One of the most intriguing parts of Grand Theft Auto is the embracing of the city's design. What it looks like, how the streets and areas are connected... basically an overall understanding of the city's physical makeup. GTA IV is no exception. Although we know that it is set in Liberty City, Rockstar has promised to deliver such a drastic change in the look and the feel of the city, that we can be sure that exploring GTA IV's Liberty will be very different from exploring the Liberty City of either GTA III or GTA: Liberty City Stories.

It didn't take long for our community members to get together and start poking and prodding the preview screenshots (and trailers) of GTA IV to try and get a rough idea of how this new and improved Libert City is organized. Back around the end of March, the thread "Laying Out Liberty City" was started up. Unlike the threads that have been spotlighted thus far, though, Laying Out Liberty City is much more of a group effort - its success is based heavily on the contributions of various members.

Although we should remember that most of the content is purely speculative, Laying Out Liberty City is nonetheless a great topic to poke through if you have some time to kill.

Community Spotlight: Laying Out Liberty City

Community Spotlight is a reoccurring (twice weekly) feature of GTA4.net, highlighting some of the hottest and most interesting topics from the GTAForums Community regarding the upcoming release of GTA IV. Want to nominate a thread for Community Spotlight? Check out the Community Spotlight thread over on GTAForums for details.

Tired of waiting for magazine articles to leak to the web, only to find that the pages are filled with little more than a rehashing of already known information? Us too. Nothing says "I stayed up late for THIS?" like coming face-to-face with GTA IV content that was first released weeks ago. Thank Mork for gaming websites. If it wasn't for these delightful portals of distraction and whimsy, we'd all be uttering profanities as we toss the latest issue of our favourite gaming magazine into the abysmal nethers of the to-be-read-while-on-the-porcelain-throne pile.

Over the past few weeks, some of the big boys in online gaming news were exposed to the same GTA IV demo as the gaming magazines. But despite being given access to the same source material, Kikizo, IGN, GameSpot, GamesRadar, and ComputerAndVideoGames have all still managed to come forth bearing new GTA IV goodies of the highest calibre.

Now, in our opinion, Kikizo stands out above the rest like a Megazord in Central Park. The amount of in-depth coverage (in addition to the sheer size of the article itself) makes theirs a beast of a GTA IV preview. As usual, Kikizo went through the painstaking effort to include as many details as possible - from mission and cellphone dialogue to street names and billboards. Zordon approves. So be sure to give them some much-deserved love by checking it out.

The best part of online previews, of course, is that you don't need to leave your seat to bask in the glory of newly-released information. Heck, you don't even need to leave this site for the succulent media bits. Like a fat kid on chocolate, we lunged at the content as soon as we had a chance, and added some juicy new additions to our screenshot and artwork collections (3 new screenshots, 3 updated (high-res) screenshots and 1 new piece of artwork, to be precise.)

View more Grand Theft Auto IV screenshots in our gallery.

As for the preview content itself, here's a general summary of what the new GTA IV previews tell us:

Related Links:

• Kikizo
• IGN
• GameSpot
• GamesRadar
• ComputerAndVideoGames

Want to share your thoughts about the latest n' greatest? Kick back at our forums and spread the love.

So there you are, chillin' out at the movies with your girlfriend (or boyfriend) by your side, sharin' a bag of overpriced popcorn whilst sipping a can of Pepsi that you had stuffed into your jean pocket to sneak past the ticket guy. Smooth sailin' so far. House lights are going down, people are getting settled, couples (yourself included) are getting all comfy. It's all good. Then just when you think the coast is clear and you start makin' a move on your lovergirl and/or loverboy - BAM! COMING SOON TO A THEATER NEAR YOU!!!!! Damn.

It's a painful truth. The phrase "Coming Soon" is often associated with little more than those awkward, helluva-long previews before either a) movies in a cinema or b) the actual content on a DVD that you busted out your hard-earned money for. It's a shame. The idea behind the entire "Coming Soon" portion of a movie is to get you excited about upcoming releases, but more often than not those two words are followed by an irritating stretch of crappy commercials.

All hope is not lost for "Coming Soon", however. GTAForums member OliG has been hard at work keeping track of to-be-released GTA IV previews for over three months now. In a thread lovingly titled "What Will Be Coming Soon...", a listing of upcoming magazine/website previews and GTA IV-related content has been assembled in an attempt to keep tabs on what has yet to come.

"I thought it would be a good idea to make a topic that lists all the things coming up in the future for everyone to look forward to. And this is it! I have tried to make it to go well with the colour scheme of the forums and I will update it as soon as possible when anything is are announced. There is a printable version and a download link available below - all updates will be applied to the printable version too.

...

I plan to continue this until there is barely any activity on the forum and no new official info will ever be released (like it is with the GTAIII Forum now) which is a long way away. I will continue it after the game is released as I'm sure other things will be announced and there will be competitions, tournaments, activities etc. going on within the forum. This topic is not just for official information, it's just there is no unofficial information to report... yet. Enjoy! A lot of work has gone into this so I hope you like it!"

Updates are made on a regular basis, so check it out for yourself (and bookmark it!) to keep yourself informed.

Related Links: GTAForums Thread

Community Spotlight is a reoccurring (twice weekly) feature of GTA4.net, highlighting some of the hottest and most interesting topics from the GTAForums Community regarding the upcoming release of GTA IV. Want to nominate a thread for Community Spotlight? Check out the Community Spotlight thread over on GTAForums for details.

Our GTA IV HUD concept based on current known info. (GTA: San Andreas)

Poking along behind the rest of the crowd in the lead up to the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, PSM (USA) offers up a zesty mix of both old and new information regarding the newest addition to the GTA family. While most of the "WE'VE HEARD THIS A MILLION TIMES!" facts are covered in full, PSM does manage to throw us a threw curveballs by introducing some (relatively) new tidbits.

• A thin green band around the minimap on your HUD indicates your health. (Could a second band be added to indicate armor?)
• Physically, Liberty City is not as big as San Andreas. It covers approximately 3/4 the total area that San Andreas did.
• Software glitch or innovative gameplay? During the final bit of the game that PSM got to see, Niko is killed by a police copter landing on his head.
• Playstation Magazine confirms the [default] camera angle shift in GTA IV. Your view is no longer stuck hovering over the vehicle. When you get behind the wheel, the camera drops down and to the left, following the middle of the road.

Want to discuss Playstation Magazine's coverage of GTA IV? Share your thoughts about the article on our message board. Remember, you need an active GTAForums account to be able to post!

Related: GTAForums Topic

We have just received word that some new GTA IV previews will be published online tomorrow, at 6PM GMT / 1PM EST. They are based on the same demo which was recently witnessed by magazines, and will include all of the screenshots featured in GamesTM/PLAY/Games Aktuell etc. (in digital format) as well as some new ones, and also some artworks. Keep an eye on Kikizo, Games Radar, and all of the other major gaming sites tomorrow!

Related Link: Kikizo - Grand Theft Auto IV Coverage Continues!

Every phonebooth needs a phonebook. Every archive needs an index. Without directories to keep our information organized, we'd be pretty screwed. After all, how the hell are you going to order pizza when you're too smashed to go and pick it up yourself? The same can be said for fansite message boards. When you're too smashed to poke through the dozens of threads discussing the finer points of steak, simply pop into the directory and find the thread you need in a matter of seconds. (Or minutes, if you're really out of it.)

Practically a Community Spotlight of its own, this weekend's feature is held in high regard around the GTA IV forum. Listing a plethora of worthwhile topics and concise summaries of said topics, the GTA IV Forum Directory will direct you (yar har har) towards a wide range of different discussions regarding GTA IV. If you've never checked out the GTA IV forum before, this is the thread that you need to read to keep yourself in the loop.

In fact, our two latest Community Spotlight features go quite well together, and work as a one-two punch for anyone who is just jumping on the GTA IV train. While the GTA IV Factsheet - this past week's feature - will keep you up-to-date with knowledge and information about GTA IV, the Forum Directory will keep you up-to-date with knowledge and information about the forum itself.

Related Links: GTA IV Forum Directory

Community Spotlight is a reoccurring (twice weekly) feature of GTA4.net, highlighting some of the hottest and most interesting topics from the GTAForums Community regarding the upcoming release of GTA IV. Want to nominate a thread for Community Spotlight? Check out the Community Spotlight thread over on GTAForums for details.

"USE THE !@#$%ING SEARCH FUNCTION YOU NEWB", "omg do u not read?", "lolwtf, lock plz".

The GTAIV community can be a treacherous place - missteps of the uninformed can often prove to be fatal. Those who fail to stay on top of the latest news are often ripped to shreds by the severely tweaked masses. So, to save yourself a potential lynching, I recommend the Grand Theft Auto IV Factsheet.

The factsheet is a delightful thread. It contains all of the official information that has been released in previews, compressed and compiled for easy reading. In fact, if the GTAIV community were a party, the Factsheet would be the equivalent to an easy-peasy method of getting shitfaced in a hurry. So even if you're thirty minutes late, nobody will be able to tell the difference.

So put on your happy face and get reading!

Related Links: GTAIV Factsheet

Community Spotlight is a reoccurring feature of GTA4.net, highlighting some of the hottest and most interesting topics from the GTAForums Community regarding the upcoming release of GTAIV. Want to nominate a thread for Community Spotlight? Check out the Community Spotlight thread over on GTAForums for details.

Some new (relatively minor) details have emerged in the latest issue of the Official Xbox Magazine (US):

• We find out that McReary's first name is Francis, and that he knows about a felony Niko committed. It also mentions that McReary has a moustache, which suggests he is the character seen in this official artwork.
• The weapons on offer by Little Jacob included a 9mm, a shotgun, an SMG, and a micro SMG.
• Before Niko submitted his cv/résumé to the Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster website, OXM got a quick glimpse of his work history and qualifications. It notes that Niko was on the "Balkan Peace Force," and that he is procificent in swimming, shooting and boxing (it also says later in the preview that you are able to swim to the Statue of Happiness, or get a boat there.)
• Niko steals a black Comet before heading to the Humboldt River Viewpoint, to kill the man who stole McReary's memory stick.
• GTA IV will include a pool mini-game, and many other mini-games. "You'll play at least some of these while hanging out with NPCs like Little Jacob."
• Neither the 9/11 terrorist attacks nor Ground Zero will be referenced in any way in the game.
• The receptionist from Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster, who calls Niko to inform him about his interview, is called Karen.

Related Links:

• Forum Topic
• GamesTM Summary
• PLAY Summary

GTAReactor.de are reporting that the August edition of German magazine "Games Aktuell" will contain a new and exclusive preview of Grand Theft Auto IV, with 20 screenshots and an exclusive video (very unlikely to be game footage). We are expecting this preview to be much the same as the PLAY and GamesTM articles that we summarized last week, so although we might learn one or two new details, don't expect much.

In addition, SPOnG revealed today that they were treated to an in-depth preview by Rockstar earlier yesterday. However, they won't be able to tell us about it until "a little later next month." We can expect previews from GameSpot, IGN, and Kikizo etc. at around the same time I imagine.

In other news, Adriaan has decided to stop writing for GTANet, and will instead be working with Jordan over at our partner site PlanetGTA. We are also delighted to welcome back Tsuroki err.. Andy to the team, who left for a short while to sort out his life and stuff. He promises he hasn't changed a bit.

And finally, be sure to check out our new and fully up-to-date features page, which all staff contributed to.

Scrutinize, poke, prod, dissect, devour. These are the steps taken by loyal gamers who are looking to get the most out of exclusive preview content. GTAForums member "ya mum" has done just that, but on a larger scale, analyzing every bit of the GamesTM article that we featured a few days back.

From article excerpts to image comparisons, "ya mum" has developed interesting theories and drawn attention to the smallest of details. It's an extensive, in-depth review of the entire GamesTM article, and is definitely worth a read.

(This isn't the first time "ya mum" has completely dissected a preview article, though. Back in April, he also provided the GTAIV community with an equally extensive thread regarding the Game Informer preview. If you haven't checked it out yet, what are you waiting for? It's another brilliant thread that shouldn't be left to gather dust in the corner.)

Related Links: Analyzing GamesTM Article, Analyzing Game Informer Magazine

Community Spotlight is a reoccurring feature of GTA4.net, highlighting some of the hottest and most interesting topics from the GTAForums Community regarding the upcoming release of GTAIV. Want to nominate a thread for Community Spotlight? Check out the Community Spotlight thread over on GTAForums for details.

Earlier today we posted a lil' notice about Rockstar's first GTAIV-related teaser site, WKTT Radio. Operating under the guise of a vigilant right-wing radio station based in Liberty City, WKTT is on the prowl for would-be voice actors to send in their belligerent, no-holds-barred recordings. What's wrong with the world? What's wrong with America? WKTT wants you to be loud, be proud, and let the whole world know why western society is completely screwed.

Evidently, it didn't take long for the GTAForums community to start knocking around ideas of exactly what people should be calling in with. In a thread started by community member Gregatron, GTA fans have been brainstorming and bragging about their proposed call-ins.

"Hello, this is Dominick Gregory from Bohan (spell it out blah), and I love the show, it's the only thing that gets me through the day. Let me tell you, I hate liberals, and I hate how they are always talking about Global Warming when what we really need to worry about is the cannibals living underground in the subway tunnels and giving more money to the military! This whole Global Warming thing is just a way for the communist to take away my SUV and make me eat lettuce. We should just make it illegal to talk about Global Warming and if you do, you're charged with treason and shipped out to Cuba where you would be hunted down by the natives and paper-cutted to death! Anyways, thanks for taking my call."
- Flash 103

Want to add your own two cents? Head on over to the WKTT Radio thread on GTAForums (you need to register and have an active account in order to post) and share your own recording transcript, or just chatter away with other users about WKTT Radio in general.

Related:

• "First Teaser Site Unveiled" - GTA4.net News
• "WKTT Radio Thread" - GTAForums.com
• "WKTT Radio Teaser Site" - Rockstar Games

Fancy being a voice artist in IV? Then check out the first teaser site just published by R* @ www.wkttradio.com

WKTT Radio Logo

Some new GTA IV gameplay details have emerged in the latest issue of UK magazine PLAY. It clarifies a lot of the things mentioned in the Games^TM exclusive preview which we told you about on Monday. Here are some of the new points:

• McReary, the character we learned about in Games^TM, is a corrupt cop. He has "dirt on Niko's past." The mission they previewed is called "Call and Collect."
• 
  Little Jacob (a caribbean arms dealer) is a good friend of Niko's cousin. When you buy weapons from him (which are kept in his trunk) you can scroll through them like you did in Ammu-Nation in the previous GTA games.
• Rotterdam Hill (the place where Niko agrees to meet Jacob) is in Alderney - the GTA IV equivalent of New Jersey.
• Niko kills Goldberg (the shady lawyer) because he owes a favour to somebody.
• Rockstar showed the sequence where he kills Goldberg twice. The first time he fell out of the window, the second time he merely crumpled on the floor.
• When purchasing clothes, you have to choose the items from the shelf individually.
• Determining which figures you need to kill requires perception - there are no arrowheads to direct you like in the previous games.
• Once you gain a wanted-level, the map flashes with circles of blue and red, with each circle representing the line of sight of the police chase. The circles differ in size depending on your wanted-level.
• The default camera view when driving rests around the left-hand side of the car above the road.
• Multiplayer is accessed via your mobile phone.
• The combat rests somewhere between Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War in terms of style, allowing you to roll, find protection and blind-fire from behind cover.
• Shooting different parts of the body has different impacts (e.g shoot a security guard in the foot at the top of the stairs, and he'll come tumbling down.)
• In GTA IV you have to develop relationships with other characters. Your relationship with Little Jacob, for example, is maintained through phone calls and loyalty. Developing good relationships with different characters can provide different rewards.

Related Links: Forum Topic, PLAY Magazine

The August issue of Games^TM (a multi-format games magazine based in the UK) contains a world exclusive first look at the new gameplay in Grand Theft Auto IV. Here's a brief run-down on some of the new stuff mentioned:

Related Links: GTAForums Topic, Games^TM

The Official PlayStation Magazine (Australia) is also reported to have a new preview, but we're not sure exactly what it contains yet. All we know is that the main focus of the preview is gameplay, so we imagine it will be pretty much the same as the Games^TM preview. Stay tuned and we'll provide a summary of all the new info as soon as it becomes available to us.

Official PlayStation Magazine

This past week, there's been a change taking place at the corner of Greene Street and Canal in New York City. As the photos show below, the appearance of Rockstar's advertisement on the large wall changed from the initial big "IV" logo to the "Grand Theft Auto IV" version. It's probably safe to say now that this is the logo you'll find on the final box cover of the game, and not the previous one as many had suggested.

One can only wonder if this was their initial strategy all along, and that the "IV" logo on its own was perhaps a way of portraying a change or revolution in the GTA series.

*End of nerd moment.*
Photos courtesy of nicknormal

While we've seen some tremendous voice talent in past Grand Theft Auto games, this is still something Rockstar Games tend to not make an emphasis about, or even use it as a way to market their games, as similar game publishers tend to do.

Even so, we have news today about the first voice actor announced for Grand Theft Auto IV. As reported by Esctoday, on the website of the winner of the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, Ruslana, it is indicated that the female singer will be traveling to New York City to record the voice of a certain character in the game, which currently is to be remained secret. In addition to voicing, some of her older and newer songs will be featured on the soundtrack of the game.

While we can't say at this time which character she'll be voicing, it is worth noting that she is Ukrainian, thus giving an indication on what sort of character to possibly expect. For more on Ruslana, visit the links below...

Related: Ruslana's Official Website & Wikipedia Entry
Thanks, R_sPeEd, for spotting this one.

EDIT on June 5th: As I had predicted, the information from the website was pulled, probably per request by Rockstar Games. It appears to have been taken down from Esctoday as well.

So you've probably watched the trailer about a dozen times already, but here are some of the things you may have missed:

• In one of the earlier screenshots, we saw a building called "Carney Island Pharmacy" in the Hove Beach area. The same location was shown in last week's trailer, except now it's called "Hove Beach Pharmacy," and the front of the building looks different. See below.
  
  
  
  
  
• In the following scene, we can see part of the Broker (Brooklyn) Bridge near the top left, which gives us a fair indication of where Hove Beach is situated in relation to the other stuff:
  
  
  
  
  
• In this screenshot, we see the diner that John Davison was talking about after he saw the latest GTA 4 demo at R*. Also, notice in the background we see the same shop that featured in the screenshot mentioned previously:
  
  
  
  
  
• In the following scene, the graffiti on the wall consists of various artwork from GTA3 and GTA: Vice City, and at one point actually contains the full GTA3 boxart. See below:
  
  
  
  
  Also notice the bridge in the background which appears to be based on the Triborough Bridge, which in real life connects Queens to Bronx (or Dukes to Bohan, in GTA IV terms.)

For a more in-depth analysis of the GTA4 trailer, see Jordan's trailer 2 shot-by-shot breakdown, which is being constantly updated. Remember to register free at our forums to contribute your own findings.

Related Link: Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer Discussion

Today we have digital copies of the Xbox Live themes released by Xbox last week, aswell as 1/2 a new screenshot. Err, yeah, just 1/2. It comes from Xbox.com (Xbox's official website) who recently updated their GTA IV product page to include a new banner which consists of a logo, some artwork, and a never-before-seen screenshot as the background. Check it out..

The southern part of the Algonquin skyline can be seen in this screenshot

Artwork:

I know it's not terribly exciting, but hey, it's news.