The Voice of Niko Speaks!

Michael Hollick, the voice actor behind the main character in GTA IV, Niko Bellic, spoke out recently to the New York Times, lamenting the fact that he got paid so little for a game that went on to gross more than half a billion dollars – IN THE FIRST WEEK OF RELEASE.

He brings up the real reason he got screwed out of more money, by calling out his union:

“Obviously I’m incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity,” Mr. Hollick, 35, said last week over dinner in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, shortly after performing in the aerial theater show “Fuerzabruta” in Union Square. “But it’s tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they’re making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don’t see any of it. I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.”

Read the whole story here.

Oh, and if you want an update on my own progress in the game, first let me say “Thanks for asking!” Followed by my answer of “I am currently stuck on the first Manny Escuela mission [where you clear out a warehouse full of drug dealers], as well as the final Brucie mission [the balls-to-the-wall race that i keep coming in 2nd!].” Yup, that’s what i’d say, allright. Also that when i get frustrated after failing those missions over and over, i vent that frustration by going hog wild with all the weapons in the hospital. Let’s just say you DON’T want to come to the hospital to get better if you’re sick — and leave it at that. Heh heh.

7 Life Lessons in GTA IV

Some fun observations in this article. Including such gems as:

“If someone wrongs you, get them back, and make absolute sure everyone sees it so they know you’re not one to be messed with. In GTA IV when someone disrespects your crew, you don’t sneak around and poison their morning tea — you roll up right on the basketball court and blow his brains out in front of all of his homies plus a few random bystanders. See how everyone else runs away? This is called leading by example.”

Good stuff! More gametime tonight hopefully. Can’t wait!

What the world needs now…

…is the love, sweet love that I’ve been making to this game night after night. I still can’t get enough!

What i’ve been noticing are the following:

1) all the awesome little touches and details in the game, from the debris on the street, to the people running for shelter when it starts raining, to Niko leaning out the door to pay a toll, to the disturbingly realistic drunkenness simulator to the fun of simply sitting in the back of a cab watching the sights go by [and being able to skip the whole ride, making everything go much faster, as well as watching the cabbie's head bob to whatever station Niko asks him to change to] to watching the subtle clouds of pot smoke pour out of the car when you’re driving with Little Jacob, this is a game that is rife with perfect little game-enhancing details.

2) the multiplayer, when it works [stupid XBox Live keeps kicking me out], is awesome fun.

3) the missions are fun, and not that hard [so far.] I’m now up to doing stuff for Mikhail Faustin, and the most recent one i completed last night after 4 tries was the one where you have to off his daughter’s biker boyfriend and his gang. Of course, by the 4th time trying this mission i had no weapons left so i had to find a truck, take out a couple of them lowlifes first, grab their weapons, then brutally dispatch the rest of the gang WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE. Plus i’ve been doing drug mule missions for Little Jacob [thank god they included the subtitles eh? that dude's accent is tough! though i love how much cheeba he smokes in the game, and how Niko never seems to partake!]

*UPDATE – I’m now well past those missions above [i wrote that like 3 days ago], and SPOILER ALERT have now killed Mikhail Faustin, then was run out of Dukes thanks to the treachery of Mikhail’s underling Dmitri. Now, Roman and I are hiding out in Bohan and from what I understand, the game is about to really kick into high gear now that i’ve completed the first batch of missions. Stay tuned for more details soon!

Plus, Yahtzee loves the game but brings up some good points here.

A Fun Time Was Had By All…except the cops!

Obviously, with the game making $500 million in its FIRST WEEK alone, there are millions of other players out there, all presumably having a blast, it’s important to bring this blog back to the reason that I created it in the first place – to relay firstly my own experiences with the game, then secondly, those of my friends. To that end, here’s an experience ED recently had:

“On a rampage, I got my stars up to 4 as cops and SWAT were chasing my ass with a furious temper, firing everything they had as I just tried to stay alive, firing a submachine gun out the window at them. By this time, and while on a bridge, the cop car I was driving was on fire- rear tires burning up, flame pouring out of the engine- so with my pedal to the floor I quickly approached a two-SWAT-truck road block at the other end of the bridge. “Great opportunity,” I thought, as about 30 feet away from them I jumped out of the moving vehicle. Before I even hit the concrete, the cop car exploded, plowing into the SWAT trucks and exploding THEM, with the combined force shock wave hurling my dead ass up through the air and off the side of the bridge. It was an absolutely righteous way to go…”

Multiplayer…And More!

I have now had the opportunity to play the Multiplayer mode a couple of times and once i’ve been able to actually get a game going, it’s been very fun! Problem is, since i’m such a total noob at the XBox, it’s been very difficult to get a game going, added to the fact that it took FOREVER to get one working on XBL. Multiple [sorry] games i tried to both join and create the other night kept crapping out over and over. Maybe my internet connection isn’t stable? Not sure yet.

But the two games i did get into were great fun…in one of them i was working co-operatively with my buddy Sean [WHAT UP KESS BOMB!] driving, flying, swimming and boating! Much hilarity and mirth ensued. Earlier, I played in a Deathmatch as well, which was ok. I like the fact that they open up the whole city for you to play in when you go online like that. It’s perfect for a player like me, who – as ED loves to point out – cannot wait to open up locked areas the NORMAL way – you know, by EARNING them…

I think tonight when i get home and after i make and have dinner, i’ll boot it up back up and see who’s on and up for more Multiplayer mayhem.  Or maybe i’ll try to actually finish that damn mission i’m stuck on. I have a feeling i’m WAY behind all the other players as far as how much of the game i’ve finished. But you know what? THAT’S OK! For how long we had to wait for this damn game, i’m going to wring every single ounce of fun out of it – and if that means taking 150 hours instead of the promised 40-45 hours to finish it, then so be it. That’s the beauty of this series, it seems to me – it rewards you for taking your time and enjoying it! So fuck all y’all – i’ll do this at my own speed, thank ya very much.

Talkin’ About a Revolution!

Well, folks – the time has come. Below you can read my first impressions…

HOLY SHIT THIS GAME IS FUCKING CRAZY GOOD! LOOK AT THE PEOPLE AND THE SOUNDS AND THE MUSIC AND JESUS CHRIST LOOK AT THE SUNSHINE AND THE SHADOWS EVERYWHERE AND HEY IS THAT BROKEN GLASS? LOOK OUT NIKO! SHIT SORRY I RAN YOU OVER LADY WATCH OUT I’M TRYING TO DRIVE HERE!

Ok, now that i’ve got that out of the way, I’ll try to come up with ONE word to describe my first play session last night…In a word? Chumfizzle. In a word that actually exists, REVOLUTIONARY. Simply stunning so far, and I like Niko already. I really took my time last night, and after watching the slick opening with unchecked glee, I was happy to just run around for a bit before tackling the first mission – which I promptly failed because i couldn’t figure out exactly what, where, and who the fuck I was supposed to do. Once I failed that, and got Roman pissed at me ["Fuck you, Niko!" made me chuckle, and i actually apologized out loud] I decided to just drive around and soak up the scenery before restarting to do the mission again.

All I can say is “WOW!” It was definitely worth the wait. Though the controls took a little getting used to [until I discovered that I could change the controller configuration to "Classic" in the Options menu that is] and the opening screens can’t be skipped, I was still really bowled over by the extent to which this game has improved over San Andreas. It’s like comparing an Apple II vs. a supercomputer! The sheer level of detail in the city, from the gorgeous light and shadow interplay to the shine on the vehicles, to the amazing-looking water, to the weather, to the amazing sky, to the pedestrians, to the hilarious programs on Roman’s TV, to the much, MUCH more realistic car damage, this just takes the entire idea of Grand Theft Auto and brings it into a whole new age. I am really going to enjoy taking my time to discover everything this game has to offer – and i see massive replayability with just driving around, getting into trouble. Which brings me to the multiplayer…

I got into the multiplayer after going back and finishing the first mission successfully, then saving my progress. I joined a couple of deathmatches and then got into a Free Mode game. I explored the area first, then I drove from Broker [Brooklyn] into Algonquin [Manhattan], via a detailed recreation of the famed Brooklyn Bridge, I somehow found myself in GTA’s version of Times Square, called Star Junction. And yes, to answer my own burning question, my office building is indeed in it’s real-life spot in Star Junction — and the’ve even drawn the exact entrance I go in everyday at 44th and Broadway! Sadly, the building is not able to be entered, but just to stand there, and look around to compare the virtual view to the real one, was a trip! I had terrific fun just seeing what was different from the real place I go to everyday – and I finally had the opportunity to clear out some of the silly tourists who block my path to and from the subway daily, with EXTREME PREJUDICE…heh heh!

Overall, I’m very, very impressed – I feel like I got to experience a lot of the game in the 90 minutes I had available to play last night. I can’t wait to get back from my trip this weekend and dive right back into Niko’s life in the incredible, amazing and nearly flawless GTA IV!!

It’s Here.

Well, folks, here we go! Yesterday I received my new sleek as hell XBox Elite, with the 120 GB Hard drive, HDMI cable, and black controller. After setting it all up, checking out XBox Live and their various offerings, i dove right in and cut my teeth on Forza Motorsport [looks great, drives like molasses] and Marvel Ultimate Alliance [pretty fun, but why is the camera so far away??] Today, as I sit here typing this at 5:43, my copy of GTA IV sits undelivered in my apartment building, just waiting for me to come home and claim it! So i’ll get hopefully at least an hour to jump into it tonight after getting back from dinner. Stay close, dear readers, and i’ll let you know likely tomorrow MY OWN first impressions of this hotly anticipated [by me - oh, and the rest of the world!] masterpiece!

E.D.’s First Impressions

My stuff’s not here yet [though my console may have arrived today, will know later] so here’s my good buddy E.D.’s first impressions:

First impressions…

Sick, sick, sick, holy fuckin shit sick fuckin’ A….

It’s a whole ‘other’ life/ existence dude. And that’s goddamn dangerous…

That pretty much says it all, i think.

IT’S HERE!

Wow! All the endless speculation, delays, leaks and craziness have all lead up to this day. Grand Theft Auto IV is now available in stores. As I STILL don’t have my console, and my copy of the game is shipping today, in all likelihood I won’t be playing it until Thursday at the earliest – and since i’m out of town this weekend in Boston, it may even be NEXT WEEK before I get my grubby little mitts on this masterpiece. Which is sad, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s totally fine. However, i should be able to post my good buddy E.D.’s first impressions as he is getting his copy today, and already has a PS3…so check this space later, dear readers, for someone ELSE’s first impressions, then mine later in the week hopefully! IT’S HERE!!

Three Short Days Left!

As it’s now Saturday, April 26th, there are only 3 days left until this game takes over my life. Though i’m not due to get my new system until later this week, I should get the game sent to me right around the same time.

Here’s some new stuff:

- A new video all about Niko has been posted at the official game site
- IGN.com has given the game an unprecedented 10/10 score [the first such perfect score in 10 years!] Do yourself a favor and watch their video review, it’s got the first clear gameplay footage i’ve seen anywhere [i'm looking at you, Youtube!] Or if you prefer, you can read the entire 7-page review.
- Finally, it seems those righteous dudes at Rockstar invited the webmasters of the top fan web sites to New York this past week to give them the chance to play the game early, load them up with swag, and show them around the real Liberty City [NYC]. They flew in from all over the country and the UK, and had the opportunity to spend the week here, playing the game until 4 am, checking out the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Manhattan, all on R*’s dime. Mighty nice of them, though it seems to me that the game is so good they didn’t really need to do this…Read some of the better write ups of this trip here and here. Lucky bastards!