Trivia
Brucie, one of the game's "mission-giving" characters, can be seen working out during one of the cut scenes; it is easy to notice tattoos of Chinese characters covering his body. On his chest is the character 我, which means "I"; on the back are the characters 人妖, which mean... "transsexual"! Consider Brucie's constant bragging of his own masculinity and heterosexuality...
Jimmy, the protagonist from Rockstar's game Bully can be found walking outside Hove Beach Railway Station at certain times. This also makes him the first child that can be killed in a GTA game.
If you visit www.littlelacysurprisepageant.com at the Internet Cafe, you will find a page that warns you've been caught by an LCPD pedophilia sting and immediately receive a 5-star wanted level. Little Lacy Surprise originated on the radio in GTA: Vice City Stories.
When Niko hands his resumé to the lawyers it says he attended Bullworth University in England. The game Bully, also published by Rockstar, was set in Bullworth Academy in New England.
If you visit the miniature golf course it is possible to find the following land marks from past GTA games used on the course.
The Ocean View Hotel from GTA: Vice City,
The giant chicken from GTA: San Andreas,
The farm windmill from San Andreas' countryside,
the Watts Towers re-creations from Los Santos and
the lighthouse from the old Liberty City, as seen in GTA III and GTA: Liberty City Stories
It is interesting to note that the models and textures are ripped directly from the original games.
If you gain access to Playboy X's mansion the clothes of GTA III protagonist Claude become available for Niko to wear.
Official art from past GTA games is interlaced into some of the random graffiti found throughout the city. Notably 8 ball and El Burro from GTA III.
Like past GTA's, GTA IV contains references to other open world games. The area Stillwater ave. is named after the city from Saints Row. The hotdog vendor slogan, 'You can't beat our meat', is also the same as the slogan for the Freckle Bi****s restaurant in Saint's Row. Finally there is a 'squids row - budget seafood' billboard which may be another reference to Saints Row. Some people also conclude that this could be a reference to the term "skid row".
The mission 'concrete jungle' may be a reference to the poorly received Predator open world game.
The fighting style Niko uses is the Israeli martial arts style Krav Maga.
Katt Williams and Ricky Gervais both did full motion and voice capture for their brief appearances in their own comedy skits on the television.
Originally planned for a 2007 release, the game was delayed until April 29th. According to the publisher the delay was caused by the nature of dual-platform development.
The mission called "I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle" is a direct reference to Terminator 2. The exact phrase is said by the Terminator during T2's opening moments.
One area of the game features a wall of graffiti which has the words 'Claude', 'Carl' and the phrase 'Remember Tommy' written on it. These are references to the protagonists of past GTA games.
To avoid the problems Rockstar faced with releasing the GTA series in Australia in the past, a crippled version was released so that the game could meet the highest rating of MA15+. Rockstar is still refusing to tell Australians what was censored in their release. Here is a rundown of what has been changed:
- There are no blood pools created after the player kills a person, whether they are a pedestrian or enemy; and bloody tire tracks cannot be created when the player drives their car through a blood pool.
- When having sex with hookers, the car can only be seen bouncing from the rear view and players cannot choose between a blow job, hand job, and regular intercourse; and the sex animations are not present. Also, the camera is locked to a rear view and it cannot be rotated.
- Light blood patches representing bruises and bullet wounds on the body are non-existent.
Contributed by
Black Wolf (37241) on Apr 29, 2008.
