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Second GTA IV Patch Released, Early Look At DLC
IllusionMPN notes that a new patch has been issued for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV. It primarily contains bug fixes and optimization changes, though it's created an issue with some input devices. We're also starting to get hands-on previews of the upcoming downloadable "episodic content," The Lost and the Damned. Trailers and an achievement list are available as well. The original game's Niko Bellic won't have much of a role in the new content.
Damn, man.. Yet another patch and yet again it manages to screw something up?! We're either talking some major bad luck or an assinine QC.
I was actually looking forward to playing it on my brand new machine, until it finally came out and everyone started bitching about all the problems they were having. So instead, I took that money, and with the perfect storm of coincidences (huge amazon uk x-mas deal, plus near parity between the sterling pound and the euro at the time) and bought 3 games for my (also brand new) PS3.. And that included the ps3 version of GTAIV.
As for the DLC.. We're probably still talking about Xbox360 exclusive and, not having one, wouldn't make any difference to me. But looking at what's available as DLC on other platforms (mainly the ps3 store) I really don't see myself paying 20-30-or even-40% of normal retail prices for relatively minor additions. But that's just me: when I actually pay for/buy a game at these ridiculous prices (and I actually do that more often now than I did a few years ago -- IF the game is good enough) I feel ripped off if the devs "saved" some stuff that should be included by default, only because they thought they could milk some more green from me.
I'll admit that in some cases, DLC actually does bring a lot to the table (well thought-out episodic releases, for one -- and I mean the real sort, just because they _call_ it episodic, it doesn't mean it is), and I found that the cases where it did work for me, the original game wasn't priced so high, and the DLC is equally priced at a lower point.. But still, seems like every game studio out there at the moment are turning to this, and not thinking it through. Let's see what happens to Gran Turismo 5 when it comes out. Somehow I get the feeling that when they said over 900 cars would be available, they didn't mean _with the actual game_. And being a long time gamer, that really sucks.
Overall some nice improvements, but disappointigly, the major issues of the game remained untouched (DRM and consoley UI).
GTA IV was a wonderful thing for PS3, but for PC it's a carefully orchestrated insult.
I don't want to get into how many hoops one must jump through in order to play the game on PC, but consider that one must be logged into Games For Windows Live just to save one's progress in the game.
The Microsoft "you-may-not-cheat-in-single-player-because-we-say-so" mentality behind this ego-tainted abomination really hits home in the PC port of this otherwise technically beautiful game takes a giant shit on the moddable sandbox gameplay that has been the mainstay of the previous titles in this franchise.
No, I didn't much like the dating-sim aspect of GTAIV, but I could have gotten over that were it not for Microsoft's need to control-freak all over my otherwise ready-to-pay mojo.
That's not "an issue with some input devices". It's basically just a xbox360 controller or nothing. Microsoft decided that its new XInput libraries will only support "next gen" controllers. That is only the xbox360-like ones. Any PlayStation-like controllers simply won't work.
I'm mighty pissed because I bought my Thrustmaster 3-in-1 recently and absolutely love it. Tough luck, they say. And I'm stuck with the mouse&keyboard combo.
Damn you MS and your Games for Windows crap :/
Somehow the second and third link seem very much outdated (posted in december). This seems more recent, and 2nd patch related: http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/44199/Second-Grand-Theft-Auto-IV-PC-Patch-Released
That our 'custom for the pc' gta iv experience they hyped about... Supports ONE controller. The xbox controller.
I mean, how stupid is that?
If you want us to have a console that bad rockstar, buy us all one.
I played thru 70% of the game and just lost intrest. I kept expecting it to get better but it never did.
Theres SO many things they totally fucked up this time around. SO many things that don't work as good as previous games. And it's pretty obvious that either they did NO qc for anything like a standard game pc. Or their testers should all be fired.
Either way it has all given me a feeling of 'meh' about gta. GTA was great, we had some fun, had some laughs. And then they fucked it up with IV.
I'd like my money back, but i know that wont happen. I'll just have to forget about buying from them anymore.
ive herd GTA4 crashes wth these cards http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,669170/News/GTA_4_PC_Radeon_graphics_cards_cause_crashes_-_patch_en-route/, but i cant find anything to say that its been fixed for sure, i dont want to buy it to find out it doesnt work, and i dont want to pirate it to find out becasue 15GB is a little large for me
Rockstar is seriously up for a class action lawsuit for this piece of shit.
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I won't buy it until I see a patch that removes, in entirety, *any* reliance on anything to do with SecurROM.
The best patch for GTA IV is called XBOX. Go get one and forget your crappy PC boxes or devote those to shitty Excel files. Word.
New patch resolved my crashing every 10-15 minutes problem, redoing the first missions over and over again is good recipe for insanity!
I don't know when to say the you too phrase... I can't handle it.
I just have to mention this...
If you play gta iv offline, you have to download the patch, and it's in .rar format.
I am dumbfounded as to how this came about.
Windows cannot natively recognize or open a .rar format file.
What's even sillier is what happens next. "How do I open/install a .rar file?"
try googling "gta iv rar". These results do not mention winrar.
sigh.