GTA Vice City @ 4 Million Pre-orders!

GTA VICE CITY!: 4 MILLION PreOrders


I got this from a poster at Gaming Age.  I hope you guys pre-order your copy.  

Take-Two\'s \'Grand Theft Auto\' Seen as Blockbuster
Tue Sep 10, 2:26 PM ET
By Ben Berkowitz

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It\'s got sunny beaches, scantily-clad women, an all-star 1980s soundtrack and edgy violence -- everything, in fact, except Don Johnson.


A reunion of the popular police show "Miami Vice?"

No, "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" is a video game and the hotly anticipated follow-up to a controversial title that dominated sales charts for nearly a year and sent publisher, Take-Two Interactive ( news - external web site) Software Inc. to new heights.

The game\'s predecessor, "Grand Theft Auto 3," released last October, became a blockbuster and established a formula that gamers loved and critics panned for its reliance on out-of-control car chases and gratuitous violence.

Along the way, the game, for Sony\'s PlayStation 2 ( news - web sites) and the PC, sold more than 7 million copies, at an average price of about $49, for an estimated total near $350 million.

If the game had been a Hollywood movie, it would have ranked as the seventh-highest grossing film ever, based on domestic box office --- bigger than "Forrest Gump" and just shy of the original "Jurassic Park."

New York-based Take-Two has high hopes that "Vice City," the next installment, will send it into the elite ranks of the $30 billion-a-year global game publishing business by breaking the earlier game\'s formidable sales record.

"It clearly has that potential, no question at all," Take-Two Chief Executive Kelly Sumner told Reuters.

On Monday, Take-Two and Sony Music Entertainment, a unit of Sony Corp ( news - web sites). , which also makes the PlayStation 2, announced a deal to issue seven soundtrack albums based on the in-game radio stations in "Vice City" and featuring artists such as Judas Priest, Blondie and Flock of Seagulls.

"We fully expect it to be the biggest game of the year," said Pete Roithmayr, vice president of games merchandising for retailer Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. "I would expect it to be an extremely difficult title to find if you don\'t pre-buy, at least initially."

U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray analyst Tony Gikas, in a note to clients last week, estimated that as many as 4 million copies of the game have been pre-ordered and that the game will out-sell its predecessor "GTA 3" by up to 25 percent.

"Now that word of mouth is out there, the initial sales figures are going to be huge," said Dan Hsu, the editor of leading fan magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly. "It\'s just going to blow away everything at retail."

BEACHES, BABES AND CAR CHASES

"GTA 3" has been nothing less than a phenomenon, ranking as the best-selling game in the United States for four months and still regularly selling in the top three.

It has also been roundly criticized in some corners for its blatant violence, including the ability to attack police and old ladies, among others.

Despite some outcry, the franchise shows no sign of abating.

In a conference call with financial analysts last week, Take-Two raised its earnings and revenue guidance for fiscal 2002, ending in October, and the first quarter of fiscal 2003, ending in January, largely on the prospects of "Vice City."

While most video game publishers have seen their stocks fall this year, with just a few trading marginally higher, Take-Two shares have gained 56 percent.

That performance has come in spite of an investigation into the company\'s accounting practices by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( news - web sites) and a halt in the trading of its stock while it restated past results.

Sumner made clear that the game is not just a sequel to "GTA 3," with new locations, new characters and more territory in which to wreak havoc.

My goodness...that has to be a record.  That just seems unreal!

pstwo, check your pms in a sec

Ginko, Got your PM.  I\'ll sign up!   See you there!

Did pstwo get confused and post in the wrong forum?

Meaning the retailers have preordered 4 million copies, not the customers themselves.  Didn\'t MGS2 also have 4 million retailer preorders before it was released?

I\'m not saying this isn\'t a big feat (because it obviously is), just that it\'s been done before.  It will be interesting to see how this game sells compared to GTA3 last year.

That makes more sense, Ironfist.  I still think that\'s incredible...

looks at your sig...why do you hate Free Radical and Eidos?

Originally posted by pstwo
GTA VICE CITY!: 4 MILLION PreOrders


I got this from a poster at Gaming Age.  I hope you guys pre-order your copy.  


 [/QUOTE



Whoa!! thats alot

Originally posted by Ginko
looks at your sig...why do you hate Free Radical and Eidos? [/B]

I completely forgot I put that in my sig (sigs are turned off on my computer), but now that I think about, it still stays.  They led us to believe that Timesplitters 2 would have online play.  Then they took it out without a good explanation of why or what they have been doing with the game for the past 8 months.  They really screwed up, and pissed off quite a few fans in the process.

I\'ll probably still get the game though.

[Titan]

I think I\'ll still be able to get my copy from a store without preordering it. Oh why didn\'t I say I\'ll preorder it at Funcoland when I bought my memory card?

Ghost Of Bill, LOL!! You sign up here too?  Welcome!!  

Originally posted by IronFist

I completely forgot I put that in my sig (sigs are turned off on my computer), but now that I think about, it still stays.  They led us to believe that Timesplitters 2 would have online play.  Then they took it out without a good explanation of why or what they have been doing with the game for the past 8 months.  They really screwed up, and pissed off quite a few fans in the process.

I\'ll probably still get the game though.

There is nothing more satisfying than point blank Shot-gunning your Mate in the dying moments of a Timesplitters match, only to see the poor sod breake out in a werid combination of swareing and crying.


Sorry Iron Fist

but 4 player in person Matches are Far superior to internet “Mr No friends” matches online matches.


there is something about beating your Opponent in person, it must be the smell of fear.


plus there is the victory dance and jeering to realy rub that victory in


2 player TS = Bloody good game
3 Player TS = physical blows could be exchanged
4 player TS = this has been know to end some friendships

as for TS2 and a 16 player match = OMG  This will be the end of civilisation as we know it


the Victor will be showered in a fountain of beer

the loser will be jeered t till I lose my voice  


Pre and post pub TS blasts will never be the same again.

but 4 player in person Matches are Far superior to internet “Mr No friends” matches online matches.

Agreed.  But 4 player split screen matches are far inferior to to 4 player (or even up to 8 player), full screen, playing against your friends and family across the country.  My family, friends, and I had a blast playing TS1 against each other.  But now I live across the country, so I was really counting on online play.

Am I the only one who hasn\'t finished GTA3 yet?

Originally posted by ooseven


2 player TS = Bloody good game
3 Player TS = physical blows could be exchanged
4 player TS = this has been know to end some friendships

 

What framerate is TS running in other parts of the world? Here in the U.K. I found it unplayable at times in just single player (with more than 4 people in an arena you\'d be stupid to put in more than one machine gun). Two player split screen was just about do-able but any more and it became an embarrasing part of the game that I didn\'t want to show anyone!!