This Week in Review gets hijacked

by Ross Miller { May 2nd 2008 at 9:30PM }

Not even Sierra's Spring Event, a lineup of all the company's upcoming games (Ghostbusters!) could steal even a glint of the spotlight from Rockstar's behemoth, Viva Pinata. In fact, it's all we (and everyone else) can seem to talk about. Check out all of our hands-on impressions and reviews from the Joystiq Network with this week in review:

Viva Pinata*

Multiplatform

Xbox 360

Nintendo Wii

Nintendo DS

PlayStation 3

PS3 Fanboy review: Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

* Though it probably goes without saying, we're not actually talking about Viva Pinata here.

Tags: gtaiv, this-week-in-review

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Matt B @ May 2nd 2008 9:48PM

I just have to get something off my chest.

PS3 version GTA4 at 640P(same as Halo3) and multi player down for PS3 at launch while MS paid service works like a charm.

Things that make you go hmmmm......

colin @ May 2nd 2008 9:53PM

hmmmm......

Obie @ May 2nd 2008 9:53PM

Don't forget that the PS3 locks up more!

Matt B @ May 2nd 2008 10:52PM

NOT my PS3. At least til tonight. Stuck on loading screen.

Solution = disable your internet connection to keep you signed out of PSN. Then it will work.

More fuel to the fire.

zuburi @ May 2nd 2008 11:12PM

I can't understand what you're trying to say.

JakubK666 (Ninja Defence Force) @ May 3rd 2008 7:56AM

You get what you pay for.
And while 640P isn't that much of a problem(You CAN'T see a difference!), Online Problems are a cockslap.

ssuk @ May 3rd 2008 10:41AM

You're all bad trolls.

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 4th 2008 12:17AM

The game has a bug in it. What's this have to do with what service costs money?

R6V locked up on my 360. Let's talk about how that's because Live sucks.

My 360 RRODed and was gone for a month when I was booting Gears of War. Clearly, both it and Live suck.

Platinum_Skeet @ May 5th 2008 1:23AM

640p, crashes, online down and PS3 owners had to wait for the game to install...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgniwDXqZu8

Honestly it wasn't to hard choosing which version I was gonna buy...

The_Punisher @ May 2nd 2008 10:03PM

Don't forget that i've had no problems with my launch PS3, and my online not only works, but is free.

vidGuy @ May 2nd 2008 10:21PM

Don't forget... I forgot.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 2nd 2008 10:46PM

"but is free."

and inferior

vidGuy @ May 2nd 2008 11:50PM

Hey, you get what you pay for.

BlaqueBeird @ May 3rd 2008 2:30AM

In this case, nothing.

svenhoek @ May 3rd 2008 6:59PM

Most dial-up is free too.

Thats why I CHOOSE to pay for a superior service.

The_Punisher @ May 3rd 2008 2:34PM

Nobody's ever made a better point.

Still, dial-up may not have in-game XMB or messaging to friends, but.....wait, where am i going with this?

I'm just fine with the PS3 online. In-game XMB is highly overrated, mostly becuase the only thing i would want it for is to quickly message friends. If i really want to talk to people, i have AIM. PS3 has friend invitations and buddy listsa in0game, so to me, it's not a problem.

Pedobear @ May 2nd 2008 10:08PM

where is my podcast

umm....hello??? @ May 2nd 2008 10:25PM

hmmmm.....Cinco De Mayo, Joystiq? (ie- Viva Pinata)...

....not really sure why people are commenting on GTAIV tonight as opposed to playing it....having said that...

*goes off to run some red lights and run over pedestrians*

Dracard @ May 2nd 2008 10:49PM

I love my Viva Pinata >:(

I kind of wish they would have patched it so you could dress up a Dragonache or something. Oh and changed the font to something that is not goddamn MS Comic Sans. Fuck that font.

Fuck it.

Ordeith @ May 5th 2008 2:14PM

Indeed.

If they would let me move my saved gardens between versions I would have also purchased it for the PC.,

Nerds With Attitude @ May 3rd 2008 6:04AM

Comic Sans is the disease inside of our community.

Achewood for the win.

Ally @ May 3rd 2008 12:11PM

I like comic sans :)

Donald @ May 2nd 2008 11:29PM

I've played quite a bit of GTA in the past few days, but there is no way it should have a 99% on Metacritic. It's a good game, but that good? No. Although I really don't trust the integrity of game reviews anymore so I shouldn't be that surprised.

Misfit Toy @ May 2nd 2008 11:37PM

I agree. Good game. 99%...that's a bit high. I'd be more impressed if the dialogue could play out like Mass Effect. The graphics and facial animations are amazing in that game. Though if they could only fix the framerates.

If that were in this game...then I'd say sure. But Mass Effect has already proven more immersive with dialogue to me. Though the world that Nico lives in, with no loading screens, is impressive.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 3rd 2008 12:17AM

It's actually really a 100/100. You gotta take the average of the ps3 and 360 scores combined. Yes I know I'm nitpicking

Misfit Toy @ May 2nd 2008 11:32PM

Is it just me, or is the podcast late? Is everyone too busy playing GTA IV?

Misfit Toy @ May 2nd 2008 11:34PM

Your language...it reminds me of a game I've been playing. You sound just like them...weird!

mcatrage @ May 3rd 2008 12:14AM

Can we get a poll or something asking if anyone else thinks the game is highly overrated?

I mean around 95 I can agree with but perfect scores come on. Not being able to buy property I consider that a huge loss.

Geist @ May 3rd 2008 2:53AM

I consider the poor controls, STILL lack of manual-aiming, removal of many features, shrinking of landspace, and the textures/models looking terrible in cutscenes more of a negative.

vidGuy @ May 3rd 2008 5:13AM

You can manually aim, just don't push down on the trigger the whole way.

tmacairjordan87 @ May 3rd 2008 10:20AM

so not being able to buy property that does nothing but give you a little extra money every day or two is a huge loss? If it's the lack of extra missions you should know there's close to 100 missions in gta 4.

Anticrawl @ May 3rd 2008 2:17AM

Considering how awful the foliage is and how many visual glitches and bugs are in the game I highly doubt this game deserves a perfect score. Sure I'm enjoying the hell out of the story and the multiplayer games I've had with the cad-comic folks have been great but it isn't the god-send the media makes it out to be. It is still just Grand Theft Auto. I personally would give this game an 85 0r 90. It is a high B or low A grade game, good but not the best.

RavenPaul @ May 3rd 2008 6:21PM

GTA is the most over-rated game I've seen in a while. You CAN'T go anywhere and do anything. I tried going into Pizza places and Convenience stores, but guess what? You can't. There may as well be a cardboard box on the side of the road than most of the stores in this "city". When I did finally find a cafe I could enter, you couldn't even talk to the lady behind the counter for a drink. They also really needed to add a feature where you can talk to anyone, even if they just give a nasty comment back. The people walking around are just as dumb and uninteresting as the other games, the fighting is a joke. Already ran into repeated lines. I got bored and sold mine after 2 days. This game is a joke.

why not the LS2LS7? @ May 4th 2008 12:22AM

I'm playing the game. And it's okay. I've actually had the lockup bug on my PS3.

But that's all beside the point, to be honest.

GTA 4 has cool cutscenes, I'll give it that. They're ugly, but well written and they add a lot to the game. Remove that, and Burnout:Paradise has EVERYTHING over GTA 4.

Burnout:Paradise has a world that was designed to be driven in. The road is visible under bridges instead of unseeably black. The lanes are wider, the blocks are longer so you when you get to speed you aren't whipping through intersection after intersection.

And the cool phone in GTA IV? It's very similar to that Burnout:Paradise did better (unless you're hooked on mission restart functionality) with Easy Drive.

GTA IV is a good game and I like it. But Burnout:Paradise really showed what can be done with a next-gen game.

And why the hell can I play Burnout:Paradise without installing it but I have to go make a sandwich before I play GTA IV?

Finally, wanted to state how funny I found it to see sparrowmint and mallowolf in the picture above. I loved Viva.