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Join the Gamer discussion on GTAIV !
Posted in: Shankar Gupta, Gaming
A week from Tuesday, ?Grand Theft Auto IV? hits the stores, and it will be one of the biggest pop culture events of the year. Analysts predict it will sell roughly six million copies in the first week, smashing ?Halo 3??s current sales record, and potentially becoming the biggest entertainment release in history (unseating ?Pirates of the Caribbean 3,? which currently holds the record at $404 million in the first week).
So, if any of your 18- to 34-year-old male employees or colleagues are out sick on Tuesday, now you might have a better idea of why. The implications of the game are bigger than lost productivity. ?GTA IV??s sales numbers are poised not only to affect the fortunes of its publisher, Take-Two, but also Microsoft and Sony, as they fight for a larger share of the ?GTA?-playing public.
Electronic Arts is currently attempting to buy Take-Two for $26 per share, after the company ran into some legal trouble last year when the former CEO pled guilty to falsifying business records. Despite the upcoming release of ?GTA IV,? the company was perceived as in trouble when the offer was made. But the expected monster success of ?GTAIV,? along with turnaround efforts being implemented by Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick, have so far kept the company independent in the face of EA?s acquisition attempts. Analysts say that EA will have to up its bid by 15% if it hopes to close the deal.
The streets of ?GTA IV??s Liberty City are a battleground in the console wars, as well. Microsoft has boasted that its marketing spend for ?GTAIV? will top that of ?Halo 3? (which Microsoft itself published). The company is attempting to position itself as the primary console for ?GTAIV,? reportedly having paid $50 million for exclusive downloadable content to be released on the Xbox Live Marketplace. No doubt Microsoft is hoping that a major push to get console owners to buy 360s to play ?GTAIV? will help counter Sony?s Playstation 3 sales momentum in February and March.
And finally, another big business that?s looking to have its bottom line moved by ?GTAIV??s launch is Paramount Pictures. Three days after ?GTAIV? comes out, Paramount will release its latest comic book movie, ?Iron Man,? ? with a target audience almost exactly congruent with ?GTA??s. That is, if the movie can draw gamers off their sofas and away from Liberty City on Friday and Saturday.
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Return to: More Than Game Play: Far-Reaching Effects For ?GTAIV? Launch
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| Computer role-playing game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Role-playing video games
Platforms
Computer RPG
History of computer RPGs
Chronology of computer RPGs
Console RPG
Chronology of console RPGs
Sub-genres
Action RPG
Massively multiplayer online RPG
History of MMORPGs
List of free MMOGs
List of MMORPGs
Comparison of MMORPGs
Roguelike
Chronology of roguelikes
Tactical RPG
Chronology of tactical RPGs
Topics
Cultural differences
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A computer role-playing game (CRPG[1]) is a broad video game genre originally developed for personal computers and other home computers. While technically not a separate genre, and sharing the same defining characteristics as console RPGs (also confusingly referred to as CRPGs) there are none the less general tendencies that make them distinct from RPGs on other platforms. The earliest CRPGs were inspired by early role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons, and attempted to provide a similar play experience.
Despite a spectrum of features and game styles, there are some elements common to the CRPG genre. Perhaps the most salient is that of the avatar, with its quantized characteristics that evolve over the course of the game, and take the place of the gamer's own skill in determining game outcomes. Another common element in CRPGs is a well-developed fictional setting.
Gameplay elements strongly associated with CRPGs, such as statistical character development, have been widely adapted to other video game genres. For example, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, an action game, uses resource statistics (abbreviated as "stats") to define a wide range of attributes including stamina, weapon proficiency, driving, lung capacity, and muscle tone, and uses numerous cutscenes and quests to advance the story. Warcraft III, a real-time strategy game, features heroes that can complete quests, obtain new equipment, and learn new abilities as they advance in level. Some players might say that what separates these from games traditionally termed CRPGs is the inclusion of material not normally considered part of CRPGs, more than the absence of content which often is. However, many CRPG fans would say that the exclusion of these games from the genre stems from a lack of decision in character advancement, one of the key aspects in most CRPGs.
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