Grand Theft Auto IV - Post-Release Update 2

Okay, this update will be longer than the previous one, it’s a summary of news from the past few days. Okay, first, if you have not spotted our Grand Theft Auto IV review, you can look it up here. I gave it a 96/100, which I think will be the best score I will ever give to a video game. Yes, I’m a big fan of Grand Theft Auto, and I love the series a lot, but this review has to be fair, if you have wondered why it was not a perfect score.

Next piece of news — it seems that the voice actor for Niko Bellic, Michael Hollick, is a little bit unhappy about the amount of money he’s been paid by Rockstar Games for providing the voice of Niko Bellic, which he had done a great job with. With so many lines of dialogue, I’m pretty sure it’s a tiring job.

Apparently, since taking on the job in 2006, Hollick has been paid around $100,000 for his work and with it being a video game, there are no performance related payments or royalties in sight. Hollick blames his union for not having proper practices in place when dealing with game voices, but he claims that it’s “tough” seeing the game pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue without getting a cut.

Well, I would be feeling the same way if I were him, too. Anyway, let’s zoom in on to the next piece of news. It seems that the uncut or uncensored version of Grand Theft Auto IV is now available in New Zealand, thanks to Stan Calif, founder and director of First Games, who was the one who spent his own time and money to submit Grand Theft Auto IV to the OFLC single-handedly.

Since OFLC had rated the uncut version of Grand Theft Auto IV and had given it an R18, this means that the uncut version of the game can now be sold legally in the country. New Zealand can now rejoice, expecially Grand Theft Auto fans there! Here is what Stan said regarding the matter:

“First Games are proud to be able to deliver GTA IV uncut to New Zealanders. We have been committed from the outset to provide Kiwi gamers with the freedom to purchase an unaltered version of GTA IV. After much hard work and expense we are now able to deliver GTA IV in the way that Rockstar originally intended”.

The last piece of news is about the Rockstar Games Social Club. The Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer leaderboard is now live on the Social Club, which is the exact same one you see on the “Stats” page in the game. Click here to check it out!

Finaly, this is the last paragraph dedicated to locals - any Singaporeans here? You can win a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV! I’m not the one giving it away, but Sheylara is (she plays GTAIV!). Click here for the contest page. All you need to do is to write a review of her weekly “Gamer Girl Friday” article and post a comment. Contest ends June 5, 2008. Just to let you guys know, I will be holding our very own Grand Theft Auto IV giveaway very soon too! Stay tuned!

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