Despite originally being slated for a 2007 release, Rockstar’s highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV is now officially due for a simultaneous PS3/Xbox 360 worldwide release date of April 29th, 2008.
The Grand Theft Auto series is Rockstar’s jewel in the crown and the company is now dubbing GTAIV the bar raiser of open world games. As far as the delays go, Rockstar has given some of the responsibility to the PlayStation 3, citing technical “challenges” with Sony’s system as a contributing factor.
None of that matters, however, as we will soon have the next installment of the notorious franchise in our hands. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly excited for this. For all its controversy, GTA is still a benchmark for scale and ambition in videogames, and if Liberty City is as big and versatile as Rockstar promises, our consoles will have a virtual playground that will last us until the next sequel.