Gasp! Pirated Grand Theft Auto IV game data has begun popping up on BitTorrent sites today. One alleged rip (6.32 GB) was compiled by a group known as "iCON" and apparently stripped from a PAL-region, Xbox 360 disc. A description of the file warns that the data is not region free and teases, "sorry bushlovers!" (Hey, that's "Mr. President George Dubya Bush lovers" to you, ya stinkin' pi-rats!).

An additional warning recommends would-be players stay off of Xbox Live lest "dirty little spies" catch them and ban their accounts. Ironically, at the end of the file description, the thievery and paranoia gives way to a glowing endorsement: "and guys, seriously, go and buy this one! R* deserves it..." How's that for a back-of-the-box quote!

[Note: We've chosen not to link to any torrent sites hosting the GTA IV tracker -- just take our word for it whydontya!]

1UP reports that Final Fantasy XII is being illegally distributed via bit torrent, with multiple bit torrent user comments confirming that the torrents house playable English versions of Square Enix's RPG. In response to the alleged leak, the site has issued the following PSA:

"Forgetting that pirating is a criminal activity, 'Final Fantasy XII' is supposed to be an absolutely incredible RPG -- we strongly encourage gamers to wait a few more weeks for the real game to properly reward Square Enix for their labored work."

We can't think of a better way to put it. Keep it real right, y'all!

Gears of War has been pirated and uploaded to an Xbox 360 binaries group on Usenet. The file clocks in at around 7.2 gigs in 157 parts, and will require someone with patience, bandwidth and no sense of morals to download.

Is it real? Nobody knows. While it is hard to imagine this being legit, it definitely represents a problem to the developers. We're surprised the feed didn't get the smackdown immediately, but trying to rollout a significant next-gen title might occupy most of your free time.

If people could just be patient, this game will be in your hot little hands very soon. So stop wasting your time downloading useless binaries, and just stare at a calendar. Or you could go to a preview of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, and get hands on with Gears afterwards.

[Thank, Bran]

[Update, took out the link ... we're definitely not encouraging piracy here, folks.]