Thailand Pulls Grand Theft Auto From Shelves

A video game distributor in Thailand has decided to pull Grand Theft Auto games from shelves after an 18 year old man killed a taxi driver in an attempt to recreate game play in real life. “He said he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game,” chief police investigator Veeravit Pipattanasak told Reuters. The assailant was caught trying to steer the taxi cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the severely wounded driver in the back seat. The victim, a 54-year-old man, was apparently chosen by the high school student because of his age.

On the Eve of GTA's Release Expectations High

The latest installment in the Grand Theft Auto Franchise, GTA IV, is hitting the street and it's expected to fly of the shelves. Eurogamer called it "game of the year" and gave it a 10 out of 10, while the New York Times said it delivered a "new level of depth for an interactive entertainment experience". According to the BBC "The game is expected to break records for the fastest-selling game of all time and many shops are opening their doors at midnight for gamers." My son is already hinting that he'd like to be in line, we'll just have to think about that one... In any case it would appear as though the economy as a whole has little affect on gaming, or perhaps everyone just wants a way to escape reality even if it's only temporarily.

Rockstar Not Releasing A Grand Theft Auto 4 Demo

According to G4 TV's The Feed Blog, there will sadly be no demo version of GTA 4. "If there was [going to be a demo] we would have talked about it. With a game like this the guys at Rockstar North will want to spend every minute making the game look great. Most people know the concept of GTA anyway. I don't know that the demo is worth the time and effort." Guess we'll all have to wait for the real deal!