It's been nearly a year since the last awards where we first got a glimpse of The Lost and Damned and had Jack Black prancing around on stage with a flame thrower screaming "TIM SCHAFER!" with an angry looking Rob Halford behind him. Yes folks it's Spike TV's Video Game Awards and voting is now open until the 12th of December. Now, not much of a show this year for Grand Theft Auto or Rockstar Games but they have popped up in two categories. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is up for the Best Handheld Game of the Year and in an interesting twist The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony are up against each other in the Best DLC of the Year category.

So head on over to the website and get Voting for your favorites!

For the rest of you PlayStation 3 owners, the following applies to you:

So, basically, gather 'round and play some GTAIV with a bunch of awesome fans! I'll be playing along, and some of the other GTAGaming staff may too, if they update this post. My PSN is CaseyTheVA; keep an eye out for us!

Hey guys, I just wanted to inform you of the new poll for the website, and also wanted to get some feedback from you for the idea...

Basically, what would you, the hardcore fans of the series, think of a re-release of Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, the best selling games for the PS2, on one Blu-ray disc for PS3? Of course, it would have things all current PlayStation 3 games have, like an in game XMB, instant messaging capabilities, trophy support, and more, and it would also benefit those who bought a PS3 and have no backwards compatibility support. Keep in mind, its only a thought, but it'd be interesting to see some fan reactions and opinions.

Thanks, and remember to vote!

Discuss this in the forums!

Several weeks ago, we reported on the discovery of an ad in the Episodes From Liberty City manual that allegedly hinted towards the setting of the next Grand Theft Auto.

It has since been discovered by a user called "Lysergio" over at ModMyWhat.com that the image within the tear of the poster in the EFLC manual is in fact derived from another advertisement in GTA IV (pictured right). It can be found on the walls of two sex shops in Hove Beach and Star Junction (thanks Jordan @ PlanetGTA).

One of ModMyWhat's staff members, Gunner, created an animated GIF overlay of the poster and image as proof of the legitimacy of the claim, which you can view by clicking here. The only modification that had to be made to the image to match up with the poster is it was flipped horizontally.

So what does this tell us about the setting of the next GTA? Well, nothing actually. Nothing except that we were all looking at this in the wrong way, perceiving the image within the tear of the poster as a hint when in fact, that information would have been right in front of our faces had that poster not been "ripped". Basically, it would have looked something like this (please note the example uses SAMPLE text):


So it was fun speculating, but the truth appears to be nothing more than a carefully articulated tease. We probably won't be hearing of what the future of GTA holds for us until 2010.

Times Online has posted a three-page, in depth interview with Dan Houser, entitled "The Driving Force Behind Grand Theft Auto," discussing the VP of Creative's background story, the controversy of the GTA series, and much more.
» Read the interview: The Driving Force Behind Grand Theft Auto

Daneboe of Gagfilms.com has done another What If video, this time featuring Grand Theft Auto vs. Frogger!



Be sure to check out the other videos these guys have done!

Along with today's patch for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV, an update was also made to its achievement list. The five achievements which featured in the Xbox 360 release of The Lost and Damned appeared on the PC list, albeit only briefly.

The achievements have now been removed, but this is the strongest indication yet that the DLC may be on its way to other platforms.

A new patch has been released for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV today. There are a handful of bug and exploit fixes, as well as a few new control options. The full release notes provided by Rockstar are as follows:

• Convert all region SKU's into the same SKU.
• Include support for all languages within single exe.
• Allow controls to be double mapped on keyboard.
• Added option in controls menu to disable mouse controls in helicopters.
• Adjust keyboard control sensitivity in hood cam view in vehicles.
• Security Updates to deter cheating in multiplayer.
• Hosts can now immediately Kick users from their games in Lobby and in game via Cell phone without having to rely on peer voting.
• Fixed a bug in Cops 'n Crooks mode where Host would drop out and prevent remaining players from leaving game.

The patch will automatically download the next time you sign in to Games for Windows LIVE while playing Grand Theft Auto IV. Alternatively, you can download the patch manually by visiting this page.

The Digital Foundry guys over at EuroGamer have compiled a basic but effective video showing 15 Days pass by in Liberty City. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a way to embed the video at the moment but you guys can watch it Here.

Two exclusive interviews with key members of the GTA IV development team at Rockstar North have emerged on the web.

Senior Level Designer, Neil Ferguson, discusses inspirations behind Liberty City's nightclubs and more over at NowGamer.

Imran Sarwar, Associate Producer at Rockstar North, talks about GTA IV's interweaving stories of each of the three game's three protagonists with CVG.