Kotaku’s Owen Good recently reported on Kombo.com’s list of demands they want to see for the future of Grand Theft Auto. It’s probably a little early to start complaining about GTA, but these kinds of articles definitely get the attention author’s crave on Digg.com and other social networking sites.
Here are the 8 demands Kombo made and my response to each:
Life is complicated. I killed people, smuggled people, sold people. Perhaps here, things will be different.
–Niko Bellic, Grand Theft Auto IV
Many of you playing GTA IV, are aware of the current missions and only some of Niko Bellic’s past. We feel it’s important to decipher the criminal mind behind Niko Bellic all before he arrived to America!
Name: Niko Bellic
Age: 30 years old
Weight: 187
Eyes: Brown
Born: Croatia
Notable Characteristics: Scar over his left eye, limps off his left leg, European accent
Background: Niko grew up in war-torn Serbia. He is an illegal immigrant hailing from the Balkans who arrived in Liberty City by way of the merchant navy ship Platypus. Niko’s father, Karmalaf Bellic, bullied and made life difficult for Niko. Milica Bellic, his mother, felt sad that her son had to grow up in such a harsh environment. Niko also fought in the Bosnian War as a teenager for the Serbian Army. He witnessed and possibly committed numerous atrocities which deeply affected him and gave him a cynical view on life. A defining moment in the war for Niko was when his army unit of fifteen young men (including him) were ambushed by the enemy. Niko barely escaped with his life, but most of his friends were killed - he later discovered that two others also survived. Realizing that one of them tipped the enemy off to their location, Niko vowed to track down the culprit, not solely on revenge, but because he needed closure.
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When the war ended, work was hard to come by in the country. His cousin, Roman Bellic, moved to America to start a new life in Liberty City. Niko, knowing only violence most of his life, turned to the criminal underworld for the next ten years while at the same time searching for the two men who survived the ambush. At some point during this interval, he was arrested and imprisoned for Drug Smuggling. Sometime after he was released, Niko joined a human trafficking ring run by Rodislav Bulgarin. Niko eventually discovered that Florian Cravic, another survivor of the ambush, was living in Liberty City.
When a boat sank during one smuggling run, Niko managed to swim to safety, but everything else was lost. Bulgarin believed Niko sunk the boat and escaped with the money onboard. Niko denied this, but Bulgarin’s decision was final and he was too powerful a figure to fight back against. Niko quickly joined the crew of the Liberty City bound cargo ship Platypus and fled Bulgarin. Roman had been asking Niko to come to Liberty City to share a new life of money and women, which Niko wanted, but he mainly wanted to find Cravic and escape Bulgarin’s wrath.
Upon arriving in Liberty City, Niko realizes that Roman’s tales of success were lies: he lives in a tiny apartment, runs a small taxi depot and owes gambling debts to several criminals. Niko ends up working for Roman, protecting his cousin from the loan sharks that keep harrassing him. Roman soon loans Niko’s services to friends and enemies alike, which angers Niko although he needs the money, and sets in motion the events of the game.
Niko’s view of American culture is one of confusion and mild disgust. The rampant materialism annoys him and he has trouble relating to Roman’s fascination with the country. Plus, after working for so many criminals, he feels that everyone in Liberty City is a crook.
Niko is voiced by Michael Hollick.
Some information in article via Wikipedia
[Updated May 23rd, 2008] What makes video games successful? Is it the marketing, the gameplay or the name? While the correct answer is not known, what IS known is that Video Gamers know what they want. I’ve listed below the “Top 5 Selling Video Games on Every Gaming Platform” with how much revenue they’ve made. Did you know all of the games for PS2 begin with a letter “G”?
Atari 2600
1. Pac-Man (7 million)
2. Pitfall! (4 million)
3. Missile Command (2.5 million)
4. Demon Attack (2 million)
5. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1.5 million)
Nintendo Entertainment System
1. Super Mario Bros. (40.23 million)
- DuckHunt (28.31 million)
2. Super Mario Bros. 3 (18 million)
3. Super Mario Bros. 2 (7.46 million)
4. The Legend of Zelda (6.51 million)
5. Tetris (5.58 million)
This morning exclusively on 92.3 K-Rock in New York, the infamous Lazlow visited our favorite shock jocks Opie and Anthony to discuss all the new features we all can expect to see on April 29th. This will be O&A’s 2nd appearance in the GTA series. In the game, they discussed how Opie is a 24 yr old, who’s not taken serious and Anthony is a 40 year old mobster with a great voice. Other cast members in the show are Steve, Danny, Jim Norton, Than and Big A. This morning they visited a Russian strip club named “Honkers”. Lazlow mentioned how there is an in-game internet which will allow you to search the web for news, blogs and the even have a crapslist (spoof on craigslist). He also said that the in-game news will be dependent on what missions you’ve taken. For instance, if you happen to blow up a warehouse in downtown Bronx you can bet your bottom dollar that will make the in-game internet news. If you have a psycho girlfriend in the game, expect to receive email from her too.
Below is the latest European television commercial for Grand Theft Auto IV. As we get closer to release date, the hype machine will certainly continue to grow. Unlike other hyped games, I don’t seem to mind anything I can get my hands on concerning GTA IV. RockStar will certainly be making a ton of money off this release.
If you wanted to know precisely what the official strategy guide for Grand Theft Auto IV will look like, check out the image below. I’m not big on strategy guides myself, but this could be a useful pickup for anyone unfamiliar with the series. For anyone else, I’d suggest playing any game before buying a strategy guide. Guides sometimes take the fun out of exploring games on your own.
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