved!

If you're considering buying both consoles at some point just check which GTA version is better and buy the console the current version is for first. If you're thinking of buying only one don't worry cause eventually you'll buy both - I'm certain. If you buy an Xbox 360 now you'll want to buy a PS3 later for Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy. If you buy a PS3 first ...I don't know maybe you wanna see how Sakaguchi is doing and buy an Xbox. Personally if I ever buy an Xbox 360 it would be because enough PC games are ported there (and my PC crawls) and also because I heard that tri-Ace's Infinite Undiscovery will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. Of course if you can't help but wanting to play GTA IV on a PC then wait...

Buy both consoles. Problem Solved!

I just bought a new computer for 7000 RMB (700 Euros)...

OK problem not solved. From curiosity, what's the price of consoles there?

From curiosity, what's the price of consoles there?

Same as everywhere, I think. Xbox 360 goes for 2700 RMB (270 Euros).

I, for one, am waiting on a PC release. I figure it'll have to happen, considering the amount of money Rockstar has made with the ports of the GTA games before. Sure, they never ported Bully or Manhunt 2 as Sciere noted, but from my knowledge the original Manhunt had never done well on the PC and they probably assumed that Bully would follow in the same footsteps.

At least the GTA games have a proven track record.

But that's my two-cents.

GTA IV will most likely be available for PC by the end of the year. The market potential is just too big and I doubt Sony and MS will pay enough for its console exclusivity to compensate Take 2.

If you can't wait, the PS3 will probably be more suitable for you since many 360 games you might care about are ported to PCs. To me, Lost Odyssey and Too Human alone won't make me buy a 360 and on the PS3 side we have FF13, MGS4, Heavy Rain, LA Noir, Yakuza 3 and White Knight Chronicles (or whatever they call it right now). Also, looking at the Xbox sales in Japan, I strongly doubt that inevitable sequels of games like SMT or Suikoden will see a release on the Microsoft console (at least not an exclusive one) and the same goes for many Japanese games.

In short: wait for PC port or buy a PS3.

If you can't wait, the PS3 will probably be more suitable for you since many 360 games you might care about are ported to PCs. To me, Lost Odyssey and Too Human alone won't make me buy a 360 and on the PS3 side we have FF13, MGS4, Heavy Rain, LA Noir, Yakuza 3 and White Knight Chronicles (or whatever they call it right now). Also, looking at the Xbox sales in Japan, I strongly doubt that inevitable sequels of games like SMT or Suikoden will see a release on the Microsoft console (at least not an exclusive one) and the same goes for many Japanese games.

In short: wait for PC port or buy a PS3.

Dude, you do have a point. I'm inclined to follow your advice.

If it helps you then I'm about to but myself a PS3 too. And Ash named most of the games I made the decision upon on - especially L.A Noir, Heavy Rain and Final Fantasy XIII. And then I'll probably obtain all the important multi-platform games like the Aliens RPG and Alpha Protocol on PS3 too. PS3 rules! PC sucks!

If it helps you then I'm about to but myself a PS3 too.

It does help, Josh. I'm glad that I'm not alone in the world who wants to buy a PS3. There's nothing to be ashamed of. Buying a PS3 is normal. In fact, a recent survey shows that 3.5% of all men have bought a PS3 at least once, while 7.6% were too ashamed to answer. I now know that my guilt over the wish to buy a PS3 was irrational. So thanks for sharing this with us, Josh. You know what else works? Close your eyes. Relax. Best sit somewhere on the floor in the yoga position. Say clearly and out loud: "I want to buy a PS3, and I'm not ashamed of it".

Come on guys. It's been more than a year that PS3 is out there. If you're to be ashamed of buying one now what should I do for rushing to buy it some months after its release (here)? Crawl like a worm, stay in the house with all windows sealed or wear a bag in my head?

There. Are you happy now? And because I bought a PSP now people will think that I'm a Sony fan. I won't be able to walk at the streets outside now. And it's Oleg's fault for mentioning Crisis Core at a crucial time. Just when I was trying to forget about that and the fact that I never actually had a handheld, money seemed to fill my pockets out of nowhere and also the particular game appeared in a store (I'll finish the game before other European gamers get their hands on it though - ha) and because I couldn't help it blah, blah, blah...

Aside from the consoles' awful controllers with the pitiful auto-aiming - I move and shoot like a toddler in Halo 3 - playing games on the computer feels like a break from work in the same location, while consoles require me to physically move, lean back in a couch and make time for gaming. By the time I've got the discs in and got everything hooked up, I'm often bored already, let alone spend hours playing there. It feels like instant laziness, while I'm much sharper playing from behind a desk. Alas, with so many interesting games becoming console-only, and the price of a decent gaming rig upgrade, it becomes more and more tempting.

Why does almost every PC fanboy talk like he's physically disabled?

I don't think we're so much disabled as we enjoy playing games on a PC after work. Imagine, if it's possible, that you've just finished doing whatever you need to on your PC and you decide it's time for some gaming. Instead of going out to the living room, setting up your console and whatnot, you have a machine already loaded up and ready to play whatever you put in it.

That's another reason casual games have really taken off on the PC. Pick up and play; if you're already using one machine, why bother using another to entertain yourself? Finished working on your document? Load up Half-Life 2 and get right into the game from there.

Either way, console or PC, you're just going to be sitting around playing games, unless you're using the Wii or something, so in general I imagine most gamers are "physically disabled".

Technically if everything is in place for both PCs and consoles, consoles take less time to start.

ahh, but PCs are often already started. Some of them are effectively permanently started 8)

I lost a screen once because of that "permanently".

Actually, if you look at my example, the computer already being on and you already sitting in front of it, I believe the PC would win in the time contest. I mean, unless your console can instantly teleport me to the living room and my couch. :)

Yeah, but that doesn't count. Headstarts (or is it two words?) are not allowed.

Anyway it's not really an issue to me cause I have both my console and PC on (a little while ago I had my PSP on too).

Now that I think about it maybe I have some issues...

Any movement other than the hand gestures for the mouse is equivalent to climbing mount Everest. Besides its hard enough to walk from the bed to the PC everyday. :p

Now that was funny! Thanks for a great morning start and take that bag off already.

It will be on PC, don't worry about that. It's like 5-10 millions more games sold, nobody can doubt they will port it. The question is when. I'm pretty sure they have programmed it thinking on PC too, so the game is probably almost done, but exclusivity contracts will push it some months. It was around 8 months for San Andreas, do you think you can wait that long?

It will most probably be also cheaper, at least 10€ cheaper. I still think that 70€ for a game is just too high. And, also, it will most likely look better in your PC, which has an almighty mouse that consoles don't have. It's going to be hard, though.

Some stores have been selling it on the launch day for €49 - €50.

There's one Swedish store selling it for 400 SEK (~€40) at launch.

Are they retards? or people is just very nice in Sweeden?

It helps that most games appear to be manufactured in the US, the prices for new PC games have been brilliant over here lately. A new title costs on average between €20 and €40. Go dollar!

Go dollar!

... and don't come back!

nobody can doubt they will port it

My understanding is that a big-screen HDTV is a kind of prerequisite for the current generation of consoles... not so for PCs. I figure some sort of downscaling (and subtitle inflating) would at least be needed.

I'm not sure I understand.

GTAIV's 360 resolution is 720p. (1080p is not exactly "true" since its upscaled) The current generation monitors are able to produce resolution up to 1900x1200, which is obviously way bigger then Full HD standard.

That of course, doesn't mean that port is an such an easy thing to do. Still, I believe, its not exactly the matter of whether it can be done but rather of will it be.

It makes sense for a low-profile game to be released on PC to recuperate some of its losses. But for such a hit as GTAIV, I don't think it would matter much. So, there's no need for Rockstar to worry themselves with PC port, unless they are very greedy.

Which, I hope, they are. :-)

way bigger than 1920x1080? err....not really. You have less resolution horrizontally and more vertically. Overall it's more or less the same. I haven't seen many displays capable of this either, I'd be surprised if many people really run that high a resolution on their pc vs. people who have a 1080p hdtv.


I would have said the opposite; porting a low profile game may not be worth the effort. If it's really that low profile could you really make up for the cost of porting with the sales? But something high profile should easily pay for the cost and then some!

Sorry, I phrased that badly. What I meant is that there are very few 360 and PS3 games offering native 1080p, the majority is upscaling from 720p (which is 1280x720 with every pixel counted), sometimes less. That number is much lesser.

1920x1200 monitors are from 23'' and up. There are of course not so mainstream solutions.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. It will still look better on any HDTV than monitor. I just didn't get what Pseudo was talking about.




Yep. That makes sense too.

Not really, all current generation consoles work just fine on standard def tv's or hdtv's of any size.

Though some games don't, because the developers were to lazy to test it on a low-resolution screen. That can result in text that is unreadable on a standard definition TV.

For purely academic purposes, I suppose? I remember your moral suffering when you had to kill some innocents in - what was it, San Andreas? Would you like to go through it again? I doubt that, playing a criminal, you won't have similar occasions in GTA IV.

So, buy new King's Bounty instead. Problem solved. You are mature enough to not care about that game all your friends keep blabbering about.

For purely academic purposes, I suppose? I remember your moral suffering when you had to kill some innocents in - what was it, San Andreas?

I got over that :)

Would you like to go through it again?

Any time :)

No, seriously, apart from the moral issues, everything else in San Andreas was so damn great that I do want to plat GTAIV. Besides, I heard so many good things about the story of GTAIV and how it has improved over the previous titles.

I'm pretty sure no one will base their console-buying decisions on a magazine mini-review, but just for interest's sake here's what EGM has to say on the subject of the best system for GTA IV :)

GTA IV on PC

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I see your cat is back. I was already worrying :)

LOL!!! I loved this one :)

That's cruel!